ARC 1 - 14 hour day
I got up at 5:30 am, I was going to meet a friend who was also doing ARC 1 with me. Meeting him made my ride there an extra 45 minutes long but it was worth it. We got to the place a little early but nothing to crazy, relatively good timing. The class was at DCC in Poughkeepsie.
The class started at 8am, we were introduced to the instructors and the owner of the school. We went through an overview of what would be covered and did some introductions for everyone there. The skill range was quite broad, a couple of people on their first bikes with just about 3000 miles each, other people who've been riding for 20+ years. Lots of different bikes, from standards to cruisers, tourers and sport bikes. Oddly enough the sport bikes were in the minority. I wonder if that says something about the sport bike community...
We did spend several hours in the class room starting off talking about body position, braking, technique etc. all of this stuff is covered in "Total Control" so wasn't new to me but it's nice to be able to have something explained differently and to be able to ask questions.
We went down to the range (parking lot E at the DCC) where many cones had been set up for the exercises that we'd be doing. First it was throttle control. Oddly I sucked at this, it's something I concentrate on when riding but I guess when someone tells you how to and then watches you, it's a little off putting. We covered trail braking in a straight line. Clutchless upshifts & quick downshifts were also covered. All of which I practice regularly but sucked at (in my mind, apparently they thought I was doing pretty well).
We went back to class & talked about several other things including body position and then had some lunch. After lunch we were out on the range again working on a 40ft circle. It really is amazing how different your perception of form is compared to what you're actually doing. Most people just don't get that low or hang off the bike at all, me included. It's quite difficult compressing your setup into the space provided, it's a lot harder to set up like this and still be comfortable on such a tight corner, all the while worrying about the bike going down & getting messed up.
Covered suspension at the end of the day and then finished up at around 7pm. It had been a long day standing around in 85+ degree weather in a leather one piece. It's perfed but that doesn't help when you're not moving. Over all I think I felt a lot worse about my riding after doing ARC 1, all of the things that we covered was stuff that I actually practice regularly and the fact that I didn't feel like I was getting it right made me feel pretty crap. It's definitely a useful class, more aimed at someone who's in their first year or two or has never had any formal training.
I'd place ARC 1 between BRC/ERC and a track day in terms of skill requirements.
They still had some space in the ARC 2 class the following day which Lee Parks would be teaching & Christine and some of the other instructors were encouraging me to come to that as well. It's an extra $300 so I wasn't going to just sign up without discussing that with my wife. Went home & mentioned it to my wife who said I could go if I wanted to. I called Christine & asked if there was still space & she said yes. My wife said I could have it as my birthday present which was totally awesome.
ARC 2 - 15 hour day
Got up at 6am to get to the class & rode down. Got there a little early & chatted to some of the other guys that were there. There were a few other sport bikes including a really cool 900SS and a blue Daytona.
The course started at 8am with an hour or so of class time with Lee Parks. I've actually met him before, he did a seminar at Rising Wolf that I was lucky enough to go to last year or the year before. He's a very good presenter IMO and makes some really good/amusing analogies to make his points.
We headed down to the range pretty quickly, we spent more of the time in ARC 2 on the range compared to ARC 1. The first several hours out on the range before lunch was pretty tiring considering the 85+ degree heat again and the full leather. We worked on quick stops and trail braking into corners which was pretty nerve wracking for me. I've trained myself to use very light brake application in corners when I'm in too hot or to avoid obstacles but actively trail braking through corner entry was scary for me. I had trouble getting it down at first but at some point you just have to trust your bike & your skills. One person crashed relatively heavily, he was on a Multi & locked the front in the quick stop exercise. He was ok, bike was a little worse for ware but nothing terminal.
We moved onto using trail braking to tighten your line & decreasing radius corners (and combinations of these) which was quite interesting but difficult for the same reason I found trail braking difficult. I started getting the hang of it and was doing pretty well by the end of the exercise. I didn't like that they focussed on left hand turns but I understand the reasoning - most people are more comfortable in left hand turns & therefore more likely to pick up new concepts. It was only after the middle of the day that I started really feeling more confident on the bike and getting back to the level I was at when I had the gixxer 750 in '07. My confidence was really knocked around on the S4RS and I also didn't really ride very much to add to the lack of confidence. Started getting my knee down on every exercise and relaxing more on the bike which is critical to getting these techniques right and riding quickly.
In the decreasing radius exercise (or was it the trail braking one...) the guy on the other Daytona got his knee down for the first time which was freaking awesome. There was another guy on an F800ST who got his knee down too but I think he'd done that before. I think one other person was really close (K1200S) but not sure if he did or not.
We went back into the classroom at which point the thunderstorm hit and absolutely drenched the range and everything in the area. The last exercise was meant to be TC solo in which they set up a mini road-race course and I was *really* looking forward to it. Unfortunately the stock tires on the '09 Daytona are basically slick (and absolutely stupid for a road bike IMO) and even Lee Parks said he wouldn't ride it so that put an end to that. I'd offered him the bike earlier in the day because we'd chatted about it for a while and he'd expressed an interest in riding it. I genuinely enjoy riding in the rain and there had been enough rain that there was plenty of grip. Lee was getting his knee down on a 650R and on a 250 Ninja. I was pretty down but it was already 7:20pm and I needed to be back in the city for a party. Not to mention that I was pretty tired and just didn't want to push it. Christine tried to talk me into it but backed off when I explained my reasons which I thought was really cool.
Ultimately the comfort level I got to and the restoration of most of my confidence was worth every cent in this course. It was very rewarding and I really feel like I improved as a rider (at least in ARC 2). Lee, Christine, Emile, Ed, Brian, Rommy and all the other instructors really made the courses *very* enjoyable.
I think ARC 2 is more likely something that would help after someone has a few years on the road and has done a beginner's track day. Depending on their skill level of course. The two beginners in ARC 1 both did ARC 2 and it was pretty clear that they were beginners so, while I'm sure they got a lot out of the class, I think they could have got more if they'd had more experience & maybe a track day or two.
Rode back into the city (hitting some rain on the way home) and went out until about 1:30. It was a long day.
Overall, I think it's worth doing ARC 1 just to do ARC 2 and that the courses & people involved were excellent. I'm looking forward to doing more training maybe the track course as I really enjoy learning. We'll see.
http://christineskickstart.com/http://totalcontroltraining.net/
