OddDuck
10th January 2016, 08:44
Just had my first time on the track - not a race, an organised track day. Wanted to post this in newbies because I reckon it's well worth thinking about as part of getting into biking, I've been riding for nearly twenty years now and honestly wish I'd done this much earlier.
You can take the bike to 100%.
That's the guts of it. You can go wide open throttle, full lean complete with scraping pegs, the back end shaking and walking around on downshifts and hard braking, the whole works. It'll really teach you where the limits on the bike and your own skill level are. You cannot do this to the same level on the roads. There's always a bump or gravel or a driveway or just something - you've always got to leave a margin.
It's not completely safe. I saw a tangle on the track where riders bumped into each other in the middle of a corner (this was in the fastest group of the day), resulting in broken plastics on at least one bike and one rider hobbling around the place after being seen to by St. John's ambulance. A few bikes also had failures. The track puts the bikes through the wringer. Engines / clutches / electrical gremlins... I don't know, but it was recovery vehicle time.
It's scary. First time out was adrenaline to the max. I settled down after that and started getting faster. It's also physical in a way I didn't expect. I'm writing this the morning after and I'm pretty sore, it's like hitting the gym.
Bring sunscreen or hat etc. Use it. Don't get roasted like I did. Bring water, drink it. I let myself get dehydrated and it really took my edge off in the afternoon. Bring cash, things trackside can be a bit primitive. Scout the area for petrol stations in advance if you can and check tank levels every couple of goes, the bike will start guzzling its way through the go juice. Same goes for eats. I really hadn't expected to get as hungry as I did.
People are friendly. I got talking to quite a few people. There was a big range of bikes there, but no big egos... the guys I'd be doing laps with were perfectly happy to have a laugh or two with me after we'd got off the circuit. The organisers were great too.
I'm probably not one for getting into circuit riding, but it was a fantastic experience.
You can take the bike to 100%.
That's the guts of it. You can go wide open throttle, full lean complete with scraping pegs, the back end shaking and walking around on downshifts and hard braking, the whole works. It'll really teach you where the limits on the bike and your own skill level are. You cannot do this to the same level on the roads. There's always a bump or gravel or a driveway or just something - you've always got to leave a margin.
It's not completely safe. I saw a tangle on the track where riders bumped into each other in the middle of a corner (this was in the fastest group of the day), resulting in broken plastics on at least one bike and one rider hobbling around the place after being seen to by St. John's ambulance. A few bikes also had failures. The track puts the bikes through the wringer. Engines / clutches / electrical gremlins... I don't know, but it was recovery vehicle time.
It's scary. First time out was adrenaline to the max. I settled down after that and started getting faster. It's also physical in a way I didn't expect. I'm writing this the morning after and I'm pretty sore, it's like hitting the gym.
Bring sunscreen or hat etc. Use it. Don't get roasted like I did. Bring water, drink it. I let myself get dehydrated and it really took my edge off in the afternoon. Bring cash, things trackside can be a bit primitive. Scout the area for petrol stations in advance if you can and check tank levels every couple of goes, the bike will start guzzling its way through the go juice. Same goes for eats. I really hadn't expected to get as hungry as I did.
People are friendly. I got talking to quite a few people. There was a big range of bikes there, but no big egos... the guys I'd be doing laps with were perfectly happy to have a laugh or two with me after we'd got off the circuit. The organisers were great too.
I'm probably not one for getting into circuit riding, but it was a fantastic experience.