Zombiphone
April 18th, 2010, 01:35 PM
Holy oh my god wow. I think that should about sum it up :p I'll apologize in advance for the long, overly excited jib jab that's about to follow:
So, I went out to the Streets of Willow with TrackDaz yesterday for my first ever track day. I had no idea what to expect. There was the Academy, which is what I was there for, and a B Group. We alternated using the track back and forth in about 25-30 minute sessions, so while B group was on track, we were in the classroom getting some tips on body position, reference points, and vision. I think we got maybe.... 7 sessions in? I was amazingly nervous to start, but by the second session I was having fun, and by the end of the day, I couldn't get enough.
The first four sessions were classroom drills for us and the last three were pretty much free practice. The first drills were body position and vision, then they had us use reference points for round three, and for the last drill, they had us purposely take really bad lines, so we knew what in too early felt like (The last one was amazingly uncomfortable >_<). As someone who was admittedly still a bit intimidated by the concept of it all, I think this class was the perfect intro to the track. The instructors were all great, really enthusiastic guys and I got a lot of personal feedback. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone in SoCal looking to make the jump from the streets to the track but has some reservations. I was pretty exhausted by the end of the day, but what an eye opener! I felt like I learned a ton in such a short amount of time. I really can't wait to go back ^_^
Anyways, I think I had the only ninjette there, but it really didn't bother me when the guys on liter bikes who knew what they were doing tore past me (safe passing was allowed). I got to totally pin the throttle on the straights though-which was awesome. I never knew my bike could scream like that! I met a really nice guy on a local forum who helped me load my bike at the end of the day, and he turned out to be one of the instructors. Interestingly enough, the guy at cycle gear who I bought my tie downs from also happened to be an instructor. Small world.
Jeezus, Tiff- shut up and show everyone the pictures and videos! Haha, this may be a lot, so you don't really need to watch it, but bear with me- I'm excited ^_^
First session- I was super stiff and slow and there were all sorts of butterflies in my stomach:
BKQ2aNTV77c
Third session- one of the instructors followed me for a few laps, then I followed him, and back and forth. Had a really wide "Oh S---!!!" moment on turn 3 :headshake: Then he gave me some great feedback on how I could improve my lines and such:
iWh4cCiSmcE
And last session. They waved the checkered flag as I was starting a lap, so I had no choice but to do one more :D I ended up being the last one back:
Vnyo43O_JrM
It felt a lot faster than it looks. I got a lot more used to moving around on the bike by the end of the day, and for once, my legs were far more exhausted than my back or arms after a long day riding. And pictures:
http://i879.photobucket.com/albums/ab355/zombiphone/track/tieddown.jpg
The day before (excuse my messy backyard >_<). Took 2wheelguy's advice and picked up some ancra tie downs in place of my canyon dancers. Worked great, but the 55 mph speed limit for trailered vehicles blows. Oh, and on a mildly related side note, taking the mirrors off was such a pain >_<
http://i879.photobucket.com/albums/ab355/zombiphone/track/closeup.jpg
http://s879.photobucket.com/albums/ab355/zombiphone/track/?action=view¤t=alittlecrossed.jpg
http://i879.photobucket.com/albums/ab355/zombiphone/track/otherguys.jpg
http://i879.photobucket.com/albums/ab355/zombiphone/track/profile.jpg
http://i879.photobucket.com/albums/ab355/zombiphone/track/skyshot.jpg
http://i879.photobucket.com/albums/ab355/zombiphone/track/therewego.jpg
http://i879.photobucket.com/albums/ab355/zombiphone/track/frontshot.jpg
http://i879.photobucket.com/albums/ab355/zombiphone/track/tires.jpg
And my tires afterwords. Eesh, now I know what it's like to actually use that rubber.
A couple of the other riders told me they were shocked by how much I had improved over the course of the day (I set a pretty low bar to start though :o). Obviously, I'm no Rossi or anything, and I'm still pretty noob-tastic, but It felt great, I had a blast, and I felt a lot better trying new techniques there than I ever could in the canyons. I still want to work on better and faster lines for a lot of those turns, and I now want some rearsets and clip ons, but all in due time. What a great experience. Alright, I'm done prattling on now. You may carry on ^_^
So, I went out to the Streets of Willow with TrackDaz yesterday for my first ever track day. I had no idea what to expect. There was the Academy, which is what I was there for, and a B Group. We alternated using the track back and forth in about 25-30 minute sessions, so while B group was on track, we were in the classroom getting some tips on body position, reference points, and vision. I think we got maybe.... 7 sessions in? I was amazingly nervous to start, but by the second session I was having fun, and by the end of the day, I couldn't get enough.
The first four sessions were classroom drills for us and the last three were pretty much free practice. The first drills were body position and vision, then they had us use reference points for round three, and for the last drill, they had us purposely take really bad lines, so we knew what in too early felt like (The last one was amazingly uncomfortable >_<). As someone who was admittedly still a bit intimidated by the concept of it all, I think this class was the perfect intro to the track. The instructors were all great, really enthusiastic guys and I got a lot of personal feedback. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone in SoCal looking to make the jump from the streets to the track but has some reservations. I was pretty exhausted by the end of the day, but what an eye opener! I felt like I learned a ton in such a short amount of time. I really can't wait to go back ^_^
Anyways, I think I had the only ninjette there, but it really didn't bother me when the guys on liter bikes who knew what they were doing tore past me (safe passing was allowed). I got to totally pin the throttle on the straights though-which was awesome. I never knew my bike could scream like that! I met a really nice guy on a local forum who helped me load my bike at the end of the day, and he turned out to be one of the instructors. Interestingly enough, the guy at cycle gear who I bought my tie downs from also happened to be an instructor. Small world.
Jeezus, Tiff- shut up and show everyone the pictures and videos! Haha, this may be a lot, so you don't really need to watch it, but bear with me- I'm excited ^_^
First session- I was super stiff and slow and there were all sorts of butterflies in my stomach:
BKQ2aNTV77c
Third session- one of the instructors followed me for a few laps, then I followed him, and back and forth. Had a really wide "Oh S---!!!" moment on turn 3 :headshake: Then he gave me some great feedback on how I could improve my lines and such:
iWh4cCiSmcE
And last session. They waved the checkered flag as I was starting a lap, so I had no choice but to do one more :D I ended up being the last one back:
Vnyo43O_JrM
It felt a lot faster than it looks. I got a lot more used to moving around on the bike by the end of the day, and for once, my legs were far more exhausted than my back or arms after a long day riding. And pictures:
http://i879.photobucket.com/albums/ab355/zombiphone/track/tieddown.jpg
The day before (excuse my messy backyard >_<). Took 2wheelguy's advice and picked up some ancra tie downs in place of my canyon dancers. Worked great, but the 55 mph speed limit for trailered vehicles blows. Oh, and on a mildly related side note, taking the mirrors off was such a pain >_<
http://i879.photobucket.com/albums/ab355/zombiphone/track/closeup.jpg
http://s879.photobucket.com/albums/ab355/zombiphone/track/?action=view¤t=alittlecrossed.jpg
http://i879.photobucket.com/albums/ab355/zombiphone/track/otherguys.jpg
http://i879.photobucket.com/albums/ab355/zombiphone/track/profile.jpg
http://i879.photobucket.com/albums/ab355/zombiphone/track/skyshot.jpg
http://i879.photobucket.com/albums/ab355/zombiphone/track/therewego.jpg
http://i879.photobucket.com/albums/ab355/zombiphone/track/frontshot.jpg
http://i879.photobucket.com/albums/ab355/zombiphone/track/tires.jpg
And my tires afterwords. Eesh, now I know what it's like to actually use that rubber.
A couple of the other riders told me they were shocked by how much I had improved over the course of the day (I set a pretty low bar to start though :o). Obviously, I'm no Rossi or anything, and I'm still pretty noob-tastic, but It felt great, I had a blast, and I felt a lot better trying new techniques there than I ever could in the canyons. I still want to work on better and faster lines for a lot of those turns, and I now want some rearsets and clip ons, but all in due time. What a great experience. Alright, I'm done prattling on now. You may carry on ^_^