[CC Cowboy]

Originally Posted by adouglas

Those of you who own a copy of Twist of the Wrist II are no doubt familiar with its quirky writing style. One of its features are sidebar comments by road racer Doug Chandler, which provide an alternate view of the points being made in the main text.

I was just perusing my copy and this one caught my eye:

“Racing carries over to street. The high speeds of racing make the street easier. You have more control because you adapted to higher speeds. You don’t go into panic mode as easily.” — D.C.

Now, I'm not a racer and at my age (54) I'm not likely to take it up. I've never even been on the track on a bike, though I do intend to rectify that next year.

I have, however, had a season or two's worth of track experience in cars... mostly prepped sedans, but also a Spec Racer and a Formula Vee. So I do know first-hand what going fast at a track does for you as the operator of a motor vehicle.

I came out of that experience a better driver, for exactly the reason that Chandler cites. You get to see what high speeds are like and feel how the vehicle behaves, which is quite different. More importantly, you do it in a controlled environment so it's a learning experience rather than a dumb stunt you happened to survive.

What might have given you a shot of fear-induced adrenaline pre-track no longer does so... because the unknown is now known. Instead of feeling like you're flirting with disaster, you're going into a situation that you've experienced before.

The upshot is not that you get complacent about speed. Rather, you break through what you thought were real limits and in the process, reset those limits in your mind. You get to see that what you thought you could not do, you can in fact accomplish.

Anybody else experience this?

I did once, for about 45 years (and counting).