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Sirref · September 26th, 2016, 10:01 AM

Alright, write-up time

Saturday started rough, very rough. It was cold, there was moisture in the air, and no sign of a sun anywhere. I went out with the Intro school first session for the parade laps to get everyone acclimated to the track. This is the session where we go highway speeds, 50mph or so, and really focus on keeping everyone in our groups on line and able to stay together regardless of skill level. One rider decided to not respect this and attempted to pass 30 riders down the front straight, he didn't make it to T1 before rear ending one of the first timers. There was nothing we could do once he buzzed us, no chance to overcome his momentum and slow him down. Both riders were airlifted, though it is reported that neither is in critical condition both are likely to have sustained life altering injuries from the ~120mph closing speeds. It was the most terrifying thing I have ever seen in my life.

The day did not get better from there, while I did all I could to get riders to follow the line many riders flat out ignored us and continued to ride aggressively in conditions that did not allow for aggressive riding. We had 42 riders picked up by the crash truck...Thankfully there were no injuries after the first session but it was scary to be out on the track with the way people were riding. We called a total of 4 riders meetings and it took threatening to end the day to calm people down. I talked to many riders only to be ignored and see them crash trying to continue to do the same things I told them not to do. The single biggest issue I saw was riders turning in early then tightening up after the apex and trying to add throttle at the same time, front tire lets go and I explain exactly what happened again and how to avoid it in the future. I'm glad that my students did not get hurt and the ones that made it back on the track were able to learn a lot afterwards.

After this we had a coaches meeting that went until around midnight, discussing potential ways to prevent the day from repeating itself. We took it very seriously but also acknowledged that we had done what we could.

Sunday was amazing, one of the best track days I have ever experienced. The day started on a strong note despite the cold. We had all ~40 coaches at tech and talked to every single rider, casually hinting to take it easy in the morning while the track is cold and to focus on their safety and being smooth rather than going fast. While my passion is still racing I am glad I decided to begin coaching. I rode and coached in three out of four groups and reached many riders. I spent the day floating around the track and catching up to riders to follow them around a lap or two to see what they were doing and why before passing and signaling for them to follow me to show them the line or where I wanted them to look. I would signal for them to pass me back afterwards and asses how they did, this would continue until the session ended where I would talk to them and highlight what they were doing right, what I wanted them to work on, make sure they understood what I was trying to show them, and then recap focusing on what they improved. This brought so many smiles to different riders faces it was infectious, I was grinning ear to ear most of the day despite the creeping signs of exhaustion setting in (I skipped a few A group sessions here and there to ensure I was good to ride) I also got to ride the TPM ZX10R for a session in the intermediate and advanced group. That thing was so terrifyingly fast I loved it, in the A group I just played around on it for that session and learned that when I was pushing it a bit the front end would come up in T12 entering the straight and wouldn't come back down until well after the start/finish line. It felt incredibly natural to ride though the steering was heavy I was still able to touch knee on it a few times, it was an experience to ride. Kawasaki did an amazing job with that bike.

I had one student that stood out, he had never been on the track before and was very new to riding in general. As a result of this he was only able to reach speeds around 50mph down the straight and even slower through the corners, This scared me a bit so I took him out to the middle of nowhere in the paddock with a cone and had him do circles while making sure he was looking up at me rather than down at the ground. I had him do three drills, the first was to turn in one circle (both directions) while looking at me and telling me how many fingers I was holding up. The second was figure eights to get used to steering the bike. The third drill was to ride down the paddock row (remember no one in this area of the paddock), get up into 2nd gear (his straightaway speed) and then brake when I signaled, I told him to stop at the cone every time regardless of where I signaled for him to brake. This to get him more confident in accelerating and braking and to understand how the brakes can be modulated to control speed rather than just to stop. After this his speed increased a bit on track though it was still far from where I wanted it to be he was more than happy with what he had learned and I was glad I was able to help him be a bit more comfortable on the bike.

After two very long days (sat 4am to midnight (including driving to the track) and sunday 6:30am to 6pm) I learned that there was a problem with my truck. A severe scraping sound, I ran over to my friend (interestingly enough his name is chris, more on this later) who owns a fleet of trucks with his business to see if he recognized the sound to diagnose the issue. We determined it was an alternator around 6:40pm and called advance auto parts to see if they had the alternator in stock. They did, and were closing at 7pm. My friend tossed me the keys to his gigantic lifted truck and his phone for gps since mine had a dead battery. I arrived just in time to get the alternator. Driving around in the smoothest vehicle I've ever driven with an RC Cup bike in the back was a bit bitersweet, I wish I were young enough to race in that series but I am a year, soon to be two, too old to compete in the class. I got back around 7:30 with the alternator in hand and turned down my friend's offer to help install it citing that he had a longer drive than me and needed to get his kids home.

About an hour later I'm thinking to myself (in the dark) that the belt won't fit with the new alternator in place and I'm fumbling around with it in the dark trying to install it when one of the security personnel comes up wondering why I'm still there. It turns out, his name is also chris, that he is an employee of that same advance auto parts as well and helps me find the belt tensioner to release tension on the belt to install the alternator. I thanked him and finished packing up to head home. Eventually I found my way home around 12:30-1am.

One of the longest weekends of my life, but I couldn't imagine spending my time any other way and I'm looking forward to my next chance to work with different riders on improving their skills and being safer and faster on their bikes.

as a sidenote: what is it with people named Chris and always saving me in my hour of need. This wasn't just this weekend, it's been like this for a while. Including a few years back when you convinced me to take it to the track @csmith12

September 26th, 2016, 10:01 AM	#6
Sirref Private Joker Name: Ben Location: Towson, MD Join Date: Nov 2012 Motorcycle(s): '99/'01 Ninja 250 "sketchy", '13 Ninja 300 "yoshi", '03 GSXR 600 "merlin" Posts: A lot. MOTM - Mar '14	Alright, write-up time Saturday started rough, very rough. It was cold, there was moisture in the air, and no sign of a sun anywhere. I went out with the Intro school first session for the parade laps to get everyone acclimated to the track. This is the session where we go highway speeds, 50mph or so, and really focus on keeping everyone in our groups on line and able to stay together regardless of skill level. One rider decided to not respect this and attempted to pass 30 riders down the front straight, he didn't make it to T1 before rear ending one of the first timers. There was nothing we could do once he buzzed us, no chance to overcome his momentum and slow him down. Both riders were airlifted, though it is reported that neither is in critical condition both are likely to have sustained life altering injuries from the ~120mph closing speeds. It was the most terrifying thing I have ever seen in my life. The day did not get better from there, while I did all I could to get riders to follow the line many riders flat out ignored us and continued to ride aggressively in conditions that did not allow for aggressive riding. We had 42 riders picked up by the crash truck...Thankfully there were no injuries after the first session but it was scary to be out on the track with the way people were riding. We called a total of 4 riders meetings and it took threatening to end the day to calm people down. I talked to many riders only to be ignored and see them crash trying to continue to do the same things I told them not to do. The single biggest issue I saw was riders turning in early then tightening up after the apex and trying to add throttle at the same time, front tire lets go and I explain exactly what happened again and how to avoid it in the future. I'm glad that my students did not get hurt and the ones that made it back on the track were able to learn a lot afterwards. After this we had a coaches meeting that went until around midnight, discussing potential ways to prevent the day from repeating itself. We took it very seriously but also acknowledged that we had done what we could. Sunday was amazing, one of the best track days I have ever experienced. The day started on a strong note despite the cold. We had all ~40 coaches at tech and talked to every single rider, casually hinting to take it easy in the morning while the track is cold and to focus on their safety and being smooth rather than going fast. While my passion is still racing I am glad I decided to begin coaching. I rode and coached in three out of four groups and reached many riders. I spent the day floating around the track and catching up to riders to follow them around a lap or two to see what they were doing and why before passing and signaling for them to follow me to show them the line or where I wanted them to look. I would signal for them to pass me back afterwards and asses how they did, this would continue until the session ended where I would talk to them and highlight what they were doing right, what I wanted them to work on, make sure they understood what I was trying to show them, and then recap focusing on what they improved. This brought so many smiles to different riders faces it was infectious, I was grinning ear to ear most of the day despite the creeping signs of exhaustion setting in (I skipped a few A group sessions here and there to ensure I was good to ride) I also got to ride the TPM ZX10R for a session in the intermediate and advanced group. That thing was so terrifyingly fast I loved it, in the A group I just played around on it for that session and learned that when I was pushing it a bit the front end would come up in T12 entering the straight and wouldn't come back down until well after the start/finish line. It felt incredibly natural to ride though the steering was heavy I was still able to touch knee on it a few times, it was an experience to ride. Kawasaki did an amazing job with that bike. I had one student that stood out, he had never been on the track before and was very new to riding in general. As a result of this he was only able to reach speeds around 50mph down the straight and even slower through the corners, This scared me a bit so I took him out to the middle of nowhere in the paddock with a cone and had him do circles while making sure he was looking up at me rather than down at the ground. I had him do three drills, the first was to turn in one circle (both directions) while looking at me and telling me how many fingers I was holding up. The second was figure eights to get used to steering the bike. The third drill was to ride down the paddock row (remember no one in this area of the paddock), get up into 2nd gear (his straightaway speed) and then brake when I signaled, I told him to stop at the cone every time regardless of where I signaled for him to brake. This to get him more confident in accelerating and braking and to understand how the brakes can be modulated to control speed rather than just to stop. After this his speed increased a bit on track though it was still far from where I wanted it to be he was more than happy with what he had learned and I was glad I was able to help him be a bit more comfortable on the bike. After two very long days (sat 4am to midnight (including driving to the track) and sunday 6:30am to 6pm) I learned that there was a problem with my truck. A severe scraping sound, I ran over to my friend (interestingly enough his name is chris, more on this later) who owns a fleet of trucks with his business to see if he recognized the sound to diagnose the issue. We determined it was an alternator around 6:40pm and called advance auto parts to see if they had the alternator in stock. They did, and were closing at 7pm. My friend tossed me the keys to his gigantic lifted truck and his phone for gps since mine had a dead battery. I arrived just in time to get the alternator. Driving around in the smoothest vehicle I've ever driven with an RC Cup bike in the back was a bit bitersweet, I wish I were young enough to race in that series but I am a year, soon to be two, too old to compete in the class. I got back around 7:30 with the alternator in hand and turned down my friend's offer to help install it citing that he had a longer drive than me and needed to get his kids home. About an hour later I'm thinking to myself (in the dark) that the belt won't fit with the new alternator in place and I'm fumbling around with it in the dark trying to install it when one of the security personnel comes up wondering why I'm still there. It turns out, his name is also chris, that he is an employee of that same advance auto parts as well and helps me find the belt tensioner to release tension on the belt to install the alternator. I thanked him and finished packing up to head home. Eventually I found my way home around 12:30-1am. One of the longest weekends of my life, but I couldn't imagine spending my time any other way and I'm looking forward to my next chance to work with different riders on improving their skills and being safer and faster on their bikes. as a sidenote: what is it with people named Chris and always saving me in my hour of need. This wasn't just this weekend, it's been like this for a while. Including a few years back when you convinced me to take it to the track @csmith12 __________________________________________________ I see you over there seeing me, do you see the me I think you see?
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