Quote:
Originally Posted by Misti
Very well put! I've written an article in the past called Go Slow to GO Fast and the premise there is that you often have to slow down your riding in order to learn a technique correctly before you try and do it at speed. It's pretty hard (as you mention) to head out for a track day and find new reference points while riding at 70-90%. Slowing down the overall speed will give you time and space and brain capacity to choose and remember and incorporate reference points. Once they become solid and consistent in your mind, then the speed will naturally increase as you confidently move from one specific place on the track to the next.
I like to use the analogy of "Connect the dots"- when you do a connect the dots little drawing/puzzle activity thingy the lines from the sequencing numbers at first tend to be straight and rigid but as you being to notice what type of shape or drawing is being made with the connect the dots (maybe a firetruck or a busy or a dog, whatever) the lines become more fluid and rounded even- instead of a straight line you may arc it slightly to form the rounded part of the bunny's ear. This is similar to how it might feel at first when you begin utilizing your reference points. You may feel like you are just going from point to point (Turn in, apex, exit...etc etc...without much flow) BUT as you become more secure and familiar with the track and your location on the track the information coming in becomes much smoother and more fluid. Suddenly you aren't dot-to-dot but you are flowing from your turn in point to the apex to the exit in a smooth fluid motion.
Now, what are some ways that might help you pick up reference points more quickly or some strategies to help you remember the reference points that you do pick?
(I'm really enjoying this thread and all the updates btw, thanks  ) |
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Misti,
Thanks for your input and kind words. I don't have "skill" to teach other riders but my hope is that new riders might read this long thread of my experience and find some of the answers--hopefully quicker than I --that I have learned. I am not much of a writer but I do try to make what I am thinking make sense as best as I am able.
I have not yet figured out what I need to set the right amount of correct reference points. I can say that the first few times I rode on a race track that the X's and cones did not make much sense and like your analogy, I was riding in rigidly straight lines from one to the next. Once I was able to get not only my entry point to a turn right but the orientation of the bike at the entry point and hit the apex at the correct angle/line, I was able to carry speed while accelerating out of the turn to drift the bike out to the next marker. Once this made sense, the lines between markers/reference points become more sweeping lines than straight point to point riding. I have this down fairly well but there are still a few (especially large sweepers) turns where I need more reference points to "flow" thru the turn. I anticipate once I get back on the track late next month, with my slower pace, I will be able to figure out where I need to add markers and will be able to finish these large turns better and set up for the next section. There should be no issue with remembering the points once I have them picked out but first I must find not only a reference but the correct one to keep me on the right heading thru the turn.
As always,
Thank you for your time
Ant
