Mid-Ohio v3

[csmith12]

Ask chone about the taj mahal of tents... hahahahahhahahaha

[Sirref]

ah the lap of luxury trackside, that's a pretty good investment

[csmith12]

^^^ It makes a big difference!

You guys better bring your appetite, the menu is lemon chicken, fried green tomatoes with garlic zucchini and squash w/ lemon and basil. Day 2 is frog legs and grilled asparagus with honey and shaved almonds.

Fresh fruit for both days!

[adouglas]

Originally Posted by csmith12

Ask chone about the taj mahal of tents... hahahahahhahahaha

[choneofakind]

dude, wait till you see this freaking tent. And the story on how he got it.
At least we won't be setting it up in the dark like last time hahaha.

Heck, if you're going Monday, we might come early to help set up and hang for the night. We can help with food too mang.

For sure the list this year includes:
paper plates, napkins, forks, etc.

Lemme know what we can do for food. We'll collectively have to come up with a plan. I know we'll be bringing some beers and snacks.

[csmith12]

Lol, you know I always forget something but I got the paper plates and forks down this time. They are still loaded from Thompson. I forgot charcoal for those 2 days lol. Call me or text me to figure out what I forgot on Mon. hahahahahaha

[Sirref]

Originally Posted by choneofakind

dude, wait till you see this freaking tent. And the story on how he got it.
At least we won't be setting it up in the dark like last time hahaha.

Heck, if you're going Monday, we might come early to help set up and hang for the night. We can help with food too mang.

For sure the list this year includes:
paper plates, napkins, forks, etc.

Lemme know what we can do for food. We'll collectively have to come up with a plan. I know we'll be bringing some beers and snacks.

I can't wait to hear the story, I'll be heading down monday so I'll prob arrive monday afternoon/night.

I'll be bringing a 6 or two of a solid beer(s), for nights only ofc, tons of water, and a bunch of chex mix. After that I can get some more stuff I just don't know what it would be as I'm terrible at planning things

[csmith12]

Originally Posted by snot

Going the 25th, work kind of stopped the early Aug days.
I would love to be there with ninjettes, then I could get tips from people who know the bikes.

You're welcome to come hang out, eat & stuff if ya want. Don't be shy.

Originally Posted by choneofakind

csmith12 usually brings a friend or two, hopefully Seti is there. I'm trying to convince my buddy to bring his Ducati Monster and ride novice.

I'm bringing my father along with me. Bonding time

Nice, bonding time is awesome!

I am not sure who is coming with me this time. I know I will have one of my kids but not sure who it will be. Jade says she wants to come but I dunno. Lance is 14 and finding girls now.... Seti may or may no be there. He said he couldn't do the days because of work but he is working on it.

[choneofakind]

Signed up now! Both days at I group.

[snot]

I posted this in another thread but want to make sure you all are aware...

For all of you planning on going. Please be careful in the keyhole. We had 8 bikes the day I went go down and several in the pros. over the weekend. The reason is, they replaced a small patch on the track on July 16-17. If you get out of the race line you will hit it, unless you are way wide. It is near the exit.

[choneofakind]

Is the new patch where the bump just outside apex used to be? Or is the bump still there?

[Sirref]

Originally Posted by choneofakind

Is the new patch where the bump just outside apex used to be? Or is the bump still there?

I read it as the patch is near the exit so I'd guess there's still a bump near the apex unless the exit and apex are really close through there

[snot]

MidOhio 7-18-14 novice session:

Link to original page on YouTube.

Look at 1.23 ( this is my hubby in novice). Keyhole is before back straight and kink.
Bump is in carousel.

[Sirref]

Alright, just signed up for the 5/6 dates

now I just have 7 straight days of work before I head down, it's going to be one sweet vacation

[choneofakind]

Oh derp, I totally read carousel. My mind immediately went to the fun bump

Silly distracted chone! Don't make distracted posts!!






We should be okay. Indy will be at Mid-O 2 days before us. They'll lay down a bunch of rubber.

[Sirref]

Originally Posted by snot

MidOhio 7-18-14 novice session:

Link to original page on YouTube.
Look at 1.23 ( this is my hubby in novice). Keyhole is before back straight and kink.
Bump is in carousel.

fixed that for you, to see how just quote the post and read it, there's a youtube button


edit: watched the video, damn that strip does not look friendly

[snot]

Originally Posted by Sirref

fixed that for you, to see how just quote the post and read it, there's a youtube button


edit: watched the video, damn that strip does not look friendly

Thank you!!!!

Still not seeing (or understanding) how the youtube works.

[Alex]

Hit edit on your post and you'll see how I fixed it. You just put the video ID (not the entire URL!) in between the [ youtube ] [ /youtube ] tags (without spaces).

How to post videos on this site

[Sirref]

edit: ninja'd lol

Originally Posted by snot

Thank you!!!!

Still not seeing (or understanding) how the youtube works.

ok, the youtube button is the button that says "youtube" on it, should be easy to find

from there you take the url of the video which in this case is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8V3d0tGglE
and copy the part after the v= which in this case is:
p8V3d0tGglE

and the end result is:
[Y.OUTUBE]p8V3d0tGglE[/Y.OUTUBE] without the .'s and it works

[snot]

Originally Posted by Sirref

edit: ninja'd lol




ok, the youtube button is the button that says "youtube" on it, should be easy to find

from there you take the url of the video which in this case is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8V3d0tGglE
and copy the part after the v= which in this case is:
p8V3d0tGglE

and the end result is:
[Y.OUTUBE]p8V3d0tGglE[/Y.OUTUBE] without the .'s and it works

Got it

Originally Posted by Alex

Hit edit on your post and you'll see how I fixed it. You just put the video ID (not the entire URL!) in between the [ youtube ] [ /youtube ] tags (without spaces).

How to post videos on this site

Thank you.
All of you are soooo helpful, I love this place

[Sirref]

@snot

was that video from your first track day or have you been to track before?

I also presume it was from one of your quicker/cleaner sessions in the afternoon

[snot]

Its my hubby on a zx-14. It was his 2nd track day. I went down early in the day and will be back on 8-25. It was not his best, he was at 2:05~2:08 on his best session.

[choneofakind]

idgaf about my lap times. I've never attempted to figure it out, even though I have videos of a bunch of laps.

I'm more about the giant grins. So far, I'm batting 1000; grinned after every session.

[Sirref]

I don't see a point in bothering with lap times unless you're riding at an A group pace or racing since you'd be so far off the race pace anyway if you're in I or N so it doesn't matter in the slightest

[choneofakind]

I'm getting excited!!! I'm going through the course in my head and watching my old videos. kicking myself on the places I'm not smooth. finding little places I need to improve. etc.

[snot]

We don't care about lap times, he is on a pig Zx-14 (corners slow) and I am on a 300 ( no speed in the straights), and we are novice. We go to learn, but he was concerned with his lines more than times (but could not resist checking).

[csmith12]

Everyone is always searching for "tangible" evidence of improvement and ability. Knee dragging, no chicken strips, and faster lap times are a few.

[snot]

Originally Posted by csmith12

Everyone is always searching for "tangible" evidence of improvement and ability. Knee dragging, no chicken strips, and faster lap times are a few.

For now mine is body position and proper lines. The rest seems to falls in to place once these two are accomplished.
I found out that an improper line will put you down even if you have a whole lot of run out.

[Sirref]

hey what do you guys think the odds are of me moving up to I group on day 2, I'm not particularly expecting to but I know it's possible and I think it'd be pretty cool if we were all able to ride in the same group without forcing either of you to ride at a significantly slower pace than you're used to, aka without chone & csmith getting stuck in traffic. Speaking of traffic how busy are weekday track days? I'd presume that it'll be more of an open track than a sunday

[choneofakind]

Pffft. Don't worry about slowing me down. I'm already capt slow. This will be my first day in I, so I'm kinda nervous. Nervous excited. But nervous.

Idk, depends on how fast everyone is and what the control riders think of you and how much convincing csmith can do and how you're feeling.

[Sirref]

oh if you're capt. slow now you get to be passed mid corner as well as in the straights

more seriously, I'd only want to be in I group if I'm riding at an I group pace which I think is possible if I approach both days with a proper mindset. I have a lot going for me in terms of the potential for me to learn a lot and see huge gains on these 2 days if I keep a cool head and focus on learning instead of trying to carry outright corner speed

[adouglas]

Originally Posted by Sirref

I have a lot going for me in terms of the potential for me to learn a lot and see huge gains on these 2 days if I keep a cool head and focus on learning instead of trying to carry outright corner speed

Yes yes yes!!!! It's not about the speed...

One of the things that surprised me during my track weekend was that I wasn't going all that fast down the straight. I haven't retrieved my top speed from my speedoDRD yet, but I'm pretty sure it was only a bit over 100 mph... way slower than the bike is capable of. Also way slower than I thought I'd go; I was guessing 120 or so. I never felt the need to go faster than I did and always felt that I was going plenty quick thorough the twisties for my skill level.

Having said that I never got caught up in trying to chase anyone down, either. If you've got greyhound genes in you, if there's a rabbit you'll chase it. More of that "brain shutting off" business.

[Sirref]

Originally Posted by adouglas

Yes yes yes!!!! It's not about the speed...

One of the things that surprised me during my track weekend was that I wasn't going all that fast down the straight. I haven't retrieved my top speed from my speedoDRD yet, but I'm pretty sure it was only a bit over 100 mph... way slower than the bike is capable of. Also way slower than I thought I'd go; I was guessing 120 or so. I never felt the need to go faster than I did and always felt that I was going plenty quick thorough the twisties for my skill level.

Having said that I never got caught up in trying to chase anyone down, either. If you've got greyhound genes in you, if there's a rabbit you'll chase it. More of that "brain shutting off" business.

yea, I've got those genes for sure. My natural instinct is to chase though that's a lot stronger mountain biking than it is motorcycling since I rarely mtb alone and the people I mtb with are straight up faster than me. Particularly faster than me is my older bro who raced bicycles for years, the dude can hold a 100rpm cadence for what feels like hours and it just doesn't make sense.
The good thing is that I know when to give up the chase when I'm riding one of my ninjas so that instinct hasn't caused me any trouble yet.

as for the speed, I feel that track days (at least at the novice level) are more about learning how to control the bike at speed rather than just using the speed and taking speed out of the equation a bit helps with that goal quite a bit.

For instance if chris lets me ride his r6 like he has said he will (completely up to him) the first thing I'd do would be to get used to the brakes rather than the throttle. The steering geometry will be similar enough to my track prepped 250 and figuring out how quickly to roll the throttle on may be tricky due to me not being used to I4 engines. I also know that the bike will move down the back straight if I pin it but supersport brakes are what I feel are the most important difference to adjust to.

Those of you who own or have ridden 600/750/1000 supersport machines on track, what do you think the most important adjustment is? It's likely between brakes and throttle roll on amount, I'm curious if there are other schools of thought on the subject and the reasoning behind them if there are.

[csmith12]

Originally Posted by adouglas

Yes yes yes!!!! It's not about the speed...

One of the things that surprised me during my track weekend was that I wasn't going all that fast down the straight.

I ordered a pizza in turn 5 while riding my 250, it was waiting on me in turn 7....

Originally Posted by Sirref

I'd only want to be in I group if I'm riding at an I group pace which I think is possible if I approach both days with a proper mindset. I have a lot going for me in terms of the potential for me to learn a lot and see huge gains on these 2 days if I keep a cool head and focus on learning instead of trying to carry outright corner speed

In order to bump to I, you will have to ride in the fastest group in N and do well. Here is what you do...

Focus and take advantage of the school part day 1 and see where you land at the end of the day. I can hint you on the big items the control riders are looking for;
You can commit and hold your line
You don't hammer the straights and camp the corners (flow...)
You can pass and not freak out when getting passed
You observe passing rules and make clean passes

(unique to mid-o)
You gotta pin it on the back straight - Todd (track manager) will react to other riders and the safety coordinator if the closing speeds are too great at the end of the back straight (turn 7). For example, on my r6 I will be pushing 165mph down there at the 500ft braking marker. If your only going 80mph or less at that same point, they will keep you in N until you can hold near 100 at 500ft.

I will be watching and taking photos from different parts of the course, if your ready... I will do what I can for ya.

And... the weekday track days do thin it out a bit yes but it also brings out the more hardcore riders.

It's gunna be a good time!!!!

[Sirref]

Originally Posted by csmith12

I ordered a pizza in turn 5 while riding my 250, it was waiting on me in turn 7....





In order to bump to I, you will have to ride in the fastest group in N and do well. Here is what you do...

Focus and take advantage of the school part day 1 and see where you land at the end of the day. I can hint you on the big items the control riders are looking for;
You can commit and hold your line
You don't hammer the straights and camp the corners (flow...)
You can pass and not freak out when getting passed
You observe passing rules and make clean passes

(unique to mid-o)
You gotta pin it on the back straight - Todd (track manager) will react to other riders and the safety coordinator if the closing speeds are too great at the end of the back straight (turn 7). For example, on my r6 I will be pushing 165mph down there at the 500ft braking marker. If your only going 80mph or less at that same point, they will keep you in N until you can hold near 100 at 500ft.

I will be watching and taking photos from different parts of the course, if your ready... I will do what I can for ya.

And... the weekday track days do thin it out a bit yes but it also brings out the more hardcore riders.

It's gunna be a good time!!!!

damn, dominoes really stepped up their delivery times

so they have different groups in N based off of speed? at shenny N group was sort of a cluster of riders heading on the track whenever in whatever order. For having 40 people + control riders on the track at once it was pretty disorganized.

thank you for the heads up on what to look for, part 2 is pretty easy on a 250...you hammer the straights and it doesn't really do much. Luckily the first order of business (clean lines) is already on my list of things to work on.

That's good that there won't be too much traffic, last time had 45-50 riders on the track at once counting the control riders and it was pretty crazy how often you'd come across another bike. I loved the last session of the day partly because there were only 6 people on the track and we were for the most part staying together as a group (until the damned back straight, luckily the corner exiting the back straight at shenny is my favorite on the track)

[adouglas]

Originally Posted by Sirref

Those of you who own or have ridden 600/750/1000 supersport machines on track, what do you think the most important adjustment is? It's likely between brakes and throttle roll on amount, I'm curious if there are other schools of thought on the subject and the reasoning behind them if there are.

Chris can speak to this better than I can, but from the perspective of a long-time street rider who is also a track newbie, I'd say the single biggest thing is brakes.

At least it was for me.... I didn't alter my throttle use vs. the street much, if at all. Having said that, I practice smooth throttle application all the time. I just don't grab a fistful of throttle, ever. The amount of throttle I actually used, even at speed, was surprisingly small. It's all about maintaining that nice, gentle 0.1g acceleration that Code talks about. Smoooooth......

You can brake MUCH harder than you think you can. Also, at track pace trail braking suddenly starts to make sense because the bike is speaking to you... you can really notice how proper braking settles the chassis. On the street you can't feel that very much.

I'm still working on that transition from brake to throttle. Eaaase one off while you eaaase the other on.

The second biggest thing is thinking ahead in a way that you don't do on the street... nailing tip-in, apex, exit and setting up for the next corner all in one fluid, continuous way. When you start to put all the pieces together it becomes possible to pay more attention to the details, like hitting a specific mark on the pavement lap after lap. You can think more about that precise line through a given turn, because you're getting used to higher speeds, heavier braking and steeper angles.

At the start of the first day it's sensory overload. Trying to remember the fine points of 11 corners, discovering what it feels like to brake harder than you ever have, tipping into corners at speeds that seem too fast, etc. etc. By the end of the second day I was focusing on specific techniques... line selection, body position, nailing my marks....

[choneofakind]

Originally Posted by Sirref

damn, dominoes really stepped up their delivery times

so they have different groups in N based off of speed? at shenny N group was sort of a cluster of riders heading on the track whenever in whatever order. For having 40 people + control riders on the track at once it was pretty disorganized.

thank you for the heads up on what to look for, part 2 is pretty easy on a 250...you hammer the straights and it doesn't really do much. Luckily the first order of business (clean lines) is already on my list of things to work on.

That's good that there won't be too much traffic, last time had 45-50 riders on the track at once counting the control riders and it was pretty crazy how often you'd come across another bike. I loved the last session of the day partly because there were only 6 people on the track and we were for the most part staying together as a group (until the damned back straight, luckily the corner exiting the back straight at shenny is my favorite on the track)

Yes. N group is split into little groups of 4-5 riders for each control rider. this does 2 things. 1) allows them to set pace closer to the abilities of each rider 2) gives you more 1 on 1 time with the control riders

The only place you start seeing traffic is typically on the end of the straight. Them there new guys on 600's always over brake because the control riders keep it to 100-120 or so with the N class riders on the straight. This is an attempt to reduce the number of riders who overcook the big braking zone. Basically, it just means you won't be able to really play with strong braking until the afternoon when they let you loose in a controlled manner.


As for me: i joke about being Captain Slow. I'm really not that bad. I was running comfortably in the fastest group of N last time for two days. But I've only been passed by a control rider a handful of times so I'm being cautious. First time surprised the heck out of me. After that, it was a non-issue; just keep my line tight and predictable, and don't let them take any more attention than necessary. If it turns out I'm too slow because the pace of I is fast that day, I'll move back down to N or talk to the control riders and get an orange bib or something. Idk, no ego here. I'll go where I'm safest. I'm hoping for a light attendance day and/or slower I group.

[adouglas]

Originally Posted by choneofakind

The only place you start seeing traffic is typically on the end of the straight. Them there new guys on 600's always over brake because the control riders keep it to 100-120 or so with the N class riders on the straight. This is an attempt to reduce the number of riders who overcook the big braking zone. Basically, it just means you won't be able to really play with strong braking until the afternoon when they let you loose in a controlled manner.

.

This.

More often than not, cranking it way up on the straight would have only shoved me into the back of the riders ahead. Taking it a bit easier (that 100-ish pace) allowed me room through the first few turns.

Oh, and there's one other thing to think about that's different: Traffic. Since you'll be following a line and unable to do the slalom thing across multiple lanes like you'd do on the Baltimore Beltway, your approach to traffic will need to be different. Sirref, my sense from your posts is that you're a very aggressive rider on the street. The tactics you use there might not go over so well at the track. Blowing by people is fine, but you have to do it the right way. Sometimes it's better to just chill for a couple of corners and wait for the right opportunity to make a safe, clean pass. Again, the red mist thing can zap you. Safety first! Plus courtesy.

If you're in the novice group there will be the occasional train caused by a few truly slow riders. At the "point and shoot" Thompson, there are only a few places besides the front straight where you can really get by. Mid-Ohio will be different, no doubt.

[choneofakind]

No passing in Novice class. They open up and allow passing on the straight in the afternoon. Doesn't do much for the 250. But last year, they noticed I kept getting into traffic when people passed me. They got us together before every session, one session they gave little mention about not hero passing because we have people on smaller bikes *looked at me* haha

[csmith12]

Don't worry about passing rules and all that kinda stuff. It sounds worse than it actually is. Trust me... focus on the school part for the first day.

/secret
On day 2, in the AM, at the registration desk, you can request to be moved to another group and if it's not sold out... they will move you. No "permission" required. It's always easier to bump down than up.