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Old September 23rd, 2016, 08:23 PM   #1
Sirref
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Coaching

Tomorrow I begin a new riding journey, alongside my racing and track riding journey I have decided to try my hand at coaching.

I'm entirely new to it and will be doing it on the 300 so I'm pretty eager to get started with it. Hopefully I'll be able to keep smiles on the faces of as many riders as possible as I help them accomplish their goals at the track.

Any advice from the current rider coaches out there? @Misti @csmith12
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Old September 24th, 2016, 04:59 AM   #2
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My rules;

Be yourself
Keep it informal
Find common ground
Ask questions and listen!!!!
Think outside the box
Have miles and miles of patience
Stay positive 100% of the time (you set the tone right from the START!)
Positive feedback is more effective than negative feedback (do no confuse that with being stern when it comes to safety concerns)
Smile a lot!!! everyone is there to have a good time. If they aren't smiling, your doing it wrong

Above all, have fun and remember your enjoyment comes from the success of others, even if they can't find it on their own.

Good luck Ben, coaching is not for everyone but for those who posses the predisposition it is very rewarding.
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Old September 24th, 2016, 05:15 AM   #3
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Some harder things to get right...

Knowing when less is better than more
Knowing when to say nothing at all!!! (aka, giving them time to process things at their speed)
Balancing modesty with very high confidence while ensuring that you don't come off as cocky
Knowing when enough is enough and to just let people ride
Knowing how to pressure a rider to break through a skill barrier without being pushy (do not confuse that with encouragement, they are not the same)
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Old September 24th, 2016, 07:36 AM   #4
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Originally Posted by Sirref View Post
Tomorrow I begin a new riding journey, alongside my racing and track riding journey I have decided to try my hand at coaching.

I'm entirely new to it and will be doing it on the 300 so I'm pretty eager to get started with it. Hopefully I'll be able to keep smiles on the faces of as many riders as possible as I help them accomplish their goals at the track.

Any advice from the current rider coaches out there? @Misti @csmith12
ONE THING AT A TIME.
Dont't talk too much
Bring the rider to understanding
Be careful when leading that you don't suck them in too fast
start with basics first
Be patient and kind but firm
Don't second guess yourself
IF YOU SEE DANGEROUS RIDING STOP IT IMMEDIATELY


Yay, coaching is fun!!
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Old September 25th, 2016, 10:15 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Misti View Post
IF YOU SEE DANGEROUS RIDING STOP IT IMMEDIATELY
If only this could always be done before it's too late

Full writeup of my first coaching experience tomorrow but here's a summary

I worked with tons of different students as a coach dedicated to catching the riders who fall off their packs and picking them up to work with them 1 on 1 on the track.

Saturday was a mess and there was little we as coaches or the organization could do to put a stop to ridiculously reckless riding until we threatened to end the day early.

Sunday was amazing, everyone was receptive to coaching and I got to work with tons of riders in intro, novice(intermediate), and advanced. I got to ride like a workhorse 45min on track every hour minus the time spent talking to different riders.


I love the smiles on riders faces when they start to understand the riding techniques and get to see more of what their bikes are capable of. I love coaching
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Old September 26th, 2016, 10:01 AM   #6
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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
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Old September 26th, 2016, 10:32 AM   #7
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Quote:
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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
http://whatnamemeaning.com/chris/

lol... Pretty cool but I am 100% NOT emotional.

If the crash truck had to pick up 42 riders, there is NO way in hell I am getting back out there in the middle of all that. Mid-O would have shut down at 10-15. Bummer your experience started out like that. But glad the second day was better.
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Old September 26th, 2016, 02:19 PM   #8
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A lot of us didn't want to and didn't. Personally, being the optimistic person I am, I tried to reach as many people as possible and stress being smooth and on line. Hoping that riders would get the idea. Without us they had no chance. I also tried to stress avoiding things that would help cause a cold tire crash, mainly unloading the front tire by getting on the throttle before reaching full lean
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Old September 26th, 2016, 04:14 PM   #9
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...........I had one student that stood out, he had never been on the track before and was very new to riding in general...............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....
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Old September 27th, 2016, 08:00 AM   #10
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Nice write up Ben and congrats on the coaching!

I love riding NJMP, but as you see, a good amount of riders up there just don't listen. It really sucks, but you have to put a foot down with some people before they hurt themselves or others. Safety always comes first.

It sounds like you had a good time even though you got thrown into the deep end from the get go. Don't forget to take care of yourself throughout the day/weekend. It's easy to get wrapped up in helping others, working every session. Especially in the heat that we had this past summer. It was brutal.

Looking forward to riding with you again Ben.
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Old September 29th, 2016, 10:19 AM   #11
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Good for you Ben, they will be a better org with you for sure. Too bad you didnt make the Monday TD, I would have said hi

Im not sure if i will right with them again, as they are known for the high amount of incidents. My day went smoothly, but there was only about 25 riders total between 2 groups. Many seem to ride for the free track time, but there was 1 coach from Virginia on a BMW 1100 who waited for me at the end of a session and helped me find a better line through a section. Next session he found me and gave me the thumbs up, but i still had an issue on another turn that i just couldnt get right (he did know that 250's have to take a slightly different line sometimes, but i was just turning in a little too early most times).

Keep on doing what you do, help those who can because thats what TD's are for in my eyes. Its why i like TTD, they always have classroom time and go out of their way to help, its worth the added cost. Ive seen a day where they had about 8 crashes and they said they would shut down for the day if it kept up. 40 is just unacceptable, but its not your fault. Thats the mentality of many riders they get, they are also the lowest cost in the region so you end up getting those characters as well. Dont let it deter you, good luck!
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Old September 29th, 2016, 06:22 PM   #12
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Congrats again, Ben! This has to be very rewarding work, and I can really see you helping many, many riders out there. Saturday - wow. I hate seeing the truck go out, let alone an airlift. How many total riders ? 150?
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Old September 30th, 2016, 01:56 PM   #13
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Alright, write-up time
From terrifying to uplifting, that was an interesting read.
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Old October 1st, 2016, 01:40 AM   #14
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Damn. Two airlifts plus 42 more crashes? That's quite a butcher's bill. I think I would've called it a day by the second session. I'm glad the next day went better for ya.
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Old October 1st, 2016, 05:22 PM   #15
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Good for you Ben, they will be a better org with you for sure. Too bad you didnt make the Monday TD, I would have said hi
It is a shame, I was hoping to ride at lime rock this year but it wasn't meant to be. We'll see each other next season at some point. Hopefully at NJMP or PittRace since I don't think I'll be able to get to Mid-O

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Congrats again, Ben! This has to be very rewarding work, and I can really see you helping many, many riders out there. Saturday - wow. I hate seeing the truck go out, let alone an airlift. How many total riders ? 150?
175 each day with about 600 on waitlist. The event filled up more than a week in advance. Thank you, it is very rewarding. I love riding and being able to help people ride smoother and gain more confidence in their riding is a great experience

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Damn. Two airlifts plus 42 more crashes? That's quite a butcher's bill. I think I would've called it a day by the second session. I'm glad the next day went better for ya.
Yeah, it was a rough day. Thankfully none of the 42 crashes resulted in injury and the original two are projected to make full recoveries

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From terrifying to uplifting, that was an interesting read.
Thank you, I tried to capture my experience within the writing as much as possible
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Old October 2nd, 2016, 07:28 AM   #16
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I hope they cured the one guy's testosterone overdose.
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Old October 3rd, 2016, 02:00 PM   #17
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If only this could always be done before it's too late

Full writeup of my first coaching experience tomorrow but here's a summary

I worked with tons of different students as a coach dedicated to catching the riders who fall off their packs and picking them up to work with them 1 on 1 on the track.

Saturday was a mess and there was little we as coaches or the organization could do to put a stop to ridiculously reckless riding until we threatened to end the day early.

Sunday was amazing, everyone was receptive to coaching and I got to work with tons of riders in intro, novice(intermediate), and advanced. I got to ride like a workhorse 45min on track every hour minus the time spent talking to different riders.


I love the smiles on riders faces when they start to understand the riding techniques and get to see more of what their bikes are capable of. I love coaching
Yes, I think that as well. Sometimes riders do stupid **** right in front of us that cause a crash and there is nothing you can do about it. However, i've learned that if you see sketchy riding DO NOT HESITATE to jump in front of the rider ASAP and pull them in. I've pulled in many riders to say very clearly, "you are going to crash if you keep that up." I back it up with solid riding tech and show them what to DO instead. Most people don't mind being pulled in for that, be firm, state what you saw and what they should do instead.

I love the smiles and seeing people improve. Coaching is amazing and well worth all the effort put in. Most people see the benefits of being a coach and not the long hours of work we put in studying our material, doing homework, riding, practicing on our own etc...long days but very rewarding.

That being said, 42 crashes plus 2 airlifts?! I've never heard of such a think! That is insane!!

Also, you said, "causally hinting to take it easy in the morning..." in your write up. I'd ditch the causally hinting and being stating very seriously the dangers of cold tires and how important it is to take it easy for the first few laps in the morning. I don't ever hint at things, I state them exactly as they are. Your tires are COLD, they take 2-3 laps to warm up, do it slowly, take it easy or you will crash. Make it serious because it is. Some things are important to state firmly, track rules, passing rules, etiquette, safety etc....

I hope you keep posting about your coaching experiences. As I'm sure you realize, coaching is near and dear to my heart! I love it and love talking about ***
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Old October 3rd, 2016, 02:07 PM   #18
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Its the organizations fault for a lot of it. Just like Ben said, the airlift incident happened when it was supposed to be FOLLOW THE LEADER, people didnt listen and someone paid dearly from it.

Literally 2 days later, in my track day, there was 3 riders who did the same thing. It was follow leader the whole session, except for them i guess. 3 riders in this session blew past on the front straight. No coach said anything to them after or chased after them to make them stop. Thankfully there was no incident, but it seems to be business as usual for them.

I hope you instill some change with them Ben, i know you'll love the free track time though
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Old October 3rd, 2016, 02:08 PM   #19
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My recent coaching experience;

Even though I didn't have on a vest, riders don't forget you are a coach... even if you are just riding for fun as a paying customer.

I have been warning a rider that he is near the edge of crashing for 3 track days as such. I have pulled him in and let him know, I have chatted with him the paddock about it multiple times, I have lead him around on track to show him a safer line.

Yet... he still keeps adding lean + throttle to correct line issues post apex. Not sure how to help him, he is going to crash... it's a matter of time. But he won't listen.
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Old October 3rd, 2016, 03:23 PM   #20
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Yes, I think that as well. Sometimes riders do stupid **** right in front of us that cause a crash and there is nothing you can do about it. However, i've learned that if you see sketchy riding DO NOT HESITATE to jump in front of the rider ASAP and pull them in. I've pulled in many riders to say very clearly, "you are going to crash if you keep that up." I back it up with solid riding tech and show them what to DO instead. Most people don't mind being pulled in for that, be firm, state what you saw and what they should do instead.

I love the smiles and seeing people improve. Coaching is amazing and well worth all the effort put in. Most people see the benefits of being a coach and not the long hours of work we put in studying our material, doing homework, riding, practicing on our own etc...long days but very rewarding.

That being said, 42 crashes plus 2 airlifts?! I've never heard of such a think! That is insane!!

Also, you said, "causally hinting to take it easy in the morning..." in your write up. I'd ditch the causally hinting and being stating very seriously the dangers of cold tires and how important it is to take it easy for the first few laps in the morning. I don't ever hint at things, I state them exactly as they are. Your tires are COLD, they take 2-3 laps to warm up, do it slowly, take it easy or you will crash. Make it serious because it is. Some things are important to state firmly, track rules, passing rules, etiquette, safety etc....

I hope you keep posting about your coaching experiences. As I'm sure you realize, coaching is near and dear to my heart! I love it and love talking about ***
I agree that these things need to be stated firmly as well, the casual hinting was in addition to outright telling them. We put the idea to take it easier in their head, then reinforced it in the riders meeting. The idea behind it was to reinforce what is covered in the riders meeting.

I'm looking into getting a faster bike for coaching so I can more easily jump in front of people when it's necessary to slow them down or to pull them aside.

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I hope you instill some change with them Ben, i know you'll love the free track time though
I plan on doing what I can to make each day as safe and rewarding as possible for everyone who is riding. It's way more than just the track time
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Old October 3rd, 2016, 03:55 PM   #21
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I'm looking into getting a faster bike for coaching so I can more easily jump in front of people when it's necessary to slow them down or to pull them aside.
Now you understand why I don't coach on a 250. I know it can be done, I know it's cool to show riders that low hp bikes can pull good lap times... but at that pivotal moment, it's about the "intercept."
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Old October 3rd, 2016, 04:05 PM   #22
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Now you understand why I don't coach on a 250. I know it can be done, I know it's cool to show riders that low hp bikes can pull good lap times... but at that pivotal moment, it's about the "intercept."
Yep, I'll still go out on the 300 to coach if anyone wants coaching on a little bike (250-300-r3-390-650) but on the broad spectrum of coaching the 300 limits you quite a bit. It's a perfect race bike, great track day bike, not so great coaching bike.

currently looking into getting an sv650 (doesn't quite fit the bill but I can afford the tire bills to use it to race as well) R6, zx6r, gsxr 600, gsxr 1000, zx10r and a few others.

One other interesting feature that I want on the bike is mirrors. Looking backwards is so much more difficult than I ever imagined and mirrors would help alleviate the need to do so since I could confirm with a glance that the rider is still right behind me
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Old October 3rd, 2016, 04:10 PM   #23
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One other interesting feature that I want on the bike is mirrors. Looking backwards is so much more difficult than I ever imagined and mirrors would help alleviate the need to do so since I could confirm with a glance that the rider is still right behind me
Mirrors are cool and all for coaching, but they don't hold a candle to turning your head to look behind. The FOV between the two don't even come close overall. Awesome for a rider or two, but with 6 behind you... not so much.
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Old October 3rd, 2016, 04:30 PM   #24
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Mirrors are cool and all for coaching, but they don't hold a candle to turning your head to look behind. The FOV between the two don't even come close overall. Awesome for a rider or two, but with 6 behind you... not so much.
Given that I wear glasses the FOV is unfortunately inherently limited when I look backwards. I need to work on my backwards riding technique too to be able to look farther back
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Old October 4th, 2016, 11:35 AM   #25
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reevu

but not good with glasses
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Old October 4th, 2016, 11:51 AM   #26
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reevu
Definitely will not pass race tech and may have problems passing track day tech depending on the org. While coaches can bend the rules, I prefer to adhere to the same rules as I expect my riders to follow.
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Old October 4th, 2016, 12:03 PM   #27
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Definitely will not pass race tech and may have problems passing track day tech depending on the org. While coaches can bend the rules, I prefer to adhere to the same rules as I expect my riders to follow.
It is DOT and ECE Certified, what other certs are needed?
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Old October 4th, 2016, 12:10 PM   #28
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It's not the certs that might be problem, it's the design and extra opening in the rear. I aint trying to be a downer or anything but as of right now there are no rules regarding those types of helmets and if they deem it unfit for your group and you don't have another... your day is over before it even starts. It's like modular lids, many of those have the certs... but too bad. STILL NOT ALLOWED.

Moral of the story, call ahead to make sure.
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Old October 4th, 2016, 12:45 PM   #29
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reevu

but not good with glasses
I don't trust it

And like @csmith12 said it's best to lead by example. I added an extra safety wire tether to my gopro mount so it would be obvious it's secured to the bike. Every rule is there for a reason. When I pit out and in I stress the blend lines as much as humanly possible. I try to keep to the passing rules as much as possible as well to not allow anyone to think "well if he's doing it why can't I"
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Old October 4th, 2016, 12:47 PM   #30
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Safety is #1, the rules are there for a reason so it makes sense to follow them regardless

Also, it looks like coaching r2 is going to be in the wet and windy conditions of hurricane matthew
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Old October 6th, 2016, 02:00 PM   #31
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It was the most terrifying thing I have ever seen in my life.
I had to stop reading there and take a walk from my desk.
Thank you for the writeup, transporting us into your experiences, and for sharing your enthusiasm for the learnings
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Old October 7th, 2016, 09:19 PM   #32
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My recent coaching experience;

Even though I didn't have on a vest, riders don't forget you are a coach... even if you are just riding for fun as a paying customer.

I have been warning a rider that he is near the edge of crashing for 3 track days as such. I have pulled him in and let him know, I have chatted with him the paddock about it multiple times, I have lead him around on track to show him a safer line.

Yet... he still keeps adding lean + throttle to correct line issues post apex. Not sure how to help him, he is going to crash... it's a matter of time. But he won't listen.
Then he is not understanding something. Go back and figure out what he does understand about correct lines and throttle control and sort out the issue from there. Is he turning too early? What is he doing with the the throttle? What kinds of things might cause someone to add lean and throttle at the same time?
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Old October 7th, 2016, 09:40 PM   #33
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Yes, I think that as well. Sometimes riders do stupid **** right in front of us that cause a crash and there is nothing you can do about it. However, i've learned that if you see sketchy riding DO NOT HESITATE to jump in front of the rider ASAP and pull them in. I've pulled in many riders to say very clearly, "you are going to crash if you keep that up." I back it up with solid riding tech and show them what to DO instead. Most people don't mind being pulled in for that, be firm, state what you saw and what they should do instead.
She's done it to me. I always blush a bit but I always appreciate it more.
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Old October 8th, 2016, 05:37 PM   #34
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Well not much to report today. Never made it out on track

I got a full exhaust cheap and installed it only to run into issues within minutes of testing it. At first I thought it was just the bike running much leaner before I noticed a fuel leak!

My fuel rod (plastic part that disperses fuel from the fuel hose to the fuel injectors) had cracked! Causing the bike to run much leaner in addition to spraying fuel onto the motor. Naturally this is a difficult part to source in a day but I managed to borrow one for the weekend. Looking forward to some rain coaching tomorrow
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Old October 10th, 2016, 09:12 PM   #35
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Alright so I had an oddball weekend, we were hit dead on by the remnants of the hurricane so sunday was cancelled in the interest of rider safety. I spent the day getting my bike running. I got it to run with a borrowed fuel rail (borrowed off of a friend's spare 300) and left it as is for the night. We ended up being hooligans sliding 50s on the concrete with our own homemade track. I need to get my hands on one of those, sooner rather than later

Monday started out rough. The bike wouldn't run, after some trouble shooting I discovered that my gas was loaded with water. The O-ring on my gas cap appears to have gone bad and allows water in when it rains. After draining the tank and filling it with new gas the bike ran flawlessly. I love the sound of my new full yoshimura system

Now on to the important part, the actual coaching. I coached in intermediate and novice across the day working with 4 different riders in particular along with showing the line to riders here and there. I got to experience the part of coaching that isn't all sunshine and rainbows when several riders proceeded to break the rules regarding inside passes as well as following blend line procedure. Thankfully most riders stopped breaking those rules once I gave them a warning though there was one I had to sit out for a session to help the severity of rule breaking sink in.

On the bright side though there were several riders eager to learn, to the point where they approached me. Each one had completely different strengths and weaknesses so it was tricky, but fun, to figure out what they needed to do.

One struggled with hitting apexes but was confident entering and exiting corners, just ran the apex wide by a few feet every time. The thing he didn't realize was simple yet very prohibitive. He wasn't comfortable putting his body over the curbing as he thought he would lose grip. In his mind it hadn't clicked that his body is not directly over the tires so he can be closer to the apex by putting his body over the curbing instead. Later on in the day he got a bump to the next group!

Two of the riders suffered from visual issues, they were braking very early and drifting toward the apex rather than staying where they were and tipping in later. These riders were tricky to help. What I ended up doing was leading them (I much prefer following) and showing them the turn in points at much lower speed. I tried to help them open up their vision by reducing the speed, helping prevent them from panicking and starting an early turn in. I also explained that a later turn in from the correct section of the track requires less lean and is safer as they have more time to reduce speed as well as less need to tighten up at the end of the corner when they want to be on the throttle. One rider took this to heart and showed improvement when the speed was put back in, the other did not manage to improve this much across the day. I believe for him it is more of an issue with confidence in his turn in at speed but I was unable to put this theory to the test as the day was quickly coming to a close.

The last of the four showed good pace relative to his group. He actually came to me looking for a bump. I rode with him in novice and decided that he was smooth with his passing but was not able to get any section of clean track and was also unable to ride on line as he was passing people in almost every corner. I immediately decided to take him out in an intermediate session to see how he did with clean track and a faster group. I noticed a few things that seemed odd but made sense across this session. His pace did not increase much despite the lack of traffic, we were now being passed by almost everyone rather than passing everyone. As he was unable to learn the lines in novice, his lines were all over the place. I spent a lot of time in the classroom with him after this discussing the track and the lines. We also covered the why behind the lines. I gave him some pointers for BP as he was very upright on the bike. We rode again. His improvement was instantaneous. While he didn't get the bump that day, I am certain he will get it at his next track weekend. I also recorded some video of him for him to see what he is doing and will be taking notes of what I saw to give to him as well. This way he can continue to work on his knowledge of the technique while having a clear and focused goal based on his riding. One of the best things about working with this rider is that he was so focused on improving he didn't care about the straightaway so he was more than happy to cruise down the straight at 100mph to make it easier for me to stay right on his tail. I know very few superbike riders who are willing to ditch getting to go fast on the straight for a better chance to learn how to maintain corner speed and work on the techniques. This guy is going to be fast next season.

I had a blast yet again and can't wait to work with more riders in the future. Though I'm not a fan of the cold! BRRRRRRRRR
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Old October 11th, 2016, 12:33 AM   #36
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Takes all kinds aye?

So have you had the chance to ride a session that you would have rather skipped as a customer yet? Cold, wet, rushed, whatever?
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Old October 11th, 2016, 07:08 AM   #37
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Yes, session 1 yesterday was sketchy. I was rushed despite missing the actual first session due to bike issues. My tires were cold, the track was like ice and there were rivers flowing into a few corners that I didn't remotely trust. Had the front and rear slip at least four or five times the first two laps before they got a little heat in them
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Old October 11th, 2016, 07:29 AM   #38
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there were rivers flowing into a few corners that I didn't remotely trust
That happens to me all the time, but then I catch em in another section. I chalk it up to human differences. Yin and yang if you will.
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Old October 12th, 2016, 11:21 AM   #39
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She's done it to me. I always blush a bit but I always appreciate it more.
Hahaha, our first duty as a coach is to try and keep our students upright...at all costs! I've done some pretty sketchy passes to pull in students that I KNOW would have crashed next corner out had a not grabbed em!

Like you said, it may be a tad embarrassing at first but nearly all of my students are appreciative of the effort and concern for their safety. It's so valuable!

Happy coaching
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Old October 12th, 2016, 06:05 PM   #40
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Coaching is a tough job. It takes a special person to teach....
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