Summer 2015 - California Superbike School at The Ridge

[EternalNewb]

Hah! Here it is, nearly a whole year late, but at least I have it up! Also, there may be a running joke that even with how late this is, I’d somehow manage to beat Momaru in posting my track/school report before him (from over a year prior to this track school).

Last year in July, I had the opportunity, courtesy of my very generous and sweet friend/sister, Yakaru, to head over to Washington and take three days of training with California Superbike School at the Ridge Motorsports Park. Outside of a track day on my 250 a few years prior, and some time on minis at kart tracks (also courtesy of some very sweet and generous friends), I hadn’t been on the track much, let alone on anything bigger than a 250. Since I’m not from Washington, and was strongly advised against riding my daily up for use in the school, I completed the classes on one of the school’s BMW S1000RRs. It is by far the biggest bike I’ve operated, and the idea of having to pay for repairs if I dumped it definitely kept me from pushing much. My bike is my daily partially because I need to be frugal, so expensive repairs on a BMW aren’t on my to-do list.

I took Level 1 as a one-day school, not really knowing what to expect. Sure, I had read a dusty, old, black and white copy of Twist of the Wrist and watched the video version a number of times, but there’s a difference between that and riding in a controlled environment with actual instructor feedback. The school format cycled through classroom sessions, on-track time, and coach feedback. Many of the skills covered were fundamental riding techniques that make a world of difference when actively honed and applied. They started with throttle control, having students ride around the track in one gear without using the brakes. Afterwards, they began to help spoon-feed us lines, by giving us turn in points on the track, marked with handy white x’s. We were also allowed to use two gears. While very helpful, it almost felt like cheating to me, and I had to remind myself that these were training tools, not shortcuts in a race or something. The third drill and classroom session focused on turning the bike quickly and decisively, instead of progressively with mid-corner corrections. They also allowed light use of the brakes at this point. For me, the quick turn drill was somewhat challenging, as I do have the sometimes bad habit of making corrections in the middle of a turn. After that, they moved on to looking at another big issue for any rider--rider input. More specifically, the drill was about relaxing on the bike, since being tense often just creates problems. The final drill shifted more to visuals, and was kind of like dipping our toes into Level 2 material. The Two-Step, as they call it has students visually focus on their turn-in point, then their apex.

Yakaru, Momaru, and I had a day off, before the three of us were to return for a two-day school. I had one classmate in the two-day school, and we were both covering Level 2 and Level 3. Level 2 started with reference points, and I quickly learned why closer/on-track reference points are likely more valuable than those far off in the distance. I kept playing with reference points through the course of the day, be they visual or tactile. Keeping reference points in mind, I felt, worked really well in combination with the second drill for the day: change lines, which had us exploring the entirety of the track, inside and out, at a slow pace. This really gave me a chance to find reference points that worked well for me. The change lines drill also gave me a better idea of how much of the track I wasn’t using. The next drill, the three-step, added the exit point to the two step, so riders are sighting that after the apex, showing yet again how controlling the “look where you want to go” process can be better harnessed for results. There were a couple other drills, like “Wideview”, which involves more conscious use of peripheral vision, and “Pickup”, which definitely helped with some throttle issues I’d been encountering in the corners (namely trying to accelerate before straightening the bike up).

Level 3 focused a lot on body position, and how different parts of the anatomy played into controlling the bike. I really enjoyed the first drill on “hook turns”, as well as how much the course emphasized lower body and core control of the motorcycle. I’ll admit that the last drill, “attack angles” was somewhat lost on me, because I was still working on some things from level 2, and trying to correct and improve my body positioning. During the off-track drill, Misti gave me some super solid instruction and helped me during parking lot drills. One piece of advice she gave me about pointing my inside elbow down helps me to this day.

There were also some sessions at the end of each day for riders to work on specific things they wanted to improve, which I found particularly helpful. I’m one of those people who finds repetition and practice helpful, so having some time to revisit and work on specific skills at the end of the day was great. As much as the entry to the corkscrew gave me some trouble, it was by far my favorite part of the track. My coach, Mikey, happened to be behind me when I first grazed my knee slider along the pavement: through the left exiting the corkscrew. The hugs and high-fives from him as soon as we got in the pits and shared in the excitement were great. All in all, it was a huge opportunity to learn a lot and hone existing skills.

[Yakaru]

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