[gixxerjasen]

I've been doing a few trackdays recently and I've noticed that I have hit sort of a mental barrier to going faster. Sure I'm riding the tracks and getting to know them more intimately as well as the bike, and thereby going faster by knowing lines and how the bike responds...but I'm not really taking it to the next level. Better lines, but the same old entrance speeds. I come out of the corner and afterwards I think I could have taken that corner faster, but next go round, its the same speed. Been quite frustrating actually.

Today I'm out...fantastic weather, the g-town squid squad missed out for sure...and having a good ole time at the track with Zelig and Denee running the combined two tracks at Cresson for the 3.1 mile course.

I line up to go out on the last session of the day and I'm behind a guy on an Aprilia RS250. I've been really interested in the 250 two smokes but haven't ridden one or been around one being ridden. I figure I'll follow this guy around and check out his bike.

Bam...right off, the guy is hauling serious butt through the corners. He starts to get away but I have been playing with running in my powerband and getting my shifting down so anytime the track straightens out I'm reeling him back in. This is fun I think. We then get stuck behind a slower moving guy...he gets by, and finally I get by a turn or three later and he's way up ahead. I continue to ride hard and before I know it I've caught him again.

I figure if I can catch this speedy little bastard, then I can pass him. Somewhere in me some competitive adrenalin starts pumping into my veins that I didn't know I had. (I'm the most uncompetitive guy I know) Now it's on, I want a piece of that little 250. I can't pull a good clean pass within the scope of the safety rules set in place though as he's late braking and hauling butt through the turns and I can catch him about time for the next turn. Before I know it, I'm starting to not get left behind in the turns and am getting a good drive out of the turns.

A few laps later I'm on his ass from the start to the finish of the turns and I'm flying through these turns at speeds I haven't seen yet. Suddenly I see the checkered flag and realize this is our last lap, but we've still got the full 3.1 to go. I've got the corner speed, the drive and the HP to pass him on the straight. But then I figure, passing a 250 on the straights is just cheating, and he'd helped me so much I figured he earned the right to lead me around one more lap. Besides, I might just hold him up if I got in front of him anyway because I wasn't sure I could do that pace on my own if I wasn't chasing.

I pulled off the track and followed him to his pit area and told him how I'd been following him the entire session and how he helped me go up to the next level. He was an older Italian guy and was pleased as punch to know that while he was out there having fun he'd helped someone out.

This was perfect as I've tried to hang with folks slightly faster than me, but usually they are on bikes as powerful as mine and I can't reel them in on the straights and after three turns they are gone and I'm riding on my own again. Wasn't so with this guy on the 250 though. It was a perfect match and got me in the right groove.

Ya wanna go faster? Chase a 250 GP bike round the track...it'll make you go faster.

 

[n2wheelies]

right on :thumbup

everything i learn in general seems to be from the older folk. dont know if you saw dukens post earlier today but the theme rings true.

definitely need to do more trackdays.

 

[Mr. DOBALINA]

Nice post! Yeah, you hit plateaus out there & sometimes even get stuck in ruts. Then you hook up with someone & have some good dicing & maybe even try a new line at an old track you know & boom, you get something new out of the experience. My best day at the track was also the day of my hardest crash though. Go figure. Was following an AMA racer on his GSXR600 (Jason Curtis) & we hooked up for a few sessions just by chance. I reeled him in down the straights & I kept pushing my braking markers further & further back in an effort to stay with him in the slower infield sections of the course. Yeah, I could just go a little faster on the corner entrances & keep just that bit more corner speed up & kept him in my sights. I was riding on the ragged edge & sliding around all over the place but not riding wildly out of control.

But I did end up really cooking my tires that one session & as I rode the following session the sliding progressed more & I figured it was all due to the track still being "green" as no one had ridden on that track in several months. So I rationalized away how hard I was actually pushing it & the feedback my tires were giving me. When the rear finally let go it came almost all the way around at close to 100 mph while I was hard on the gas accelerating through the left handed kink in the Cali Speedway's infield. If you are hanging with a 250cc rider who is riding well you are doing very well; good job! But keep a very close eye on your tire wear & if it starts to slide & does so fairly easily and it occurs over a couple of laps back it off a bit ehh! That TL of yours weighs quite a bit more than a 2-stroke 250 & to keep the same corner speed through those turns as a 250 you will definitely fry your tires. Not saying it can't be done, just watch yourself out there & don't make the rationalization mistake I made that day.

Hey N2 - it's been about 1 1/2 years since I last saw you turn left & right at a race track! We are going to be back out at the Cali Speedway in the middle of October though. We have one more weekend out there November 25 & 26th & then we are done for the year at that track. Given it is the end of September I am pretty darn sure we are getting close to selling out that October weekend like we do all the events we run on that AMA track configuration.

Hint, hint...
:idea
.

 

[Guest]

good writeup jasen, i know the feeling :yes :thumbup

 

[zelig]

(I'm the most uncompetitive guy I know)

I know -- I seem to remember a DRZ outbraking you into Little Bend during a previous session. :devious

Jasen and I gridded next to RS guy before that session and I followed them both out in the 2-smoke wake. I think they disappeared within two turns. :hail

 

[BikePilot]

That's awsome:thumbup Most all of what I learned about off road riding came from chaseing old fast guys around:cool

 

[gixxerjasen]

That TL of yours.

TL :O gixxerjasen -> :bitchslap <- Mr. Dobalina

:lol

Thanks for the comments guys, man what a great trackday. Had a blast. Yes, I opted on the safety side to not pass some guy going into turn 3. Not really a good way for me around. Of course there's always many other ways around for an SM and zooom, Zelig comes by late braking in and takes us both. I looked over at him smiling and shouted in my helmet.."ASSMUNCH!" I got the guy in front of me on the next turn and went to hunt a DRZ. Got him a few turns later.

If I had the money right now, this would be soooooo tempting.
http://www.tlzone.net/forums/showthread.php?t=77344

I'll also say that the 250 rider was self admitted that he wasn't a fast 250 rider. Maybe he wasn't that fast or maybe he was just being modest, but when we went out he was faster than I was and it was just very rewarding to be able to push through that barrier. Loads of smiles yesterday afternoon.

 

[Duken4evr]

Besides, I might just hold him up if I got in front of him anyway because I wasn't sure I could do that pace on my own if I wasn't chasing.

Yep, getting towed by a faster rider is much easier than leading. Smart decision!

Mr. D brings up a good point about your tires. When I start to feel sliding, I ease off because I am a big puss :laugh

 

[Kamikuza]

Yeah, all you ******* harley heads might mock us 2-stroke jap-scrap rice burner riders ... but there's a reason there's a huge grin on our faces
Now if I could just do what I dont on my NS on the TL :banghead although binning the NS costs like 30 cents to repair :laugh

 

[Mr. DOBALINA]

oOpS!

Ohh, you were on your GSXR600 track bike? Damn, next time I should wake up or something! Nevermind that entire post I tossed down then.


And now for something completely different...


But wait a second.


You had a guy on an Aprilia RS250 take you to school?


Huh!


That would have been motivation enough for me to throw the gauntlet down & go up to another level or 2!

:laugh

Aprilia RS :O Mr. DOBALINA -> :whipping<- gixxserjasen



LOL!


JK Jasen. Yeah, hooking up with someone & playing around is very cool. Especially when the other rider is just a bit faster than you through certain sections & you can push harder & take things to another level. That is always extremely cool - usually takes a few days to wipe the smile off my face. Hopefully the egg will wipe off a bit quicker!

 

[gixxerjasen]

Yea, one thing I thought of, that was the only session of the day where I didn't get passed even once. Either all the fast guys were on the other side of the 3.1 mile track or we were hauling. We did pass quite a few folks out there. Everyone that came in contact with the RS fell victim to his late braking into turn 3 of the old track. Then they usually fell victim to MY turn 4. I can late brake in there and I have a zillion lines through there cuz I've tried every line through there to find an ideal and can't find one, but I know em all. :thumbup

 

[Dread]

you guys are making me jealous.

 

[NYCSTRIPES]

Nice writeup. I did quite a few track days this year and I am planning more for 2007. I will be sure to write about how I like riding the TZ250 I just bought in the Springtime.
Congrats on having such a productive track day and keeping your head in check with regard to passing the RS on the final lap.
I think some guys miss the entire point of riding a track day, almost every track event I attend, there are always crashes, sadly its because guys think they are racing, not club riding.

Looking forward to 2007.
Ken