Learning a new track fast?

What are the steps that you guys utilize when riding a new track? How do you go about learning a new track fast?

 

Not fast at all, but walking a track looking for lines, runoff areas, pavement problems is always good ! Look for a series of turns that can be combined, possibly sacrificing speed in one so you can stay on line for others, paying most attention to exit speeds that lead onto longer, faster sections. Read Kieth Code's "Twist of the Wrist" series before going to a track. In fact, read it two or three times, and remember: "one turn, one lean angle."

Many track schools want you to ride a few laps without using the brakes so the track isn't rushing at you too fast to absorb it and you establish corner entry speeds without the dynamics of braking into the equation.

 

Bicycle aroond the track is better than walking imho. :wave: IcceE-Hunchin...Like the no brake thing too.

 

I'd have to agree ^^, Warren as bicycles are better than walking.:congratulatory:

 

This is good, I'd agree with all this but then how do you remember all that stuff? How do you really absorb what you have seen while walking, or riding the track?

 

It will not come over night. Some people have better aptitdudes to things, ie: someone may be a killer accountant, but a lousy skier, you get the picture. No matter what you do in life, there will be someone, faster, prettier, richer.

That sed, give yourself time to string things together. I was a fast street rider (still am.) I got into club style road racing in South FL (CCS) and did ok for the time that I participated. There are brake markers on the track for you to apply brakes, prior to dipping bike into turn. You can look for other things too, stopping is important btw. I used to beat people on the brakes, because I was a late braker.

Its just a ribbon of asphalt and you gota string all the turns into one seamless story in your head. I have a real good memory for that shit. I dont race any more but still got my YSR50 to drag patella at the local go-cart track :wacko:

Also, when I was involved with racing, track days did not exist, if they did, I would have had a dedicated track bike, and no way would the viffer have ventured oot on that track :thumbsup:

Good Luck, its the most fun you can have with your clothes/leathers on...

 

Anybody "walk" the track in roller skates?

All good stuff.. I hope the OP doesn't get the idea that track days are just something you pay a few bucks to do and it's carte-blanche.. balls to the wall. What will be found is all of the above and even a few who wear those crotchless chaps and find a way to have fun wearing leathers.

 

You touched on it above when you talked about braking markers on the track etc. That is what I was getting at in the original question, how do you learn/remember a track fast. It is one thing to just walk the track or follow other riders around but another thing to go about picking your own reference points for where you want to brake, turn the bike, apex, exit etc…That is the way to successfully navigate a track and begin to incorporate it into your memory.

I also like how you say that "Its just a ribbon of asphalt and you gota string all the turns into one seamless story in your head." By stringing all the reference points together you can create that seamless story in your head.

The OP is an ex AMA racer, coach with the California Superbike School, columnist for Motorcycle Mojo Magazine and blog writer at mistihurst.com I have two young kids now and don't get to ride much so when they are sleeping I check out various riding forum and enjoy talking about riding technique, skills, racing etc. It's like my way to stay involved in the sport when I can't get to the track as often as I would like. I love a good discussion

Have any of you ever drawn the track to help you remember it?

 

I suppose one could use a GPS or for us old dirtrack guys a blue marker and a little practice drawing ovals. You made the assumption that all might link your blog and posed a question that many rookies do. A little deceptive IMO.. This bunch here is a little rough around the edges and IMO you jumped the flag and now have to go to the last row.

If you are a "Coach" with Code you would know this shit upside down, forward and backward. Fifty Loonies says , my AMA # has fewer digits than yours.

 

It's not really all that complicated depending on your thinking. If you get it right in your head the track will come to you.

To make things simple- There are only three types of corners you have to learn. Coming off a straight, coming on to a straight and a corner between corners. The first two will be the ones you want to learn the most because that's where you can gain ground . A corner between corners is easy. You can't go fast in slow corners, so just take them the best you can. You can lose more time trying to take a slow corner fast than taking a fast corner slower.

Plus you have taken every corner on the track before. Whether on the street or another track. They are all rights and lefts of some type. You've been there before. All you have to do is put them in your head in track order.

Yea I know sounds easy. The main thing is to get them in your head correctly. Your mental thinking is more important than anything else when racing. Draw the track on paper (or picture of it) and study it, keep looking at it, remember it. Your head has to be way out in front of you and your bike before you even get close to the corner in order to execute it correctly.

When in practice sessions don't worry about going fast or the whole track. You can concentrate on one corner at a time. Keep upping your speed or whatever on corner "A" until you feel good. Then move on to corner "B" and concentrate on that one till you get it right. Or if your having a hard time then skip that corner and move to the next. You can always come back to the trouble one, don't let it ruin your concentration. Eventually you will learn every (or most) corners on the track individually. Then you just string them together. That way you are only concentrating on one corner at a time when learning. Then once strung together you can start to fine tune. Just try and take the corners correctly and forget about speed because the speed will come to you when you correctly take corners.

simple uh?

 

Wut a TEASE. May have sketched a track on a cocktail napkin, but the next morning was foggy (not to be confused with Carl Fogarty.) and everything was muddled together.

I loved the Empress and BC in general and wanted to get married there, no luck, ended up doing it in my parents back yard, nice wedding though. Victoria was the most beautiful place after Paris imho...


Always dug street riding more than racing, have racer friends that used to say I was nuts for riding on the street. Think some have converted and got street S

:rip: Rick Shaw

 

I like analogies, doing the "brake marker" thing is like getting away with something. You try to be conservative, then you increase the "anti" a little more and a little more until you have that inverse reaction in your bumm. :wacko:

If you were a shop-lifter, you would start by steeling some roll-on deoderant, and escalate it to a hi-fi (do they make hi-fi any more??)...You get the picture. One could get you arrested, the other gets you in the ambulance...Cheers.

 

I learn a track fast from a good tow. I did 2 days at Mid Ohio this summer and being that I have only done our 4 flat tracks here in Fl the elevation change and blind turns was nuts the first session. Got a tow from a good CR the next session and I was no longer yelling "oh fuck!" in my helmet. And even at tracks that I have been to a lot I learn a lot from a good tow from a faster rider.

Misti its good to see you on another forum.
Bosarge22

 

And buy the way, she can haul the mail!

 

I think it's often more simple than people make it out to be and you make a few really good points here. First of all I love how you say that "you can lose more time trying to take a fast corner slow…" When you want to increase your speed it helps to break the track into chunks and look for the areas, like the faster corners where you could shave off more time. I also like how you say that there are basically three types of corners and that we've seen them before (even if we have never been on the track) 90 degree left, 90 degree right whatever.

I agree that you need to be able to visualize them and having some solid reference points to aim for will help you be able to visualize the corner better. What kinds of things do you guys use as reference points and how many ideally would you want to have in any given corner?

Hahah yes moving your brake marker back a little is a little bit like "getting away with something". You get that sense of accomplishment when you move it back a bit and you still make the corner, then you pucker the next time around

One challenge I find is when you increase your speed at the exit of one corner for example and you are proud of the fact that you have gone through it faster, but then you end up approaching the next turn with a higher entry speed and you freak out and over brake and end up going slower through that turn, so the gains you made in the previous turn were then lost on the next turn. How do you solve that?

nice to see you too

Why do you think it helps so much when we follow someone faster than us? Is it simply that they give us more confidence? If they can do it than surely we can do it too? Or do your visuals change? Are you looking farther ahead? Do you have a wider field of vision? Both?

 

I get more confidence to go faster with a good tow. I try to not look at them directly but ahead through the turns and keep a peripheral eye on them. Often they will point out apex's clearer and brake markers. Going back to the pits and having discussions with the CR and a track map really helps, and if you can go out with him again after these talks it is really confidence inspiring.

 

I had a problem once regarding a braking point during a turn on a track, after I spoke with someone, they suggested I just snick it into a downshift instead of braking. It worked and that part of the track was no long a problem for me.

 

Ever hit a false neutral? You will realize real quick how much you are using engine braking! lol I have near crapped myself when that has happened.

 

Negative on the false neutral on the track at least, very seasoned and fussy foot. I witnessed some hair ball antics though, this one comes to mind, TZ125 rider would pull clutch in at end of back straight, click up (racing pattern) and release clutch while matching RPM with appropiate gear that he would be in. Well, one day he either picked up a false neutral or broke something. Well no engine braking, no nothing. Ended up in the tyre barrier, I never saw such black and blue marks on someone like that before.

 

My track experience is limited to only two tracks, Road America and The Autobahn, south of Chicago. I took a two day school at the Autobahn with Jason Pridmore and had a fantastic time. Because it was my first time there and my first track experience, I wasn't focused on actually learning the track although that was a byproduct of the 200 or so miles I rode over the two days. After day one, I found myself visualizing the track in my head as I rode lap after virtual lap. By day two I probably logged an additional couple of hundred miles of virtual laps and with that I was able to become really comfortable on it and not just on the fast line but also when passing on the outside and having to adjust for the entry of the next corner. It is a short track so it was relatively easy to commit to memory and establish reference points. I was never fast by any stretch of the imagination but I learned a ton and did the VFR proud.
I only did track days at Road America but prior to going the first time I watched hours of Youtube videos and got a feel for how the track flowed so I wasn't a complete boob when I arrived. I started in B group and learned the track pretty well. Once again, that night the virtual laps played over and over in my head so by day two I was ready. Was I ever fast? Hell no but I advanced to I group on my VFR and that ain't bad for a newbe track day rider on an old bike. To this day, these track days stand out as the best days of my life!