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Absolutely brilliant. Looks like an amazing time! Kristi

This is a tough one. I like Barber because it keeps me on my toes visually--you've really got to have your visual skills working for you to go fast there. Virginia International Raceway has beautiful scenery, friendly staff (as Cobie pointed out), and the elevation changes are totally fun. But with all these fancy tracks to choose from I think my most favorite of all is our home track, Streets of Willow. It is a great place to coach because I know it so well. We get to run it forward and backward on two-day camps, which changes things up and keeps it fresh. It just plain feels like home to me. Kristi

Just as an FYI I'm called Baywatch on my swim team... so you're not far off base, Derek. : )

There are a couple ways to do this, some bikes have simple lap timers built into them (My 2006 Kawi ZX-6R does, for example) but it generally requires the rider to press a button each time they cross the start/finish line. Next, there are lap timer/transponders that you can purchase your own beacon for. You set up your beacon at the start/finish line, or any stationery spot around the track so that each time you pass it, it trips your on-board transponder and records 1 lap completed. Be careful as some beacon/transponders are infrared, which requires essentially a "line of sight" between the beacon and the transponder which cannot be obstructed by fairings or bring walls or people, otherwise the lap won't be counted. Then there are systems such as the AMB transponder unit. It's also an on-board transponder that you can tuck under your bike's tail section or strap to the swing arm, or place anywhere (obstructions are okay) and the track organizer must have an AMB beacon at start/finish which will trip the transponder and record your time. Most major track day organizations that I know of use this system. The track day organizers may print out your times and post them there at the track. At the Superbike School, for a small fee, they will strap a transponder to your bike and record your lap times for you. At the end of the day you will receive a print out. Lap times are a great way to track your progress, hope you have luck in finding the right system for you. The unit I personally use is AMB. Kristi

Hi acebobby, good to see you on here keeping the discussion going! I think you've got a great question here: "what are your current riding goals and how are you going about achieving them?" Perhaps it was meant for other students, but hope you don't mind if a coach pops in. First off, my goals change depending on what I assess is going well and what I believe can be improved. For example, body position had been an issue I focused on for a good amount of time previously, but I now find myself focusing on the more fundamental elements of riding. The catalyst for this shift in focus was my racing. To drop times, I needed to do a couple things: -get the optimal entry speed into corners (by finding RP's for braking, downshifting and a turn point) -get on the gas sooner once the bike was turned. -in order to get on the gas sooner, I needed to get my turning done sooner (quick turn) -once turned, I needed to roll on the gas smoothly but stronger (throttle control) Of course, working on everything all the time in every corner is a lot harder than focusing on the one major out point, right? So in the five minutes after a ride session at a practice day, I think about what stood out to me and do a little self-diagnosis. What stood out from the session, or in other words, where was my attention focused? If it was on the entry of a particular corner, then I'll look at my visual skills in that corner (am I getting target fixed? What skills sort that out?), etc. Thanks for the stimulating question. I look forward to reading more answers on it! Kristi

Wrong! We just completed a week at Thunderbolt and it was a hit with all the coaches, far as I could tell. Which 2-day camp did you sign up for, the one in May or the one in August? If you did in fact take the school that just finished this past week (May 13-14), let us all know how you ended up liking Thunderbolt. It would be nice if there were 1 or 2 more left hand turns, but aside from that it had a great mix of elements: fast turns, elevation, blind rise, excellent facilities that were nicely maintained. Feedback from any of the students who were with us at Thunderbolt? Kristi

Hey CSK, the way the coaches do it is fly into Philadelphia (airport code PHL), rent cars, and drive the appx. 1 hour trip southward to Millville, New Jersey. I'm not aware of a train that'll do it but there just might be one. I think you'll like the track once you get there! I know us coaches were pretty impressed with it. We just got off a week coaching there! One other suggestion if you're looking for hosting is to contact the corner workers who most probably live nearby who will be working and riding the event. You can get information on corner workers and how to contact the lead corner worker here: http://www.cornerworkers.com/contact%20us.html Good luck and I look forward to riding with you in August. Kristi

Cobie; Laguna was amazing and for all of you who say "I never ride in the rain" I strongly encourage you try it; especially if you sign up for School and it rains. As one who has parked his bike at previous schools when it rained, this time I said not today; today I am going out there. Day one it rained all morning so we all had to find our traction limits as we worked on our drills. It was a perfect laboratory for fine tuning throttle control as it was pretty common to find the rear end stepping out lap after lap. The advantages of learning/practicing the quick turn, the pick up drill, the hook turn, the hip flick not to mention the visual drills in the rain required intense concentration such that that these skills became ingrained in a way I hadn't experienced before. Once we were permitted to use our brakes, we could find the limits with them as well so it was all good. I think it was the first session after lunch that found exiting T10 heading toward 11 we were riding underneath a spectacular rainbow. Wait a minute...to have a rainbow you need the sun don't you? ...the sun is coming out? Well the sun did come out and with a rapidly drying track and our carefully developed new skills in hand, the pace started to ramp up. By the next session it was totally dry and Ka-POW! The track was rockin'! Day two was exactly reversed; we had a dry morning where we honed our day 1 skills while integrating our new drills on a dry track before the sky opened up and we all needed to adjust back to the basics...good throttle control again took center stage. We now could adapt our total training into wet condidions but with more confidence and the rain pace of the Day 2 was pretty impressive. What an awesome two day learning experience. It has been a number of years since I have attended a two-day camp and I had forgotten that it is a real unique format for the School to display all that it can do for a rider. With a two to one student/coach ratio, we got a lot of attention, a lot of coaching and an incredible amount of track time - even with the rain. During dry sessions the off track training was constant and even in the rain; the brake bike got a good workout. Keith, the coaches, Will and the entire team was accessible all day because the reduced number of students in a two day camp allowed them the flexibility to be available more so than a conventional School. I am still stoked… Kevin Kevin, It was great to work with you during part of the Two-Day Camp at Laguna--that track sure is different in the wet than in the dry! Great job choosing to ride rather than sit it out. It certainly does make for a learning experience that we in California don't get quite as often as our friends in the UK. I think it rains there more than the sun shines! Kristi

To add to what Stuman said, your friend/spectator/photographer can walk around freely in the pits to snap face-time photos, and also just a short drive gets them up above turn 4/5 which is close enough to the track to grab some pics. Other than that, I think Etech Photo (the school's photographer) is your best bet for awesome on-track riding photos. Kristi

Genevieve, great to have you with us! I can't wait to see you at the schools. Which series do you race? Do you race in Canada, or America, or both? Exciting to have another lady rider on the forum. All the best, Kristi

Great to have you with us on the forum, and soon at the school. From what I hear, Mid-Ohio is a great track. I suspect you'll have a blast! Think your kids might take the school, too? Kristi

BH - Your advice on goal setting and achievement is excellent and inspiring. I've printed it out and got it taped on the wall beyond my laptop here at work. Thanks for the words of wisdom. Kristi

Congratulations! It's great to hear that your application of the techniques has earned you such positive and noticeable differences in your riding. At which track do you plan to take Levels 1 & 2 next year? Kristi