nigeljewell Posted September 15, 2009 Report Share Posted September 15, 2009 Hello all I've just completed Level one at Silverstone on saturday 12th and spent the last 3 days reading through the forum....how much more info can my brain take ?!!! I've been riding for 10 years, but was a late starter (38 ),,had numerous trackdays , attended similar type school (well almost similar !!!) , started racing as novice '07 , (crashing '08 !!) and never have I been able to take in so much new information in just one day. ( 3 big eureka moments in one day ) Regained loads of confidence and even some understanding of why the bike does what it does and why certain actions give certain results. A big thank you to all the staff who made the day so enjoyabe .. and to my instructor (Jed ? I think ) who was a top top bloke ...... regards to all Nigel Hope the instructor who came off is ok.....not in my session but saw an incident from pit wall ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullet Posted September 15, 2009 Report Share Posted September 15, 2009 Hello all I've just completed Level one at Silverstone on saturday 12th and spent the last 3 days reading through the forum....how much more info can my brain take ?!!! I've been riding for 10 years, but was a late starter (38 ),,had numerous trackdays , attended similar type school (well almost similar !!!) , started racing as novice '07 , (crashing '08 !!) and never have I been able to take in so much new information in just one day. ( 3 big eureka moments in one day ) Regained loads of confidence and even some understanding of why the bike does what it does and why certain actions give certain results. A big thank you to all the staff who made the day so enjoyabe .. and to my instructor (Jed ? I think ) who was a top top bloke ...... regards to all Nigel Hope the instructor who came off is ok.....not in my session but saw an incident from pit wall ... Hi Nigel, Really glad you had a great day, and you learned loads. Hopefully it provided you with a good start and we can continue to devlop your skills going forwards. As for who your coach, we don't have a Jed, but the crew who were on were, hollywood, Butch, Bullet, Griffin, Nemo, Matthew, and Flash. As for the coach that fell, that would be me, I'm fine thanks, nothing too serious, a broken collarbone and some ribs, but I'm still smiling and raring to get back at it. Just one of those odd things can happen, a mistake by a student, misread by myself which resulted in me on the floor, the bosses 09 R1 smashed up, and a trip to the hospital. The student was totally fine, unharmed and carried on his day, in fact he had a fantastic day by all accounts, mine slightly less fun, but we all walked away and we're all smiling and laughing about it. Thanks for your concern man, we hope to see you again in 2010. Bullet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hubbard_28 Posted September 16, 2009 Report Share Posted September 16, 2009 Howdy. Glad to have you. Also glad to hear so many people had such amazing experiences. I was at the races Sunday and saw a guy with a CSS shirt, and asked him what he thought about it. He was excited just to be able to share his experience. His eyes were wide open, and he didn't even stop to take a breath. That's including him telling me he didn't get much trackday the second day because of rain. I can't wait for the end of October. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nigeljewell Posted September 16, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 16, 2009 Glad you're ok Bullet..... Found the photo of my instructor on the homepage,,and it was John Trotter (Jet)..called him Jed all day,,!!! I'll be on the first school in 2010 .. I think it's amazing that riders all over the world are gettin' a buzz being taught the same stuff..... Nigel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullet Posted September 16, 2009 Report Share Posted September 16, 2009 Found the photo of my instructor on the homepage,,and it was John Trotter (Jet)..called him Jed all day,,!!! Oi ai, forgot about him, yeah, Jet. I'll pass on yer regards man. Bullet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lwarner Posted September 17, 2009 Report Share Posted September 17, 2009 Welcome to the forum. I'm a member of several sites and this one is head and shoulders above the rest! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cobie Fair Posted September 17, 2009 Report Share Posted September 17, 2009 Welcome Nigel, Bullet, heard about your off, what a drag mate. CF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullet Posted September 18, 2009 Report Share Posted September 18, 2009 Welcome Nigel, Bullet, heard about your off, what a drag mate. CF Ai, but we're still smiling mate. It's all good. Luckily, end of season, and I'm still going on Spain/Portugal trip, although clearly I cannot ride. Was just an accident, I bare no grudges or resetment, and sure it won't bother me when I get back on next year! Bullet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sof Posted September 18, 2009 Report Share Posted September 18, 2009 Hi Nigel and welcome . Congratulations on your first school day. I just joined the forum too and a Brit ex-pat. I remember going to the beach in Devon which was one of the few British beaches that didn't have pebbles! I love that area. Anyway, it's great you did level 1. You mentioned you had 3 big Eureka moments and I was curious what they were exactly if you don't mind sharing? I can remember when I did level 1 and I was shocked by how much input I was giving the bars without realizing it. That was one of my big moments when we did the "rider input" drill or chicken wings as I like to call it, and I noticed I could carry a lot more corner speed right away. I find it amazing what fear and a lack of understanding can do to a person, and in my case it made me grip the bars for dear life! That brings to mind another great article by Keith about the "effort-loop" which makes so much sense. Like you, I started when I was in my twenties, and although I wished I had started sport bike riding sooner, I'm just happy that I started at all. It must have been fun riding Silverstone. You are lucky to ride a great track, one that's going to be on the MotoGP calender next year! I have no idea what it looks like at this stage, but I hope they'll probably include it in the latest MotoGP video game so I can learn some lines before riding it someday. Well mate, I'm getting prepped for my level 3 tomorrow so I'd better get to it. Hey Bullet, sorry to hear about your crash too, but I'm glad you're not too hurt and it's the end of the season for you. Were you planning to ride in Spain/Portugal. It makes me think of the GP coming up at Estoril. Are you going to see the race? I was lucky enough to go to Valencia last year for the final race. I wish I could have ridden the track, but it was great just being there and experiencing the atmosphere. I'll never forget it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nigeljewell Posted September 21, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 Hi Nigel and welcome . Congratulations on your first school day. I just joined the forum too and a Brit ex-pat. I remember going to the beach in Devon which was one of the few British beaches that didn't have pebbles! I love that area. Anyway, it's great you did level 1. You mentioned you had 3 big Eureka moments and I was curious what they were exactly if you don't mind sharing? I can remember when I did level 1 and I was shocked by how much input I was giving the bars without realizing it. That was one of my big moments when we did the "rider input" drill or chicken wings as I like to call it, and I noticed I could carry a lot more corner speed right away. I find it amazing what fear and a lack of understanding can do to a person, and in my case it made me grip the bars for dear life! That brings to mind another great article by Keith about the "effort-loop" which makes so much sense. Like you, I started when I was in my twenties, and although I wished I had started sport bike riding sooner, I'm just happy that I started at all. It must have been fun riding Silverstone. You are lucky to ride a great track, one that's going to be on the MotoGP calender next year! I have no idea what it looks like at this stage, but I hope they'll probably include it in the latest MotoGP video game so I can learn some lines before riding it someday. Well mate, I'm getting prepped for my level 3 tomorrow so I'd better get to it. Hey Bullet, sorry to hear about your crash too, but I'm glad you're not too hurt and it's the end of the season for you. Were you planning to ride in Spain/Portugal. It makes me think of the GP coming up at Estoril. Are you going to see the race? I was lucky enough to go to Valencia last year for the final race. I wish I could have ridden the track, but it was great just being there and experiencing the atmosphere. I'll never forget it. Hi Sof Unfortuantely the figure in brackets was my age when I started not my age now ,,was it deliberately misleading !! Anyway.after 2 years racing in f400 I couldn't work out why i was being left at the exits and blamed it on lack of hp etc etc Eureka moment 1) came in the first lesson as Glen explained throttle control and the theory behind it ,,then doin it on track never felt so right before !! The quick turn and rider input were the other two. I'm sure my bike wondered who was on it for the day ,,, coz at the end of the day it didn't feel like me !!!!! The only embarrasing part was picking up the free t-shirt in front of the school,,even the t-shirt is top quality ..... let us know how that level 3 went Nige Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lwarner Posted September 23, 2009 Report Share Posted September 23, 2009 That's awesome Nige. Quick turn and rider input were revelations for me as well. I had two more on level 2 and now my imagination is running wild with all the "secrets" I will learn on the other levels, hahahaha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cobie Fair Posted September 23, 2009 Report Share Posted September 23, 2009 Sof was getting around pretty good this last weekend at the Streets. CF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullet Posted September 26, 2009 Report Share Posted September 26, 2009 Hey Bullet, sorry to hear about your crash too, but I'm glad you're not too hurt and it's the end of the season for you. Were you planning to ride in Spain/Portugal. It makes me think of the GP coming up at Estoril. Are you going to see the race? I was lucky enough to go to Valencia last year for the final race. I wish I could have ridden the track, but it was great just being there and experiencing the atmosphere. I'll never forget it. Hey mate, Just back from Spain/Portugal , and its been a great week, the weather has ben sensational, warm, but not too hot. Everryone has had an exceptional week for sure. Jerez, well, we've been there before and its certainly sensational, so I didn't feel like I missed out too much by not riding there, Portimao however, wow, what a place that it. I don't think I've ever seen a track go up and down so much in my life, I think the words may of the riders, "students and coaches" used on the first morning was "terrorfying". I have to be honest and say I was pretty gutted to miss out on that, but another time i guess, another time. Thanks again for thoughts, /i greatly appreciate them. I'll be back on a bike ASAP, hopefully early in the new year, after healing fully, and regaining my strength and fitness. Bullet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sof Posted September 26, 2009 Report Share Posted September 26, 2009 Hi Sof Unfortuantely the figure in brackets was my age when I started not my age now ,,was it deliberately misleading !! Anyway.after 2 years racing in f400 I couldn't work out why i was being left at the exits and blamed it on lack of hp etc etc Eureka moment 1) came in the first lesson as Glen explained throttle control and the theory behind it ,,then doin it on track never felt so right before !! The quick turn and rider input were the other two. I'm sure my bike wondered who was on it for the day ,,, coz at the end of the day it didn't feel like me !!!!! The only embarrasing part was picking up the free t-shirt in front of the school,,even the t-shirt is top quality ..... let us know how that level 3 went Nige hahah, thats funny mate. I was thinking I might have misunderstood, but I wanted to err on the younger side if any. That's great that you got into it. My mother tells me it's better late than never! But you're ahead of me in the racing because I've never done any, although I really really really want to. Thats awesome that throttle control was a Eureka moment. For me, it is definitely something I need to address better now that I'm going quicker through the turns as a result of everything else. It's easy for me to mess up the throttle control when I'm thinking about everything else, but it is crucial to get right. Darn difficult if you ask me, but a great challenge and pleasure. Yes, quick turns are really awesome. That is something that gets even better with the pivot steering and body position in level 3. It is really awesome how things come together in this school. You want to know embarrassing, well when I did level 1, I managed to crash my bike doing the steering drill at Laguna Seca in the pit skidpan area! It was funny afterward, and I was lucky to be able to continue on in the first session with a dangling bar end! I remember how furious Trevor was that I went out before getting my bike scrutineered again. (shaking my head now) Sof was getting around pretty good this last weekend at the Streets. CF Hey Cobie and thanks for the kind words. It was really great to meet you at the Streets and ride together on the track. I didn't recognize you right away probably because of your glasses. Who said that clark kent doesn't look like superman hey? Well, I also wanted to say that I'm really sorry about upsetting you, and possibly your student too, in turn 1. It was purely unintentional and I really was trying to stay out of trouble. I swear! I didn't want to ruin anyone's day so my apologies. I have a LOT to learn before I can do the instructors course. I hope I can still get in someday. I promise to behave better next time. Trevor will keep me in line Peace, Sof Hey mate, Just back from Spain/Portugal , and its been a great week, the weather has ben sensational, warm, but not too hot. Everryone has had an exceptional week for sure. Jerez, well, we've been there before and its certainly sensational, so I didn't feel like I missed out too much by not riding there, Portimao however, wow, what a place that it. I don't think I've ever seen a track go up and down so much in my life, I think the words may of the riders, "students and coaches" used on the first morning was "terrorfying". I have to be honest and say I was pretty gutted to miss out on that, but another time i guess, another time. Thanks again for thoughts, /i greatly appreciate them. I'll be back on a bike ASAP, hopefully early in the new year, after healing fully, and regaining my strength and fitness. Bullet Hey bud, glad you had a great time over there. Sorry you didn't get a chance to ride Portimao. I don't know much about that track, but will certainly google it now. I wonder if the elevation changes are as much or more than Laguna? I really love the cork screw and the elevation changes at Laguna which make it really fun for me. It is like a roller coaster! Jerez is one of my favorite tracks when I play the motogp video games. I wish I could ride there sometime. I will have to check with the British school to coordinate and do one someday. Maybe they'll give me a discount for flying over there? Hope you're healing up fast and back on the bike soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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