Cobie Fair

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We will be at Streets of Willow Springs in a week. Looks like we have timed the weather perfectly, is supposed to be in the mid-80's. With the re-pave, that track has gone up the list of staff favorites. It's fun, and technical. Vegas at the end of the month should also be good for weather. Hope we see you there! (if the schools aren't full, might get a discount...) Best, Cobie

2-step, let's dig into that a little. What's your understanding of the first of the 2 steps, how do you accomplish doing that? This first part is often misunderstood, so just fill in what you take is on the first step, and how you go about it. (I'll be in the office most of the next 2 weeks, a good time to catch up on the forum 😀). Best, Cobie

John, your point above is correct. And what is then required of the rider to get the bike back to the line he'd wanted originally? He has to keep steering, has to keep leaning it over more to get back to that line. Steering takes bar pressure, but once the bike is on line (in most instances) it doesn't require added pressure to keep it there. But if the rider is being required to keep pressure on the bars as the bike is running wide, he is working when he shouldn't be. I say above "in most instances". Some tires get worn, and the bike won't hold a line was steered into the corner. Rode a nice Ducati that did this recently. Steer the bike, get on line, and it won't stay there, wants to come up. We found it that it just needed a new tire, and once that was on it was totally transformed. Too early application of the throttle, too early a roll on, and the rider has to work harder.

We have gone over a few things that help, let's look at the other side of the coin, how do riders work harder than needed, wear themselves out prematurely, do too much work on the bike? Let's look at what happens with throttle application (beginning the roll on), and what that has to do with how much a rider works. Let's take a simple turn (90 degrees), and one the rider has to slow on the approach, so is off the throttle and slowing down entering the turn. If the rider steers the bike over partially, but not yet fully onto a line that will get him to the apex and out of the turn (without having to steer again) and the rider starts to roll the throttle, literally even just cracks it open (very slight throttle). In this situation, what line will the bike take?

The first properly warm school of the year, and went quite well. Barber is for sure a staff favorite. Great layout, track is in excellent condition, traction is very good. I think one thing that's also helping is more students are getting better at the hydration game (maybe with Lara's help?). Appears to be one of the top issues on a hot day, students running out of steam, can't concentrate, tired, dizzy, nauseous, headaches, cramps (any of the above can be symptoms of dehydration). Looking forward to this coming month, the busiest time for us this year: 16 school days, 4 different tracks! Hope to see some of you there! Best, Cobie

Hi Lebedo, Covered quite a lot there, and some good observations. Anything in particular you'd like a comment on?

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Welcome Chuck. Barber is the closest to you I believe, hope we do see you there! That is one of my favorite tracks for sure.

Roberts, It's astonishing what modern bikes (and tires) will do. And a rider with solid technique on a modern bike can go really fast. And I'm not just saying that to make your day. I think the only regular coach at the school older than me (over 70) is Jon. Jon doesn't hang off...at all. And goes very well. We've touched on a few parts in this thread, but there are even more points that relate. One is turning rate, that has a lot to do with excess lean. If a bike is turned slower than what's needed more lean angle is needed to make up for the slow steering rate. Another use of lean angle is too early throttle roll-on. That can use up a ton of extra lean angle! Is that point clear to all...how too early throttle uses up more lean angle? I'll cover that in more detail if needed.

Another point: if a rider is not strong enough for the riding he's attempting, he has to work even harder and gets more worn out. This seems to be a real factor with legs, and inner thigh strength. One of my senior coaches, not a spring chicken, realized he was quite tired after a few fast laps. Over the winter he didn't do a ton of training, but did some, and worked on legs and inner thighs too. He came back the following year, said it was worth an easy 2 seconds off his lap times at Barber, and he was less tired at the end of the day. So, if you need a reason to get some exercise in, there you go.

Both those make sense, and good that you noticed it was the feet (and breathing).

OK, next piece of the efficiency game: how many of you have been to a school, (or on any ride) and noticed that at the end of the riding session you were pretty worn out/tired/sweating/had arm pump, etc. Has this happened to you? If at the school, ever notice a difference in how the coaches look at the end of a session? Additionally coaches will often have to ride 2x or 3x what a student rides in a day. Not to just brag about the coaches, but what are they doing differently? One point is how hard one holds onto the bike. We discussed parts of this with how much one hangs off, but another part is how hard one is holding on, and with what? I think we touched on holding on with the lower body, yes? Did we touch on how hard to hold on? How about just enough to hold on, and no more. A few years back really muscular guy came to the a school, and he had lots of muscle. But he held on so tight, he literally blew up one of his arms, and couldn't finish his 2-day school. That's an extreme example, but the point it...how hard are you holding onto the bike? How much can that wear one out? Any comments on this point?

OK, there are several benefits, a few were just covered. Let's go with a prime one as a starting point--less lean angle. A valid point. One has to only watch a little bit of MotoGP with riders dragging elbows to see this put to use. But at what cost? And to what real benefit? Daily at the school we see riders hanging off way too far with their lower body, and then they get whipped physically. They are using muscles they don't often use, and if the inner thigh is not as strong as it needs to be, and the rider doesn't just hold on with the legs, what's left to hold on with? The bars. 3 riders were with a coach at a recent school, and the coach was working with them on this point. When compared to a MotoGP star (young, top physical condition) these 3 were all in their 40's or older. 2 of the 3 were not lean. Take a 140-160 lean and fantastically fit 25 year-old and compare that to a 50 year-old 200 pound guy that's not in top shape. And has to work WAY harder moving on the bike than the smaller rider. There are more points to this, but is it clear enough so far?

OK, another efficiency point for the "aging rider", and that is hanging off. At the School we regularly (like every day) see riders hanging off way too far with their lower body. Let's look at the reason to hang off in the first place. Anyone want to fill that in? (Besides looking cool in the pictures 🤣). A short summary will do, just why do is it done? (Not a trick question).

Just checked the long-range weather forecast (loving that!). Sonoma looks good, perfect in fact: 77-87. Anyone from the forum going?

Hi Sarah, To confirm, 30-60 seconds for each of the 3 stretches? How often should I do them? I was doing 2 of those stretches long ago, but not nearly that long, and it didn't seem to help my forearm knots much. Going to try these! Best, Cobie

It's interesting to see what the bars do when one let's go of them, and throws the body around. More blatant on a bicycle...

You might get sick of us...

Hi Steve! Don't want to pass this along (but I will) as I'll just need to get them all bigger helmets ! Great to have you there, and I just posted how perfect the weather had been, really amazingly so. We'll be spoiled for future trips. Best, Cobie

We just got back from 6 excellent days at Barber, I think the best weather we had ever had there. Been keeping an eye on Streets weather (where it can be a bit warm). The upcoming days are supposed to be in the low '80's! That's about as good as it gets at Streets. Checked in with the office, there was still room on most of the 4 days. Good time to ride 😁!

Good points Coffee. Another way to look at it is more lean angle is used, as well as delayed throttle. We used to spend a whole class on this point, there are quite a few pieces to it.

Just caught up on the weekend's races...gotta agree, it's Peco's to lose. Sorry to see Fabio struggling with the bike, hope they get that sorted, give the Duc's a run for it.

Reduce the margin for error, good point, let's look at that for a moment, and one more piece of this. If on the "A" attack angle, will the throttle timing have to change, meaning when the throttle control can begin to roll on?

Coffee, right you are, on both counts. Jayb, good that you notice it. How about the amount of head rotation that is needed to look into the turn? An already challenging factor for many--to look in to the right next location/target right after the turn point (maybe the apex if it's in view). With a negative attack angle (let's call A negative, B neutral, C positive attack angle), does one have to rotate their head more? Let's say a rider did the 2-step technique (defined in Twist of the Wrist 2), and rotated their head 20 degrees into a turn, before turning. With a negative attack angle of 10 degrees, then 50% more head rotation would be needed than "normal".