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ANORXIC'51

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Everything posted by ANORXIC'51

  1. Ran Q2s a couple of seasons ago all year (did about 8-9 tds that season + all the street riding) with no real issues of grip. Figured if they were good enough for the instructor bikes of CSS and STAR, they were good enough for me....but always had that wonder in the back of my mind how good street tires REALLY were. Made the change to 211 GP-A DOTs (non-slicks) last season (got my race license in June) and never ever questioned grip, of course except in the wet where it was non-existant, lol. Made the decision to head out to CSS next month at Willow with Q3s on the bike instead of wearing a fresh set of GP-As. Mainly because at the pace that I should be riding at to learn/process the material and what I'm doing out there, there is no way I'll be outriding those tires.
  2. Same goals as every year: 1) Keep it fun 2) Visit at least one new track per season--going to be 2 this year. Streets of Willow w/ CSS next month and CotA w/ RideSmart in June. 3) Continue to make small & intelligent changes for steady improvement, not irrational huge leaps of faith for "Hail Mary" gains in speed. The additional goal I made at the end of last season was to get my legs (hammys 'n thighs) in better shape endurance-wise. Bought a crossbike for outdoor riding and an indoor trainer to put it on when it's being Minnesota outside during these months of torture. I'll be ready for Lvls 3 & 4 come April. :-) -Christian
  3. Another way of asking this can fall along what another school touches on "How fast is the SLOWEST point in the corner?" Figuring out how slow you are traveling at that moment when you are 100% off the brakes and transitioning into maintenance throttle or roll-on will ultimately give you an accurate idea of just how fast that corner can be taken. With that said, it should be as simple as watching a GPS layout of the lap record holder to see what their lowest speed is for a given corner and there ya go!! However, it's what leads up to and after that point that is the tricky part, lol.
  4. Kicking off the season with Levels 3 & 4 @ Streets of Willow in mid-April. Nervous because it'll be my first time back on a bike since our season ended in Sept, but excited as I'll be on my own bike this time with a new chassis setup which supposedly makes a world of difference on the 848. For trackdays, I'll be doing the normal ZARS big track schedule: 2day at Road America for Memorial Day, 2day at BIR featuring both the DonnyBrooke AND Competition Course, separate day at Road America, and season finale @ BIR. Hopefully can make a couple of other dates at BIR thru trackdays hosted by Ducati Minneapolis. And I also plan on trying out Blackhawk Farms thru MotoVid...with potentially doing the 1-on-1 with Jason Ferrell. Only planning to do 3 of the 5 CRA race weekends this season. Sadly no NESBA Barber trip planned this season, as I'm working towards a 4 wheeled goal for next year, so needing to save my pennies thruout the year with triple-save time once moto season winds down. -Christian
  5. It took me nearly all of this past season to get back the mental confidence that I completely lost from a crash the previous Aug. started the year off with two 2days (Barber & Road America), and had about one and a quarter of those 4 days in the dry, so that didn't help. Next time on track was at BIR for my New Rider race weekend....first time back at that track since the crash, and not really back in tune with the bike yet. So you can guess how that went. Took until the final 2 trackdays to gain and build up my confidence to where most people had been telling me I was already at skill-wise. 1) My personal belief in my abilities and decision making skills 2) I can't put a number on it 3) Never stop learning. Training, reading, watching, learning. -Christian
  6. Pretty short list for me. Started riding in 2010, and living in MN doesn't allow us a year-round riding season the majority of years. So, not much time to acquire a bunch, and I'm pretty happy with the current one. '09 Ninja 250R: ~1100 miles & 2 ARC's @ DCTC '08 GSX-R600: ~3400 miles, 1 ARC @ DCTC, & 1 trackschool/day @ BIR '03 CBR600RR: 2 trackdays @ Barber '08 848: ~18k miles and counting, 2 ARCs @ DCTC, 15+ trackdays @ BIR, Road America, Barber, & MPH, & 1 CRA race weekend @ BIR -Christian
  7. Maybe so, but cycling will also build cardio endurance. There's gotta be something to it when we see a lot of AMA/BSB/WSBK/GP/etc riders posting pics of them road cycling for training. Heck, even a lot of our local racers bike so they can do their 8+ races per race weekend or run double-time (running in both Nov & Int or Int & Adv) @ trackdays. Plus, I'm just not self-motivated enough to do gym exercises....especially if doing them at home. If I can find something enjoyable that gets me more "riding @ 95+ %" for a longer period of time, I'll keep doing it. Cycling looks like it'll fit that need for me. YMMV. -Christian
  8. Just picked up a '13 Bianchi Zurigo cross bike for offseason training as well as mid-season workouts. Getting tired of my legs running out of steam towards the end of sessions/races. Comes with slightly wider knobby tires for use on grass/gravel in addition to road cycling. Excited for next season!
  9. I actually got my local club racing license this past June on my street bike. That weekend go as well as I'd hoped due to mental barriers keeping me from being the rider I was before a crash at the same track the previous August. Mentally was completely out of it and it almost made me give up bikes altogether. Made huge gains and smashed those barriers at a trackday 2 weeks later and then unknowingly found some decent speed at the last td on Labor Day. Was pretty bummed work caused me to miss the final race weekend of the year, because basically I was no longer that rider from my June New Rider weekend. Looking forward to next season as I picked up a cyclocross bike to train my legs from wearing out, DucShop 28mm triples are going on the bike over winter, and hopefully can nab spots for the March dates of Lvl 3 & CodeRACE once the '14 schedule comes out.
  10. Awesome to hear, Lyle. Any skills to help become more efficient on & with the bike is definitely valuable! See ya in March!
  11. Thanks for the response, Cobie! I figured the L3 + CR would be the right choice, especially considering how rusty I'll be after Sept 2 being my last time on a track until then. Very much appreciate the heads up on the schedule release timeframe. I'll make sure to be ready with the school deposit by that time. :-)
  12. Hi, all. Wanted to get some opinions/constructive criticism on my riding. Currently trying to figure out how to begin my 2014 season, as I got my CRA (MN) novice race license in June. Didn't really have the greatest time being it was my first time back at BIR since a T7 off last August, so I had some mental demons to conquer. Got past it at a following trackday (got bumped to Adv) and really found some decent speed at the last td of the year on Labor Day. I want to start next season off with more instruction. I took Lvls 1 & 2 at Infineon in April '12 and it helped me tremendously over the past 2 seasons. I know Lvl 3 focuses more on body positioning, but I feel like I pretty much have it dialed in (some tweaks needed, but should be minor). My biggest issue is when I come up on a rider that I'm slightly quicker than, yet I can't get myself to commit to a pass. I never attempt to pass on the outside at the exit, so I'm usually trying to line them up to shoot past on the inside @ exit. I need to work on setting proper entry speeds so I'm not relying so much on torque to get me past at exit...or else I stay stuck behind the rider for 2 or more laps to get a good run on the corner coming onto the fastest section of track. So my question for you all is do you think I'd be better served to do Lvls 3 & 4 of CSS, or is the CODE Race program the better fit for my need in skill development? Maybe a combo of both (Level 3 day before attending the 2day race school)? Thanks in advance! -Christian
  13. From right to left: -Brainerd Int'l Raceway-Competition Course (Brainerd, MN) -Infineon/Sears Point/Sonoma Raceway (Sonoma, CA) -Road America (Elkhart Lake, WI) -Barber Motorsports Park (Birmingham. AL) -Motorsports Park Hastings (Hastings, NE).
  14. Good morning! Wondering if there is a possibility of having the back-to-back single days at Laguna? Reason I ask is I've taken Lv1 & 2 at Infineon/Sonoma/Sears Point early last year and need to come back to further my training. I did both single days and used the school S1kRR and had an awesome experience. Learned a metric ton which immediately enhanced my riding once our MN track riding season kicked off. This season I've finally started to gel back with my bike after an off @ BIR last Aug, and actually got my CRA race license on the same bike....which I still street as well. With the 2 & 3day camps, I know you must use the school bikes. I'm wondering if the possibility is there for the school to offer single dates at Laguna Seca. I obviously REALLY would like to get the opportunity to ride that track...no matter what bike. But, the main reason is with Lv3 focusing more on BP, and Lv4 being more of a custom tuned training program, I'd like to imagine I'd make greater strides towards grasping and properly executing the material on the bike that I'm on all the time. Especially if the coaches see I'm doing something out of sorts. Great if I'm on the school bike and they catch and correct it, but I can't have Gerry at every trackday or race weekend helping to sort out my mess of riding on my own bike once I'm away from CSS, lol. And yes, I've gotten the "just get a bike that's easier to ride" speeches, lol. Making forward progress with what I have is more satisfying for me. :-) Thanks for any input! -Christian
  15. Hi, all. Hope all is well. Brief overview for me is I've only been riding for about 3 MN seasons. Did one track school with our local organization as an introduction to the track on my former '08 GSX-R600 in 2011 @ BIR. Switched bikes halfway thru that season with plans to do their trackschool 2, but a mechanical issue forced me to miss it (which was also the last td of the season). Came to CSS in April of '12 @ Infineon for levels 1 & 2 aboard the fleet S1kRR and learned a ton. Followed that up with ZARS TS2 @ Road America to FINALLY get the 848 on the track. Once coming to grips with the difference I started improving by continuously working on things I learned in both schools. Well, even with focusing on the vision skills learned at CSS, target fixation got me in T7 @ BIR at the end of last season. I simply thought I was coming in far too fast for entry, target locked on grass, and didn't recorrect my vision. Was able to go down to Barber this April to get a headstart on the track season and shake off the winter cobwebs which felt good. Fast forward to the start of my ZARS track day season at Road America this past Mon-Tues. I decided to take their School of ROCC (which is geared more towards the faster Intermediate-slower Advanced riders and coached by former & current expert level CRA racers) to build up some more confidence in myself, not try to be crazy as this was the first time I've run warmers & DOTs...so I figured a controlled curriculum would be best as quite a few of my friends are in I-group as well) and more importantly work on my biggest weak points: braking zones & setting proper entry speed. Biggest reason is I think the torque advantage has made me rely more on my apex->exit sections of the corners much more than the entry->apex portions. The main focus my instructor wanted to work with me on is shortening my braking zones and introducing me to when and where trailbraking is a benefit. The biggest thing I took away from CSS last April was the 3-Step, no question. Find your turn-in, find your apex, find your exit point....all in one sweeping view. It helped me breakthrough a barrier that was really hampering my speed and eliminated me feeling "lost" at times out on the track. At ROCC, my instructor suggested working a corner or two backwards by preluding with this quote: "If you don't know where you are going, you may never get there." It was a literal 'AH HA!' moment when I used it for T3, T8, and T12. Doesn't work too well in blind apex turns where you can't see the exit (so the conventional turn-in/apex/exit is best)....but mentally coming into the corner and looking for my exit point FIRST had a very calming effect on me, and this was able to work my way back to see the apex and turn-in point. I think this is combined best with trailing into the corner to fine tune the speed entry after getting most of the heavy braking done already. Just wanted to get you all's (tried not showing my southern roots by saying ya'lls, lol) thoughts on this approach for certain corners. I'm going for my CRA license on the 14th. All races are at BIR, which is nearly as flat as the Kansas horizon, so vision complety thru most of the corners is there. Hoping to make some really good strides in the New Rider and open practice sessions that weekend. -Christian
  16. Good morning to the forum. Just thought I'd introduce myself to the forum after getting the suggestion from Cobie to join. I'm 28 yrs old and am an OTR commercial truck driver with a tad over 5 years of experience now. Made the decision to begin learning about the hobby of riding a few months ago after my wife and I bought a home over the summer. Stepping away from sports cars seemed like the responsible thing to do, but realised I needed something else to fill the void. I've always been deathly afraid of bikes, but admired anyone that was involved with it. Anywho, since I live in MN, we only have a few months out of the year to really enjoy sportbikes, so I'm using this off-season of winter to collect quality gear as well as read up on as much as I can regarding safe street riding as well as track riding techniques. I think I've got most of them covered, but still missing a few books. Set to take the MSF Beginner's Rider Course at the local HD dealership in the springtime, and right after buy my first bike. I'd been 85-95% sure it would be an '08+ Ninja 250R, but talking with many people around the country and online of my upcoming plan of attack, I'm broadening my options to start on a 600cc supersport. Main reason why is I don't think it will be very productive at a track riding school if that is my very first time on a capable 600 bike. Hopefully a couple of months of initial street riding, coupled with a few hours per day doing braking/ low speed maneuvers at the HD/MSF parking lot course during off hrs(about 10 miles away) will prepare me to enroll in either the Level 1 & 2 combo or the 2-day session of CSS. We have company terminals in Salt Lake City and Columbus...so it is looking like if I can register to get a slot at either Miller (30 min away from terminal) or Mid-Ohio (1 hr away) when the school visits one of those tracks, it'll be the best setup for me as far as getting to a track location without having to fly from MN to attend. Request load to terminal, drop trailer, bobtail to track for school. YES, please. All in all, I'm very excited to start the addiction and am ready to get some formal education done. Cobie's recommendation of doing a school as soon as I can makes the most sense. I think if I can get onto the track with proper coaching somewhat immediately after learning the basics of riding and controlling a bike, then there will be next to NO bad habits that I will have to unlearn...and can go in with a completely open and willing mind (not hopefully not spilling out of my ears with survival reactions). With Brainerd Int'l a couple of hours north of me, Road America and Blackhawk Farms to the east, and Mid-America due south, I am hoping to get a fair amount of track riding done to hone the skills I learn at CSS. Take care, and I look forward to getting started. Going to be spending a LOT of time lurking and doing searches to soak up more information during the winter, as this is an overwhelmingly informative forum. Christian *edit--Awesome. I misspelt 'formal' in the topic heading....nice.
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