mugget

I have tried putting my attention on different things, and find I do better if I sort of think about trying to "work the tires", i.e., consciously try to build up lateral g's, while also staying relaxed at the bars. However, even then, I eventually reach a lean angle that makes me think "eek, is my boot going to hit the ground?" You can see from the photo that that is not likely! So, in other words, I *try* not to think about lean angle, but it ends up popping into my head at a certain point when I am farther over than normal. Okay, sorry for the late reply to this thread - I didn't mean to just ask you questions and leave you hanging. I'll mention a few things that have helped me personally. First up, why I asked about whether you concentrate on traction or lean angle... I found that if I give all my attention to traction and grip that I am much more confident and I have a much better idea of what the tyres are actually doing. The way I see it is that compared to traction, lean angle is irrelevant. Let me explain it this way - if you become used to using say 50º lean angle on a level track (meaning lean angle relative to true horizontal), then you may mentally condition yourself to believe that 50º is the most you can lean. That may be fine on a level track, but if you ride a negative or positive camber corner and try to use the same lean angle (relative to 0º) you could find yourself either crashing, or limiting your available lean angle. If you are giving your attention to traction and not worrying about lean angle, you'll always be getting more accurate information about what your tyres are actually doing. Because after all, lean angle is not the only deciding factor in traction. I suppose the first "drill" for this is more of a mental one, allowing yourself permission to use any lean angle, just open your mind to that possibility, but when riding don't think about the lean angle, just focus on the traction. Allowing yourself that possibility of using any lean angle also has benefits for street riding. Probably everyone has seen pictures, video, or watched a rider go straight off the road and into a guardrail/tree carrying say 30, 40º lean. Because that lean limit was so real in their mind, they couldn't even turn the bike more to make the corner. Next up, another mental tip. It simply is: ensure that your subjective observations match the objective reality as closely as possible. Another one that probably everyone has experienced - say a rider has been at a track day and at the end of it they're pretty happy with themselves, they feel as if they're really been getting into corners hard and carrying some good lean angle. But then they get to see some photos of themselves and they can't believe that their knee was still 30cm off the ground! The problem was their observations were far from reality, which is a problem for anyone trying to improve their riding and ride to a high level. The "drill" here is just to try and make sure that your observations match reality as closely as possible. You can do this anywhere, street, track etc. It might mean that you need to put aside your feelings (as in "wow, that felt like alot of lean...") and take a step back and just honestly ask yourself if your observation really matches the reality of the situation. Kai mentioned the "20º wall". For me this was an important thing to understand and helped a lot. I always find that if I can understand the reason for a certain behaviour, I'm in a better position to correct it and control it in future. The reason for that 20º wall is that people cannot naturally exceed 20º lean. Which is why even new riders will readily lean up to 20º but then they're not so keen to continue to lean... On a natural surface like grass, dirt etc. a person can run in circles and actually be leaning their body 20º. But then past that, the traction won't be enough, they'll lose their footing. That is the mental conditioning that all riders need to overcome. Don't beat yourself up because of it, it's not something you should naturally be able to do. The speeds and lean angles possible on a motorcycle are most definitely un-natural. There's not really any drills for this, but I just like to keep some facts in mind to strengthen my "lean faith" (the best description I can come up with). One that I only recently understood was that tyres actually have more rubber on the ground, and more traction when on the side of the tyre than when on the centre! Also keep in mind that a bike will never just "lose traction" (assuming good tyres, good road surface, bike in good condition etc.) The way that traction works is in a zone, you have static friction > sliding friction > no friction. No friction will really only be possible if the tyre is off the ground. To understand those traction zones, imagine that you're walking up some incline banking like at the old Monza circuit. At the bottom you start out fine, but as you progress further up the banking you will feel that your traction is decreasing. Eventually you'll get to a point where you know that if you take one more step you will lose your footing and tumble down the banking. Can you imagine the situation? Have you ever tried that yourself? Do you agree that you would be able to recognise that last step and stop yourself before losing your footing? I bet you didn't expect to be able to identify the point of sliding friction without experiencing it. Hmmm... interesting. The lesson there is that just like the 20º wall, our subconscious has also been conditioned to recognise the feeling of traction. Think about that for a second - your body knows the feelings of static friction and sliding friction. Therefore asking yourself questions like "do I have enough traction here" or "can I lean more" is really just using up attention. Our subconscious knows the feeling of traction, no point in trying to re-educate ourselves! Now to the subject of tyres... if you're still waiting to receive TOTW II you may not have heard of this before, but Keith Code actually recommends not to go out and use the best tyres right away. But rather to use a regular street tyre instead of a track tyre or slicks. Having done this myself, I definitely have to agree! The reasoning behind this is that you'll find it much easier to find the limits of a tyre if those limits aren't so high. Knowing the limits of a tyre is an important part to having the confidence and faith to lean more. Trying to find the limits of a slick or track-oriented tyre (especially if you've never found the limits of a lesser tyre) is a very big ask. Using myself as an example, about 2 years ago I got my suspension tuned and put a set of BT-003's on my Gixxer for a track day. And you know what, I didn't feel especially confident and wasn't really riding that well. I took them off the bike and put a set of Michelin Power Pure's on. During that time I did some rider training, learnt about the 20º wall and other things I mentioned in the post, and I kept using the Power Pure's until I was comfortable that I found their limit. I went through about 2 or 3 sets of them, in the end the rear tyre was doing a small slide just about every time I would start to open the throttle mid-corner. Maybe they're the sort of tyre that "goes off" really quick, but either way it sure got my used to the feeling of having a little slide. Fast forward to after I did CSS Level 1 earlier this year, I put the 003's back on and went to another track day and I finally felt that I was able to make use of the better tyres. It was definitely a case of 1 step backwards, 3 steps forward! I know alot of people feel that they want the "confidence" of sticky rubber, but really how much confidence will you have if you don't have some frame of reference? I'll leave it there for now. I have more that I could go on with, but I think that's enough for one post, eh? I hope I've explained everything clearly, and even more I hope that you find something there which helps you. These are just some things that I personally found helpful, if you find them interesting or helpful yourself, let me know and I'll return with the followup.

Cheers for the clutchless downshifting info. I did a search and found that previous thread (for anyone interested that thread is right here) and here's the video of Will with some super-smooth clutchless downshifts! I did keep my snippet for Throttle Rule exceptions, here it is: for example... wide open, fast corners. If you're already on the throttle and entering the corner in top gear, you can't open it any more. Or double-apex, decreasing radius, off-camber, downhill, bumpy corners could all require Rule #1 to be bent (hopefully we just don't find all those characteristics in the one corner!) Even then it would usually be ideal to stop rolling on the throttle momentarily rather than closing it altogether. (That was all from TOTW II Chap. 4, so I cheated, or researched depending on your point of view. ) Not as large as your list there Vorontzov! But there really aren't many places where the rule won't apply. And I think one important thing to note is that those circumstances would usually require the rule to be bent (stop rolling on throttle) rather than being outright exceptions (closing the throttle). The question of "when" to roll on the throttle I believe is covered in Chapter 5, Get It On... Back to the question of crested turns, the example #4 caught my attention in particular. I struggled with that on my Level 1 day. But the solution was so simple, just not something that I had considered. Chapter 5 gives a really great guideline that I will keep in mind for all corners that I'm unsure of: So, are crested turns really somewhere that Throttle Control Rule #1 should be bent? How would riding by the above guideline affect how you ride a crested turn? (Just a couple more questions for good measure in addition to "when" to roll on the throttle!)

Hi Melly, Welcome to the forum! Definitely a good start with TOTW II, I'd recommend the DVD as well. Those will give you a good start, but what I would really suggest to give you the most benefit is attending the School. I have been riding for about 6 years and have undertaken a bit of rider training through other organisations but CSS Level 1 is what gave me the most benefit, by a fair margin. Like Carey said, there's a lot of people who wish they'd attended CSS much sooner, me included! Some people get put off thinking that they need to be at a certain skill level before attending the school, or that they need to be on a sportbike, but that's not true at all. If you know how to go and stop, can ride in a straight line & around corners, you are ready for the School. Cya 'round the forum. Cheers, Conrad

Breaking the Throttle Rule #1? Say it ain't so!? I would say that it's still best practice to repeat Throttle Control Rule #1 another thousand or so times... it seems like what you experienced there Vorontzov, was not an exception to the rule, but rather a situation where the consequences of breaking the rule were very low. Think of it this way - would you have achieved a similar (or even better?) result if you did remain steady on the throttle? But like Rainman says, there are some exceptions (but these are very rare). For example... <snip> Edit: Sorry it just dawned on me that the question was directed at Vorontzov, didn't mean to go ahead and answer for him but my enthusiasm got the better of me! I removed the text, hopefully it hasn't been read and gives a chance to answer...

Good words! That makes much more sense, seems like it would be easier to measure the brake release point rather than thinking "don't brake as hard". I will be giving that one a try at the very next chance! Yep, I always felt that moving the brake point created a lot of new info to processed at once. Target locking... I know that for myself it would mean my sense of speed is way out of whack, usually end up panicking thinking that I'm going much faster than I actually am.

Hi Vorontzov, great to hear your observations! Are these your cumulative observations after doing Levels 1, 2 and 3? The Pick Up drill sounds like it had a big impact, I'm looking forward to doing that myself now. But in the mean time I've also had a flick through TOTW II trying to find where the Pick Up is mentioned, is it actually mentioned there? (Anyone?) On the subject of clutchless downshifts, I have never been inclined to do that because I wasn't sure of the effect on the drivetrain. Is it really safe to do that? No chance of causing gear/selector fork damage etc.? Maybe I should start giving it a try, I know how much attention a quickshifter frees up attention for upshifts! Fluro on the streets - I'm not convinced. Reason being that someone won't see you if they're not looking. Wearing fluro doesn't change that. Thou shalt not race - very true, one of the first pieces of advice that I received as a new rider was not to try and keep up with faster riders. But I think it can also be beneficial to be "pushed" a little... not riding over your head... but having a bit of a competitive sort of goal. For instance I recall one track session in particular where I was first on track and it was by far the most focused I had been all day. The reason was that I didn't want to hold up any riders behind me! No one passed me in that session either, and that usually doesn't happen. I found that having that reason just helped me to keep concentrating and push that bit more. A bit different now that I've been to CSS since I can more reliably deconstruct individual turns and so I have goals for each individual corner, rather than just trying to "ride faster". But I still sometimes wonder if there comes a point where the only way to make significant progress is to push yourself a little, maybe by actually doing some racing? Maybe I'll find out one day, but that day is a ways off at the moment. Keep on thinking!

Hey YellowDuck, I know exactly what you're talking about, I struggled with similar feelings for a long time. Good news is, I've learnt quite a few things which have helped alot. But first a question for you - when you're in a corner, are you concentrating on the lean angle, or the traction of the tyres?

So, flapping knees and waggling heads. I'm just finishing watching last weekends WSBK racing from San Marino and thought I'd ask about this. It's always stood out to me how some riders in particular like Haslam seem to make a energetic "flapping" motion with their knees as they're braking and downshifting for a corner. Also the commentator noticed how much Fabrizio moves his head at different points like exiting a corner and changing direction, getting setup for another corner etc. The comment was made that he's the only person outside of a rock band that moves his head so much. I just kind of dismissed it as "their style", and I figure they know what works for them. But then I got a bit curious and wondered if anyone knows why they actually do those things? Maybe it's part of their "rhythm", or helps them with timing? Maybe those actions help to mentally prepare and "attack"? It's interesting because those guys look like they're working really hard with those extra movements, but you look at Biaggi as an opposite example and he's always super-smooth with not a wheel out of line and no unneeded movements. What do you think?

Close to insane...? Hmmm... I don't think so... Close to very, very accurate sense of speed & timing, with excellent bike control? Definitely. I aspire to ride a bit like that one day. (Well you've gotta set your goals high, right? )

Ahhh... what a way to generate discussion on the internet - bring up the Espargaro V Marquez incident! But first, Donington WSBK. My first reaction was that it was really too much from Rea, he saw exactly where Haslam was, saw his line but I think this was another case of ambition outweighing talent. It's just unfortunate that the result was two riders down. Biaggi also got stood up fairly briskly in one corner, maybe Rea thought that Haslam would be able to move as well? Who knows. Rea was not deliberately trying to ride dangerously, he saw the gap inside the corner and went for it, maybe with just a little bit of last lap, last corner enthusiasm! It would be unfair to penalise him for that... I know it's unfair to Haslam and Melandri as well, but that's racing I guess? There can only be one winner. But then the Espargaro & Marquez incident... I see this as completely different because Marquez had been officially warned that no suspect moves would be tolerated! In which other sport can a participant receive a yellow card, then a red card - then have the penalty completely overturned!!? I hope that Pol's team keeps pursuing their appeal, IMO Marquez should definitely cop that penalty. I just can't believe that Marquez didn't know someone was there, we hear riders all the time saying how they knew someone was behind because they could hear the bike. In any case - he had gone way off line and then decided to shoot back onto line (no doubt trying to close the door on Pol), but doing that without even looking? Surely common sense says that you expect someone to take advantage. I relate this to pulling out of pit lane without looking! One thing is for sure Marquez is not making any friends so far this season... other racers tend to have a good memory for all these types of incidents. I am certain that his antics will not be tolerated in MotoGP. Brad - there are rules that prevent dangerous riding. That was the basis for Marquez initial penalty. Overall I do love to see close racing, but when riders are using others as a berm mid-corner and actually knocking other riders, I think that's going too far. But in fairness I don't think you can hand out penalties each time that happens. But when there is one rider routinely pulling those kind of moves, then definitely.

Great to hear that you got that sorted! It can be tricky when you get comfortable with a certain 'routine' and just get used to running wide for example. It can take a bit of discipline (for me at least) to start working back to see where the problem starts. A good reminder that something can affect you as far as 2 corners (or more) down the track!

I remember that one, awesome race, and those last laps...! Definitely worth watching again. A great moment when the crew start jumping around and waving their arms everywhere. I think there are definitely things to be learnt there. When I was actually watching the race I just couldn't believe how a pass there was possible, especially listening to the commentators saying that Lorenzo had it, and as the other racers in the interview there say, "it's not a passing place". Well obviously, it did turn out to be a passing place. It just goes to show that you can't watch other peoples lines, there's not really any point in trying to watch others and look for the "passing places". Much better to improve your own understanding of the track and be willing to try different things and push yourself! If someone tells me that a certain line or something is not possible, I won't listen to them. I will go and keep trying it for myself until I run out of different ways to try it. They may have been correct that it's not possible, but finding that out for yourself is worth much more I think. Also there is always the chance that they're wrong and you'll discover something new! At least that's the lesson I took from it. And it sure seems like that is the way Rossi approached it, he didn't listen to anyone who was saying that's not a passing place.

I can't think of anything specifically, but I am always aware of the benefits the various kinds of training has had on my riding. I've always been very cautious on the roads, but that's not enough because on my very first ride up the local mountain road I ran wide and put my bike in a ditch! I've never done that again, but I wouldn't be at the point where I am now without all that training, research and learning. This reminds me of one kind of funny thing that shows just how strongly ingrained certain actions and processes can be. I've mentioned this on the forums here before, but anyway I was on my MTB after a long time not riding push bikes at all, going down the road and I went over a driveway to get on the footpath. I didn't lift my front wheel enough and the bump was enough to kick it into the air. Here comes the funny bit - I was actually turning at the time, so I felt the front wheel in the air but my immediate thought was actually "oh, it's okay it will regain traction in a few moments..." thinking that I was on a motorcycle! All that training kicking in! Of course if I was on a motorcycle I would have been fine, but on a MTB I really should have put my foot down to stabilise myself. I went down like a sack of potatoes, without even attempting to put out a foot or hand! I was fine though, I guess that just goes to show how true it is that you should stay relaxed when you crash! Something has gone right so that I have such a strong response to front slides, but you could also use that example to show how strongly ingrained bad habits can become.

Painted wheels? That looks a bit special! How tall are you, did you find the bike comfortable? I'm not a fan of small bikes, was so glad to get off my 600 onto a 1000 because it was a physically bigger bike! But I guess the RSV4 should be okay, Leon Camier seemed to fit on one.

I'd have to agree, it does sound like achieving a certain level of fitness would go a long way to help you. I would classify racing as the very high end of "sports riding". The key word being "sport"... I have also been fairly heavy (although not overweight) and noticed a massive difference in my riding after I dropped some 14kg of body weight. Being heavier it just took much more effort to get off the seat, to hold on with my legs when braking hard etc. But reducing body weight will take time. For something that may help immediately, consider the following: If you're transitioning from a left hand corner to a right-hander, how many times do you change your seating position? If you're moving to the centre of the seat in between those corners, you're using more energy than needed. Moving directly from hanging off the left of the seat to hanging off the right of the seat will save you energy and effort. Do you find yourself wanting to push on the 'bars during hard braking? This could indicate that you don't have very good grip with your legs/knees. Maybe consider traction pads (IE, Stomp or Tech Spec). Another thing I have heard of some people doing is sitting right against the tank during braking. This means that you don't have to "hold yourself back" as much, since you can't slide forward if you're already up against the tank. (I personally haven't tried this, I prefer to sit back a little so my leg is at a good angle to get maximum contact with the tank.) I would definitely think about playing with footpeg position. Maybe if you move them higher it will mean that you don't have to lift yourself as much to move on the seat? I am thinking of a 'peg to seat distance that is equal or shorter than your lower leg could help? If you've never really been comfortable with hanging off the edge of the seat, I would suggest practicing that, even on the road. You don't have to go fast to use a certain body position. You can even be riding in a straight line with one cheek off the seat. Just doing that and swapping sides will help you get a feel for it, and get used to it. Finally - are you really going to the edge of the tyre? Did you come to that conclusion after looking at a used tyre? Or did you actually feel that you were running out of traction at full lean?

You can always aim to set a new personal best time for "pickup 100 items". How about those photos you see of people mid-corner dragging their inside hand on the ground? Maybe they're really practicing for the toys, clothes & groceries pickup!

Hi Bullet, There's been more than a few new people sign up to the forums lately, myself included! It will be great to have someone else involved in the discussions! Cya 'round.

No worries Stewal, wasn't sure if you saw my earlier post... I'm interested to see other peoples thoughts and experience with that as well. There must be a bunch of others who've tried moving their braking points to increase entry speed? Did it work out?

What level are you talking? I doubt you could win even a local AMA club event without sliding the tyres, but definitely not at the national (or world) level. I'm just talking about going very fast, not racing, and not going 10/10ths. I just felt that it was important to mention that point because so many people don't realise just how high/fast the limits are, I know I didn't. Taking myself as an example - I used to ride in the Intermediate Slow group, and was there for 5 years or so! You'd think that I would have been able to figure out a few things and go faster, but apparently not. And I think it's fair to say that there would be a lot of other people in the same situation! After doing CSS Level 1 I moved up to Intermediate Fast, and it was immediately a very comfortable pace. After some more track days my pace improved so much that I'm riding more towards the top end in that group. Now to give an idea of the speed difference and what is really possible - at my last track day there were a bunch of guys in the slower group who I overheard talking about how they're dragging feet, pegs, knees and who knows what else! From the looks of their tyres they didn't have much rubber left to use either, they would have been in trouble if they tried to go much faster. But here's the really amazing thing - I am riding faster than just a year ago (by a fair margin as well), and I feel much safer and more confident than ever before. Actually, the really amazing thing may be that I'm doing all of that and I still have more to come (I'm not using the tyres to the edge and I'm not getting my knee down)! So - going very fast in complete control, and safely? Absolutely! Drifting a bit off topic again... anyway the reason I mention all that is just to show how much of a difference good technique makes, and that the idea of everyone who rides on track is doing so at the limits is not really true. (For anyone who has held back from track days because they're worried that they'll have to push to the limit, or be around other riders doing ludicrous speeds, that's not how it is at all!) And as far as judging corner entry speed it really doesn't matter if you are riding on the limit, or just at a fast, safe & comfortable pace (maybe there are some people for whom the limit is a safe & comfortable pace!) - but the process remains the same. And if a mug like me can do it, it's a great testimony to the CSS curriculum!

Hey Stewal, I touched on that point in my last post just a bit above. I have tried moving the braking point closer to the corner (in an effort to increase corner entry speed) and I found it really difficult. By all means give it a try and see how it works for you, but I would prefer to change as few variables as possible so that it's easier to spread your attention without getting stretched too thin! If you keep the same braking point that's one less thing to worry about, you just don't brake as hard, so you carry more speed towards the corner. If you leave your turn point the same, that's one less variable taken out of the equation as well. That leaves more attention free to deal with the turn rate - which is really the only new thing you have to deal with if you use that method. (The speed is new, but you've already set that, so by the time you reach the turn point your one final variable is turn rate.) That will take you so far, but you'll get to a certain point where you will need to change your braking and turn points. But I look at those as large changes, not something to be done from lap to lap. For lap to lap changes I focus on faster entry speed and quicker turn rate. But when I do change my braking or turn points I leave them set for a while and the process starts over where my focus shifts back to entry speed & turn rate on a lap by lap basis. I'm sure there are other ways, but that's what I do personally and it's been very effective so far! Listening to RPM is a good one, something reliable that you can relate to a particular speed. I usually ride in a gear higher to smooth the power delivery, I just hope that my sense of speed doesn't get thrown off kilter when I start using a lower gear!

Okay, so back to the original question of judging entry speed on a track. First off I've just got to say that the idea of track riders being at maximum traction/lean on every corner is a bit of a misnomer. It just doesn't happen that way - you can go very fast without even getting close to the traction limits, and you can do so in completely safety and control. Sure, you may have some ridres say "I'm riding on the limit, i can't go any faster", but I'd also bet that it would be people in the slower groups saying that. That is where good technique really comes into play. Those slower riders may well be at the limits of their ability, only because they're riding with poor technique and by doing so they're not letting their bikes do the jobs they're designed for. As for actually measuring speed - to ride at a high level requires an equally accurate sense of speed. This is what the "no brakes riding" in Level 1 is designed for - to help riders develop their sense of speed. As they say - if you can't set your speed in 300m with no brakes, you have no hope of doing it in 100m with brakes. I'm not sure if there's any tips or method to developing that sense of speed, aside from practice, practice, practice. I would say that it's not so much a technique of "measuring speed", but rather a "sense of speed". I guess it's more like being able to accurately judge length and height. It's just something you need to keep doing and developing. As for actually increasing corner entry speed on a track - I approach it this way: I leave my braking and turn points (that way I don't have to keep using more attention on changing RP's), then I gradually increase my entry speed. Of course if my turn point is the same and I'm entering the corner faster it means I will need to steer quicker. So for me those two go hand in hand - increasing entry speed and increasing the steering rate. Good vision becomes even more important here, because if you're entering a corner faster you really will need to know just what turn rate is required. So in that respect the Two Step is just as applicable on the street and the track. When my entry speed has increased so much that my braking point is limiting my entry speed, then I will move my braking and turn points closer again and the process starts over. But I've found that if I try and move my braking and turn points and increase entry speed all at once, it becomes really difficult and I'm much more prone to mistakes. On the subject of that 180 degree turn and observing riders there, I wouldn't spend too much time analysing that. If anything I would look at just the fastest group, only to get ideas and see what's possible. But I would not try to copy their line, I would never try and copy someone's line. Much better to find your own line, try different things in that turn yourself and see what works for you. Maybe all the riders just don't like that turn, maybe they're all riding it lazily? You wouldn't want to copy that!

Ahhh, yes... trying to get "the setup". Glad you ended up finding that it was an easy fix! I think it's always best to try and change something in our riding to see if that helps (you can do it straight away and it won't cost you $$$), but sometimes it really is a setup problem, like Rainman mentioned on his bike, or like after I got my suspension tuned and ended up with 40mm rear sag and 15mm front sag... (hhmmm... sounds more like I had my suspension de-tuned!) It can be a bit tricky when something like your chatter starts to affect your riding, because the way I see it there's only two ways that you will be able to recognize the cause (or solution): 1. experience - through having the problem before and knowing how it was fixed 2. rider training - knowing how to correctly operate a motorcycle avoids all kinds of issues that can be magnified or cause by in-proper inputs. To me that makes a fairly good argument for rider training, skip all the bad experiences and just get right to the fun!

Hi YellowDuck, welcome to the forum and glad to see you out there posting! It's interesting that you have identified one need as a good riding coach. I would say that CSS has the best riding coaches in the world. When I took Level 1, after the coaches had all introduced themselves and left to finish preparing, we were asked if we recognized any of them. No one did. But then an interesting point was made - we didn't recognize them because they're not professional racers. But they are professional coaches. I'll vouch for that - after one day at CSS I showed more improvement in my riding than numerous road and track based training combined. That's no exaggeration! I can definitely recommend it.

Welcome to the forums Damon. You mean to say that the lowside on your S1000RR cracked the frame? Crashing isn't cheap, definitely one good reason to get trained up! Well you've found the right place, I'll bet you are really surprised at just how much improvement you'll see in your riding after CSS. I've taken a number of road and track based training over the years and CSS Level 1 definitely made the most improvement for me so far.

Welcome Mike. CSS is a real eye-opener, isn't it? See you around the forums!