csmith12

Good luck iZapp, I will be with CSS @ VIR in May. Should be super fun!

No, I have never done a CSS day/2day camp. This will be fixed this year though in May. I was given specific instructions and plan to follow them. lol If you ever do a Jennings day or weekend lemme know. It's one of my favorite tracks. It's the most laid back track day you will ever do. Heck man... it's so laid back, it's self tech. hahahahah I go every Feb. at least to break up the winter months here in the KY.

I am in between Cincinnati and Lexington but I have no problem traveling to just about any track within 12h each way. My current track love is JenningsGP. I have been twice for a total of 5 riding days in the past 4 months. I have went out of my way to pick up many riders along the way to the track as long as it don't double the drive time lol. Currently, I am planning a 2 day camp at VIR in May. But.... things can change ya know.

Welcome fellow Kentuckian! I am also hoping to make the VIR trip in May. Maybe we can travel together?

So I dug a little more into this topic. I have learned the most simple of facts. We ALL have a blind spot!!!! At first I didn't really believe it, but the reason was so simple. As light enters our eyes, it reflects off the back of the eye and boom sight!!!!. Thing is... the optic nerve connects back there too. No light sensitive nerves in that area is there (ie our blind spot)? Our other eye and brain compensate for this blind spot in it's twin by filling in the blanks. But what happens when the brain runs out of enough data to fill in the blanks? We move (scan) our eyes to collect more info on what we need. Aint biology and science cool?

Dew et!!!!!

I just finished my in depth research on this topic in preparation for things to come later.... Wide View is 2 major things; 1. Training the eyes to not create the effect of tunnel vision to the next point, by maintaining an increased FOV. 2. Training the brain to make "effective" use of the larger field of view by increasing the rider's "field of attention", without causing extra unneeded distractions. It's kinda like putting yourself in radar mode. The radar emits from a single point (your reference point you're currently looking at), but stretches out to your entire FOV. From time to time there are blips on the radar; a car, another rider, a flagger, or a piece of debris on the tarmac and those are worthy of one's attention. Some blips require the rider to react, and others do not. The secret to wide view is to not take your eyes off the prize by shifting your eyes from point to point on the radar, but instead letting by looking at the picture as a whole. The real benefit of wide view is when one finally understands how to expand their field of attention and use it! Chase is right... it's hard to do and can lead to mental fatigue when you first start to do it but gets easier with time. I also have found it can lead to information overload while in the dirt in the thick woods with narrow trails. There is a large section on vision in the twist 2 book. It's very well worth the time to read, and then read again to connect some dots. And.... Supercross is awesome!!!!

Imho, this has already busted, addressed and improved upon with the wide view and 2/3 step drills. Seems as if "look sooner" is the same as the 2 step. The 2 and 3 step drills address keeping your head pointed in the right direction at the right times and with wide view drill addresses the scanning aspect. He mentions comfort level near the end too. I don't know about ya'lls, but the perception of speed is quite a bit different right in front of me vs. 2 markers ahead. For me, most of the time... that glance back to "where I am at now", only serves to negatively effect my riding, at pace... it's mostly too late anyway but sometimes is a necessary evil form of human checks and balances.

Some thinking.... That sounds more like weight management vs. body steering. ie, put more weight forward, remove some weight off the rear, more weight on the bars/tank, making the front more rigid & heavy, with a little bit of added throttle will spin up the rear and initiate a slide. Dirt guys do it like that all the time. I can quickly think of two research topics for you that are related to assisting turning while still being related to countersteering. Hip Flick and Hook Turn

#33 is Vet rider/racer Bill Bloom. At 80+ yrs young, he is very old school like that. It is kinda scary to ride behind him but he has been making it work for him for longer than I have been alive and I am 41 lol. He tells stories of racers running off into corn fields, while spectators try to figure out who it is and where they are going by watching the corn stalks moving. hahahahahahaha Working on Elvis's bikes and sooooo much other cool stuff. I could listen to him talk for hours. He recently lost his wife (who was always at the track with him), and he hasn't been to many races since. I hope all is well with him.

And no, I wouldn't use trail braking to tighten turns. What are some ways to tighten turns while mid corner?

Oh wow!!! That track looks like serious fun! Meh... so it's bumpy, don't let the bumps get in your head. I spent last season racing on the track in the video below, after you get accustom to the bike moving around under you, the bumps can be super fun!!! Just remember to ride light and loose. To prep for riding/racing there, I would do a few things; Research the suspension changes that other riders are making for this track. - Not all tracks are created equal, some require you to turn a knob or two to go race pace with confidence in the corners. Walk the track!!! - If you can. Video and speed can skew what is really there. Work on quick flick, hip flick and knee to knee - This will help out in too many ways to list, from helping with rider fatigue, to faster lap times. Reference points are gunna be important. Work on some endurance, that track will try to wear you out. Work smarter, not harder. I would bet this track will reward you 10 fold if you relax. In your free time, ride some Mt. Bikes off road. Try to work on staying loose!!! Good luck and have fun!

Always happy to help when I can. ikr!!! I felt the same way when I was given an rc8 to ride for a session. The bike would want to wheelie on the back straight @100+mph. Soooo much fun, yet not my fastest lap times. Massive adjustment in application of skills vs. my r6.

Another thought... At least on some of the tracks I ride, the turn before the strait is fairly tight. It's easy to charge that turn or over brake for the corner. Which normally leads to wanting to make up the lost exit drive with a more aggressive throttle roll. Yin and yang!

It's my experience that a smooth throttle roll is the fastest, but let's try to figure it out for you, because both can be plenty fast depending on rider skill/tolerance and bike tech. How does the turn in point and line affect throttle application at the beginning and end of the corner? If there is a line that allows for getting on the gas earlier, would you need to roll as aggressively on exit? Would the bike tend to wheelie as much at higher exit speeds? Now lets compare that to a point and shoot bike/rider combo. Their line tends to square off the corner and then plays to the bike's high power output to drive out the corner with more skillful throttle finesse and a preference to let the tech keep the front from lifting too high. What kind of rider are you currently? Next... Can you use the timing of the exit pickup and continuing the roll to somewhat manage wheelie tendency? Instead of ham fisting the throttle when the bike is straight up, one can continue a smooth throttle roll on exit to increase speed before pinning it, hopefully reducing the tendency to wheelie.

Finding lines or attack angles opens up a whole new world for many riders. If everyone always followed the same line, noone would pass anybody.

We move shift points (markers) and short shift all the time on the track to keep rider's front wheel planted firmly. It is also one of "my" clues that gearing might be off or could be better for a given track. Other times (most of the time), it's purely the rider... greedy throttle hand right in the peak gear/rpm range for laying down serious power to the tarmac. Doing a search of throttle control and crests here should shed additional light.

As a near 6ft racer on a ninja 250, this happens. I have credited this largely to not being able to "fit" the ergos to my perfect needs. When I ran into this problem, I tried to duplicate my issue on my r6 and guess what? No problems on that bike. While we make do on what bike we are on at the time, don't forget to stop and think about your ergos and take the time to adjust them if your gunna be riding that bike for a while. Aside of the helmet hitting the back of my suit (speed hump) other subtle things have cropped up as well. Sometimes we find solutions to the symptoms vs. the problems. Can anyone else think of any clues that let you know your ergos are off?

the first track day is always special. I hope you enjoy it 100%.

This has been a tough one based on your comments, as there is no "smoking gun" thus far. So let's break it down to some bare bone basics. 1. Assuming same/similar conditions, bike's don't do something different every few laps or every other time out on the street, only riders do. 2. Trust yourself, not your tires. Purposely bring up the temp of your tires, a cool tire on a cool day can surprise you. 3. Can you flick on tires that are not scrubbed in? No, when in doubt... again, trust yourself. Although, we throw on a new set of tires and take a hot lap, then go hard. Ymmv while on the street though. This is why it's important to asses your own risk and trust yourself. 4. Linked corners can be a challenge to get the setup right "consistently". Perhaps these corners are linked with another befor hand? I rarely blame it on the bike. Even a modern stock bike can enable a rider to drag an elbow with good techniques.

When are you getting off the seat? Getting off the seat deep into corner entry can cause instability. Do you know when you should be getting your bum off the seat?

Can you call them to check compatibility between your lap time and their beacon? Normally they are compatible and will trigger your timer but I have ran into a few where they were not. Not sure what timer you have but many of the app based (cell phone) lap timers are somewhat inaccurate due to GPS update frequency.

The list of possible issues is kinda long. Could you help us narrow it down more please? Sounds as if you could be trail braking very deep into these specific corners and/or charging them somewhat. You mentioned it happens between turn in and getting on the gas. Are you still setting entry speed at that time? Are you waiting until a specific part of the turn to get back to the throttle? Also, please stay safe out there on the streets until you get a handle on what is going on.

Welcome Damian!

Thanks for the assist Hotfoot! Ding, ding, ding! Winner, winner! So the refresh as requested; Don't chop it Pick the bike up a bit Put more body mass to the inside Ensure good throttle control Loosen up on the bars Hope it helps and best wishes for your next time out.