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tweek

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Everything posted by tweek

  1. [i posted this up but it disappeared. Either the mods killed it and didn’t tell me, or I didn’t do it right. So I’ll try again.] Last year I crashed twice. Once on the track – chopped the throttle when I thought I was running wide. Ended up with a broken elbow. That was June. In October I had an accident on the street that landed me in the ER with a burst spleen and a concussion. I don’t know what happened, my friends say traffic suddenly stopped in front of us and I went down. I wasn’t going very fast (20mph) but landed badly and scrambled my brain. As you can imagine my riding confidence is in the toilet. I’ve done all 4 levels with CSS and have videos to prove that I was on my way to being fast enough to be mistaken for fast. But now it’s gone and I’m starting over. On Sunday (02/08/2009) my friend and I went out to Eagles Canyon for a member day. We were the only bikes on the track. It was nice being out there without any traffic. What stinks though is that I’m really slow now. I’m having trouble trusting the tires to maintain their traction, so I’m quick turning or rolling on the throttle. I’m doing the other stuff (2step, knee to knee, etc) but it doesn’t really matter at this point because I’m not really going fast enough for it to make a difference. Not really sure what I’m after here. I guess I want to know how others have gotten through this part of riding. I can’t be the first person to have experienced this. What did you guys do?
  2. I saw this awhile ago. I don't mean this in a bad way but: I hope this is a problem specific to how Mr. Spencer was doing business and not the start of something bigger. I've considered going to his school to see what the differences are. Guess I'll do Mystery school instead. And some more level 4 coaching too.
  3. Just did my first trackday sense I crashed. Worked a bit on my reference points and did ok. I guess. not really. Bigger concerns were consuming me: First my bike didnt feel right. On entrance to turns it just didnt want to go in. Given my mental state I wasnt sure whether it was me or the bike, but I went to see the Suspension doctor anyway. There was no friggin nitrogen in my rear shock. all my settings were jacked up, spring sag in front was wrong. so on and so forth. He got the bike back to a nice middle of the roar setup. Good enough for the rest of the day. Second, my pace right now is so slow my lines really don't matter that much. I could hug the inside of the entire track for all the difference it would make. Toward the end of the day my pace was coming back but I'm so far out of shape I ended up skipping the last session. What I did observe though is that I really do seem to have trouble picking and recalling reference points. I really don't know why. In general the lines I follow without specific reference points are pretty consistent, but they are also pretty wide. For now I'm going to leave this alone and pick it backup when I'm comfortable again. June 7th - Thought I was channeling Rossi, but it turned out to be Depuniet.
  4. I have all three books and have read them all multiple times. The trick is taking the theory and turning it in to reflexive practice. It is really easy to get distracted on the track. You are out there with a bunch of other squids. Some faster, some slower. Some are placed so as to prevent you from staying on the line you want. It's a complex dynamic environment. However, the question is: if I were given the track on my own could I do two things - stay on a line as I described lap after lap and secondly: keep the times really close (ie less than a second difference lap to lap). I'm really not sure I could do that right now. However, it is just a skill that needs to be developed. some practice and coaching and I'll be good to go. Plus, it gives Keith and crew something to work on next year .
  5. Evolution from the no-brakes drill to the no-eyes drill. might catch on. but think I'll let somebody try it out first. I stick with my plan of just staying on one line for a bit and see where that takes me. I get what you are saying racer. Up to this point my aim has been very much about control over the bike. Can I make it go where I want it to go without much consideration toward where it should go. Just get around the track while staying on the paved stuff was the primary concern. Got that down pretty well. So now we'll take the control up a notch and become consistent. The line I pick might not be the 'fast line' or 'mechanical line' but I don't care right now. I just want to stay inside a channel about 12" wide all the way around the track lap after lap. If I can get good at that, and I can, then I'll start worrying about good lines and stuff.
  6. hmmmm....... Perhaps I've been using the Han Solo riding plan - just some simple tricks and nonsense.
  7. Still not satified with the 1 line theory and I think I understand better the reason for the tape markers in school. [if my reasoning isn't acceptable then just go with - the kid is bored and tired of not being on the track and is killing time by writing lame blog posts] http://guerillaprogrammer.com/blogs/tweek/...8/11/lines.aspx Happy monday! 12 days to Cresson!
  8. I think you guys know plenty and that I'm just being really slow getting a clue. Looking for that Zen thing. "Grasshopper, there is no line. Now be the line". I've got a few more weeks to think about this and I already have a plan. Unless there is a good reason to change it, I'll go with it. So I'll switch sides and play "there is one line" for a bit and see how that works. And thanks Kevin. Between you and Racer CSS has a pretty darn good help desk.
  9. Thanks Racer. Apperciate the patience while I work through this. I can imagine for some readers looking at this going "what's his deal, its so obvious it shouldnt even bare any thought". And perhaps they are right. I don't race. I go out an play at it on trackdays. Late this year I plan to get my CMRA race license and find a nice beater EX250 to flog around. Then maybe I'll have a better idea of what I'm talking about. 'good line' vs. 'fast line' is a good distinction. I just assumed that the good line was the fast line. So I guess it comes down to what am I going to do on the 22nd? Easy - ask one of the nice gentlemen in a blue jerzy to give me a tour and actually pay attention this time. Start working on picking reference points and then consistently putting my front tire through them. Too bad this thread didn't stir the pot as well as the other one....
  10. Further consideration brings up a few other things: what are the mechanical line and fast line? Are they always the same or are there factors that influence them? For instance do 600cc bikes have a different fast line from liter bikes? Will a ZX10R have a different fast line compared to a CBR1000RR and GSXR1000? The the mechanical line the same as the fast line?
  11. I guess I'm still not tracking this because while the points appear to make sense reality doesnt quite follow. Before jumping deeper in let me explain my reason for roominating on this topic. Before (ie lean angle) I was chiefly concerned about just maintaining control of the bike. I had not yet leaned a bike far enough to touch my knee down and had noticed that while I was leaned way over other riders with less lean angle were passing me. Now I am able to get to the edge of the bike's grip (and have discovered how careful you need to be when you get there). So the next thing really is where do you go? Great you can lean your bike over so far that you elbow actually touches! yeah! so what? It doesnt really matter if you can't make use of these new found ablities. So now that I can carry more speed through the corners (because I can make more use of the bike's abilities) how do I get even better lap times? I think the answer is figuring out things like reference points and lines. Going back to where I started and chunking it down a bit, lets break it in two. On one hand deal with the context of racing. On the other deal with the context of time trials. In the case of time trials (one bike on the track at a time like WSBK super pole) the rider can use whatever line he choses. If each bike had a GPS tracking unit on it and you collected all of their data I wonder what you would see? Would you see one line through the whole track, would it be thick or thin? Or would you see something like brownian motion? What if you had a lot of different classes participating and you had all their data (125cc, 250cc, 600s, liter bikes, motards and a few hells angles for good measure). What would you see? In the case of time trials I'm will to bet that in the hands of expert riders across all the classes you would actually end up with either concentric lines based on some factor (likely weight) or a fairly thin line followed by all the bikes. Thin line would probably be similar to the mechanical line (outside, inside, outside) you would draw on a map of the track. there would probably be a few variances to account for things line dips, tar snakes, gravelly spots, etc, but overall it would be like the mechanical line. But when you line up a bunch of competitive blokes on their bikes things change. During time trials I bet you don't see too many bikes sliding sideways on the exit of a turn or being backed in to a turn. How do the qualifing times compare to the race times? If a race can absolutely be controlled from the front then why doesnt the guy on pole usually win from the very beginning? If all you need to do in order to win is get on the fast line and go fast then the guy in pole position should be able to win every time. I don't think that happens. We can throw in the fact that we're humans and fallable, but that pretty much does away with there being only one line. The physics might say "this is the line, there shall be no other", but then along comes man and screws it up. He enters the turn 3ft outside the leader but does his turn faster so that he ends up inside the leader on exit. However, physics says "you have sinned against me and I shall smite thee!" and his rear tire begins to slide a tad. But our sinner is a whiley rider and paid attention during level 4 and lets the bike begin to stand up with out giving back any throttle. Our sinner now is the race leader and he did it by not staying on the fast line and briefly stepping over the edge (just to be photogenic). Ignoring my lame sense of homur - is this even possible at a race pace? Personally I won't be givening it a try anytime soon. I make my money writing software not winning races. So is there one and only one line? Or are there several? Or Keith's book says "any line that allows your to apply good throttle control is a good line" - is this a round about way of saying - sorry dude - one line or what?
  12. Broke elbow no track Physical therapy sucks Lines are on my mind During one of the level 4 class room sessions with Mr. Code the topic of the lines I was chasing came up. He seemed a bit peeved that I was not making use of the tape markers he and his crew had laid out on the track. He asked something along the lines of “Do you think we don’t know where to put them?” Clearly that is not the case. I think I don’t understand clearly why they are there. Having read TOW2 many many times and watched plenty of racing it is pretty clear that there are several ‘good’ lines through any track. If there was only one line then there wouldn’t be much passing in turns. You wouldn’t see Bayliss going around the outside of Troy Courser. Or the dog fight between Stoner and Rossi at Laguna. They’d be tucked in single file going through the turns and trying to drag race down the straights. So why are those markers there? It isn’t just for the n00bs obviously. If that were the case Mr. Code wouldn’t have asked the question and responded to me in the fashion he did. So what gives? Is there really only one good line or is there something else going on? Sorry for the Haiku. Been a month sense my last track day and I’m just now ready for another. But I’m still waiting until late August before I go back. Better safe than sorry. See if I can start up another insane thread. I asked one stupid question while trying to figure out how to get my knee down and it goes to 9 pages. Insane I tell you.
  13. Finally wrote it - http://guerillaprogrammer.com/blogs/tweek/...y-leathers.aspx.
  14. Not quite. He was preplexed at my lack of reference points and commented that I better get some before riding much faster. While I have deep respect for the work Mr. Code has done and consider him to be the Cornering Guru, I don't think he has quite transended and become clearvoiant.
  15. I'm pretty sure he already had his can of Red Bull so it's too late for wings. Anyway - I shouldnt make too much fun of that poor guy. I low sided two weeks ago - the very next weekend after doing level 3 & 4. I just havent had time to write about it yet. plus I broke my friggin elbow so I can't ride for another week or two. I'll get some time next week to write up my little incident. What really sucks about it is that Keith more or less warned me. anyway - when I have time.
  16. Couldnt resist - probably should have.
  17. I wrote up a review of my experience doing level 3 & 4 at Barber this past weekend (5/31 & 6/1). You can read the whole thing here: http://guerillaprogrammer.com/blogs/jakew/...-level-3-4.aspx. Or the short concise version here: It freaking rocked! Have a nice day.
  18. != er equals "not equal too" == is the C/C++/Java/C# token for equality = is for assignment. Silly programming stuff.
  19. Have a safe journey and great time, tweek! We'll be expecting an Earth shattering Ka-Boom of riding epiphanies upon your return! I really envy you getting to ride Barber, dude. It looks like an AWESOME track on the AMA race tape I've been watching. I suppose I'll just have to settle for being patient while waiting for my birthday... at Mid-Ohio in August. I wrote up about 4 pages worth of stuff - but my hosting company is servicing the database server so my Blog is down. at least that is what I hope is going on. I'll know tomorrow. Anyway - a great time was had by all. Especailly the 11 yo kid who was ripping up the track. I'm seriously impressed with how well Keith and his crew worked with him. Then again, maybe I shouldnt be - they're used to dealing with kids - just bigger ones. While I wait on my server to come back to life here are a few videos - Me doing the level 3 knee to knee drill - http://www.livevideo.com/video/8962177B497...-barber-08.aspx Dylan showing how its done - http://www.livevideo.com/video/46B7908D536...-barber-08.aspx View of turn 7 from the Museum - http://www.livevideo.com/video/85A24AE112F...useum-turn.aspx I should start a new thread about this - I'm still agog at how great level 3 is. The hook turn is wild and the knee to knee drill is NOT what I thought it was. And really - Lean Angle != Turn Radius. Seriously. I was sooo wrong. sooo very very wrong. I could go on but I'd end up being rude about how wrong I was. Just learn to hook turn and quick turn together and the fun will never stop! Oh - get reference points. Unless you like to see Keith's eyebrows climbing up his forehead as you answer his questions about what you are looking at.
  20. OMG - I started a monster. from experiments in the labratory I can tell you that the impact of hanging it out is huge. The whole hook turn thing has a dramatic effect on the bike. It was fun to enter turns with my shoulders and head 'high' and then as I passed the apex to drop them down low. the change in my line was dramatic. Have fun modeling this. BTW - Lean Angle != turn radious
  21. Amazing weekend! Jeff, Mike, Cobie, Keith, Dylan and the rest of the team - great job. I absolutely love these schools and the job you guys do. Too bad you can't control the weather or the 11 o'clock sunday nap time. Level 3 really does tie things together. The changes in my riding are dramatic. They also are highlighting what we drug out in level 4 - I need to get better reference points. I scared the guru with my turn 1 'reference points'. See you guys next year for level 4.2 & 4.3
  22. Based on this weekend at Barber - about 11. Amazing to watch him rock that little 125 around the track. Even funnier watching the adults trying to keep up with him through the corners. Also amazing to see how well the coaches worked with him.
  23. I get to Birmingham around 10a so I have plenty of time. I want to spend time in the museum. If they'll let I'll see if I can walk around the ring road, sense mr. code's students will be on the track I dont think he'd be too happy with me actually walking the track. it is funny - I got started with autocross. walking the course is a critical part of the autocross ritual. I'm surprised that walking the course isnt practiced on the track. you do get a better view on your feet.
  24. I cant wait for saturday. all my stuff is packed and the plane leaves tomorrow morning. I plan to spend some quality time in Mr. Barber's museum and watch my friends who are doing the two day camp. anyway - I'll get to work on the stuff this thread has been about from the beginning: turning the bike like a wild man.
  25. yeah - the camera bike's lines are nuts, but the footage is good enough to get an idea of how the track is hooked up. Looks like a nice tour of the Birmingham country side. The main thing in regard to lines is: make sure it starts and ends on the black stuff not the green stuff.
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