Chief Posted July 18 Report Share Posted July 18 California Superbike School is a truly unique experience! I met a fantastic variety of excited riders and coaches. Here’s a thread to summarize your 1st day. What is your background & why you came? When/where did you attend Level I? How did it go? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Posted July 18 Author Report Share Posted July 18 This year, I’d been on an unusual break from riding for about 23 months for various reasons. After attending the MotoAmerica races at the Ridge (WA), I couldn’t help but start looking for upcoming track days. I saw CSS on the schedule & quite easily convinced my wife to let me spend the extra (over just a normal track day) on getting some good training. I’ve always wanted to attend CSS. I wanted to knock the rust off, focus on reviewing the fundamentals, and drop my lap times so that I’m comfortable and consistent riding A group even with a little time off. I also wanted to see if I could get through all the levels and go for a part-time club-racing schedule in upcoming years, just to keep challenging myself, even though I’m in my 40’s. Level I at Ridge (09 JUL 2024) was amazing! From the start, we were able to go our own pace and really focus on the drills at hand. On top of the classroom instruction & drills, my on-track coach, Johnny, was fantastic. I knew I was making & correcting errors all the time, but he was both encouraging & extremely helpful in identifying underlying issues to help add on just 1 more thing or so to the drill. This I could handle. Rather than try to fix 10 things, I had 1 format, 1 drill (with a couple key concepts), and 1 extra instruction (to hone in 3 particular areas of the track or less). I cannot overstate how effective this was. Normal track days, I’m tired from preparation with hours of motorcycle maintenance, suspension research & fiddling, tire condition/temperature/pressure equations, body positions & fatigue, etc. Add that to trying to identify my own problems and working on each one every corner, only to have new problems as I figure one section out and have to change turn entry point based on higher speeds, further complicating the process. It’s a fantastic problem to have, sure, but that level of complexity results in slow growth and ingrained bad habits. Sometimes it’s just the thing to get advice from the outside, and let them take care of logistics in the background. You can focus on maximizing training and offload multitasking mentally and physically. I had an absolute blast. 10/10 highly recommend! I’ll be back! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graybeard Posted July 18 Report Share Posted July 18 @Chief Really appreciate your time in writing the above explanation and first-hand experience. I, like you, not the least experienced, nor are my buddies I do trackdays with, but have had some time out of the saddle the last couple of years. Being slightly older than you and never having any formal training except for a race school back in 2003/4. I have noticed things that need attention and information being presented is best retained if I can apply it immediately and receive immediate feedback. Hands on really works for me. You are correct, most things about a trackday is exhausting, but knowing when to say when towards the end of the day, really can be a lifesaver. More of a safety response regarding trackdays. I witnessed two separate incidents during my very first trackday at VIR. Watched a guy pass out from heat exhaustion just before the kink and he rolled off the bike it full song, like a wet noodle. Luckily, he just slid off track and received no injuries. His bike went for a long ride past T1and just fell over. The other incident, was a new track rider left the pit out marshal and immediately left the blend line on his own accord. If you have never heard a 170 mph impact of a bike crash, I can assure you there wasn't a single person in the paddock that wasn't dead silent. It was a deafening sound. The result, One broken arm, one broken wrist and two concussions. Talk about lucky. There is much for me to learn I know and am very excited about attending my first school. Happy and safe riding to you sir. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cobie Fair Posted July 25 Report Share Posted July 25 Hey Chief, really great to see the above, thanks for the summary! Best, Cobie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.