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I took the Lee Parks Total Control Advanced Riders Clinic over the weekend in Troy NY.
I have to say I have always considered myself a "good" rider, that is that I have pretty good form and rank low on the squid-0-meter. For me, I have not improved a whole lot in the past several years. This year I wanted to break through the next level of riding.
Track days are appealing but I felt to get the most out of one that instructon should come first. After looking around I chose The Lee Parks class after seeing it in Rider. It's not too far away in Troy NY.
It was definitely the right choice! The class is broken down into steps with about 60-40% classroom to range time. My class had a 2:1 student to instructor ratio, this was incredibly useful. It meant a lot of riding time with instant feedback.
By the end of the weekend I was able to consistently drag my knee and keep it down as long as I wanted. The pegs on the SV are beveled.
For many people doing that would be enough but I understand so much more about how I ride and what changes I can work in to make my street riding more successful. I know how far my motorcycle will go and am a lot calmer on the bike. I have to say it was a great, great weekend. I now really look forward to a track day knowing I can apply and refine my skills. I really look forward to my next group ride (likely with the Yankee Beemers) knowing my skills will allow "keeping up" to be a much more relaxing affair.
I cannot over recommend this class. I hear it may be offered in conjunction with Tony's Track day.
If your riding has plateaued and your looking for something to break through this could be it for you. For my part I got and read Lee's book and tried to apply the skills before I got there. Having this base allowed me to get a lot out of the class. I think the book is better aimed at street sport riders of good ability than to the Keith Code "Twist" books which are more track oriented.
The combination of reading and practicing made for a big leap in my skills level.
The guys in Troy are a good bunch and have the skills and ability as teachers. They kept the class fun for people at all levels and it moved right along. With such a high teacher-student ratio there was a lot of individual attention. They covered a lot of ground.
The On bike body positioning (on your stationary bike in the parking lot they set you into optimal cornering position) showed me a lot of stuff it would have take me forever to learn on my own by experimenting. It was so useful. There were many things like this.
I took my girlfriend out for the weekend and we did some car camping at cherry plain state park and visited Howe Caverns the day before. We visited an awesome junk yard on Rt43 in NY that has only 50+ year old cars and trucks in it that will be a real attraction for motorheads!
We went out to a couple of good restaurants while in the capitol region. The Troy visitors center lends bikes out for free to visitors so she road around while I was in class.
My review 5/5 stars!