5 Tips for aging sport riders

[PainfullySlow]

For me, it's not just about how MUCH you're hanging off, it's HOW you're hanging off and where you're expending your energy. Relaxation, staying loose and not tensing up, smooth body transitions and minimizing effort are the biggest contributing factors to not tiring yourself out.

Work smarter not harder.

It is as simple as the conservation of energy theory. Move only as much as you must to get the job done. This is why I get faster lap after lap in 25 minute endurance races while the majority of people trail off.

Hell, watch Rick Doucette some time. He isnt a small guy but he runs what? 15 races a weekend? The man is a machine but also because he has learned when and where to expend his energy.

[whynot]

Share your knowledge. OK, here's some.

I usually regret saying "I'm too old now to (insert fun activity). So, yes, keep riding.

I read that for the 60+ crowd, falls around the home are a leading cause of injury and death. So, what the heck, get out and ride. Really it's a probability statement, that you're gonna get it in the place and activity where you spend the most time. Still, the bathroom and shower are pretty hazardous places. Let me show you my grab rails, I really loaded up the shower/tub, five so far.

Back in my racing days, it became apparent that the most dangerous part of a race weekend was the drive to the track. And that street riding was 'way riskier than track time.

Speaking of those days of yore, one of the AAMRR regulars raced despite having one good leg and one prosthetic leg. His friend would bungee the prosthetic leg to the bike. He had two levers on the left clip-on, clutch and rear brake. Starts were run-and-bump in those days, so he would have to start at the back of the grid where his pit crew could give him a push, and he would compete his way through the pack.

Yeah, keep riding, 'cuz Rust never sleeps.

[jasnmar]

For me, it's not just about how MUCH you're hanging off, it's HOW you're hanging off and where you're expending your energy. Relaxation, staying loose and not tensing up, smooth body transitions and minimizing effort are the biggest contributing factors to not tiring yourself out.

Work smarter not harder.

It is as simple as the conservation of energy theory. Move only as much as you must to get the job done. This is why I get faster lap after lap in 25 minute endurance races while the majority of people trail off.

Hell, watch Rick Doucette some time. He isnt a small guy but he runs what? 15 races a weekend? The man is a machine but also because he has learned when and where to expend his energy.

I know you guys are right. No arguments.

I lack the knowledge / experience / feel (and about 60 other likely attributes) to know how much is enough.

I also know that I'm spending too much energy being tight. I don't know how not to yet. I know it's important. I try. I'm getting better at being lose, but intolerably slowly.

[OreoGaborio]

To learn how to stay loose you first need to slow down.

It's nearly impossible for me to stay loose when I'm riding 95-100% of my ability. But the amount of energy I save when I slow down just 2-4 seconds per lap is remarkable.

Slow down until you feel yourself relaxing... then try to maintain that state of relaxation while very slllloooowwwwlllly turning the pace back up.

[Chippertheripper]

To learn how to stay loose you first need to slow down.

It's nearly impossible for me to stay loose when I'm riding 95-100% of my ability. But the amount of energy I save when I slow down just 2-4 seconds per lap is remarkable.

Slow down until you feel yourself relaxing... then try to maintain that state of relaxation while very slllloooowwwwlllly turning the pace back up.

I don't wanna spout off like I have any more knowledge and experience than anybody else here, but this ^ and using larger muscle groups (legs and core) will really help you conserve energy when you're hanging on for what feels like dear life.

[ZX11D]

Never met an 80 year old on a sports bike, but I remember this story...
click for story on 85 year old buys new bike

Every Tuesday @ MCN in Lowell an 82 year old riding a red ZX14 makes his rounds shaking hands and checking out the bikes. Very nice guy. I would think that would qualify as a "sport bike". I personaly think its kinda cool.

[Woodcraft]

To learn how to stay loose you first need to slow down.

It's nearly impossible for me to stay loose when I'm riding 95-100% of my ability. But the amount of energy I save when I slow down just 2-4 seconds per lap is remarkable.

Slow down until you feel yourself relaxing... then try to maintain that state of relaxation while very slllloooowwwwlllly turning the pace back up.

Pete, at your pace you may not feel like you are relaxing, but you must be in the most critical area - at the biggest lean angles. All top riders are loose at this point - if they are not you simply find yourself on the ground.

There is no denying that riding as hard as you can takes lots of energy, but I'll bet there are lots of people here who came off the track after running the best times they ever had feeling surprised that they did those times - "because I didn't feel like I imagined I would going that fast." What do I draw from this....that the relaxed feeling that comes with confidence lets you ride fast and not wear yourself out. Like most things on the track - it's 90% mental.

[OreoGaborio]

Yeah, good point... I'm definitely trying to relax as much as possible, especially approaching max lean. Suppose what I was getting at is just the fact that energy consumption is significantly less if you back off just a little bit and it allows you to stay much more relaxed around more of the track.

[jasnmar]

This discussion reminds me of what I think is Graham's signature...

Less haste, more speed.

[Ducati999]

Great read I am over forty now and will be doing my first track days this year. I am also considering selling my SV and getting a 250 ninja to try my hand at racing. I believe if I don't try I will regret it when I am too old to ride. Based on my family I should have over 30 more years of riding since my dad is 73 and still rides his ninja! I read above how younger riders lack discipline and money to race consistently, and I agree that is one reason I have not tried it in the past. I now have much more money and time to devote to the sport I love. COME ON SPRINGTIME!!!!

[Woodcraft]

The best way I have found to put this all in words is that in order to go fast and relax I need to focus on precision, not effort. Works for me every time.....but it 's amazing that I still have to remind myself almost every time I'm in race mode.

[Paul_E_D]

The best way I have found to put this all in words is that in order to go fast and relax I need to focus on precision, not effort. Works for me every time.....but it 's amazing that I still have to remind myself almost every time I'm in race mode.

That is it! This is exactly how I get in the zone.

[Ken C]

That is it! This is exactly how I get in the zone.

Hey, I like the sound of that Eric nailed it...Precision, precision, precision.

[carsick]

The best way I have found to put this all in words is that in order to go fast and relax I need to focus on precision, not effort. Works for me every time.....but it 's amazing that I still have to remind myself almost every time I'm in race mode.

Exactly. Oh how I wish I had known this for my first round of racing!

[PainfullySlow]

awesome discussion! Loving the responses and it is already making me wish I was back at the track.

I am glad there are people like Pete and Eric to put these things into words that are understandable to the masses. I am far from the fastest guy out there but I *am* relaxed on the bike, as Eric says you have to be. I dont even think about it when I am riding, I simply *do* as my attention is elsewhere, and now that I think about it I am thinking more about throttle, traction, and lines which would translate into "precision".

Man I have SO much work left to do :-p

[me109g4]

I saw "Midlife Crisis" come up on the thread and had to comment,, I don't believe there is any such thing, us older riders have got to the place in their lives where we can now afford the toys we longed for when we were younger. We no longer have a mortgage, a young family to support followed by college costs for the kids etc.and if real lucky we also got rid of the credit card monster of a wife who then ran off with the plumber!! So basicly we are free to buy and enjoy our dream toys, so its not a crisis its a blessing, which for one, I intend to enjoy to the fullest.

[SprintPoser]

From the perspective of an older bloke who never really spent a lot of time on the track but did ride semi fast on the street, I actually do ride slower these days. And I'm totally at peace with myself for it. Strange, isn't it, that the older we get and the less time we have on this earth the more we are determined to survive a little longer by managing risks differently?

I'm enjoying my rides just as much as I did years ago. I don't ride as fast, do ride perhaps a little more intelligently regarding safety, and take in a lot more of the things around me. For me it's just as gratifying as riding at 8/10ths on the street ever was, if not more.

[RandyO]

I don't consider myself a "sport" rider, never have, reading the tips, I realize that they are things I have been doing all along, I have always known my personal limitations, slower than average reaction time, reasons for religiously following 3 seconds, I have never wasted energy trying to imitate Ricky Racer on the street

[dontpanic]

Wow. I've gone the other direction, somewhat. I realize that I do enjoy riding fast on the street, and while I remain equally safety-conscious, I find that I have fewer concerns about getting performance awards.

[SprintPoser]

And I suppose that's the biggest difference between older, experienced riders and the younger ones. Myself, I no longer care how fast or slow anyone else wants to ride, as long as they don't run me off the road. I really tired of passing people only to have them come up behind me at a stop sign or red signal a couple miles up the road.

In older times I was perhaps thinking anyone riding faster than me was foolhardy, anyone slower "needed to get to a track day." Now, have at it. You faster guys can run rabbit for me and draw fire. I'll be along soon.

[nhbubba]

...I find that I have fewer concerns about getting performance awards.

And I have this horrible feeling that attitude is going to bite me in the wallet sooner or later.

I really tired of passing people only to have them come up behind me at a stop sign or red signal a couple miles up the road.

I must still be too young. Any time I pass someone and then they come rolling up behind me I mutter to myself "way to find the throttle jackass".

[SprintPoser]

That's the thing, they aren't necessarily finding the throttle. I could be that guy, and have been because I put 45,000 miles a year on my company car and see a lot. I've had bikes pass me even though I'm doing up to 10 over in my car, only to come up right behind them at the next stop. OK, now you're in front of me. Good for you. Now you're behind more that are far slower than I was and you often can't find a safe place to pass them all.

OK, so you maybe got there 10 or 30 seconds before me and got one or two curves in with a little more lean angle than if they'd stayed behind me. We're now both in the same place, 6 feet apart. I guess a few things happened to make me just cool it on all the passing. For one, I can't get tickets now because driving a company car is a big part of how I make my living. Having realized from the drivers seat just what I was doing as a "let me get ahead of your slow ass" motorbike rider, I've found better ways to get my thrills. Some times I'll just show the inexperienced sportbike rider that a 2013 Ford Fusion SE can actually get around a corner pretty good, and often enough...faster.

For me on my bike, I just accepted that there was no real benefit to a lot of the passing I was doing and I stopped doing it.

Mostly.

[RandyO]

For me on my bike, I just accepted that there was no real benefit to a lot of the passing I was doing and I stopped doing it.

Mostly.

more often than not, my passing is strategic to get a tailgater off my ass and on someone elses

[nhbubba]

If your 2013 Ford Fusion SE can corner just as well as a sport bike, why are you going so damned slow?!? You think 10 over on this road is plenty.. well, here's your cookie. Maybe I think it's too slow and am willing to risk the ticket. Either get on with it, or GTFO of the way. I'm cool with either.

Really, I have nothing to prove to you or anyone else. If you think I'm trying to impress you with my 650cc adventure geek machine.. well, you're mistaken. I'm just trying to get on with it, maybe get in a little rip to brighten my day. Me passing you isn't hurting anyone, least of all you. Let it slide and worry about something else.

I won't loose my job if I get a ticket. So your constraints are different than mine. Let me past and we'll all just move on with life.

* Notice that in this little scenario I use 'you' and 'me' and 'I' in the generic sense. This is not targeted at SprintPoser or any other individual per say. Just a general thought.

I really don't understand why people are so willing to plod along, take 10 seconds to find the gas pedal when the light turns green, etc. Yet are willing to try to use their cars as a 2 ton assault weapon if a faster moving vehicle moves to pass them. I am pretty darn sure that I am not going to hold you up, otherwise I wouldn't be passing you. Ditto for lane splitting, filtering.

ME FIRST MOTHER FUCKERS.. oh, look, someone texted me..

[SprintPoser]

I go no more than ten over because I can't afford the hit to my license. My car does NOT handle better than a sportbike. It handles better than a sportbike in the hands of a newb who doesn't know how to use it but thinks he does...wherever the road is straight.

I do wave riders past me when they are riding my ass. Sometimes I regret it when they absolutely park it in the corners. Not you, as you and most of the members here are highly skilled and know how to ride. I don't care if a rider passing me gets a ticket or not, it's their license, their choice.

I did once have a local fellow on a Honda Superhawk pass me on the short straight section of a twisty local road. I know the road very well, and have run it at Warp 7 and up on my bike (back when I wasn't driving for a living.) That day, I was in my 2004 GTO, and that car did handle pretty damned good. The guy who passed was indeed one who really didn't know how to ride well. I stayed right with him the whole way, except for the turns where I had to stand on the binders to avoid punting him off the road. The funny part is that two weeks later I brought my car over to a local motorcycle/car repair place to get an inspection sticker on my GTO, and he worked there. His bike was parked inside. When he spotted my car he approached me an told me I was "the only car he ever passed who could keep up with me." I didn't waste my time trying to tell him just how it was from my viewpoint, I just told him if he was going to ride like that he should take in a track day or three.