How much riding experience before first trackday?

[eboos]

Turn 3 is like NOTHING you'll experience on the street,

The hairpin heading east on Mohawk Trail. Almost exactly like turn 3.

[Pittenger5]

The hairpin heading east on Mohawk Trail. Almost exactly like turn 3.

I stand corrected.
Course, I've done about 25 thousand miles on bikes, and I've never experienced anything like turn 3, so I'm willing to bet I'm not alone

[BostonSVkid]

I had been riding over 4 seasons before I went but then again I was poor and couldnt afford the track days before.

[CEO]

I am curious about what happens at a trackday when a rider or riders appear to be over their heads on the track, either because of skill level, nerves or the desire to "keep up" in their group. I'm sure you've had riders who's first few laps set off the "oh boy" alarm among the staff. When this alarm goes off, what happens to get them set straight for their benefit and the safety of others.

The TTD staff can correct me if I'm wrong... but basically they will pull the person aside after that session and give them some tips, pointers, and warn them that they are approaching the realm of losing control. But after that, it's still on the person...

Tony once said to me that the people who are going to crash are very apparent right away in the morning and there's usually not much you can say to them to change it.

[The Snowman]

Been riding moped sized bikes since 1997.

DG, was it anything like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjrEQaG5jPM

[GixerJockey]

Unfortunately... I spent 15 years on street motorcycles before I found the race track...

I wish I had found race track bliss much sooner. I feel like I missed out.

[OreoGaborio]

I am curious about what happens at a trackday when a rider or riders appear to be over their heads on the track, either because of skill level, nerves or the desire to "keep up" in their group. I'm sure you've had riders who's first few laps set off the "oh boy" alarm among the staff. When this alarm goes off, what happens to get them set straight for their benefit and the safety of others.

Like Chris said, we (the instructors) usually aproach them & try to address the issue in a non-threatening, non-lecturing manner and we try to accompany the "criticism" with some form of praise so they don't get on the defensive.

If they keep it up then we'll bring the issue to Ken (Chief Instructor) or Graham (Senior Instructor).

That usually gets their attention... but if it doesn't, then it goes up the ladder to Tony.... and that's generally not a good thing


That happens pretty rarely though. I like to think we're pretty good at picking up those riders who are riding beyond their limits and we can usually reel them back in pretty quickly before they learn the hard way & hurt themselves or someone else.

[wingerdor]

I would imagine that once they scare themselves a bit they may be more receptive to help.

And like you say, you guys flood the red group in the morning with control riders and instructors.

[Ken C]

Ken,

Congrats on the book. You led the last ERC course I attended for SRNE and it was terrific.

I am curious about what happens at a trackday when a rider or riders appear to be over their heads on the track, either because of skill level, nerves or the desire to "keep up" in their group. I'm sure you've had riders who's first few laps set off the "oh boy" alarm among the staff. When this alarm goes off, what happens to get them set straight for their benefit and the safety of others.

Welcome to the site! Now that the book is done, I might revive some sport riding ERCs next season, or even something else.

As Pete and Chris said, we are good about spotting problem riders. We ask the cornerworkers to chime in as well. There are two types of problem riders, 1. those who ride over their head 2. those who are freaked out and ride slower than typical street speeds.

The guy or gal who is riding over his or her head blows apexs and are generally erratic. We are quick to point out that they must slow down to learn the track and benefit most from the day (and not crash). Sometimes we have to throw the "if you don't listen to me you're going to crash" bomb. Thankfully, that doesn't happen very often.

The freaked out rider rides at a slow pace. In this case, we'll pick them up on track and guide them around, slowly increasing speed as appropriate.

It is so rare that an individual has to be "spoken to". Everyone seems to ease into one of the three groups with relative ease.