long way to go...

[DZircher]

I was reading through the rulebook this afternoon, refreshing my memory and I came across the section on novice advancement.

5.5.1.5 2013 Starting Advancement Thresholds
Novice Heavy Weight - 1:23
Novice Middle Weight - 1:23
Novice Light Weight - 1:26
Novice Ultra Light Weight - 1:27

for me, that's 23s, that seems so far away from the 30s I'm presently running. Does anyone remember when that seemed so far away for them? I'd love to get a little perspective. I'm not in a hurry to advance mind you, just wondering what your milestones and blockers may have been.

-diz

[union]

Make friends with the people in your race. Go out there and race them hard. Times will come down. My motivation was to beat the friends I had and Im sure that was theirs as well.

[Kurlon]

Heh, here's my rookie year best lap times by race, minus rain dates:

1:42.780
1:43.134
1:36.072
1:37.654
1:35.515
1:33.936
1:33.386

Yeah, I recall 20s being a loooooong way off.

[union]

Heh, here's my rookie year best lap times by race, minus rain dates:

1:42.780
1:43.134
1:36.072
1:37.654
1:35.515
1:33.936
1:33.386

Yeah, I recall 20s being a loooooong way off.

While we are going over rookie times I looked back a bit. I turned a 1:26 my first race and a 1:20.5 my second weekend. It was a bit different back then. The course was a little different at 1-2 by about a road width and we werent measured by lap times but by rider index. We had novices doing 1:18s in my races.

[WinVT]

At those times though something might click and you can drop a couple of seconds in one weekend.... it's not like the top expert guys who can go all season chasing a half a second.

1:30 to 1:20 can happen very quickly.

[Awesome]

While we are going over rookie times I looked back a bit. I turned a 1:26 my first race and a 1:20.5 my second weekend. It was a bit different back then. The course was a little different at 1-2 by about a road width and we werent measured by lap times but by rider index. We had novices doing 1:18s in my races.

Didn't you crash your bike your first race weekend and I put you on my motard?

[union]

Didn't you crash your bike your first race weekend and I put you on my motard?

Yep. I used your motard for my rookie race. I dont really count that as a race. I highsided my R6 in second practice just before the rookie race but I was back on that bike that weekend. Did have time to get it together for the rookie race.

[Jim]

See you at the Boston Moto track day June 10?

We'll get your times down a bit.

[Kurlon]

At those times though something might click and you can drop a couple of seconds in one weekend.... it's not like the top expert guys who can go all season chasing a half a second.

1:30 to 1:20 can happen very quickly.

I went from a 1:32.4 to a 1:27.2 just by jumping on a Motard, proceeded to improve to a 1:26.2 that same day, second race on the tard. Bettered it with a 1:25.5 next weekend. My goal for the classic is to see a 25 again.

[tsorfas]

I was reading through the rulebook this afternoon, refreshing my memory and I came across the section on novice advancement.

5.5.1.5 2013 Starting Advancement Thresholds
Novice Heavy Weight - 1:23
Novice Middle Weight - 1:23
Novice Light Weight - 1:26
Novice Ultra Light Weight - 1:27

for me, that's 23s, that seems so far away from the 30s I'm presently running. Does anyone remember when that seemed so far away for them? I'd love to get a little perspective. I'm not in a hurry to advance mind you, just wondering what your milestones and blockers may have been.

-diz

Dana it seems like the key factor is SEAT TIME. DO practices, do track days, do schools. Ride as much as you can.

next find someone who rides a similar bike to yours. ask them about advice. ask them where they are braking, what gear do they have going into a turn, etc.
Take their advice and start practicing it.
If you can work with them during a track day have them follow you. they ll give you feedback. then follow them to learn proper lines.

[DZircher]

See you at the Boston Moto track day June 10?

We'll get your times down a bit.

I won't be able to get that Monday off however I will be there for racer practice on Thursday the 13th. I would love to be able to chase one of the faster riders.

[Pittenger5]

More throttle, less brake.

[tsorfas]

I am waiting one of the RSP smartasses to give you +1 on the brakes rule of suicide they came up with last weekend...

[DZircher]

brakes rule of suicide

???

splain Lucy, splain - diz

[tsorfas]

these fuckers tried to tell me every time i feel like i want to brake. Count 1 in my head and THEN get on the brakes. hahaha

[DZircher]

these fuckers tried to tell me every time i feel like i want to brake. Count 1 in my head and THEN get on the brakes. hahaha

Hmm, it took a lot of concentration not to brake too early heading into 1. And... since my last ride was a slide in 1a, I can't wait to get back on the track and get a rhythm going again.

[tsorfas]

Hmm, it took a lot of concentration not to brake too early heading into 1. And... since my last ride was a slide in 1a, I can't wait to get back on the track and get a rhythm going again.

shit like that happens all the time. point is to learn from your mistakes and most important for YOU to not get hurt. Bikes can be fixed and/or replaced.
I have crashed almost everywhere in the track. My mistakes, other people mistakes, forget to check tire pressure, ran out of talents, etc.
its a learning curve and you are doing great in being methodical and listening. you just gotta find the right people

[maxim_X]

Maybe chasing laptimes isn't the best way to lower them. I wont claim to be anything but a new trackday rider. But, every time I hit the track I just want to ride every individual corner as perfect as I can. Get your reference points down and hit them perfectly. Then you should be able to tell when you can brake later or gas earlier. If you don't have RP's for every turn make some. I literally talk to myself, out loud, on track, speaking RP's and actions.

[Chippertheripper]

Don't get so fast you outrun your budget.

Go out, get comfortable, and rip that thing.

[Doc]

Yes I remember. I remember braking before the 4 board too.

Brake later, Hold corner speed and get on the gas Sooner. Your times will come down. But remember, with all these changes your RP's change too so you need ALOT of them. If you don't have them ask people what they use and try to find more each practice. You should really just work one or two corners at a time.

As was said, the closer you get to Teens the less time you drop each weekend.

[Jim]

Diz,
on the bigger bikes, try braking between the 3 and 4 boards. some other riders will mention the 1 and 2 boards, but they're on lightweight bikes & might not have the closing speeds like the middleweight bikes will have.

these are the things i would have pointed out with you if you signed up for our track day.

seat time like Thursday practice will help, but you wont learn reference points as quickly as you would with an instructor on the track.

[union]

If you can swing it and if there is still space open do the two day school. Your times will drop and you wont find better instructors at NHMS. I did it one year and dropped two seconds.

[Trouble]

It's been mentioned multiple times in this thread but seat time and instruction can't be emphasized enough. You can ride around in practice and experiment forever or just go out and race trying to keep up but it may take you a long time to get very far. I dropped 3 seconds off my pace last year with one day of one-on-one instruction. Totally worth the money. In my opinion the best value is to do back to back track days with one-on-one instruction on the first day. It gives you a day of relatively intensive learning followed by a day to practice what you've learned and ingrain those lessons in your mind at a moderate pace (not at race pace).

[Mr. Kurtz]

I won't be able to get that Monday off however I will be there for racer practice on Thursday the 13th. I would love to be able to chase one of the faster riders.

If you can swing it and if there is still space open do the two day school. Your times will drop and you wont find better instructors at NHMS. I did it one year and dropped two seconds.

This. If you can, do at least the second day of the advanced school. If not, find some riders in your practice group and make friends, see who is a little faster that you can follow. Or, grab one of the Penguin instructors, although I'm not sure they are available for racer practice.

I am waiting one of the RSP smartasses to give you +1 on the brakes rule of suicide they came up with last weekend...

these fuckers tried to tell me every time i feel like i want to brake. Count 1 in my head and THEN get on the brakes. hahaha

That's not suicide, that's nothing but a way to make a point. Pete could probably say the entire pledge of allegiance between where I brake and where he does.

[Marc R]

All great advice mentioned above. My 2 cents may help get the most out of one-on-one instruction or practice time. I hesitate to post, I never raced, only track days. On the other hand our lap times are similar, similar bikes, I'm also an engineer, so...

I have ranked which corners are my slowest. Using my Qstarz log and comparing it to someone else's 1.2x lap. Then I take a closer look at the basics for my slowest corners:
- the difference in our lines (using video, hit pause when the horizon tilts, and after the apex).
- after turn-in, how quickly can I get on the throttle and stay on the throttle.

Also, using an expert's QStarz log (and some arithmetic in excel), you'll notice they can transition from throttle to brakes quickly, for example +0.3G and one second later reach -0.8G braking. Confidence in braking keeps the anxiety down. Practicing the muscle memory to smoothly and continuously pull on the brake lever pays off. A few sessions in a parking lot (40+ to zero mph) with the goal of reaching 0.6-0.8G under a second helped me significantly.