The Future
It’s late Saturday afternoon and to be perfectly honest I’m absolutely whipped right now. My lower back hurts, my wrists feel tired and my legs are completely shot, but none of that really matters or can overshadown yesterday… Because I witnessed my riding future and it’s on a racetrack.
Without a doubt the proverbial ‘lightbulb’ has gone on inside my head and suddenly all those little things that hung me up before - such as when to downshift, how to do it smoothly, dealing with excess speed, cornering at speed, braking, trailbraking, braking before a corner, and accelerating while leaned over just to name a few - now just simply make sense. I don’t know how it happened or when it happened, but somewhere along the line the Duc and I have become a harmonious pair that thinks together and acts together. Riding the 999 yesterday was both an all together new experience and yet something that felt so perfectly normal and so perfectly sensable that it just happened with little thought or effort involved. All in all, it was a day that I will cherish for quite sometime because for the past thirty-six hours I’ve had a perma-grin smile plastered across my face and I can’t stop thinking about how amazing it was to be out on the track and how I finally feel that my skill level is worthy of riding the Duc…
A much longer blog entry is required to explain this and it’s certainly coming…
A Planned Break…
As the chaos of life continues - a good chaos, but chaos none the less - I broke down and scheduled another trackday with Reg Pridmore and the CLASS folks at The Streets of Willow. I had thought about trying out another riding school and/or a different trackday organizer but after pondering it a bit I just felt that I’d like one more go around with a group I know and trust. I’m thinking I’ll be asking for a heck of a lot more one on one this time around as I feel like I need to find a way to break through to the next level with regards to my riding skill. I figure that one of the up-shots of dealing with the CLASS crowd at The Streets again is that a) I now know the course, b) I’ve gotten to know the 999 much better and c) I feel like Reg & Gigi have seen me ride enough to have a more intelligent dialogue than just ‘here’s what you can do to ride better’… So off we go… Yet another adventure… I’m stoked.
Nothing Like A Trackday!
My first Trackday on a Ducati has to rank right up there with some of the greatest experiences in my life. It was truly an awe-inspiring adventure in so many ways and on so many levels, some of which I’m just now getting a handle on twenty four hours after we wrapped up at the track. Reg, Gigi & the rest of the CLASS Riding School folks were fantastic. If there is a more mellow, low key, no-pressure, highly educational and instructional track environment I’d be amazed. These folks are just fun to be around and when you get them out on a track they’re even better.
Right now I’m feeling particularly whipped - both emotionally and physically - but for those of you who’ve never done a trackday I can’t tell you how worthwhile it is. There is simply nothing like getting out there and pushing the limits of your riding ability in a relatively controlled environment. It’s exciting, it’s thrilling, it’s scarry, and it’s amazing. I learned so much, I can only wish that it all stays with me for quite sometime. In comparison to my previous track experience on sport touring motorcycles, being out there on the Ducati was night and day. The Duc just want to be out there, you can feel it. Almost as if the bike it talking to you. Saying, ‘ahhhhh, I’m home at last’…
I’ll write up a more detailed description of the course, but for now I’m just going to enjoy the tremendous after-glow like effect… Man, what a day.
Christmas Comes Early…
MotorMilt & I aren’t exactly the most holiday oriented people out there, but I guess everyone eventually gets caught up in the gift giving season. Actually I don’t mean to speak for ‘ol MotorMilt, he can do that for himself. But I’m definitely one of those folks who seldom remembers any important dates, anniversaries or birthdays. Usually it simply goes in one ear and out the other. Of course on the off chance that I actually do in fact write something down - like say, someone’s birthday - it usually ends up in whatever the latest and greatest email/calendar software I’m using and thus subsequently gets lost whenever I upgrade or switch to some other new cutting edge email/calendar client. So as you can see dates on calendars don’t really do me much good. If it wasn’t for MotorMilt reminding me of when I’m supposed to be somewhere I’d be one lost dude. Of course every now and then there’s a date that for some unknown reason doesn’t suffer the same fate as all the others. A date that for whatever reason gets permanently ingrained in my mind.
March 28th, 2005 promises to be that day.
Yeah, I know they’re not motorcycles, but it was the best I could do on short notice….
That’s right, we’re heading to the track… For the first time on the new Ducs. I’ve mentioned my desire to get the new bikes to the track for quite sometime in this blog. So I suspect this isn’t really a complete shocker for anyone who’s followed my ramblings, rather more of a ‘hey, we’re finally here’ moment. I’ve increasingly been thinking about track time ever since I started to realize that MotorMilt & I are closing in on the final stages of breaking in the new motors. Now there’s a ton of way to head to the track, everything from club days to organizations that simply offer track time to actual motorcycle courses held on at a professional track. The more I thought about what I really wanted out of taking the new Ducs to the track for the first time, the more I realized that what I’m after is on one hand to have the opportunity to push myself further than I can on the street while on the other hand having someone available critique me and teach me how to do it better. While I believe I ride well, I’m no MotoGP star. So any advice, education or insight I can gleam off of someone with actual track experience seemed like a good idea.
So the other night while surfing around the ‘net I decided to check out what was going on with Reg and the CLASS course folks. Milt and I have taken a couple of courses with them in the past. Abiet on very different motorcycles (i.e. the Beemers). Knowing them and knowing their drill seems like a good way to introduce the Ducati’s to the track. To my surprise they had just posted their 2005 calendar less than a week ago. The first date was… drumroll please… March 28th at The Streets of Willow, here in Southern California.
Obviously the stars were lining up… Who was I to stand in their way? A few credit card digits and a couple of clicks later, MotorMilt & I were on our way.
So now comes the fun part. We’ve got a three month wait - which is already killing me - and we still have to make hotel arrangements, figure out when we’re getting new tires and probably a prep service to go along with it. Not sure if that’s required, but we’re thinking that ProItalia might have some suggestions as far as suspension settings and the like.
Also unlike our last track day experience with Reg and the gang, which was at Laguna Seca - a track we were very familiar with because we had been to a ton of race weekend there - this will be the first time that either MotorMilt or I have visited Willow Springs. According to their website it’s a rather historical track:
This world-famous track hosted the first two NASCAR events west of the Mississippi, the first F.I.M. 500 Grand Prix motorcycle race in America, the first AMA events, the first 24-hour motorcycle endurance race, the first kart road racing in America, and the first California Sports Car Club racing on a purpose-built road course.
At 1.8 miles the Streets Course is slightly shorter than Leguna Seca (which is 2.2 miles long) and according to much of the information I’ve been reading on the ‘net it can get quite windy in Rosemond. So that might be an issue, as neither Milt nor I are huge fans of riding in heavy wind. The only major concern I have is that this will be the first time that I’ve ridden on a racetrack without an ABS anti-locking system. To be honest part of me is slightly scared about this since the very first time I was out on a racetrack I locked up my old trusty BMW R1100RS heading into the corkscrew at Leguna Seca. Luckily, I was straight up and down at the time and other than the odd sensation of wheel chatter and a bit of head shake I was okay. As I think back to that particular day, I had significantly less experience riding then I do now and I also wasn’t nearly as comfortable with the feeling of going fast. Times have changed rather dramatically on both counts and I while I’m as vigilant as I have ever been while riding, the fundamentals of riding simply happen now as opposed to having to think about them. I have no doubt that at the time I was locking up the brakes on the ‘ol beemer I was very conscience of getting on the brakes. I wasn’t preparing for a corner. I was locking everything down. These days, having no survived several hard braking ‘moments of concern’ while riding on the street - thinking cabs pulling out in front of you on a city street, bicyclists in the middle lane around a blind corner in the canyons, and general road oddities - I feel much better prepared to face the feeling of heading into a corner at a relatively high speed while at the same time seeing the track ending before your eyes as it swings on way or the other.
The bottom line is that I’m really looking forward to having the opportunity to test my limits without the worry of cross traffic, blind corners with rocks in the middle of the road, bicyclists, cars, horses and all the other stuff we deal with on a ‘usual’ ride. Plus it’ll be an adventure and who can turn that down? I’m so looking forward to this….
Reduc - Cost Effective Track Days
Since getting new Duc’s MotorMilt & I keep half joking about needed to do another track day to, “test them out”… i.e. be in a situation that allows you to push it as hard as you want and still be safe.
We’ve both done a couple of Pridemore’s CLASS courses over the years, which on reflection were just what I needed to learn more about riding. And while I enjoyed both of my weekends with Reg, I think I’m ready for something a little less structured… On the flipside, one of the local motorcycle shops by us runs their own Track Days and while they’re significantly cheaper than Reg & CLASS folks, they’ve also got two dozen bikes lined up outside their shop that have been laid down at the track. That doesn’t impress me. It scares me. Tells me that they’re not practicing or slowly getting more proficient, but rather they’re running out to the track and kicking open the throttle with little regard. That’s NG as far as I’m concerned.
So where does that leave us then?
Well, one of the members of the Ducati.MS forum passed along the name of track organziation called, Reduc : Sportbike Track Days. Apparently they started 12 years ago in an attempt to make track days more cost effective for it’s members and yet also more structured than just a random day at your local track.
In terms of cost Reduc has it’s act together, a day with them costs you around $140 while a comparable day with say Keith Code or Pridmore’s CLASS can run you $375. They have instructors, although I get the sense from their website that they’re pointing out the best possible line and not how to put your knee down - which I’ve actually heard people ask Reg before… All in all they look pretty legit plus the recommendation from the Ducati.MS folks was quite good.
To become a member of Reduc you need to either; 1) Complete their new rider orientation class, 2) Attend their instructional track day, 3) provide them with proof you’ve ridden with another track club or 4) provide proof that you’ve held a roadracing license. All in all, not to bad.
Unfortunately for MotorMilt & I it appears that Reduc only runs on the east coast, so we’re back to looking for another track group… 
, But I thought I’d share the link and their organization for all you east coasters out there!
