Joined Nov 2018
4K Posts | 3K+
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Thought Id find out what track days are all about. Its beginning of winter here so waited until the last minute to book in to make sure the weather was good, there was four options novice, medium slow, medium fast, and race all were booked out except for racer and novice. I would rate myself medium slow but figured that the novice group was where I belong especially for the first time out.
Managed to get a few friends together on various bits of hardware; KTM 1290, Gixxer 1000, ZZR1200, S1000RR and an SV650. Got up at 5:30 and proceeded to murder some eggs for a breakfast of champions
It’s about an hours ride from home, it was dark, pretty cold and foggy, I went down with one other bike and everyone else made their own way with a couple on trailers, definitely warm and comfy for them and to be honest I felt a bit jealous but it all paid off in the end as the ride home was in warm afternoon sunshine as they were stuck in their cages in the traffic.
One of the boys waiting for the fog to clear
Once we got there we worked out pretty quickly that the serious guys had garages, tents and track bikes, us squids were made to feel very welcome and after the registration, scrutineering and general briefing, we had a novice briefing where we were given great track info advice and encouragement.
Experts making sure most of the important bits are there
Felt pretty excited lining up for the first time, they should probably rename novice to nervous. We went out after the race group and it was pretty impressive watching them come past the stands around 250 but I deliberately disregarded all competitive urges as the number one priority was to ride home after having a lot of fun.
Once we got out onto the track I did a couple of laps pretty slowly just to get the lay of the land, we had been told not to push it too hard because the track was still cold after the fog had lifted
It was heaps of fun, and I realized just how very average I am after looking at the video. I know I could have pushed it a lot harder as I wasn’t at my limit but I know that to find that limit I really need a bike that I don’t mind dumping and as I mentioned the number one priority was to get the bike home in one piece so I could polish it in the garage, not put it into small boxes on the back of a truck!The good news is there is heaps of room for improvement by focusing on technique, but the reason I ride is for enjoyment not to impress anyone plus I really enjoy the learning process.
[youtube]l0aXR0icLyY[/youtube]
Looking forward to doing another track day soon but I might wait until summer when the weather is a bit better
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Managed to get a few friends together on various bits of hardware; KTM 1290, Gixxer 1000, ZZR1200, S1000RR and an SV650. Got up at 5:30 and proceeded to murder some eggs for a breakfast of champions
It’s about an hours ride from home, it was dark, pretty cold and foggy, I went down with one other bike and everyone else made their own way with a couple on trailers, definitely warm and comfy for them and to be honest I felt a bit jealous but it all paid off in the end as the ride home was in warm afternoon sunshine as they were stuck in their cages in the traffic.
One of the boys waiting for the fog to clear
Once we got there we worked out pretty quickly that the serious guys had garages, tents and track bikes, us squids were made to feel very welcome and after the registration, scrutineering and general briefing, we had a novice briefing where we were given great track info advice and encouragement.
Experts making sure most of the important bits are there
Felt pretty excited lining up for the first time, they should probably rename novice to nervous. We went out after the race group and it was pretty impressive watching them come past the stands around 250 but I deliberately disregarded all competitive urges as the number one priority was to ride home after having a lot of fun.
Once we got out onto the track I did a couple of laps pretty slowly just to get the lay of the land, we had been told not to push it too hard because the track was still cold after the fog had lifted
It was heaps of fun, and I realized just how very average I am after looking at the video. I know I could have pushed it a lot harder as I wasn’t at my limit but I know that to find that limit I really need a bike that I don’t mind dumping and as I mentioned the number one priority was to get the bike home in one piece so I could polish it in the garage, not put it into small boxes on the back of a truck!The good news is there is heaps of room for improvement by focusing on technique, but the reason I ride is for enjoyment not to impress anyone plus I really enjoy the learning process.
[youtube]l0aXR0icLyY[/youtube]
Looking forward to doing another track day soon but I might wait until summer when the weather is a bit better
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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