Or just quit For some of us it comes time when you burned out and desire to ride is not there any more.
Rich, I took last year off when I was in between jobs and when I rolled the bike out at Chuckwalla in March, I felt rusty and was slow. I did the MA tire test at Podium club and am pretty sure I was the slowest rider at the test. And then did Chuckwalla last weekend. I finally started feeling better in the last race even though I was on shagged take offs. The main difference was being willing to push my braking to be deeper, trail brake harder and deeper, and then literally just allowing for some higher corner speed with more lean angle. So my takeaway is that the rust feeling is real and we just have to ride more consistently to get that feeling and comfort back. Give yourself a few more days on the track.
I don't have a generator in my race van (no room), so I roll onto the track every session non-aggressively, hoping to survive 2 laps of warming the slicks, which puts me on the back foot mentally. It sucks. I think you're right... it just takes lots of laps and relearning things. Problem is, now I'm unable to get back on the track till October, so anything I picked up recently will be gone.
DIRTBIKE till then !!!!……….and screw that noise of warming tires that way. Get a hitch carrier then for a spot for a genny, so you can use warmers. You already set yourself up a mental block with that tire procedure IMO.
With that bike and slicks,you really need warmers, a real confidence boost. Yeah do you even ride dirt, that really helps.
K./Hill said it mo better,but yea Motion,gotta get the seat time regardless.I'm as guilty of beating myself up over slow weekends,when I don't ride enough. And dirt bike helps,unless you ride like my last 2 rides.Broke ribs,then jacked up my left knee this week.Both from crashes.. I think everything gets better with repetition!
Stirling Moss when asked about why he raced, said something along the lines of, if I go into a corner ten yards behind someone and come out five yards behind them it is a wonderful feeling.
Track days are great for track time but do most racers ride at race pace? I don't do many but when I do I usually work on problem areas (which are numerous) so I seldom put too many hard laps together. Get some warmers on and go race before giving Maverick your spot.
Simple solution: get rid of the Kramer and get a slower shitty bike that you can ride at its full potential.
What I did. Called it quits racing bikes in dec. Became no longer fun. Also the new owners of ASRA stupidity didnt help. Have no intention of competing against someone that may be riding a Duc 999 in Lightweight Formula 40.
Agree with @khill It is absolutely a perishable skill, and nowadays I need to ride much more frequently to maintain a given level. And just as, or even more importantly, I need to ride with purpose and focus. I need to use data, be extremely critical of hitting marks, proper control inputs, etc. Bike set up, tires, gearing, all the things become more important now. I can no longer just go burn laps and get back to a comfortable speed. It’s not uncommon to lay off a month or two and be -10 seconds a lap, and really struggle to get back on pace. And I don’t necessarily agree that it’s about fear, or consequences, if that’s the case I’d submit you might be doing it wrong. You can’t “courage” your way to a good lap time. But we sure tried when we were young Not trying to promote but you might look at some of Ken Hill’s work, it makes a lot of sense and I fall back to it often. BTW I’ll be 70 next year, and still find the same satisfaction and fun as when I was 20.
Perishable skill? Here's what I don't get....If I don't ride for 2 weeks, it takes me half the morning to get some "feeling" back. Last Saturday I watched as some pros went out after not being on a bike in quite a while and immediately were out riding within a second or two of the lap race pace. Now true, I'm older than their fathers are but dagnabit.............
I know it’s mostly in jest but I thought people here are a little too hard on you at times. Then you say something stupid like this. A Honda or knockoff inverter will fit in the floorboard behind the seats of any car. You have a fucking Kramer driven around in a Mercedes so you have the $200-$1000 it takes to buy it. Why are you driving a ridiculous amount of hours from home to take it easy and get your mind messed up for 2 out of 20 laps of each of your sessions? I promise you that you can feel the lack of traction for those 2 laps. That is sucking your mojo away. Also, you’re not fast enough to consistently ride at your fastest race pace in a track day, especially not when riding infrequently (nor am I, no insult). You currently have no idea of how much time you’ve lost.
