| Author | Message | ||
     Spike |
Well guys, I survived my first track day. It was a NESBA event held at VIR South just outside of Danville, VA. NESBA was running all weekend but I was only there on Saturday. On the 1st session the track was still wet from the rain that morning, so I was being overly cautious and going quite slow, especially in turns 1 and 2 where the track took the longest to dry. I spent most of that session just trying to get familiar with the track and tried to get used to riding with other riders on the track. I felt like I was really struggling with that as some riders were passing much closer than I was comfortable with. There was more than one occasion where I'd be on the brakes coming into a turn only to find that when I reached the turn in point and started to lean the bike over there was another rider to the inside of me. I found this to be unsettling at best. I was able to make a few passes on that session, but only when I knew I had enough room, and often times waiting until we got back to the main straight before attempting a pass. I finished that session feeling uncomfortable with the whole experience. Our 2nd session was delayed because oil had been spilled on the track and had to be cleaned up. The oil had made a nice trail through the entry to turn 1 and into turn 2, but the rest of the track was fine. I went out on the 2nd session with the goal of getting more familiar with the track and being more cautious of late passes. That session started off as uncomfortable as the first as I was passed twice during the first two laps while we were still under a yellow flag. One of the passes was blatantly on the inside of a corner after I was already turned in. I ended up carrying a bit more speed that session and moving around on the bike more, but still felt like I wasn't settled in yet. My entrance speeds varied quite a bit and I felt like I struggled to be in the right gear. It was much better than the 1st session, but I still didn't feel like I had found my way around the track yet. I wanted to talk to a control rider about it but I wasn't sure which one to ask. 3rd session is where I really felt like I made some progress. It started out like the 2nd session, only with a bit more speed. I was making a few more passes and getting comfortable with being in close proximity with other riders. I ended up following another rider for a lap or two and feeling like I was capable of going faster, but didn't feel comfortable making a pass. At that point one or two riders passed me and we had a group of about four of us going around the track all bunched up. I started to feel unsettled again with trying to work on my own riding while following that group. I ended up pulling into the pits just long enough for the rest of the group to break away. When the track boss let me back out of the pits I had an open track. I ran the better part of a whole lap without having to worry about anyone else, so I was able to ride my own ride and things began to fall together. It wasn't until then that the track started to make sense. Turns 4, 5, and 6 seemed to flow together so well. Tracking out turn 7 allowed a nice easy line through turn 9 which put me right at the turn in point for turn 10. I came out of 10 on the throttle and realized there was a lot of track left-- meaning I could have come through much faster. I came into turn 11 and realized it wasn't nearly as tight as I had thought, and it set you up nicely for a late apex out of 12 onto the straight. Suddenly the track just made sense. It was no longer a jumbled collection of corners, but it was more of a paved, harmonious, rhythm. It was like an epiphany. I had spent nearly an hour on the track before I began to "see" the track. The light bulb in my head had turned on. I also realized that if I let the bike bump the rev limiter between turns 2 and 3 I could stay in one gear from turn 1 all the way to the exit of turn 7. I ran a few laps with the light bulb on and realized I was able to make good time. I felt much more relaxed and started making a lot more passes. I then realized that if I upshifted after turn 2 I could stay in that higher gear through the downhill 4/5 and still get a good drive off of 6 into 7. This also allowed me exit turn 7 without needing to upshift and allowed me to stay in that same gear all the way until the exit of turn 11 when I would be on the brakes for 12. I finished that session feeling beyond excited. I couldn't wait for the next session. After that 3rd session I talked to a control rider I had recognized from earlier in the day. He didn't really notice much of my riding before that, but he offered to ride with me in the next session to see how I was doing. We started the 4th session with two warm up laps with me following the control rider, then he waved me by so he could watch me for a few laps. I was feeling really good at that point, so I decided to turn it up a bit. Everything I had learned from the previous session was really starting to make sense now. I started planning out passes as I caught slower riders. I was able to make quite a few passes by setting up extra late in turn 6 and getting by on the inside after the exit. I was also able to make a lot of passes on the outside at the exit of turn 10 when I came across riders who weren't using the whole track. I ended up touching my knee down for the first time during that session, it was in turn 2. I ended up putting my knee down a couple times during that session. I really felt like I was beginning to get it. After that session I went to talk to the control rider and found out he wasn't behind me during the whole session. We got into some traffic and ended up with three riders between us so he decided to let me go. He said I was doing great, but he pointed out that I would go back into "street" mode when behind slower traffic. He was right, there were a couple times I remember when I'd catch slower traffic coming into turn 4 and I stopped moving around on the bike. I would just sit up on the bike and follow them until I felt like I had an opportunity. I felt like it was safe enough because the speeds we were running didn't necessitate hanging off, but it certainly wasn't a good habit to be forming. Overall the control rider had mostly praise and seemed to be mostly impressed with my riding. I tried not to let any of it go to my head, but it felt great to get compliments from a control rider. I was elated. Luckily, another control rider came along and busted my bubble. He told me I needed to fix my line in turn 1 and 2 because I was running wide on the exit. He pointed out that 2 was off camber towards the outside and that a lot of bad crashes happen there. He was absolutely right and I'm glad he pointed that out to me. I had been writing that corner off in the first two sessions due to track conditions. As I started to pick up speed and learn the rest of the track, I never worked on learning the correct line through 1 and 2. At that point I took some time to beat myself up a bit because I knew that was a dumb mistake. It wasn't so much that I had a bad line, it's that I spent 4 sessions on track and hadn't even looked into fixing a line I should have known was wrong. It's not like I didn't have any indicators that the line was wrong either. My entrance speed had been inconsistent there as well as my turn in point, yet I'd still pitch it over, touch my knee, and run wide. Very squidly. At the start of the 5th session I went to find that control rider who pointed out my bad line in 2 to see if he would show me the correct line there. Of course he was more than willing to help (NESBA rocks) so we started the session off with me following him to find the right line. While I was following I also watched his line through the rest of the track in hopes of cleaning up any bad habits I had learned. One thing I couldn't help but notice was how smooth he was. I'm well aware that going fast comes from being smooth, but somehow I had gotten so caught up with the speed I had picked up in the previous sessions that I had stopped working on being smooth. After a few laps the control rider waved me by and I went at the track feeling mentally refreshed and refocused. I worked on turns 1 and 2, trying to get used to entering wider an later than I had all day. The new line had a later apex and therefore gave me a much better drive through 3 and into 4. After a few laps of this I was starting to pick up speed again. I started passing more and more riders as the session went on. At some point I noticed that I was no longer being passed, at least not nearly as frequently as I was in the morning sessions. I didn't have a lap timer, but I felt like I was definitely running faster than I had all day despite not feeling like I was working as hard. I talked to the control rider afterward, he said I was doing much better. At one point he said he was laughing in his helmet because one of the passes I made. I had been following a particular RC51 for a least a full lap and I couldn't find a good way to get around him. I let him pull away a little coming out of turn 10 to put a little space between us, then charged through 11 and setup a really late apex on 12 so I'd get a good drive down the straight. I ended up staying to the inside coming out of oak tree as the RC51 rider tracked out wide. As I started to pull past him I noticed him looking over his left shoulder as I was passing him on the right! It was a really fun session. By that time I was feeling pretty satisfied and quite tired. I had accomplished more than I had hoped to. I had learned a lot and was getting around the track quite nicely for a first timer. I was putting my knee down in turns 2, 6, 7, 10 and 12 and felt quite comfortable hanging off the bike. I even remember mentioning to a few people that all I had to do then was finish the day upright and I'd be happy. Unfortunately, I didn't do that. I went out for the 6th session feeling pretty good. I ran quite a few good laps and felt like I was going really fast (relatively speaking). Somewhere towards the end of the session I was going through turn 2 and had the rear end come around at the apex of turn 2. It was really quite gentle. It just came out from under me and left me sliding across the track on my butt with my feet forward. I remember watching the bike slide down the track, then trying to prevent myself from starting to tumble. While I was still sliding I remember thinking that I had crashed, but I knew that I was ok at that point. It was right then that another rider came right by me on the outside. Suddenly I realized that I was still on an active track and began to look back at the corner. Luckily there was no one else behind me, but as soon as I stopped sliding I scrambled off the track as fast as I could. I looked back at the corner worker, he was already waving the red flag. The rescue truck came around as soon as the track was clear, but after looking at the damage I decided to ride the bike back to the pits. The damage was surprisingly minimal. The front brake lever was the only thing broken, everything else was just scratched. At first I had thought the crash was due to being greedy with the throttle, but looking back on it I'm not so sure. After looking at some of the photos of me on the track I realized that there were places where I wasn't getting off the bike as much as I should have. It's possible those pictures were just from earlier in the day, but there were definitely some cases where I found myself being lazy and not getting all the way off the bike. This would have caused me to use more lean angle than necessary. Another thing I noticed was tire wear. While walking around the paddock at the end of the day I noticed just how chewed up most of the tires looked compared to mine. There were some riders that I know I had passed a few times and their tires looked more chewed up that mine. I know comparing tire wear isn't an exact science, but I can't help but wonder if I was running too much air in my tires, specifically the rear. I had set the rear to just a little over 34psi in the morning while the tire was cold and I hadn't adjusted it all day. Now I think the crash might have been a combination of all three things, but I really wish I had some video of the crash or at least some pictures of me in that corner during that session. Overall it was a really great event. I learned a lot and met a ton of cool people in the process. Everyone I talked to was friendly and willing to lend a hand when needed. I don't think I ran into a single bad attitude all day- something I can't say for a lot of street rides I've been on. I'm definitely looking forward to doing another track day, but I'll need to let the budget recover for a while. Hopefully I'll make it to at least one more this season. Big thanks to NESBA for a great event and to all the CR's, specifically Taylor on the R6 (#22) and Johnnie on the RC51 (#624), you guys were a big help. *Edit, pictures can be seen here Mike Luddy, Jr. '04 XB12R Firebolt (Nesba #83) (Message edited by spike on May 19, 2005) (Message edited by spike on May 19, 2005) | ||
| Henrik |
Thanks for the story Mike. VIR South is a fantastic track - and VIR North is even better, believe it or not ... I can relate to your turn 2 story - crashed there myself ... there's a reason the call that turn "The Bitch." I've crashed getting on the brakes going into turn 1 as well. Both crashes due to a faulty part: the nut between the handlebars and the seat ...  I usually run 30/30 PSI unless it's really hot - then I'll run 32/32. Granted on an SV but still. I usually try to remember checking my tire pressure just after a session. If the pressure goes up 10% from cold tire pressure I got the pressure right. Henrik | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
Mike, cool to read your report, thanks for taking the time to put your day into words. Ferris | ||
| Chris_mackay |
Wow Mike, you learned an aweful lot in just one day! Judging by the progress you made at your first track day, you'll be racing in no time! A wise old racer gave me some advice I've taken to heart and, perhaps, others could benefit from. He said "Never ride to 100% of your ability. Save 10 - 20% for learning and you'll be able to handle new experiences more safely." So... Ride fast. Ride safe. | ||
| Jlnance |
Thanks for the story Mike. It sounds like you had a great time, which is really impressive to be able to say since a "mishap" was involved. Hope you get that sorted out quickly. Now that you're an experienced track rider I have a question for you.  If I ever do a track day, I might take the Blast rather than the Cyclone, just because dropping the Blast would be a lot cheaper. I realize I would probably be the slowest thing out there, but would that be a problem? I'd hate to be in every ones way. | ||
| Spike |
Jim, The Blast certainly could be tracked, but I'd recommend taking the Cyclone. It's not so much the speed, we had a Ninja 250 in our group at VIR. The little Ninja was getting passed quite often, but I don't think it posed much of a problem for anyone else. I recommend taking the Cyclone because I think you'll learn more riding it around the track than you would the Blast. The Blast makes a great beginner street bike, but I think you'd run into it's limits on the track too easily and spend the rest of the day trying to ride around the bike while the footpegs were ground into oblivion. Besides, the Cyclone would make a more than willing partner on the track-- Just ask Rotchcrocket51. If you're interested, Nesba actually offers a free intro track day. They allow you to attend the riders meeting and ride in the first two 20 minute sessions with the beginner group. Prep to the bike is minimal as well, just remove or tape off the lights and mirrors. Also, I was considering riding up to VIR just to watch a track day sometime. It's not a long ride up there and it's a really beautiful facility. That way you could check it out and get a feel for the track day atmosphere without any of the commitment/risk. Let me know if you want to head up there sometime. Mike L. | ||
| Blake |
Great story! Thanks for sharing! Street tires? Even so, 34 psi probably was too high for optimum traction. I think you called it right. | ||
| Spike |
Blake, Yep, street tires. Brand new Metzeler M1s, which was another reason for being extra cautious in the early sessions. I set the tire pressure early in the morning and didn't think about it for the rest of the day. I had figured that since it was my first time out I wouldn't be pushing hard enough to worry about fine-tuning the tire pressure. I guess after I started passing all those "superior" import bikes I should have put tire pressure back on my to-do list.  Mike L '04 XB12R | ||
| Aydenxb9 |
Mike, looks like you had a bunch of fun, even with the low side. Glad to hear that the 'Bolt held up so well, gotta love a tough bike! Interesting reading here on tire pressures. I hadn't considered that when I did my track day either. I didn't have any issues that I could tell and seemed to alright(like Mike, after a few sessions, it seemed I became the 800 lb. gorilla in my group which seemed to bother people). VIR is without a doubt the most beautiful racing facility I've ever been to, absolutely has become my favorite place to go see a race. It's also an awesome place to run on. | ||
| Metalstorm |
What a great story and such detail! I felt like I was right there with you the whole way. Thank you so much for posting that. I've read it several times now it's so good. |
