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Time to Take Your Skills to the Track!

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Ahhh…. The smell of race gas, testosterone and ego in the air… bikes sitting perched on their stands, tires snuggled in toasty Chickenhawk warmers… everyone bustling about last minute tire changes and chores in between sips of hot coffee…  The race track is a beautiful thing.  But for many female riders, the track can seem too daunting and maybe even downright intimidating.  After all, have you seen some of the instructors padding around the paddocks?  “No thank you, I think I’ll stick to cruising the back roads.”

I cannot begin to express the countless ladies I’ve spoken to at different events that shared this opinion, giving me the same nearly word for word response when asked if they would consider doing a track day.  Despite their competent riding abilities, many women feel they won’t “measure up,” or that they will be a hindrance to other riders, and pride gets the best of them.  Shiloh Pyne, who has been riding for several years and at one point was even the Vice President of an all female riding club, expressed this same concern, “I’m afraid to hold people up in the corners.  I want to be “really good” before I go do a track day.  I don’t want to feel like the worst one out there.”

Though understandable, the problem with this line of thinking is that the track is undoubtedly the greatest venue to develop your skills.  Whether you are a seasoned motorcyclist or as green as a new filly out to pasture, this is where you want to be.  Mark DeGross, owner of 2Fast Trackdays & Instruction, is a huge advocate for teaching riders at every level new principals, thus overcoming barriers and ultimately becoming more confident riders.  DeGross says, “The repetitive nature of the track is paramount.  By putting in lap after lap, students will quickly learn where the track goes and soon will be working on skills and technique, which will dramatically improve their riding.  The intimidation seems to come from thinking they are expected to be fast and thus they put pressure on themselves.  It’s my opinion that this perceived pressure keeps them away, when in fact, we preach competence and confidence at our 2Fast schools, not speed.  We could care less how fast students go, just as long as they are in control of their machine and running at a pace they can duplicate over and over. Once they can let go of their own speed persecution, the epiphany moment happens and women really start having fun, improving their riding, all the while gleaning skills that will make them safer on the street.”

Many women are also put off by some of the chauvinistic attitudes often found in the paddocks, and rightly so.  Who wants to have “that guy” stroll into your pits and arrogantly bless you with his magical advice?  Thankfully, as more and more females enter the sport, he’s a thing of the past, passed up by some of the ladies laying down blazing lap records on the competitive level.  With that, there are also more smiling, female instructors happy to tow students around, offering a bit of advice, all the while and putting an ear to ear grin on faces.

Often, body mechanics and physical strength can also be a barrier in women shying away from the track. Christi Midlam, of Sportbike Track Girl, explains what she has found working with her female students, “It takes far more physical exertion for a woman than it does a man.  For example, I can’t hold up a tall bike whereas a man usually doesn’t have to worry about height. Even if a man is short, his inseam and hips and leg strength make it far easier than for us. But that being said…women are far better learners in this particular sport. Women are much more humble than men. They crash way less often… not because they are slower, but because they weigh consequences and adjust behavior accordingly.”

If you’re anything like I was, the track brought on butterflies of great magnitude doing circus flips in my stomach and regardless of my capabilities or recent years riding on the street, a feeling that I had to make my pit mates proud.  Ultimately, my competitive nature prevailed in this area, and after six track days I decided to get my novice race license with Oregon Motorcycle Road Racing Association.  I cannot begin to illustrate the adventure that has been, or the invaluable skills I have been taught since.  Shortly after I graduated to expert, I began instructing for a number of track day companies and I am always more than happy to answer questions, tow students around or help facilitate involvement.

Now racing might seem a little extreme and may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but the collective idea here is one of encouragement.  Ladies, put down that article about Adam Levine, grab your helmet and sign up for a track day with your local provider. (You can find links to recommended organizations here.)  Vixens, you’ll be glad you did!

Throttle Control – Suspension & Traction

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I know, I know, another blog on throttle control, but I hope in doing this I can stress how important it is in our riding.  How it can make a ride enjoyable or really crappy really fast.  We have more control than we know when we ride, in fact, we have all the control of the outcome of each and every ride.  So let’s talk more technical about how suspension and traction play a role in the big picture.  Throttle control can affect the suspension and traction on the bike in a positive or negative way depending on how you brake and roll on the throttle.  If you break up acceleration into thirds, where cracking it on is the first third, acceleration(midway) being the second third to full acceleration to the last third, stability and traction are best in the middle third.  Say you hit the throttle hard to start, your front end gets light and tends to shake, but as it settles you feel the traction kick in and stabilize the bike allowing you to apply more throttle for more acceleration.  Throttle control affects suspension through weight transfer, too much at one time loads the back end of the bike (stiffening the rear suspension) and as a result reduces traction.  The ideal weight transfer is 10-20 percent to the rear tire which allows the suspension to work in an optimal range (and traction too) especially when cornering and that 10-20 percent can literally only be millimeters of movement in your wrist.  Cornering is especially tricky when it comes to this (and while there are other principles that apply to this including turn points, body positioning and lean which we will discuss in another blog), the earlier the throttle is applied and rolled on the less forced acceleration you will need to complete the turn and the more responsive the rear suspension will be.  According to Keith Code’s “Twist of the Wrist II” the standard rule of throttle control is:  “Once the throttle is cracked on, it is rolled on smoothly, evenly and constantly throughout the remainder of the turn.”  Yeah, easier said than done when you have a moment of panic that causes you to make a decision under duress.  The trick is to stay calm.

Rolling on smoothly like “Barry White” from my other blog has major advantages, like a rear end slide, you can avoid sliding more or a highside if you just stop rolling on and keeping it constant to allow your bike to slow briefly as it tries to align itself.  Remember your bike wants to be stable and will make every effort to get there, unless of course you disturb it in the process.  If the back end is coming around and you let your throttle go, cutting off power, the weight transfers off the rear wheel which can cause it to slide more or even overload the front tire causing it to slide.  Cutting off power by letting go of your throttle causes rear and front suspension to compress and you lose cornering ground clearance.  If you panic during your lean and cut your throttle you could potentially be lifting either one or both of your wheels off the pavement, now that’s an Oh Shit moment!  As you can see, throttle control is more than just acceleration and deceleration, there is an art to it and understanding how it applies to every aspect of riding.  I hope this little blog about how it affects suspension and traction helps to make your ride more enjoyable and through constant practice, second nature.  This doesn’t apply to street and/or track riding only, it applies to all types of riding.  Ride C.H.I.C. (Confident, Hard and In Control) Vixens!  Don’t forget to sign up for the Ducati “Women’s Event” in June where we will put these principles to the test with 2Fast and WMST.