Team Oregon's Advanced Rider Training September

That was sooo much fun. I was jealous at lunch watching the
instructors get to ride on the track. They make it look easy. After
the classroom talk and then lunch we spent the rest the day 12:30-4:30
on the track. It was damn hot. I regretted not bringing my summer
jacket and gloves.

Right as were were all lined up getting ready to start one of the
instructors was practicing emergency braking. Unfortunately his
handlebars were turned slightly and the big DL1000 fell over, no
damage or injuries luckily. I figured we had gotten the one drop for
the class out of the way early.

We started out with simple braking exercises to get us used to the
track and to get used to the corners. They were _all_ 10, 15 and 20's.
Right up my alley. Then we worked on cornering and lines. I never
would have guessed what the right lines were for all the corners. They
taught this cool linked turns thing that was great. Basically keep the
same lean through multiple turns so that the exit of one then followed
by going straight to the entrance of the next. I will have to do some
thinking about this for my next rides. If you do it right you dont
need to move to set yourself up for the next turn.

We also did emergency braking in a striaght line, emergecny braking
while leaned over (I was nervous Id drop my bike but it was easy),
swerves, then swerves and braking. My favorite part by far was at the
end where they let us ride our own pace and we could pass in the
straight. I had earlier in the day requested to go first, he thought
it was funny and seemd to understand but didnt change anything. Up to
that point I hadn't been able to get a whole lap in without having to
brake in the corners for someone. That was even with slowing down in
all the straights and giving them room. So at the end when they let us
go and just practice what we had learned all day I was really happy.

Unfortunately on the 2nd lap a cruiser guy lowsided. He was mostly OK,
but was limping. And he was too freaked out to ride his bike again. So
he and his bike were towed home. I hope they heal up OK.

We got a good 30 minutes of just practice. That was worth the 95$
right there. In general the whole class is very worth the money and
the time. I plan on taking it again next year. I also have more
confidence to take the RSP again now that I have a bike that fits me
better.

I learned that actually braking before a turn stabilizes the
suspension. Im sure someone has told me that before but it never
clicked. The guys pulls me over and says, you aren't braking at all. I
said I know I dont need to I have a twin. I just ease up on the
throttle. He wanted me to try braking just a touch before accelerating
then leaning in. Wow did it make a difference.

I also practiced looking through turns a lot and I practiced scraping
my pegs _alot_. I think I still have some pegs left... Oh man just
thinking about how much fun the track was makes me want to go back. I
put a couple pictures up but you cant get a feel for the whole thing.

I got my ego stroked by most the students (and instructors) which of
course made me happy. I passed almost everyone after the session was
over. I even lapped one guy twice. I kept telling them it was my bike
not me. Not once did anyone say I was going too fast :) I wasn't. They
taught us good skills and my bike is just really really good at tight
turns so I wasn't pushing myself at all.

Let's just say Im really looking forward to taking some of my new
skills on to the street and at the track next week.  Oh yeah the other
thing is they got me to brake a little without engaging the clutch. I
thought it was ingrained and I would never get over it, but I did and
it really helped with the swerving exercise. I can't really describe
everything I learned. You will just have to take it for yourself. Im
sure everyone learns different things. I didn't touch on everything
they taught mostly just the thigns that really hit home for me.

Very very worth it and I'm soo glad I finally took it. But yeah there
were some really slippery corners covered in rubber, definitely not a
rainy day sorta class.