First Track Day [Part 1]

Guys, my first track day was an awesome experience. I rode with NESBA at
Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama. The track is regarded as one
of the best in the country. I haven't been to a lot of tracks, but this park
is one of the best places I've ever visited, and the track is incredible.

I can't really put the experience into words. It was nerve-wracking,
challenging, fun, exhausting and at times glorious. As amazing as all the
on-track action was, the people there were even more amazing.

After two crappy hours of sleep, I left Atlanta at 6:30 a.m. with everything
loaded but my bike prep work still not finished. I had not taped anything or
put on my numbers. So it was going to be close. I had to average about 90
mph in the Chevy Express van I had rented from Enterprise to make it to the
track, 145 miles away and an hour behind, in time to finish prepping my
bike, register and pass inspection. I pulled up to the paddock and got out
of the van to hear the P.A. announcer say that there were 25 minutes left. I
asked the dudes next to me to help me get my bike out of the van. Not only
did they help me with the bike, they became my friends and my partners for
the rest of the day. The two riders were a 16-year-old on a Honda Hawk 650
and his older buddy on a Ducati 996. The younger one's parents also were
there. They all made me feel at home and offered help, advice and food and
drinks throughout the day. The kid was there for his second track day. He
showed me the ropes, told me what to expect, helped me with my riding and
generally made me feel at home. His buddy also showed me some riding
fundamentals. I can't thank them all enough for their contributions to the
whole experience.

After we got my bike unloaded, I hurriedly taped up all the glass, unplugged
all the blue fuses and made it through tech inspection at the last second,
still taping numbers on my bike, with my gear half on. Then there was a
meeting to go over the flags and track rules, and then the novices had a
classroom meeting with one of the NESBA control riders. This guy's name is
Steve Gould, and he turned out to be another important person for me
throughout the day. He had a knack for saying a lot with very few words. The
main thing he told us in the meeting was, "Just get it turned." It turned
out to be appropriate advice. He was saying that more muscle is required in
the turns because of the higher speeds (compared to the street), and that
your bike will make the turn even when you think it won't. He was right on
both counts. I think only one or two of the novices stood it up in a turn
all day (and they did crash).

NESBA is impressive. The control riders are good. Not only can they get
around the track in good time, but they can watch and teach and direct other
riders at the same time.

The advanced, intermediate and novice groups are each subdivided into A and
B groups, making a total of six groups. The advanced riders get 20 minutes,
then the intermediates, then the novices, so you get one 20-minute session
and then a 40-minute break each hour. To start each session, they let a
control rider go along with four or five riders, then they pause, then they
let another group go, and so on. The A group riders go first. I lined up in
the novice B group for the parade laps, and immediately realized that I had
no functioning gauges. I had unplugged one too many fuses.

The control riders use the parade laps to show you the race line. I went out
directly behind a control rider, and so I had the duty of being in the front
of a line of several riders. I followed the line and kept up OK, but I would
struggle to stay on the line throughout the day. The track is wide! It's
about 45 feet wide, so it's easy to forget the line or to just lazily drift
away from it. However, not only are the apex and exit strips painted with
stripes (like always), but NESBA puts cones at the turn-in point, at the
apex and at the exit point for each turn, in addition to braking markers!
All these markers are confusing at first but help tremendously once you
learn to use them.

On about the third lap, the control rider stepped up the pace and people
started spreading out. After I got passed a few times on both sides, I
started worrying way too much about what was going on behind me, which was a
mistake that haunted me until about lunch time. This just slowed me more and
made things worse. Don't do this! Just look ahead and haul ass. It's easier
said than done for a beginner, but it's the right thing to do.

Some of the faster novices were making unsafe passes in the corners, which
was supposed to be prohibited. At first, it kind of rattled me and
contributed to the problem. One guy even took away my line at the last
moment in a slower corner and nearly ran me off the track. But you're going
fast and so you just brush it aside and keep going. As the day went on, I
realized that it was good for me. That's how it's going to be if you race,
people are going to do whatever they think will get them by you. So you have
to be ready to get passed on any side at any part of the track. Probably you
shouldn't have to deal with this on your first ever laps on a track though.
After all, they have a novice group for a reason. I got used to it as the
day went on, and also I got a lot of help from the control riders, who were
riding ahead, looking behind and directing faster riders to pass on long
straights. This gave me a lot of breaks where no one was around so I could
relax and just have fun and learn the line. Overall, I would say that the
NESBA people did a spectacular job of making the day safe and enjoyable --
not just the control riders, but everyone there, including the corner
workers, who did an amazing job. They kept things under control and at the
same time, let you go as fast as you wanted once the parade laps were
finished.

After a couple sessions, I settled down and started to learn the track. The
16-year-old rode behind me and ahead of me for a while during one session,
so I could get his opinions. He told me I was doing fine but that I should
start moving my body around on the bike. It's funny, I worry about
attracting attention with how much I move around on the bike when I'm on the
street, but on the track, I was timid about getting off the bike for most of
the day. There is so much information to process that I was a little
overwhelmed, so I decided to try to work on one thing at a time. The first
thing to work on is learning the track.

Before my fourth session I found Steve Gould again and asked him to evaluate
my riding and to give me advice. So he spent time with me before the session
talking about how to use your vision. He talked about adjusting your focus
as you negotiate the turn -- first to the turn-in point, then to the apex,
then to the exit point -- always looking ahead to the next point *before*
and during negotiation of the previous point, never looking down. I went out
on the track and he showed me the line again for a couple of laps, then he
got behind me and I put his advice to the test. Man did it ever work. I
started to get closer and closer to the cones at all three points in each
turn, and I was rolling on the gas as soon as I got it turned and on past
the apex. I didn't really pay attention to my speed -- I just concentrated
on looking ahead. After the session, I went and asked him how I did. I was
expecting technical criticism. He high-fived me and said I was flying. I
don't know how nice he was trying to be, but boy did that make me feel good.
For the rest of the day I had a different outlook. I didn't look behind very
many times after that. I really want to thank Steve for all his help. He
dedicated half a session to helping me. He is an amazing teacher.

At the beginning of the day I was one of the slowest riders in the novice B
group. By the end of the day, thanks to all the help I received and after
getting to know the track, I could hang with some of the faster novice B
riders and even gain on them in slower corners, at least for a segment or
two before I would run wide or something. Some of the novice A riders were
really fast though.

There were far more than 100 riders there. Every type of bike imaginable
could be seen. There were girls, guys, young and old, and plenty of
tailgaters, but mostly it was males aged 20 to 50 I would say. Every person
I talked to was friendly and helpful. It was just a fantastic environment.
Oh yeah, one girl in my group had one more tricked out SV. It was green and
had full race bodywork. She was a smooth rider too. There were a couple
other SVs I think in the other groups. You could hear them distinctly from
the paddock.

They had two photographers who took 30 to 70 shots or so of every rider at
every corner on the track. At the end of the day, you could browse all your
shots on a computer and pick out the ones you wanted, or you could just buy
the whole lot burned onto a CD for $65. It is expensive, but what more could
you want! The only thing that could be better is if you had your own
personal photographer down there on the grass at the apex.

I also want to thank Stefan at Syed, who got me my leathers (which worked
beautifully) with plenty of time to spare despite that I put off getting him
my measurements seemingly for weeks. Also I thank Manu at Motshop for
helping me get the correct size boots (which also worked beautifully) and to
Rachel at Enterprise who helped me get the vehicle I needed (the Chevy
Express van is perfect for this) for the trip at the last minute. Oh and
also I thank the guys at Cycle S.T.O.P. in Norcross who gave me a good deal
on my gloves, and the guys at Millenium Cycle Works in Stone Mountain who
put a fresh set of Dunlop D208s on my bike the day before my track day. Then
there are all the people on this list who have helped from the beginning,
and my parents, who have supported me the whole way even though they worry
that I'm going to kill myself out there. What can I say, people are amazing!
Imagine all this good will on top of the sheer fun of hauling ass on a
motorcycle on a wide open track on a beautiful sunny day, and you start to
get the picture.

But the best people of all that day were my brother and his wife, who showed
up at around 10 a.m. and stayed until after my final session. They gave me
moral support, kept me laughing, bought me food and helped me load my bike
in the van. Having family there made it one of the best days of my life. We
kept each other laughing with impressions of Stewie Griffin between
sessions, when we weren't drooling on that guy's Ducati 996.

More about the track, my gear and riding the trusty SV-S to come . . .

Erik

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