Dark Angel
Still kickin' it!
Winter is a great time of year for learning! Riding in the real world, winter teaches you about grip, real and potential hazards, the need for smooth gear changing and braking and, very importantly, the need to anticipate the actions of other road-users. However, winter (in the UK), can also drain your CONFIDENCE in your ability to CONTROL your bike in ALL conditions. This is where track-days can help.Duck n Dive said:I'd thought of going but I've not yert done a trackday and decided it proly wasn't the best time of year to start...
Winter track-days can help to REAFFIRM your knowledge and experience of your own capabilities, and of those of the machine under your control. By this, I mean that (on a racetrack) you may experience the LIMITS of your own performance (although not, per se, the bike?s limitations). Unlike road-riding, however, the opportunity for uninterrupted learning and experimentation (can I go faster, and what will be the consequences of my doing so?) are available, repetitiously, to the disciplined track rider. This well-founded, hard-earned yet disciplined appreciation of variable conditions is what makes a ?true-biker?.
4 "Special Brews"...Can you tell...?
I?ve already described (satisfactorily, I hope!) the track conditions at Oulton Park, 13/12/05. I rode to Tarporley from Bolton/Blackburn wearing thermal inners inside my gloves. On-track, I removed the inners because I need a high level of ?feel? when de-clutching and braking ( YEAH ? I?m ?clumsy?!). Riding home ? I need to keep my hands warm, because there?s enough to think about ?out there? without being distracted by the cold.Duck n Dive said:I did wonder what the track was like......... and if it's OK to use heated inner gloves on a track day!!
So ? for me ? It boils down to this: On the track ? you wanna be fast. On the road - you wanna be safe?
DA