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Track Day Experience
April 2008
I'd been wanting to participate in a track day for quite a while, but honestly I just never had the guts to go sign up. I was paranoid of wading up my bike on the track, not so much from my riding, but from someone doing something silly around me. I guess it was more the fear of the unknown, as I have no problem riding fairly aggressively on the street once away from town and into my favorite twisty areas. My impression of a track day was one of mock racing, everyone stuffing each other at every corner, letting their egos do their riding to prove they were faster than everyone else on the track.
Valentine's day 2008 rolled around and my girlfriend hands me a large envelope with a big grin on her face. I open it up and it's a paid registration for a track day at Barber Motorsports Park as part of Buell's Inside Pass that my friend Mike helped her set up. This track day included a t-shirt, knee pucks, professional photography of our track day, lunch, and the opportunity to ride some of Buell's motorcycles on the track. It was a GREAT deal. Barber Motorsports Park is one of the nicest, if not the nicest, tracks in the country to boot with an enormous motorcycle museum on the property. The track is technical with a lot of elevation change.
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I was stunned and nervous. I tried to act like I loved the gift as I knew she'd gone through some effort and expense to get it set up for me, but at the same time I had that anxiety about crashing because of some yahoo running into me or running me off the track. She told me it was time I got my bike on the track and quit worrying about it so much. My buddy Mike, who I'd become friends with through the Sonrunners, which is our Church's motorcycle group, and his friend Robert were also going to attend the event, so I'd have some friends there to ride with.
The track day was for April 22nd and the closer the day got the less nervous I became. I took a serious look at my suspension for the first time trying to get it set properly, and began track prepping my bike. By the time the last weekend before the track day rolled around I was flat out excited.
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The event was on a Tuesday and Mike, Robert, and I decided to head down the Monday before. Mike had access to a very nice enclosed trailer already setup with wheel chocks and tie down points which we loaded up with our three bikes, my 2005 1000RR, Mike's 2006 1000RR, and Robert's 2004 RC51 Hayden Edition as well as spare fuel, tools, leathers, etc. Going down the day before worked out great as we were able to drop the trailer Monday afternoon to get a good pit area and avoid the mad rush on Tuesday.
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We got up early Tuesday morning, had a quick breakfast at the hotel, and headed over to the track. We started off filling out all the paperwork, signing waivers, and getting our bikes through tech. Mike and Robert have both attended track days before as well as Reg Pridmore's CLASS Riding School at Barber Motorsports Park and knew the track pretty well but were going to attend the novice group with me so we could all ride somewhat together.
The event organizers did a great job. We started off with the rider's meeting where the rules were laid down and the different corner flags discussed so we'd know what they meant if we saw them waving. For the novice group there would be no passing in corners at all, only on the straights, which worked out pretty well as most of the time it was like you were in your own world all alone on the track anyway. We had 36 or so people in the novice group so they split that into 6 smaller groups of varying skill level. Group 1 was for folks who'd attended track days before, group 2 for those aggressive street riders, and the remaining four groups where just divided up equally. These 6 novice groups were led around the track the first couple of sessions by a designated control rider for that group of 6. We'd start off slow and gradually speed up each lap which I really liked being my first time on a track as it was a great confidence builder. By the third session I felt very comfortable at speed and was ready for the sessions where we'd be on our own. In between sessions we'd go back to our pit area and hang out, drink water, and take pics.
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Lunch was great, sponsored by Buell, they brought in turkey and roast beef wraps, chips, cookies, fruit, and drinks. After lunch on my third control rider led session my group's control rider Zack told me to get on his back wheel and stay close as he upped the pace a notch or two. That was exactly what I needed with him zipping around the track at a good clip, at least for me, pointing out the proper race line so I could see the best path to take. We weren't at an uncomfortable pace for me, but it was quick enough that I had to put effort into my riding while Zack's riding with one hand on the bars, knee scraping the ground, using his free hand to point out some dip or other area of the track I needed to make note of.
After that the novice group had it's first free session. I thought I'd be nervous, but honestly I was just excited and concentrating on my riding. I can't really put into words how much fun it was. Being able to rail around a track at a pace I didn't think I could do, and do it comfortably was a serious confidence builder. In between our morning sessions the instructors had given us tips and techniques to work on such as rev matching when down shifting, body positioning, etc, and now those tips were coming into good use. The best part was not having to worry about cars pulling out, dogs running across the street, or oil or gravel in my riding path. Having all those variables removed allowed me to focus strictly on riding. When I got a corner right, I could feel it with how smooth it was, and when I got one wrong, I knew it would come up again in a couple of minutes and I could practice on it over and over until it was right. Riding at 80% of my maximum ability on the track would be like riding 110% on the street. It was an awesome experience and Barber is an amazing track with a nice mix of big sweepers, long carousels, tight hair pins, and several elevation changes. I feel blessed to have a girlfriend that would push me to have an experience like this. This is one of the shots the photographer, Fonzie, captured during the sessions.
For one of the sessions I took a Buell 1125R out for a spin. I've never been much of a V-twin fan, but couldn't pass up the opportunity to ride another bike on the track to compare it to mine. The 1125R handled decently with a pretty smooth suspension, the motor did have some grunt to it, and it's pretty light. However, the 1125R had vibrations in the upper RPMs and it felt like it was going to cook my right foot. I preferred my 1000RR.
I was surprised at how hard track riding is on tires and me! I hit the gym religiously and work out hard and I was WHIPPED by the end of the day and a tad dehydrated. We got in six 20 minute sessions with beautiful sunny weather and mid 80s for temps. It would be considerably harder in 100 degree heat. These tires were practically brand new and I only did about 80 miles on the track.
We had a few guys fall down, some trying to ride too fast too soon, some just getting caught by turn five's nuances', but all in all it was a great day, and something I'll definitely be doing again.
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