Brands Hatch: I'm a survivor!

[sabestian]

I made it in spite of:
-my bike being vandalized the day before;
-old, bald and stock Metzelers MeZ3;
-my DIY airbox chop mod;
-this being my first trackday ever;
-Gio not being there to hold my hand (I will never forget... :smtp002);
-and the last but not least: the rain.

The rain started shortly after the first session commenced. Greasy, greasy, greasy. One bike down (not me ).

I felt exactly how the rear tyre gives up on exits, stepping outside (kinda 'snaking', a bit like on a flat tyre). The front was gripping fine.

My new X-Lite X-902 fogged completely. Even with a pinlock insert. I know the air was humid but c'mon... Those vents are useless.

I was doing quite well, being one of the fastest virgins. But I was to tense, need to work on relaxing. And need to turn in later! Common mistakes.

I am proud of myself, though. Couple of times I managed not to close the throttle shut in difficult situations: when rear was giving up or when I thought I was going too fast in a corner.

Highly recommended experience! Although scary as hell.

BTW One of the fastest (if not the fastest) rider was on a BMW GS. On dual purpose tyres.

Couple of crappy pics:

[Fausto]

Well done Seb. You're one session ahead of me

Doesn't look too wet in the photos though

[sabestian]

Yeah, I was quite surprised not seeing the rain on pics. My gloves were wet through out, though (no, I wasn't sweating THAT much) I had to change them for my way home.

Edit: Mystery solved. Can you see a bungee over the pillion cover? It was there on the first session only. The photographer must have been taking pics in the very beginning and then fled when rain started. Looser

[Nooj]

I'm guessing it's going to piss down for Cadwell next friday, but I should be ok with the Mez6 boots. How does a circuit compare to a road in the wet? I'd imagine there's plenty more grip and that it's much more consistant?

[sabestian]

Exactly. No surprises (oil, standing water, filled holes etc). So you've got less grip, but it's there, and you know how much of it you've got.

The worst is when it just starts raining (and the following session). The grip is going down and down.

I forgot to mention the best bit. I strained my back the day before, so that evening I was stiff and hugely sore. I took strong painkillers just to get on the bike. That made me drowsy. So I bought two cans of Redbull to level it all up. Even all that did not allow me to relax my forearms BTW! I was well stoned

[Hansie]

Watch out Seb: these days are addictive...!
Still those stock tyres??? Shave off multiple seconds if you ditch them.

Reminds of my first trackday on Assen: started very wet but the afternoon was dry!

[Gio]

I'm sorry Sabestian, I lost my net connection Thursday morning and it took bloody Virgin 2 days to discover why (some idiot had disconnected us out on their control box)

Glad you had a good time tho.

[sabestian]

Watch out Seb: these days are addictive...!

I've noticed Just cannot stop myself from booking another one...

Still those stock tyres??? Shave off multiple seconds if you ditch them.

I'm not racing, Hansie (although it is nice to keep overtaking/being-overtaken count positive) It's all about fighting my ill instincts on a bike (going tense, closing the throttle, too early turn-ins etc).

BTW: Conti Road Attacks fitted Cannot test though, still totally stiff back...

Gio, stop making excuses.

[Gio]

Gio, stop making excuses.

Why? Its a good 'un

[Gtrain]

Glad you had a good day out Sab.
A couple of tricks I've found about ride days, although I'm just a slow poke

for greater feel get some stomp pads for sides of tank or cheat like me and put some duck tape on there, comes off easy and gives a lot more grip to your knees, allowing you to relax your grip on the bars, there only there for steering input not holding on

get your bum back as far as it can go and drop the elbows, there by pushing/ pulling the bars forward or back, not down
if you had sore hands (palms) this is it


if you can do some laps from every position on the track (slowly )
one extreme left one extreme right one center and look around wide screen
see how much track you really have
helps getting to know how much space you really have at each corner

try not to target fixate on other bikes, corners or naked chicks flashing there bits
take note of them but don't shrink your vision by fixating on them, once you've noticed them use your peripheral vision to see them

These aren't my ideas (not that bright )
there from keith Codes super bike school, get his books if you can, I might even take my own advise on that one day

you probably already know alot of this stuff, I just know it really helped me get over my confidence problem in the wet and dry

wont get rid of that nervous piss before the first session though
or the butterflies in the belly the night before



one last thing, yes they are extremely addictive, I'm desperate to get out there again, but got no mulla so I'm currently planing to robe a bank, just got to find one with no security guards with guns, don't no what there problem is, its only money, its not even theres

[danowat]

Nice one mate, good fun ain't it

I have 2 under my belt now, many more to come

[sabestian]

Good stuff, most quite obvious but hard to implement, like:

try not to target fixate on other bikes

Well try not to fixate on a guy on DR-Z just flashing by you and disappearing 10 seconds later

butterflies in the belly the night before

No, unfortunately the painkillers killed all the butterflies. I was struggling to stand up straight.

for greater feel get some stomp pads for sides of tank or cheat like me and put some duck tape on there, comes off easy and gives a lot more grip to your knees, allowing you to relax your grip on the bars, there only there for steering input not holding on

Good advise, I'll definitely try that!

[sabestian]

Another Brands evening:
- back not hurting
- Contis Road Attack (great tyres)
- stomp pads a'la Gtrain (cheers!)
- just a tiny drizzle from time to time (not to let you forget where you are )

Result: fek that was fast! I was absolutely sure I would crash as I new I couldn't ride that quick! Didn't though, had huge fun!

After my first track evening my hands ached, this time my thighs are sore (I take it as a good sign - using legs to lock on the bike instead of hanging on bars).

I was definitely one of the fastest guys there, overtaking nearly everyone, being overtaken by just a few bikes (R1 - on straights, GSXR - braking zones) but I was giving them hard time You can be proud of me guys this time, I was confident in bends and relaxed, overtaking lots of bikes on the outside on Druids, Clearways, everywhere actually

It's a great fun, highly recommended!