Track day #3

Wow...

I started the day off on an 2009 R1 that Yamaha had out for riders to demo.. Guys, this bike is magical.. the throttle is amazingly smooth and there is no off/on feel, it just spools and unspools like an electric motor.. I am hooked on that bike..

Anyway that got me over the butterflies of the first session and I went out on the track feeling pretty good..

Mid pack of beginners group and was ok until the the yellow flag went away.. (the run the yellow the first lap for beginner group to discourage "get offs" due to cold tires)

I proceeded to move right to the front (corner entry speeds for me have gone straight up)

No incidents or feeling of "insecurity" like last trip, just confidence in the bike and tires..

Midway into session two, SCRAPE... scared me a bit and I realized that I just whacked my left knee puck... Hmm so thats how it goes...

end of session 2? left and right draggers at will... That confidence was just reinforced.. That monkey is off my back thanks to the help of the group here and Tufbusa's advice.. thanks!

By the end of session 4, I was putting 2 laps on most of the group and having a ball.. The other sole "big bike" (ZX14)I was lapping 3 and 4 times per session, he had the wrong tires and this was his first outing.. great guy btw..

Anyway, the control riders were really keeping an eye on me and at no time did I ever get that "OMG" thing you get when coming into a corner too hot.. I just tucked down, and committed...The feeling of the bike using the entire track in a few of the corners I have nailed is unreal..

I did get 2 full sessions of 1 on 1 coaching from the control riders..

I had my bottom half right but my top half was supposed to be OFF THE SIDE... it was not. I finally figured out how to hook my elbow behind the tank and get down on the ground in the corners.. (what a **** load of work that is). They also forced me to tighten up my line on entry..

From there I was able to more easily control the "lean" angle on the bike and use my knee to tell where I was..

I felt indepenent of the bike for the first time and that it was more of a tool than a projectile.. Moving the bike in and out of the line while dragging a knee was an amazing feel.

I am still going a bit wide on some corners but did manage to pick up some paint on my knee pucks off the berms.. I found that if my corner speeds were too low, I could not do it... More speed, tighter line, better feel...

Only down side was by the end of the day, I was exhausted.. but really happy with the improvments I made..

Track day 4 should be better as I get in better shape I hope...