The Pace

[Stereo]

He's on the money with pretty much every thing he said I reckon.

Confirmed...

And believe it or not.... and I am afraid this is going to boost your ego a bit.... I am quicker now for having studied your style...

I dont know if you remember the trip with you, me, the big guy on the XR600 and the guy on the blade (or was it a gixxer?)...

I was really struggling as we went through the reefton area (you know, some days you just dont ride well at all), but after we had a ciggy, at the top of some hill I followed you until we got to marysville... At the start I was caning it out of every corner, hitting the brakes hard before the corner to get my cornering speed down....

I saw you mainting a pretty even speed on the straights aswell as the corners, and you rarely touched the brakes.... On the straights I was catching up, in the corners you were leaving me behind quickly...

After a few minutes I decided to see if I could do the same thing... I reduced my accelleration out of corners but also reduced the braking going into corners... It took a few minutes to find my "pace" but found that once I got close to it, I was able to follow similar lines to you both in and out of corners. I also found that I was losing ground fairly rapidly to you, but rather than big losses through the corners and catching up on the straights, I found that the distance increased the same amount all the time... I put this down to you having a lot more experience in that riding style...

I have been practising since then, bringing my default "pace" up somewhat.... I am also enjoying it a lot more because before doing that I rarely found I did "the perfect corner", I always felt panicked and rushed, but these days I maintain confidence in myself and my bike throughout the entire procedure...

Its so damned satisfying to get that corner just right, knowing that you went in, and came out controlled and fast....

[Gosling1]

".........It isn't uncommon to ride with our group and not see a brake light flash all morning........."

so very true - one of the quickest blokes I ride with, an ex-Aussie Superbike school instructor, has this technique down to a tee. It is bizarre to find yourself barreling into corners, chasing a bike that never seems to use its brakes .

That article is a ripper, its difficult to overestimate the power of smooooth.....

One of the simplest techniques I learnt years ago, was to maintain your speed through *every* corner, (on well-known roads of course...) - start slow and build up. Eventually, you will carry that 120kmh through a 70km posted corner without touching your brakes .

[Strika]

[

And believe it or not.... and I am afraid this is going to boost your ego a bit.... I am quicker now for having studied your style...

I dont know if you remember the trip with you, me, the big guy on the XR600 and the guy on the blade (or was it a gixxer?)...

Yeah fat chance a comment from you would ever do that!!!!

But don't credit me with that. It's a style I picked up the Habit from a long time ago, and one learnt from an older wiser rider who took me aside somewhat and taught me how to ride a road properly at a pace that can be maintained all day.

The key comment you made though, was that you adopted your own version of the pace, which although slower than some others, was appropriate to your experience. Smart man really, and a lesson loads of people could learn from. Stick to a pace you're comfy with, and don't try and match someone who is faster/faster in that section/faster on the day!!!!

[aardvark]

".........It isn't uncommon to ride with our group and not see a brake light flash all morning........."

so very true - one of the quickest blokes I ride with, an ex-Aussie Superbike school instructor, has this technique down to a tee. It is bizarre to find yourself barreling into corners, chasing a bike that never seems to use its brakes .

Ask Plas about the time I got him to follow me down Greenhill Rd and only use his brakes when I used mine.

[Gosling1]

I can only imagine that at the end of the ride, Plas required a change of underwear !!!

[MickLC]

....one of the quickest blokes I ride with, an ex-Aussie Superbike school instructor, has this technique down to a tee...

Not so ex, he was up there taking groups when I did the Level 1 earlier this year. I only got to say a quick g'day though.

...and I agree he is bloody quick, smooth, rarely uses his brakes, and makes a BMW look and go like a sportsbike