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Last weekend I went to the local track here (Stratotech, just outside of Edmonton), and attended my very first race school. WHAT A BLAST!
We had a classroom session on Friday night, where they covered the basics of track riding, taught us the flags, etc, and then saturday morning we got right into it. The day started with a track walk, where the instructors (a bunch of them were EMRA/CMRA racers) explained each corner to us, where the braking zone should be, different lines, apexes, exits, and etc.... Then we made about 6 laps at moderate speed to learn the lines; picking up speed as we went through the sessions.
Overall, it was an awesome experience, and I'll definitely be hitting as many trackdays as I can this year. Now, because I didn't have the Kat to use (still waiting for motor to arrive), my buddy loaned me an early-90's ZX-6...not the greatest, but it was kinda fun! Started the day off on that, until I smacked a peg on corners 2 and 3, which nearly made me crap myself.
About an hour later, my buddy Dal got frustrated with his R6 racebike, and opted to ride his GSXR750 instead - therefore, I nabbed the "R", and was SO impressed with it that I ended up riding it the rest of the day! What a bloody rocketship! If you've ever ridden an R6, or other race replica, you'd know that they're nothing like the Kat - the power comes on instantly, and there's LOTS of it! To make matters worse, THIS particular bike was geared for stunting at -1/+15! So yes, I had an absolute blast rocketing down the backstretch in 5th with the front wheel 4 inches off the ground, and over half the tach to run!
By far, the best part about the school was getting to ride and learn with guys like Darren James and AMA champ Steve Crevier, who's skill just blew my mind....
Anyways, I've never had more fun in my life, and I'd recommend to EVERYONE that hasn't been on the track to do so as soon as possible!
Couple o' pics...
Steve Crevier rippin' it up!
Session 3 comin' into the hot pits...
We had a classroom session on Friday night, where they covered the basics of track riding, taught us the flags, etc, and then saturday morning we got right into it. The day started with a track walk, where the instructors (a bunch of them were EMRA/CMRA racers) explained each corner to us, where the braking zone should be, different lines, apexes, exits, and etc.... Then we made about 6 laps at moderate speed to learn the lines; picking up speed as we went through the sessions.
Overall, it was an awesome experience, and I'll definitely be hitting as many trackdays as I can this year. Now, because I didn't have the Kat to use (still waiting for motor to arrive), my buddy loaned me an early-90's ZX-6...not the greatest, but it was kinda fun! Started the day off on that, until I smacked a peg on corners 2 and 3, which nearly made me crap myself.
About an hour later, my buddy Dal got frustrated with his R6 racebike, and opted to ride his GSXR750 instead - therefore, I nabbed the "R", and was SO impressed with it that I ended up riding it the rest of the day! What a bloody rocketship! If you've ever ridden an R6, or other race replica, you'd know that they're nothing like the Kat - the power comes on instantly, and there's LOTS of it! To make matters worse, THIS particular bike was geared for stunting at -1/+15! So yes, I had an absolute blast rocketing down the backstretch in 5th with the front wheel 4 inches off the ground, and over half the tach to run!
By far, the best part about the school was getting to ride and learn with guys like Darren James and AMA champ Steve Crevier, who's skill just blew my mind....
Anyways, I've never had more fun in my life, and I'd recommend to EVERYONE that hasn't been on the track to do so as soon as possible!
Couple o' pics...
Steve Crevier rippin' it up!
Session 3 comin' into the hot pits...
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