Track Craft ...................................... How to make the most of your trackdays, with ex BSB rider Dean Ellison.
It takes more than just a twist of the throttle to go fast, and stay fast. So, if you’ve spent time and money learning how to ride quickly on track, here’s how to stay sharp when you’re not riding…
Winter training is a commonly used phrase in biking, not just because riders need an excuse to go somewhere hot over winter, but because it’s important to keep your mind and the muscles you use for biking in good shape the whole year round. This is because having too much time away will affect your performance and no doubt your confidence when you do get back on the bike – meaning you’ll feel very rusty. So with most of your racing heroes off to Spain or Portugal for a month’s intensive MX riding before the season, or even the long haul to Texas for seven days of flat track racing with Colin Edwards at his boot camp, it all just seems a bit extreme (or just a dream) for club racers and track day riders to be doing the same – but twisting any old throttle over the winter months can help you in so many ways. Once you’ve had a few takeaways, beers and blowouts and the dreaded Christmas is well and truly over, you will soon feel ready for some time on a bike, but the UK tarmac circuits are all closed and there’s just a handful of Euro track days available… so you need to get a fix elsewhere. Or maybe it’s mid-way through the year when work is too manic or money’s a little tight to take on a trackday. Whatever the reasoning, it’s important to stay sharp – and here’s how to keep at the top of your game.
See, there’s a whole host of things you can do to stay sharp, and I’ve considered certain off-track training that can still benefit your track skills and improve, or at least maintain the sharpness you had towards the end of the season. Some rest and a break from racing can be needed, as it gives your body time to heal after any injuries you’ve sustained and also time to reflect on what you might have done differently with the benefit of hindsight. Once you’re feeling settled, you should manage your diet (try Paleo) and keep up the regular gym sessions for cardio, core strength and general conditioning for when you do finally get out on your bike again. But, there’s no substitute for time in the seat and there’s a load of options if you want to improve your competitive edge before the first race. I always had a motocross (450cc 4T) bike with a spare set of Supermoto Wheels, a mountain bike and a road bike for smashing out the big miles, and between us, I also used a Nintendo game that was developed to improve hand-to-eye coordination. It’s funny actually as it did improve the more I used it, but that was many moons ago and there’s going to be something else out there by now, so maybe check your phone’s App Store. Otherwise, here are my recommendations…
Mountain Biking
Being from the Lake District, Mountain Biking was part of my upbringing and was certainly good for general fitness and a good, cheap buzz coming down the hills. Downhill runs are great fun and can be absolutely exhausting if you put in the effort, and these runs will teach you how (or how not) to pick the right line and keep up momentum. It takes a while to understand the best lines and to manage how much or little you pedal in between jumps, berms and turns – and it can be a slow ride home once you’ve burnt your legs out. This will improve your ability to look ahead and pick shorter, faster, safer lines for a quicker time and even just make you better at executing a pass on another rider.
Supermoto
I don’t know how popular Supermoto is now, but the winter series I competed in a few times was pretty hardcore and taught me so much about riding around problems and adapting to changing conditions. Real supermoto is definitely more suited to the MX riders, but some of the Tarmac-heavy circuits can give road racers a chance to slide and drift at a higher speed than MX, but at a more controlled speed than on a Tarmac race track, because you’re on a much slower bike. Your brain has more time to process what needs to be done in order to get a controlled slide we all dream of (like the late Craig Jones #18), meaning that before you know it, you’ll have your R1 sideways into the Melbourne Loop whilst training the front brake towards the apex.
MX
My advice is to find a good-quality practice track that isn’t too technical and only has relatively small jumps. If MX is going to be completely new to your winter or summer training programme, then be sensible and just find a flowing track so that you can learn the basics of riding an MX bike. Pro-MX riders make the big jumps look easy, but that takes time to master and you could end up hurt or just completely put off. So, if you do plan on buying an MX bike, maybe start on enduro courses, or go to the track with a plan of how long your sessions will be (not always possible because of organised sessions/ groups), how many sessions you will do and also log your times; no matter what, you need to see if you’re getting faster, more consistent and then if it’s feeling easier. I would vary my sessions, so I’d do a few 30 minutes max effort (Similar to a BSB race distance x two) and then a one-hour endurance session to help improve strength and concentration, trying to be within a second of my fastest lap.
Flat track
Since attending the Texas Tornado Boot Camp with my brother two years ago, I’m now convinced this is the best preparation for road racers, and have seen a number of flat track riders make a successful switch to road racing. The key to success is finding the absolute limit of grip and this can only be achieved if that bike is under load at all times and you’re balancing an amount of grip, with an amount of slip. As with road racing, you need to ensure that there’s no delay between on a genuine flat track machine) and opening the throttle, and you can get even better results if you’re skilful enough to overlap your opening of the throttle with the release of brake pressure. Riding a flat track bike on a TT course is also great for working on trailing your front brake and setting up the wheels for getting good drive out, so backing the bike in is the equivalent of turning late and aiming for a late apex. You can try this out at Pete Boast’s Champions Flat track School near Lincoln, or go big and head to the Texas Tornado Boot Camp – I’ve just come back from there, and it’s a blast.
Road Cycling
Having a good-quality road cycle was a treat for me, as you can eat up the miles whatever the weather and going out in groups can make it a little more competitive, whilst still doing your body good by stretching your legs and lungs. Road racing does require strong legs as your quad muscles get a good workout when you’re on track, and if you don’t have sore legs after a race meeting or track day, then you can’t be getting off the bike enough, or gripping on to the tank tight enough. Getting your body and mind conditioned to exercising for long periods of time is also beneficial, not just for the length of a race or qualifying session, but the whole weekend is a constant run of decision making and adapting to ever-changing circumstances, which can be a real drain mentally. This is why you see so many professionals cycling, and for Cal Crutchlow, it’s the only form of training he does.
BEFORE YOU KNOW IT, YOU’LL HAVE YOUR R1 SIDEWAYS INTO THE MELBOURNE LOOP