Day 3 of my second track weekend. This was three consecutive days of riding. No, I'm not tired.

It’s raining today.

I ended up riding 2 sessions just to do it!. And it turned out pretty well. I wasn’t as confident with the traction as in the dry (of course) but I was still faster than everyone else (cool).

My control inputs seem to be very smooth.

The curbing is super slippery in the rain.
Puddles will make the bike slip sideways for a little if you are sideways.

The good
I rode pretty decent in the rain. Still pretty aggressive, but smooth and controlled.

The bad
Need more wet weather practice so I can tell where the real limits are.

Work on
Determining good turn-in points. (need markers)

Day 2 of my second track weekend.  The second day of three consecutive days of riding.

After my dip in the lake, the leathers fit much better, but even more importantly they were not slippery anymore. And so, my body position was even much, much better.

My knee sliders touched the tarmac yesterday and surprised me, but today I was ready. I made sure to keep my focus on my line, even when passing, and now I have even memorized distinct points on the track where I will downshift, brake, get off the brakes, turn-in, turn-in really hard, up-shift, and get on the throttle. These memorized markers really make riding the track easier.

I found myself going faster. And, at one point I recognized that I really have to BE READY TO GO FAST, if I want to go fast. In one of my faster sessions I came past Turn 3 and put my knee down in T4, T5, and T6. I had to step back a little and say to myself, "I’m not ready to keep doing that yet".

But I got progressively better, and the practice has paid off. By the end of the day instead of just passing after the apex of T11, or T1; I was able to just pass. If I was going faster, I would be able to come up on the other rider re-calculate the route to get back on my line and get around him, almost anywhere on the track. That was really excellent.

The good
My body position was awesome. Calculation of passing has greatly improved.

The bad
Turning-in too late for T13 and being super wide from the apex. Getting lazy/tired during the chicane. Not having specific markers for all turn-ins and shift points on the track.

Work on
 - find turn-in, braking and shift-point markers for all turns on the track
 - stop relaxing on the chicane, especially at the end
 - quicker turn-in on 13
 - pick-up the throttle earlier after turn-in
 - don't get off the throttle unless braking on entrance to T13, T1.

It's kind of amazing the amount of stuff that you have to carry with you to the track. Food, tools, clothes, parts, etc. At least this time I knew what to expect. I wasn't as much of a noob anymore. So I was much more relaxed.

This was a private track day event, and so there were less riders per group (~15), and there were many activities and other goodies going on as well. This was going to be the 1st of three consecutive days of riding (Sat, Sun, and Mon). That's a lot of riding. I would be riding in the Novice group again.

I was immediately much better this time than the last time here. However, a very curious problem arose from me conditioning the leathers the day before. They were so slippery I was falling off the bike when I hung off.

My body position was much, much better.

After getting some stomp grips for the tank I was able to resume riding without fear of falling off the tank too much. I even got my knee down and still didn’t scrape the pegs.

My ability to gauge a pass was now much better as I held my own line when coming up on a slower rider and waited until I could calculate a overtake route before changing my line setting up and making the pass.

However, there were times, when if the rider was close in skill/speed to my own I would still get fixated on the pass itself and totally forget about my line and the track. This really needs to stop. This happened on the last session of the day and I ran right into the lake.

The good
I was comfortable leaning the bike over on the track. My body position was awesome. Calculation of passing has greatly improved.

The bad
When battling with another rider of the same skill level/speed I fixated on just the pass and forgot about my line and the track.

Work on
The key here is to NOT BATTLE. I should pass and ride within my own pace and line, concentrating on GETTING BACK ON MY LINE. Not fixating on the pass. The rider I am overtaking is just an obstacle I am getting around so I can get back on my line. THAT’S IT!

Hmm... What happened in January that was interesting. Let's see....

I know. Absolutely nothing. Just a repeat of what happened in December, with one day extra.

I'll be going back to the track next month. So since it's been scheduled, I have been ...preparing. Yes. Remember that track I found? I've been practicing on it now quite diligently. Hopefully, It helps. I even have a way of tracking my progress. Using my DAQ, I can review my corner speed for each session. And, during each session I can even view my "lap" times.

I reviewed all of my pictures from my last/first track visit, and I could see how awful my body position was. So, I have been working on trying to correct that as well. We'll see how it goes.