Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

p in one second less th an your c m p e t it o r does . you will h e one second le ad at th e end o f th e lap. O n a tum you will ride Fast er if yo u re o n the o u ts id e. Hut a l ight pi vot o n e inside may take less ti m e . Y ou h av e o t hi n k a bout th at. Th e guy who wen t 'id e ge ts outon the str.light a t a h igh er peed th an th e gu y wh o st ays in tigh t d tha t m a y erase the difference . How o yo u know? Here 's a way to th in k about it. When 'o u a re racing yo u a rc doing three kinds f th in gs. You are usi ng wi d e-o pen rr ottle, 'O r yo u arc u sing m a ximum rakin g. Or you are d o ing somct hing Ise su ch as tu rning o r flying through r e a ir over a j um p . If y o u sp end more tim e wide-open ou will a u to m a tically spend less time oing oth er things unless yo u have hosen some re ally had lines. When y o u re walking the co u rse that's o ne o f the dge men ts you have to make. " How ca n go wid e-open as m uch of th e time as ssi ble?" If yo u c o uld figu re out so me way so o u wo uld never use th e bra kes a nd 'ever d o a ny th ing else but ru n vide-o p en , that wo uld be the quickest ay aro und th e track . So that's what ou try to d o - tum yo ur right ha nd ountercloc kwise an d lea ve it the re as ucb as yo u po ssibl y ca n. 'Tha t 's wha t yo u think about whe n ou wa lk the track and m a ke yo ur lans. Th e di ff eren t lin es. Lines tha t ther rid ers wo n 't be using so much . nd going .wide-o pen all the way aro u nd e tr ac k. iding around slowly No w th at you ha ve waiked the trac k, de around it a few tim es slowly! At a ioderate speed. try the different lines o u looked at and be alert to others hic h the bike will belp you find. ntinue looking and thinking and o rking out you r plans and alternatives. ast practice When yo u have walked the track a nd e n explo red it with yo u r m o to rcy cle . 's timc to get it " on and learn where ou can go fas t and how to do it. Once ain yo u h ave to resist the t em pta tio n pl a y aro u nd out the re, have fun, and ce with yo ur friends. It's fun to d o ra t, b ut it 's a lo t more fun to do well the ra ce. Now ii 's time to thi nk abo ut th e the r guy who ignores th e advi ce abo ut tti ng off th e trac k. li e m ay be ove r a ill o r around a blind turn, stopped o n re track o r even cras hed and lying ler c. What do yo u do about that sit ua t io n ? ou have to ride fast if you arc go ing to t a n y good out of p ractice. You will go ing a t ra cing spee d s aro und the urse , trying th e d ifferent lines a nd o r k ing o u t your ra ce st ra tegy. What do they d o a bou t th at problem ur ing the ra c e? They us e flagmen ound the course to wav e yo u down hen there is tro ub le ahead. T oo m an y of th e sm all er cou rses o un d th e co u n try a re operated as o ugh th e o n ly danger is wh e n pe ople e ac tua lly in a ra c e. The d a nge r is hen people a re tra vel in g at ra cing seeds, w he ther in p ra ctic e o r in a n -tual race. If yo u have anythi ng 10 do -ith runnin g th e ra ces . see to it th a t the line precautions app ly t o both tu ations. FlaKmcn , am b ula nc e o n hand 111 spec ta to r co ntr o l eve n if it is o n ly im cbod y o n a loudspeaker remindin g eople to stay o ff th e tr ack . I h av e se e n h ad accide n ts h ap p en urin g pra ct ice a nd th e sad th in g ·.. bout r is th at they co uld have bee n avoi de d -ith flagmen o n the joh . If yo u don' t ave a n y thing to d o w ith ru n n ing th e ice b ut th c pro cedures need iprovemcnt , go tal k to the trac k an ager ab out th e problem. li e will ormall y be ju st as int er est ed in safe mditions as y ou a rc and wi ll 'preda te th e tip. If h e 's no t , ra ce imcwhcre clse. The start and the first turn As y o u kn ow, riders a rc brcugh t ont o the tra ck from th e sl arting g id and r arri ve a t th e first tum all hunch ed lip. Aft e r th at, th ey go 'ro un d an d 'ro und with o ut u sing th e start ing area any mo re. so whe n you arc in th e ra c e the first turn looks d ifferent than it did at the sta rt. " 'h en you were out rid ing the co u rse for p ra ctic e. you may ha ve gone over the same ground as th e firs t t u m out of th e s t.irt , h u t it is a lo t d iffe rent d u ring th e start . So yo u need to p ractice the sta r t a nd th e fi rs t turn . Some trac ks a llow a peri od fo r pra cti ce o n th e trac k, then close the tr a ck and a llow ti me for pra ctice on th e st art a nd fir st t um. 'Ib is is a good idea be cause o ther w ise th e riders who a re pract icing s tarts ar c go ing out in t o traffic o n the co urse. Anyway, at so m e time before th e ra ce yo u should pr actice the st art; Begin the same way as on th e trac k, walk aro u nd and look at it to see wh at is the best line an d wh er e is the bes t s tarting place. Some ti mes it isn 't j ust a b ig n a t are a funne ling into th e first tum . I was at a race co u rse nea r Schenec tady no t lo ng ago where it was hard to pic k a good line at th e start. The first tum was over a little hill and went to the righ t , If J started on the right side. the h ill was not as steep and I could really get it on . But just over the top of the h ill. the tu m wen t to the right. So starting on the righ t made the right-hand tu m sharper and I had to slow down mo re to get around it. The guys on the outside didn't h ave to slo w down as much to get around the tum. Even if the ar ea is nat there is sometimes a definite advantage to one end or the other of the starting line. After a few ra ces with that arrangement. the word gets around and riders all know which end is best. 'They will co m e to the line ea rly to try to ge t o ne of the good spots . Ex cept possibly fo r the one o r two ra ce rs w ho a lways get good starts. They c om e ro lling u p to the line when ever they feel like it . ta ke any place that is open and st ill beat every bod y to the [irst turn. When p racticing, make so me starts all alo ng th e lin e - at both ends a nd p laces in bet ween. Ge t a feci for th e available tra ct io n a nd po lish your starting tech niqu e. Sometimes the trac tio n will be differe nt at places a long the line on ac count o f grass or moist ure . or even it slight ly different type of di rt . You should know a bo u t this be cause you ca n not alw ays be su re of getting the star t ing po sit ion you want. Als o . go th rough the first tum in all po s-sible ways. You may e nd up wi th wha t yo u th ink is the perfect sta rt ing position a nd th e perfect line int o th e firs t tum but d on 't ge t to o lo c ked up mentall y o n riding that wa y . To ride an ywh ere yo u wan t to a t th e s ta rt , y ou ha ve to he in fro n t. If so m e bo dy else bea ts yo u off th e line. he ma y d ecide to rid e jus t whe re yo u h ad planned to. You ca n follow h im if yo u wan t to . b ut you do n 't do th a t. d o y o u? The best prac tic ing a nd plann ing for the start is b ased on ta king p rac t ice sta rts all al o ng th e line a nd go ing th rough the first tum every po ssibl e way. Th en you a re fa m iliar with all of it an d yo u c a n co pe w ith wh at ev cr happens o n th e s ta r t . The worst th in g yo u c a n do is pra ctice from o ne SPO l on th e line un til you k n ow eve ry peb b le o n the ' wa y to th e fir st tu rn a nd have it a ll worked ou t so yu u ca n really go wh en th e flag d rops. S ur e e no ugh. wh en yo u bri ng your h ike to th e line someb od y will be sitt ing" righ t there . Yo u say to h im . " Tha f 's m y pla ce. Will you pl ease m ov e ? " li e sa ys. "Arc yo u nuts ? " Next week - Part XI Strategy and conclusion. • I-:nlr,inl Shira.. • Fini sher ~t("d;lls • Trophies 10 IS '% by ~1I11 'I IU .:"t 1 \ " ,n " ik~ RU\.t:.o.; " Clan O~I.Y The Richest Ott-Road Event - bclusively for Motorcycles RidinK numbC'u ~~iKl\('d by pc uun.....k R"CI:'

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