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I actually walked a few tracks but mostly to try and get warm as the majority of places are freezing compared to where we came from, My boys raced the bikes so they were left with the race tactics for the most part. On a 65 we always took the shortest way around the track inside 95% of the time, using front brake.
Miss it a lot now thinking of those times we shared, early mornings at the track driving 26 hours straight to get there and jump out race and leave straight after racing. It is hard to beat. Red Bulls all the way.
I said to my mates, "imagine hitting that thing!"
Well my best mate, (we didn't really know each other at the time), turned up late and missed practice.
Sure enough, he hit that line I had noticed, and ended up with two really badly, broken wrists.
you're right, somewhere along the line it stopped happening.
4 strokes. no shit.
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Also a great way to warm up, shake out the nerves, But i agree, seems less are doing it..
and JPT, when i smell spring, (fresh dirt and grass) i think of morning track walks
I didn't get into dirtbikes until 2006-2007. I had a '98 YZ250 briefly, then bought an '01 CR500 mostly for the dunes. I was timid with it and hated jumping, about all I'd hit were small tabletops.
I rode Red Bud on Labor Day of '08 after some encouragement via coworkers. I knew what the leap was, but wasn't sure of the rest of the layout, and I didn't bother to walk the whole thing in the morning when everybody else did. First C practice rolls up, I'm in the back, but they send us off in columns, not rows (there were 2 rows of guys on the starting line). I make it down the start straight, the slight left, the hard right, and then the left. I carry reasonable speed over what I thought was going to be a tabletop, and then nearly crap my pants as I watch the ground disappear and get WAY more air than I wanted. I had just gone over the ski jump in low/mid 3rd gear, the same one where MA800 became a speedbump earlier in the year.
I walk the track if I ride a new one now. I didn't wreck, but my balls were tucked into my throat on it every lap afterward!
It was a very long, fast, downhill straight. In the riders briefing before practice, they had mentioned there was now a right turn at mid-way point of the hill. They had built a small wall using tyres, and as we were braking for the turn, I hear a 125, (juniors again), going absolutely flat-out, then a flash of blue going by me on my right side! The dude hit the wall, launched through the air, and the bike cart-wheeled like crazy! A few of us stopped to check on him and he was just really badly winded and he broke his wrist.
The last club day I went to, everyone including all seniors, A, B and C, had to roll all the jumps, (tabletops and tiny doubles), on the first lap of practice and there were yellow flags being waved at the face of all the jumps.
Villopoto got third place on his 80 in the open pro class that race if my memory serves me.
Started racing downhill mountain bikes a year or so ago and I've stopped walking the tracks as I kept spotting things I didn't like the look of and would make me over think It all. I now just ride down slowly and then build up speed throughout practice. Raced the national at Fort William and at the end of the first day (practice) we walked the track after riding all day and was shocked at what we had been riding all day without thinking about it!
My 2 beagles dont seem to mind all the walking either
Pit Row
But back in the 80's/90's my local track was different every weekend. They'd run it backwards one weekend...they would switch it up....there were lots of different sections they could run.
Now it's the same. Every day. It's a good track...but it's always the same.
I used to walk it to look at lines..but now there aren't any because of 4 strokes (seriously). There is one line...it's the outside line. Everyone just pushes everything outside. And you don't need to look at the jumps because they are easy to do. Every C rider on a 250F can suck through the corner and sit down and squid out and do the jump. That didn't happen on 2 strokes.
Guess I'm getting old.
If I go somewhere new I still walk the track..or jog...it's a good warm up. But somewhere through the years I figured out that I can walk the track all I want but it doesn't look the same as it does with my helmet on at speed anyway.
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