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That was my effort in teaching my son when he first started racing also and has proven to be very effective! And i will say my son is not aggressive in nature so urging him to beat everyone out of the gate and to the first turn was not the easiest. Once he quickly learned that dad was right he went on to continue that strategy and was very effective at it.
One other thing that i would do myself was to pick far outside gate, once again to stay away from all the carnage that will ensue in the first corner as everyone bunches up to the inside, because thats where everyone goes!
1. Be confident!! ( Not nervous)
2. Envision yourself getting the holeshot and picking your lines and checking out! (All week leading up to raceday)
3. Hold your line! (No swerving back and forth)
4. Dont look back
5. Dont slow down trying to get out of a faster riders way.
Sidebar:
Be sure your machine is mechanically sound and double check bolts, air pressure ,coolant, oil etc.
Marginally prepped equipment can get you or others injured etc.
Just as a insight, I Ride Perris's maintrack and can jump everything and hold my own for like 2 and a half laps. Then as Moto520 says i need to learn how to breathe. Because im super super guilty of riding 2 and half/ 3 laps hard then going into holding breathe mode.
Thankyou all for the advise so far!
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Not much more to it
Listen to White Zombie just before you throw a leg over.
Talk smack to at least one other rider. Appear very confident. Apologize in advance to the rider next to you for what is about to happen.
You have two acceptable outcomes:
A> Win
B> Crash
That's all I can think of right now...
1- Practice starts, but don't stress about it too much for that first moto. I don't know how crowded your race is but if there is any way you can pick a slot with an open gate next to it, do that. You want to get a clean start that puts you with people of comparable ability if possible. You will probably see a wide variety of skill levels even in that class, and over the course of a moto things will sort themselves out.
2- DON'T FOLLOW!!! You don't have to be all the way across the track, but leave yourself at least half a bar width. Beginners fall a lot, and if you are right behind them, you will too. Even with a crappy start you will pick people off in a beginner class just by staying on two wheels and capitalizing when they fall or bobble in a turn.
3- Hold your line on jumps. Lap one will be a shit show, so while you are not following, also make sure that when you jump, go straight and hold your line. Either someone in front of you will back out of a jump or swerve, or someone behind you will jump it if you aren't. Holding your line is the best chance at staying safe, and once you are through that first lap things usually start to settle down.
4- I would tell you to breathe, but the odds of anyone remembering that on the first lap of their first race are pretty slim. And once your O2 goes upside down, there really isn't any getting it back during the moto. If you do some type of warm up before your moto it will really help, especially if you are only running one class and waiting for hours between motos. What ever gets your heart rate up about 10 minutes before gate drop. Jumping Jack's, burpee, whatever. Just get that pulse going.
Have fun and be safe!!! And if at all possible get some gopro and share it with us after! I think you have a pretty big virtual cheering section in this thread, we all know what a big deal racing your first race is!!
Lol, have fun thats what its all about of course. Get thru the first turn then do your thing.
If you have something to lose, ride that way.. its simple.. dont let the adrenaline cause you to do something you wouldnt normally do because you are competitive.. Would hate to see you miss a house/rent payment because of a beginner race mistake..which is faily easy to do when that class cant seem to go straight or hold a line.. if you have 15 years of Exp.. your probably gonna get bounced fairly quickly to Novice at least.. the goal should be to get out of beginner as fast as possible. I think your chances of getting hurt are higher in beginner.
Ride within your ability and have fun!
Pit Row
I Really really wish i did not wait so long to race. Today was effing amazing on the starting line with 18 other riders. (9) in my class, go figure the biggest one lol.
Anyway i brought home some hardware (The Good Kind)!!
How were your starts?
Moto2... Great jump, got the inside holeshot and this time i was side by side with the other dude.. and we motod for a bit..i left the inside door open and the guy in the faster class blocked passed me which let two guys past me and i ended up 3rd. That race.
A good friend of mine said to grip the shrouds with my thighs as tight as i could off the start and be up on the tank.. and low and behold, thats how i got that 2nd moto holeshot.
lol, just saw the update...awesome job!
-My class was on the vet track, and thank goodness because the rollers on the main track took out and sent them either home or to the er
@Rongi#41
Practice, we talking about practice
I'm going to post the videos to youtube today. Ill put them in this thread when im done.
For the people who asked, here are moto 1 & 2...I hope to see some of you guys out there at the next one on dec 6th at perris..on that vet track too lol.
Post a reply to: Ahh Shiet