What is Track Day and Why You Should Try It!

motorcycle

Jun 3

I wanted to write this article, as a new female rider (now riding 3.5 years, or 3.5 seasons since I’m in New England) and say emphatically, how helpful track day was to me — even as as relatively newbie rider! It was SO much fun. And just as importantly, it was an awesome learning experience and opportunity.

I recently attended my second track day and had the most educational, awesome, inspiring riding experience. We went to the track at Palmer, MA put on by the group, Riding in the Zone with Ken Condon and also Tony Iannerelli. They run a super organized operation. There are 3 levels (slow - that was me, medium, fast) and we take turns every 20 min on the hour, from 9a-5pm, with lunch break and classroom sessions after every track run.

The point of track days is to LEARN in a SAFE environment. It’s not a race. It’s to learn new skills and practice them.

There is a cost to it — taking time off work and registration is $350. However, I do not have—nor do you need— anything extra or fancy — just my regular protective riding gear (helmet, jacket, pants, boots, gloves). And it is SO WORTH IT.

** I should add a very important point: This event put on by Ken is not your typical track day. It’s for ‘Non-Sportbikes Track Day Training.’ Meaning it’s for those of us tho ride non-sportbikes and not your typical track day/sportbikes. (I currently have a BMW 700 GS, 798 cc). It was REALLY nice to have that environment of being with other similar bikes as me, and the instruction was more geared towards not quite as intermediate folks. Though I was in the slow group this second time (at the end, an instructor said I could definitely move up!) and it was nice to be with other more mellow folks.

It was educational.

This was our second year of doing track day at Palmer, MA. The first year, it was certainly a lot to take in. They provided a ‘walk the track’ the day before where we walked the entire 2.5 mile track with major elevation (similar to 6 floors or so), where they walked 'the line.’ The line is ideally where you want to be riding on the track. They reviewed the apexes and provide cones where you want to be riding, to optimize your cornering. Because there are sharp corners or wide turns and sudden uphills or wide-sweeping downhills, it’s good to know where you want to be to optimize your turns. This is not just for speed and efficiency, but also for safety.

Imagine you are riding on a curvy road on the streets, you go around the curve, can’t see the end, then suddenly realize you are going too fast and cross over the line — not safe! And can be quite scary. So the skills you learn at track day— directly benefit you on the streets, driving around corners (um, there are corners everywhere) and stopping quickly and safely, how to control your bike when you are going fast (sometimes we want to go fast, and sometimes we need to stop the bike when we are going faster than we intended).

And so many more things, than I can list here.

You won’t be the only female there.

Out of the 3 track days I’ve now been to, I can safely say you won’t be the only female rider there. There may even be 10% women riders there. There certainly seems to be more women than I expected — maybe that’s just because I don’t typically expect many to be there.

Go with friends if you can.

It’s certainly more fun with friends. You can travel to the track and back home together and have company and camaraderie. You may certainly meet people there on Track Day as well, most everyone is quite friendly. But it can also be a hectic day, going from the track to classroom to bathroom, to grabbing a quick drink. It’s nice to have a friend or two to go thru the day with!

Did I say what an amazing experience it is??

It is so incredible, SO MUCH FUN — where else can you get a safe, no traffic, environment to practice turns and your skills and with instructors and encouragement? There is no oncoming traffic, road debris, sand gravel, dumb car drivers, etc. You get the whole width of the road and get to practice your skills on the same turns over and over all day. It does NOT get boring, trust me! And you will most likely need to rein in your enthusiasm to make sure you are being safe and riding WITHIN your skillset. (Ride at 75% of your ability, is what they suggest, because there is so much new things you are taking in and figuring out).

I’m happy to answer questions if you have any starting out.

Here is the group I mentioned:

www.ridinginthezone.com with Ken Condon