4 Days at Morgan Park

[Mike_SS]

After some tweaking on the YZF750 (20 more horsepower, a bucket more torque, about 10kg lighter and new EBC rotors and brembo calipers) I set off for four days at Morgan Park with high expectations (always a dangerous thing to do). I got home tonight tired, sore, not completely happy but not too disappointed either. The bike was good except for an electrical problem which spoiled half of my coaching day and I trimmed 1 second off my PB which I guess is good but as I said, I had high expectations and would have liked to have dropped by more than that.

Day 1 - Coaching Day

Set out on the first session of the day to warm up and quickly realised how much better the bike is. I was in between two corners where I used to use second gear but it was easily doing it in third. Nice Went through various things over a couple of sessions with the coaches but for me it was mainly about body position. Was progressing OK but then the bike starting breaking down. I basically lost two sessions and figured out that for some reason the fuel pump was cutting out. We had practice starts as the last part of the day and it behaved itself for that at least.

Day 2 - Track Day

There was no timing at the coaching day so myself and a mate of mine were dead keen to see what we could do after our training. We went out and did the first session and when we got back in we were both fairly happy with ourselves with a lot of "that felt good", "can't wait to see the times" type comments. Then we saw the times...I was 2 seconds slower than my average and he was 3 seconds slower than his?? WTF!! This had us scratching our heads and even checking that the timing people had the right transponder numbers because we couldn't believe it. The transponders were right, we were just slow. This led to some head scratching (and a little bit of soul searching) and all we could think of was that our heads were too full of things to remember and we forgot to go fast As the day went on the times came back and I ended up lowering my PB by 1/10th of a second. Having a beer that night and thinking, all that work to the bike, two days at the track for 1/10 of a second, not what I was expecting.

Day 3 - Race Day 1

It was a fairly big meeting with about 150 entries so getting through scrutineering and two qualifying sessions for each class took us through to about one o'clock in the afternoon. I lowered my PB by another 10th on each session and ended up 6th. This was not much to be excited about out of a field of nine! We were scheduled to have a race late in the afternoon but there was a nasty crash in one of the earlier races which left the entire oil content of a bike spread all over the track. They figured it was going to take about an hour and a half to clean it all up so racing was cancelled for the day.

Day 4 - Race Day 2

So after three days at the track it was finally time to have a race.

Race 1
I started 6th and finished 6th and had a fairly lonely ride. It was probably my worst session of the whole trip and I was bouncing from one ripple strip to another and just generally stuffing everything up. My best time was nearly a second slower than my qualifying time. Time for some more soul searching. I figured in the end that it was a very long build up to get to that first race and I was way too tense.

Race 2
I stuffed up the start and was last into turn 1 but by turn 3 had gone back past the guys that jumped me off the line. I actually started catching two guys in front me and when I came up behind the first one I realised who he was and couldn't figure out why I was catching him because he should of been much further ahead. I then made a rookie mistake and backed off a bit because I thought I must have missed a flag or something. Turns out he had a problem with a foot peg that had spun around. By the time I figured out it was OK to pass him the other guy had gotten way out reach and I rode around and finished 5th. I was much more relaxed though and took 7/10ths off my best time. I was happy with that.

Race 3
A much better start this time and right on the tail of the pack out of turn 1 and avoided a bit of push and shove as one guy got pushed off the track.
Settled in to chase but could not keep on the back of them so had another lonely ride around in 5th until the last lap when the guy who went off hunted me down and put me back into 6th for the finish. My best time was lower than my qualifying time but slower than race 2.

So in summary I fell short of meeting my expectations. I had a time in mind that I wanted to do but I was still one second off that. That time was one I have had in mind since the start of last year as it would have been starting to get competitive. I still haven't reached it but the real problem is that most of the other guys have all gotten 2 seconds faster over the last year so even if I get to the time I had targeted I will still be a couple of seconds off the pace. There is not many of us in this class but it is a hard class. (Made harder this meeting by a very fast A grader who has moved to Queensland and came out to play. He has raised the bar even further )

Oh well there is always next weekend at Eastern Creek on the 1000. At least it will be a bigger pack and I might get to race with someone

[ozzyfzr]

like your ride report Mike, at least the bike came home in one piece!!!!!!!!!
Times will fall when you have had time for calming down and allowing it to become second nature, it is difficult to become relaxed with all the new stuff in your head etc.
Regards
Ozzyfzr

[Mike_SS]

Cheers ozzy. Went looking but couldn't find you up there. Did you go?

[JasonL]

Mike,

Nice report, yes Murray is damn quick, we had him in P6 / New Era last year on an 89 GSXR1100 and never really saw him after the sighting lap...he was often running up front outright with the other A graders on Blades, YZF's etc...anyway, I know exactly what you mean about feeling like you've gone a lot quicker then being mortified that in fact you've gone slower. What I do know is that when I have gone quicker in relation to previous lap times, I've not been that aware of it at the time, or maybe a lap later I've realised, hey that wasn't a bad lap before. They tend to come when you're not thinking about it too much but are very focused and concentrating only on what you're doing, and they are always accompanied by a certain intent or focused aggression, like chasing someone in front for example. I don't think I'm explaining myself very well....but do you know what?? outright lap times are not as important as everyone believes. It's elapsed time. It doesn't matter if you put in a blistering lap if you are all over the shop the rest of the time. Consistency matters, even in short races. Having said that, because most club stuff tends to be prett short heats, then qualifying well does really matter. If you qualify well and can get away well, even quicker lapping bikes are going to take 2 or 3 laps to work through the pack and even get you in sight ( Irealise as I say that you have a field of 9 bikes...). I have only tended to improve my best times by about 3-5% but my elapsed time has dropped a lot - it's been the difference between riding quickly and actually racing.

Don't worry, you'll have lots of people to race with at EC, its a pretty busy field. They include New Era F1 and F2, there's usually 40 bikes on the grid, but its a big wide track so it only feels like a stampede into turns 1 and two on the opening lap!! The poor old VFR750 would get absolutely smoked off the line, you've got a big advantage in cubes straight away. How did the practice starts go by the way??

[spook]

Glad to hear you survived... It actually sounds like you had a good weekend!

I just wonder if your putting too much pressure on yourself? I decided a while ago not to chase times or expectations, but to ride smooth and relaxed and let the times come to me. To the main it worked, and I quickly came down to my best lap times.

If the people you are racing against have dropped there times by 2 seconds over the year, well expectations that you will to will drop the same over a weekend are probably not that realistic.

Practice and track time are the key elements in a safe and fast performance. My advice (and I know your not asking for it... lol) would be to work on the things that you have learned through coaching, and let them over time become autonomous. Below, is a table of the learning phases, and I think they hold true.

Take time to enjoy the time you spend at and on the track Mike, and perhaps focus less on the lap time and more on how to go about getting there!

The Learning Phases - Fitts & Posner

Fitts and Posner (1967) suggested that the learning process is sequential and that we move through specific phases as we learn. There are three stages to learning a new skill:

Cognitive phase - Identification and development of the component parts of the skill - involves formation of a mental picture of the skill

Associative phase - Linking the component parts into a smooth action - involves practicing the skill and using feedback to perfect the skill

Autonomous phase - Developing the learned skill so that it becomes automatic - involves little or no conscious thought or attention whilst performing the skill - not all performers reach this stage

The leaning of physical skills requires the relevant movements to be assembled, component by component, using feedback to shape and polish them into a smooth action. Rehearsal of the skill must be done regularly and correctly.

[JasonL]

One other thing I would say helps a lot is preparedness - I mean that if you feel the bike is ready and ok, then it has a pretty big psychological effect. It might only be checking tyre pressures, slight fiddling therein, small suspension changes (which may or may not actually make a difference but the act of the perceived improvement has as big an effect) All basic stuff like having tools in order, invaluable gear like zip-ties, tie-wire and so on, knowing you've lock-tightened certain bolts etc all helps.
I have been a bit lazy lately and let some of that slip, and its showing (plus as Spook can attest, cigarettes and sausage rolls do not enhance performance!!)

[Mike_SS]

yes Murray is damn quick

Oh yeah. Nice guy to boot. (Typical Queenslander )

How did the practice starts go by the way??

They were hilarious The coaches pointed out that apart from some basic do's and dont’s (do remember to put it in gear, don't sit there revving up and down, and don't creep ) it was an individual thing. They ran through what they did but stressed it may not be the same for everyone. A few of us tried some different things with some funny results, wheelstands, stalls, etc I went back to how I normally did them though I need to tweak it a bit on the 750 now as I was getting a bit of wheel spin. It was a good way to finish the day and not something you get to do anywhere else.

Everything else you have said makes sense and I know one of my main challenges is getting that relaxed state yet 'on a mission' thing happening Cheers.

Glad to hear you survived... It actually sounds like you had a good weekend

Yeah I did. Have you noticed I get a bit analytical about things

work on the things that you have learned through coaching, and let them over time become autonomous

Perfectly explained with the Fitts & Posner bit

It's all good. My main aim for the coaching was to adjust how I was riding. Thinking about it this morning with a clearer head I realised I was not dragging bits on the track anywhere near as much (well the occasional footpeg ) yet I ultimately was going the same pace or faster. I am confident that I may have adjusted a bit and will be interested to see the photos from the whole weekend to see if some of those movements were becoming autonomous

[JasonL]

Sorry me again, thinking about the Barry Sheene last year and what Steve said about me going slower despite having lighweight rims on which I thought would make a big difference and I was all at sea when they didn't, two things come to mind which are relevant to your race report:

1/ Expectations vs actual - I was so convinced and expectant of big improvements that when they didn't come it put me right off

2/ I also specifically remember being extremely nervous before these races and I couldn't figure out why, I'm normally not too bad at all before a race. It could have been to do in part with 1/ above, but whatever the case, it was detrimental and I rode poorly - so I definitely agree with Spook that it sounds like you put too much pressure on yourself, and even though it can be hard to do, getting too wound up beforehand doesn't work. It goes so far as to restrict oxygen to forearm muscles and so on, and then you're on a hiding to nothing

[Mike_SS]

remember being extremely nervous before these races

I suffer from this badly. Like I said a three day build up to the first race didn't help and that race was not much fun. I enjoyed the second and third races and it showed in the times. (To be honest I think I was too tired to be nervous for the third one )

cigarettes and sausage rolls do not enhance performance!!)

I'll give you a tip...cigarettes and hot dogs with mustard and a coke are the go

[JasonL]

It is hard to control the right level of nervous anticipation, you need to be a bit toey beforehand but not too much. Hot dogs and mustard? Right on. Better go and do some work before I get shown the door, they just don't understand the bike thing here, what's wrong with them??

[spook]

this reminds me a bit of a mothers club meeting When I found Jason at the state champs, he wasn't enjoying himself, I helped by helping him to relax and enjoy the day... that was about it.

It's easy to forget why we are riding/racing, and lets face it we do it because it is extremely enjoyable, though, it can be incredibly challenging and with that frustrating.

At our level, I believe setting goals that focus on strategies and technique rather than lap times is quite important. A lap time is the end result of all the other things you do on and too a bike. So focusing on the end (lap time) or winning (place in field) is in my opinion fraught.