Excitebike

Live like the strings of a fine instrument – not too taut and not too loose.

A few months ago, Yao and I signed up for Rich Oliver‘s Mystery School with some fellow Googlers. Supposedly, this course helps you with your street riding and road racing skills by teaching you reflexes to get out of dangerous situations. I was just interested in learning how to ride a dirt bike and slide around corners.

Day 1

I was still pretty jet lagged, but woke up early to do some foam rolling and stretching exercises to loosen up my hips. According to the welcome packet we were going to be using them a lot. We met up with the rest of the group at Java Time and followed Rich over to the “track.” It’s probably more accurate to say his backyard. He had built a flat track course right behind his home in Auberrey, CA.

We started with some stretching, grabbed our gear, and took our Yamaha TT125s over to the first lesson. Rich did most of the teaching, but had Dani Diaz, a road racing and flat track pro, do the demonstrations. Riding flat track was completely different than anything I’ve done before. For one, you’re supposed to sit really close to the front of bike. This makes it hard to turn if you don’t keep your outside elbow up. Also, when turning you’re supposed to shift your hips to point in the direction of your turn and put your inside leg out at a 45 degree angle.

We started with some left hand and right hand turning around a tight circle. Then we moved on to a figure eight to practice shifting our hips back and forth. At one point, Rich had all 12 bikes going at one time and amazingly there were no collisions. However, I was the first to put down my bike. I don’t really remember how it happened, but I felt the bike come out from under me and just let it slide out and stood up.

Correct riding form as shown by Dani Diaz

After a quick break and some more advice we headed back and began practicing our turns at “speed.” We took our bikes at a blazing 10 mph around an oval and we’re supposed to break going into the turn to initiate a skid. Most of the guys were pretty hesitant about going fast enough to have the bike slide, but I just went for it. The first time I felt the bike skid around me I thought it was both the most unnatural and amazing feeling.

After practicing our left turns a few times we switched to the right, which was more difficult. On your right hand turns you have to think about putting your inside foot on the break to initiate the slide and then immediately stick it out to balance your self. This would prove to be my downfall for most of the weekend.

Rich giving some feedback and advice during our lunch break.

After a lunch break, which was provided by Rich’s family, we went back out and practiced our turning some more. This time, we started in second gear and had to downshift into the turn. Left turns weren’t too big of a deal, but shifting added another complexity to right turns that were already hard enough. After a few passes, we headed over to a slalom course to practice some transition turning. This was one of the harder lessons of the day because the ground was dry and it constantly felt like the bike was going to slide out from under you.

Practicing on the slalom course

We ended the day by doing a few 5 lap practice races with Rich around a TT and chicane course. One lesson I learned the hard way that day, never try to beat the instructor. You will always lose. There were a few times I heard Rich behind me and would try to gun it around a corner or straight away, but I completely forgot everything I learned. My position was bad, my speed into the turns was too fast, and as a result I went down a few times. His son called me out afterwards telling me I was sitting way too far back and needed to slow down.

Yao, right before he took his first fall of the day

Day 2

We started the second day with a mud course to help with our counter steering. Rich’s son, Matt, was going to be leading us through the exercise and I wanted nothing more than to get his white gear as muddy as possible. Luckily, I had learned my lesson from the day before and knew my limits. I tried to stay tight on him most of the time, but quickly realized that was a mistake. I was constantly getting mud in my mouth, despite wearing a helmet. I’m still not sure how that happened. Overall, I’d have to say this exercise was the most helpful of them all. I really got a feel for what it was like to slide, feel out of control, and correct myself.

Sliding through the mud course

Next, we practiced a standing start. The key is to have your clutch open right before the friction point and have the engine revved at a high RPM so that when the flag goes up to start you can open the clutch and shoot out the gate. Oh, and also make sure to sit close to the front of the bike, otherwise you’ll pop a wheelie like some of the guys did.

My first four starts were pretty good, but then Rich’s wife messed me up on the last one. She recommended I keep my foot on the back break to prevent creeping, but that was just one too many things I had to remember. I ended up popping a wheelie. Unlike the others, who tried following the bike and ended up in a ditch, I knew the bike was going and just hopped of the back and let the bike shoot out in front of me. I don’t think that made Rich too happy, but he took it in stride. I ended up getting 4th fastest out of the group, including Dani.

After a quick break, we went back to the slalom course to practice our turning. At the end we practiced a le mans start, which is where the bikes are idling in neutral and everyone runs to their bike, hops on, shifts into gear, and rides off. On the second start, I popped a wheelie but managed to stay on and ride it on one wheel for at least 10 yards.

Before heading to lunch, we did a few more 5 lap practice races on the TT and chicane course. I went down a few more times, and at lunch I noticed that only my right side was hurting. I spoke with Dani and Matt and realized that I was predominately falling on my right side because I wasn’t putting my foot out when going into the turns. I was waiting too long on the brake and it was causing me to lose my balance and fall.

On my right side, again…

After lunch, we did more 5 lap races to prepare for the last 25 lap race. I really felt my confidence building every race, but I’d get too overzealous and go down because I was either in the wrong position or going too fast. Here’s a video of one of the practice runs (no, that’s not me that goes down):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdWi43RuEyQ&feature=youtu.be

A couple of us decided to try using the steel toed boots, which help prevent getting your foot caught on the ground. I didn’t really feel the benefits during the first few practice races, but once I started putting my foot down I felt like I could lean into the turns a lot better.

Steel toed boot

Our last practice runs before the final race were a 15 lap chicane race and 10 lap TT race. On the chicane race, I was in second place the entire time until the final turn where I went in too fast and went down. I was pretty mad at myself since there was no reason to get fancy on the last lap. There was no one anywhere near me.

For the final race, we were going to do a le mans start again. I’m not sure why, but they put the fastest guy in the front of the line and my bike was close to the end. I just decided I’d let everyone go ahead of me and wait for a bottleneck to occur on one the turns. At that point, I’d take the outside and pass everyone.

Getting ready for the start of the final race

I started in third to last place

The first few laps went as I expected. There were a few bottlenecks and I took the outside. I got a bit too overconfident and took the inside on one turn, hit a dry patch, and the bike slid out from underneath me. At this point I thought there was no way I was going to be able to compete for the lead. I’d have to pick my bike up, get it to restart, and by that time I would probably get lapped. When I got up, I noticed my back wheel was still spinning. I grabbed the clutch and tried to rev the engine. Luckily, the bike hadn’t kicked off, so I jumped back on and didn’t lose much time.

For most of the race I was by myself and I figured I was in 5th or 6th place. Rich had recommended we take a mental break at some point during the race, and I could see why. At lap 15 I was already starting to get fatigued. Around lap 18, I caught up with a group of riders and was able to sneak to the inside and pass three of them at once.

On the final lap I had really felt like I was really getting the hang of taking turns at speed and was pushing my skills to the limit. However, I realized there was no one in front or behind me and didn’t want to go down. I had learned my lesson earlier in the day and didn’t want to lose my position. Instead, I coasted the last lap and crossed the finish line. Somehow, I ended up placing in second despite starting in the back and dropping my bike early in the race. Just goes to show you, it’s never over until it’s over.

Overall, this course was one of the most fun and educational I’ve taken. Despite the scratches and bruises I got, it was well worth it. Rich is a great teacher and really cool dude. I know that’s weird to say, but there’s no other way to really describe him. His whole team and family get involved and make the course a rewarding experience. I’d highly recommend it for anyone who wants to improve their riding skills.