Summer Vacation at Freddie Spencers

[dinolee]

reprint from v1.0 s-t.n

Hello, my name is Damon, and I'm now a track addict.

I know it's the middle of October, and summer is long gone. But after 2 days in the warm Vegas sun, it was like summer vacation as a kid all over again. I've been home for 3 days, and I'm still geeking out over the session. Oh yeah, my quads are still fracking KILLING ME. But it's a good sort of pain.

The first thing Nick Ienatsch said to us on the van ride to the school was, 'Trust us', i.e. whole heartedly trust the instructors. The first thing Freddie Spencer said to us at the begginning of class was 'Trust me: you are going to unlearn everything you know about track riding and riding in general. There's a reason why I was a three time world grand prix champion'.

 I am now a true believer in what Freddie and his instructors teach. I get it, though I have a verrrry long way to go in executing it, but I do get it. Yeah, a bike can/does steer with counter-steering. Before I took this class, I primarily rode with counter-steering force first, body and weight distribution second, and maintaining lean angle through counter-steering force.

But after two days; 2 days of watching and listening to Freddie, Nick, Jeff and Ken Hill talk about body/head position and trail-braking; 2 days of painfully forcing myself to unlearn my riding style and rebuilding it from square one; 2 days of building upon each new skill set, and at the end feeling it all start to come together and saying to myself 'Holy sh*t, this is how it's done!'

In my class, there was a fellow student who had taken Code's class earlier this spring. The guy I sat next to in the van ride over and in class had taken Pridmore's class twice. On the last day in the van ride back to the Orleans Casino, I asked both of these guys "Well, what do you think?" They both said all of the schools have valuable skills to teach, Pridmore and Code are great guys personally. But Freddie has got it, they felt safer with the skills presented by the Spencer instructors, and felt like they could truely reproduce consistent lines and times with the techniques presented.

And I now understand why Code's welded stearing head bike is a gimmick and totally misses the point. Freddie helped design GP bikes with Honda, he knows the physics behind how a race bike gets around a track. There's a reason why a bike has a moveable steering head. And counter-steering is such a minuscule part of it.

I get it now. I just had to experience it for myself.




Class room at the Vegas school.




Just an awesome site seeing them lined up like that, 05 and 06 CBR 600RR




Me on #16, I gotta get one of these things...




Break and water time in the pitt. Chance to talk with the instructors and stretch those aching quadriceps


Day 1

At 7:30 am, instructors Nick Ienatsch and Ken Hill meet all of us at the Orleans valet pick-up. Class has now begun. After introductions are made, we get our gear and semi-nervous selves loaded on the van and head out to Las Vegas Motor Speedway. For a few of the students, this is their second, third, and even fourth time with school. And for a couple of us, it's our first time ever on a track. In the van, Nick starts with overview of the class, rules to follow and a history of the school. We arrive at LVMS, and the van heads out on to the north end of the Outside Road Course. Instructor Jeff Haney is already at the school, and rides out on a 1000RR. We visit each corner in the van, and Jeff demonstrates the correct and incorrect executions of each corner. During this demo, Nick provides narrative on the skills we'll be learning, and get us engaged by picking out the correct and incorrect techniques.

Back in the classroom, Freddie teaches the first hour of the class going over our mental attitude, relaxation and focus. He emphasizes moving away from having a dependency on hard upper body counter-steering and sustained lean-angle, and more on body position and minimizing max lean angle time. Nick then introduces our first set of skills: body and head position, and zoned execution of a corner. We go over the concept of trail-braking and how it helps steer the bike, along with body and head position. He draws out the line to follow on the north track, and identifies the areas where we'll be implementing trail braking and the stages of body position.

Track Time
We get geared up, and our bike and instructor assignments for the first half. Our warm-up laps are used to follow the instructor slowly through the line, cones placed at apexes, and practising an exaggeration of the body position and trail braking up to apex. We pick up the pace and start experimenting with trail braking, and what happens with a too early or too late of an application. More laps where each student swaps pack position and spends time following the instructor line, receiving hand signals to correct our technique through each corner.

What is truely amazing to watch with the instuctors, is how extremely little force they are using for counter steering. During our right hand corners, they are actually reaching over with the left hand and operating the brake and throttle, and giving us hand signals with the right hand. While waiting in the airport for the flight home, I read this months article in Sport Rider about the school, the journalist points out the same thing.

We do cone drills emphasizing body position and bike position coming out of a apex. We do exaggerated trail braking drills with Jeff and Ken.

Break for Lunch, then move to the South Outside race course. Warm up laps to learn the track, more practise with trail braking, body position, smooth throttle and brake control. Now the video taping begins. And when the video camera's come out, old habits kick-in again. We wrap-up with critique of each riders laps, and learn from all of our collective mistakes.

Day 1 Evening

Jeff Haney has invited us to the buffet dinner at the Orleans for an extra Q&A session, and just general hanging out. I was a little intimadated by Jeff at the start of the day, he has kind of a tough New York Bronx look to him. But by day 2, I end up spending most of my lap time with Jeff, and I really got to like him. All of the instructors are very articulate, fantastic teachers. They are strict when they need to be strict, and always supportive when you get it right.



Day 2

Freddie starts the class with Q&A about areas we had problems with on Day 1; particular corners giving us problems, stressing the importance of getting trail braking down, understanding the apex and not missing it. Freddie also talks about how to overcome and correct mistakes, how to deal with bike geometry getting out of whack and how to correct it. Nick then takes over discusses our new track, the Inside Race Course at the Nascar complex. This particular track got beat-up in a rain storm last week, it's still a bit dirty. All the more reason to limit lean angle time and get the body and head position right.

Track Time
Same bikes, new instructors. Yesterday I was with Ken Hill, today I'm with Jeff Haney. The instructors lead their groups with the warm up laps, cones are placed at the apexes, and we practise more body position and trail braking. We then form two groups, one group with Jeff doing oval work with body position adjustment through the apex, both left and right directions. Second group does apex work with Nick and Ken on the other half of the track. Each group gets feed back from the instructors, we then switch.

Video tape time, I feel a little jittery, but I actually improved A LOT on this run. Ken provides me feedback after the video taping on the radio. During the video taping when it's not our turn to be taped, we get free time to ourselves to practise laps at comfortable speeds. Break for Lunch.

Freddie was watching us during the video taping runs, provides us with his feedback during lunch. We watch the video and get feedback from the instructors, and also watch the instructors video session of what the correct line looks like, and what a bad line looks like. Pretty cool watching Nick exaggerate the bad line, man that guy can ride. And so can Jeff and Ken.

After lunch, do warm up laps and we do hard braking drills, in between rain spurts. Break into two groups, and each group gets the track to themselves with the instructors. Do a couple of warm up laps, then all of the instructors lead each student watching with the mirrors and providing feedback at higher speeds. At this point, the epiphany occurs and I realize this is what's it's all about. There wasn't enough day light left for the two-up ride with Freddie, but that's okay, more track time for the rest of us.

Head back to the class room, get final feedback and graduation. My quads are seriously killing me, I'm afraid to sit down or walk down stairs. But this grin on my face makes the pain all worth it. Best 2 thousand dollars I've ever spent, and I'm going to do it again as soon as the bank account makes it possible.

[VAbikeguy]

Thanks for the great write-up!  I'd love to try that school some day.

[garry]

Nice write-up and sounds like a great time. So what exactly, is Freddie's take on body/head position that he emphasized so much? I've some track classes with STT and TPM (more of a Code approach) and did a CLASS day with Reg Pridmore. I'm curious where Freddie falls in comparison. Could you maybe list the top 5 (or 10) points/tips that they teach in the course?

[R Doug]

Thanks for the detailed report.  I'm glad you had a great time.  

For someone like me, who is always looking to see which school to attend next, this is very good information.  I have heard from other people that this is the school to take.  It seem like Freddie has an excellent ability to break thinks down so that everyone can understand what he's saying.

I'll add you to the list of people who recommend it.

[chornbe]

Excellent write up. Thank you. I've been seriously trying to plan a session at the Keith Code school... maybe I'll rethink that. I'm a huge, huge fan and proponent of body position and "proper" (and even minimizing) lean angles.

I've discovered I'm really good with body position, kinda bad with head position, and absolutely horrible at line selection. Been working on those, but with no ongoing official instruction and with street riding, it's difficult.

I've actually been a proponent of trail braking for years and years and people think I'm nuts for doing it on the street, but... between body position and trail braking, I can keep up with a lot of guys who are just flat out faster all around. And can surprise a lot of guys in the corners on my cruiser.

Yeah, I think maybe if I can only afford to do one of them in the next year or two, maybe I'll rethink my choices.

Thank you.

[Liquidsilver]

Great write-up.  
 
Thank you.
 
I can't wait to get my pennies saved up to get there.  

[1KPerDay]

Great write-up. I did the 3-day and it completely transformed my riding. The 2 fast laps aboard Freddie's VFR were mindblowing. :-O

[1KPerDay]

Nice write-up and sounds like a great time. So what exactly, is Freddie's take on body/head position that he emphasized so much? I've some track classes with STT and TPM (more of a Code approach) and did a CLASS day with Reg Pridmore. I'm curious where Freddie falls in comparison. Could you maybe list the top 5 (or 10) points/tips that they teach in the course?

I'll jump in here until dinolee responds: the main things I remember are:
 
1. Beeee smooooooooooooth.
2. Get way off and weight the inside peg. The instructors would often hold their outside legs straight out to show there was no weight there.
3. Chest, chin, and shoulders pointing into the turn. Some guys (even fast ones) sort of twist away from the turn. They get their knee down, but their body mass and head are still on the high side of the vertical axis of the bike. You want your head and weight to be on the inside of that axis to help turn the bike and preserve lean angle.
4. Look through the turn.
5. Be comfortable trail braking. Ienatsch's book "Sport Riding Techniques" has a good diagram of this FYI.

[dinolee]

1K pretty much nailed it.  All of the drills work on being smooth, body and head position, and trail braking.

1.  Being smooth - high speed braking drills emphasize applying force to the front brake in a 'bell curve' manner, rather then an adbrupt 'saw tooth' stabbing manner.  Your still applying strong force to the brake, but you're not allowing a stabbing action to upset the geometery of the bike.  Throttle action is also smooth, strong stabbing of the throttle exiting the corner will cause the backend to cut loose (did that once accidently, a second time to see how much I could get away with).

2.  Body Position - Upon approaching the corner, the body is already shifted over in the seat, leg out and inside peg is weighted by the ball of the foot.  The instructors say 'exaggerate' the leg out position, but really what feels like exaggeration is exactly where the leg is supposed to be.  When you watch Rossi with the on-bike camera, you see him doing the exactly the same steps.

3.  Head position - The head needs to follow the body with the turn.  A common mistake during the video taping of the laps was the head staying over the windscreen with the body moving into the turn.  This causes what the instructors called 'getting twisted up' .  When the head moves down past the windscreen into the corner, the center of gravity moves down which allows the bike to carry more speed with less lean angle.  The instructors told us upon exiting the corner, the head should be at the lowest position.  This allows the bike to use less lean angle and have more traction.  With more traction, more throttle can be used.

I took a picture of one of the really good students, Chris Clarkson (in red), showing a text book execution of leaving turn 9 at the inside track in Vegas.  Picture is a little far away, but you can see where his body and head are at, exit the corner.  One of the instructors is video taping behind him.



3.  Trail Braking - For some reason, this was one of the hardest concepts for me to get down right.  One of the instructors, Ken Hill from the AMA, is occasionally asked where does he start his braking at turn X for various tracks.  He doesn't have an answer for that, cause it varies; but he does know exactly where he stops trail-braking for any given corner.  Starting trail-braking depends upon your position on intended the line, speed and any other bike factors.

Trail Braking is a hard concept to describe verbally for a person to really understand how it works, it has to be demonstrated and practiced with feedback to understand correctly.  When it's done correctly, you can see how it helps with the steering of the bike.

4. Less emphasis on counter steering - You know you're doing the exercises right in the class if you legs hurt and your upper body feels fine.  Your always going to use counter steering to initialize a corner, but it's the body/head position, and inside peg weighting that carries the bike through the corner.  The entire purpose of getting the body down low is to limit the time the bike spends at maximum lean angle.  The less time at lean angle, the more traction the bike has to apply throttle with.

5.  More speed = more brake - Instructors asked how many people have been given the bad advice on the track to use less brake to go faster.  Not surprisingly, everyone has heard this.  With more speed, correct trail braking is absolutely essential to get the bike in the proper position at the apex to exit efficiently.  With less brake, the rider becomes dependent upon maintaining a deeper lean angle to get around the corner, hence approaching the limits of the tire.  

Before the class room session started each day, there was a video of Freddie during his 1982 win of the GP title in the rain.  He is getting the body and head down low, keeping more traction available for the NS500 on the wet track.  He's using trail braking to help steer the bike on the wet track, rather then lean angle.

[dinolee]

Here's a site I found that offers a subjective comparison between the Code and Spencer courses:  http://home.earthlink.net/~mjahelka/freddie.html

Some other tips I learned when taking the class

1) ibuprofen (advil, tylenol, etc) is your friend. I should've started popping these the night before, and with every meal during the course.

2) staying well hydrated. The school provides you with unlimited water bottles, and frequent breaks to rehydrate. I would recommend bringing your own bottle of gatorade too, or any sport drink that helps with physical recovery. You can keep the bottle in the support vehicle. The instructors use Cytomax, you get a free packet at graduation.

3) stretch out beforehand, reallllly well.  Especially hips, quads, calves and feet.

3) Extra t-shirt and shorts and socks for underneath the track suit. Something to change in and out of during class sessions, so you don't have to worry about the 'aroma' sitting next to your fellow classmates.

4) Nerves - everybody is nervous the first day, but that goes away after the first hour on the track. And skills wise, the first day is going to feel miserable. But after a good nights sleep and a chance to mentally digest the information overload, the second day will feel 1000% better.

5) Due to the top of my head being sparse with hair, I stuffed a baseball cap and sun glasses in my track suit, along with the camera. I think they will let you wear a fanny pack on the bike if you want to, just keep it to the backside so it doesn't interfere with riding.

6) Sunblock for the back of the neck, it's always exposed.

[Mr Sunshine]

2. Get way off and weight the inside peg. The instructors would often hold their outside legs straight out to show there was no weight there.
3. Chest, chin, and shoulders pointing into the turn. Some guys (even fast ones) sort of twist away from the turn. They get their knee down, but their body mass and head are still on the high side of the vertical axis of the bike. You want your head and weight to be on the inside of that axis to help turn the bike and preserve lean angle.
4. Look through the turn.
5. Be comfortable trail braking. Ienatsch's book "Sport Riding Techniques" has a good diagram of this FYI.

You mean like this? (the one on the right)
 

[1KPerDay]

Yeah. Ibuprofen would have helped, and stretching. By the second day my legs were so sore I could BARELY walk down stairs.

[1KPerDay]

You mean like this? (the one on the right)
 

Don't know what you're referring to exactly, but it looks to me like he could turn his shoulders into the turn. From this angle it seems he's twisting away from the turn a bit.
 
It's hard to judge based on one picture. To me, that guy looks really good overall... is it you?

[1KPerDay]

Oh, one more thing they emphasized... keep your legs and torso tight so you can have very little weight on your hands (which is why you need the Ibuprofen).
 
The instructors would often ride in front of you, get their knee down, and then turn around and gesture to you with one hand. Amazing.

[garry]

Thanks for the extra info on the riding tips. I guess I'm doing some of it right since my upper body is fine after a track day but my right thigh is destroyed (nearly all right-hand turns at the local track). I'm sure I need to get my head lower. I try (but not sure I'm executing) to keep my shoulders parallel the triple trees (no twist). Just a totally sideways movement from side to side of the bike.
 
I'll have to re-read the Ienatsch book re: trail braking. I know I'm doing it on my Ninja bike, but my Triumph Sprint RS used to stand up if I tried to brake too deeply into a turn. The Ninja is fine with brakes to the apex.
 
The whole be smooth on the brakes and throttle emphasis sounds a lot like the mantra at CLASS (Reg Pridmore) along with the emphasis on body position and peg weighting. But I think Reg teaches you to pivot your body to the inside, not move perpendicular to the axis of the bike.

[Mr Sunshine]

Don't know what you're referring to exactly, but it looks to me like he could turn his shoulders into the turn. From this angle it seems he's twisting away from the turn a bit.
 
It's hard to judge based on one picture. To me, that guy looks really good overall... is it you?

The one on the right is me. The one one the left is my nemsis.
 
Getting myself to turn my shouldars into the corner is something I've been very recently working on.  This pictureis hard to tell if I am doing it right or not due to angle and focus.

[UPNET]

Please help. IF...I understand correctly...trail braking is the application of the FRONT brakes somewhere before reaching the apex of the corner? This loads the front suspension, compressing the forks, thereby changing the  angle (rake?) allowing the bike to corner more efficiently with less lean.  Throttle comes on as the brakes are released to exit corner. Is any of this correct?  

[Mr Sunshine]

Please help. IF...I understand correctly...trail braking is the application of the FRONT brakes somewhere before reaching the apex of the corner? This loads the front suspension, compressing the forks, thereby changing the angle (rake?) allowing the bike to corner more efficiently with less lean. Throttle comes on as the brakes are released to exit corner. Is any of this correct?

Yes all of it.  The key to remember on trail braking is it is called as you are trailing off the brakes as you add more lean angle.  You only have so much traction and the key behind trail braking is that you can use up all you got.  some of it for braking and some of it for leaning.
 
It does make the bike turn easier but it is also faster around the track as you can combine braking and turning.