At The Top Of Your Game

[Lawn Dart]

Rogue,

Good question.  Excellent topic.

1.  Am I at the top of my game?  Well, yes, I've never been better on two wheels.  But am I at the top of the bell curve?  No, not yet anyway.  A few more track days - figure 4-6 more, will get me much closer.  The truth of the matter is that I haven't reached the point where I'm not improving yet.  I continue to improve just a bit.

Perhaps though I take a different tact on street riding.  I'm not looking to be the fastest on the road.  I think I'm fast, but the truth is that there is a limit to what is actually SAFE on the street - and I'm pretty close to the limit of safety.  Riding any faster on the street means cutting down the margin for safety to the point where I wouldn't be comfortable.

So the real question of whether or not I'm at the top of my game comes down to whether or not I can continue to improve on the track.  And to that end the answer is yes, absolutely.  I have the goal to get a knee down and to get faster at the track.  To that end one can manage time and performance with a stopwatch.  The reality is that I have much room for improvement.  But what is on the track is on the track - basic lessons come to the streets, but the speed of the track?  No, it isn't even desired for the street.

I'm 37 and I figure I will hit the "near max" around the age of 40 or so.  At that point I will be about as fast as I'm ever going to be unless I truly dedicate out to track riding.

[MisterSmooth]

...Perhaps though I take a different tack on street riding.  I'm not looking to be the fastest on the road.  I think I'm fast, but the truth is that there is a limit to what is actually SAFE on the street - and I'm pretty close to the limit of safety.  Riding any faster on the street means cutting down the margin for safety to the point where I wouldn't be comfortable...So the real question of whether or not I'm at the top of my game comes down to whether or not I can continue to improve on the track...

That's so damn well said.  I feel like my street riding is like that as well when I've got it going.  But there's only so fast you can safely go on the street.  To really improve you've got to spend quality time on track.


Gaolee said in another thread that "reckless driving" speeds on the street lose some of their appeal after you've dive bombed a curve on the track at 100 mph all day.




And BMW-K...sorry to give you all those quote snips there...looks sort of like BLS.  Mercy!

[scott-sts]

this is one of those ego-analysis questions.  The correct answer is, "I will never find nirvana, I will forever persue perfection"

The day I peak, will be the day I ride circles around (insert most impressive racers name).....until then, I will strive to acheive that level.  

You are never done learning.  You may be fighting a very steep uphill battle with age, reflexes and what not declining, but I will still always stride for perfection regardless.  I'll never achieve it.  I will always be a loser.  

Thanks for reminding meo fo that though  

Ah, another one who didn't read Rogues entire post.

[Rogue]

Ah, another one who didn't read Rogues entire post.

You people....    

Hey BMW-K, I totally agree with you.  YOu and I have ridden together on a bunch of SoCal rides.  And yup.  The pace we do is pretty much at or near the limit of safety.  Sure.  We can push it a bit more.  I'm sure you have and so have I and many of us.  But it definitely cuts down on the margin of safety.  

Sometimes I wish there was a more scientific way of determining what that margin is for each road.  Nobody really tells us when to say when.  We just know.  And to tie in to my other post between Younger Riders vs. Experienced Riders, one of the things that differentiate an experienced rider from one who is not, is knowing when one is riding fast enough for conditions as well as knowing how much margin of safety is needed to be kept in reserve.  

[Asphalt_Carver]

I think that BMW-K is correct in his assessment.  For myself, I am 42 and approaching 7 years from a catastrophic motorcycle accident.  Am I faster now than then?  No, but I feel now as though I have a far better understanding of what the motorcycle is doing in the corner and what I should and should not be doing.

The biggest change for me has been to accept constructive criticism from people I trust and to seek out riding information.  Lee Parks' book "Total Control" is one that I have found to be excellent and very applicable for someone like myself who does not want to do a track day but instead focusing solely on street skills.   Also, being open to criticism has done wonders for me.  I just spent a recent ride getting some much needed tips and then immediately implementing them.  My riding enjoyment and control seemed to get much better and I told my "Coach" what a benefit his tips.  Both of benefited and our whole ride experience was rewarding.

[phoenix]

Good topic Rogue. Here's my input-

Age: 38
Been riding for about 6 years now.
The bike I feel most confident on: current bike, Kawasaki ZX-6E

I *hope* that I am still on the improving side of the curve, although I think I have platued recently. I think I need a track day or something to get some more improvement. I do not find myself in the zone much, or not nearly enough. I only feel like I'm "there" once in a while, on roads I have traveled many times before, when the road conditions are optimal, the weather is great, and I'm not thinking about 100 other little things that happened over the course of the day.

[Uncle Bob]

Ah, another one who didn't read Rogues entire post.

I reread it, I still saw the same words I did before.  

I wasn't answering the questions directly, I was responding to the subject the questions are addressing.  

[jerome_oneil]

I am 38 and have been street riding since I was 16 (off and on). I don't think my skills are plateaued yet and I am not sure they necessarily will. I would imagine that as my reflex's decline I would simply modify my riding style to match.

 

"My Game" changes as I do.   When I was young and dumb, my game consisted of breaking a lot of laws and scraping pegs in an effort to get anywhere as fast as my little bike could carry me.  I got pretty good at that.  Now my game is about seeing as much as I can in as interesting a way as possible.  I rarely crank it up any more, as that isn't part of my game.

[Karmak]

At 60 yrs. old I could likely lap a track within a few seconds of my young self, but not for anywhere near as long a time. I find this so with both large and small bikes. Physical restrictions in endurance and the knowledge of easy breakage and slow healing (along with more experience), make my decisions of where and when to lay into it far more picky and choosey these days. A mistake would be even more costly at my physical stage of life.

Mostly I don't push it near as often as I once did, but find I still can just fine when I feel like it. I choose where carefully, and do so just often enough to avoid scaly rust in skills. Then again I was always into the turns and not so much top speed anyway. I tend to keep it down on the straights now days and work the tires edge only in particularly good, reasonably safe spots for it. My area often contains plenty of road traps of various kinds for ¾ of the season, so one rides smart or doesn’t last long.

++++++

[Karmak]

I'm in my 50's and have ridden a GSXR1000 for the last four years.  I am a god.  Three or four hundred mile days are nothing to me as I stay in superb physical shape, and cut a fine figure in my full leathers.
I have had near collisions whilst admiring myself in passing shop windows, but that's a hazard I accept.

Caution-the object you see in your mirrors is probably yourself.

[stk0308]

33, riding street since I was 17.
I'm in the 5-10 percentile at the leading up edge of the top.
I only have one street bike, have had a Sprint ST, 2 versions but it's the same basic bike, since 1999.  So familiarity has caused a lot of comfort, along with the slow escalation of my focus and speed.  I find myself leading a lot of our group rides around here because I can usually navigate, and problem solve at an accelerated rate enough to satisfy even the most track minded of the group I ride with.  Granted, most are temptered by being atleast 3-5 years older than me, but many of them are DAMN quick.  I feel I can maintain this level of comfort with speed for a number of years.  But like any skill it requires practice to maintain.  And that's what's gotten me up to the level I'm at.  I've put on over 140k miles just since 1998, and I felt I hit this stride over a year and 1/2 a go.

I also follow BMW-K and Uncle Bob's line of thinking on this.  Improvement is always an option.  I fuss over mistakes I feel and 'see' in my riding that most of those that follow don't notice, or won't back me on, lol  Being self critical can be very useful.  I don't fight to fix it right when it happens though, if it doesn't create a deadly situation. There's also something to be said for going with the flow, and staying on the wave when you catch it.  It's all more a Zen exercise than anything now.

[Bodhi]

Absolutely not. I am very humble about my riding skills. Lots more to learn. But like Bubba, I'm facing a decline in reaction time due to aging. Same thing in my hockey playing on an amateur team. What I gain in technical ability I lose in an aging body and brain. So while I am trying to improve my skills, I don't ever expect to ride right at the edge. I wish I'd started riding earlier in life and maybe I would have done some club racing. But my body is getting brittle so I can't really push things and take risks in my fifties like I may have done in my twenties. I'm happy to be riding period.

[sagerat]

The best part of my improvement is I've gotten much, much better at situational awareness.  I see things in traffic I didn't see before, I recognize and anticipate vehicles doing odd things that previously came as an unpleasant surprise, I have a better anticipation of where trouble might come from.

I'm not psychic or Kreskin, but I just do a better job of hearing the alarm bells begin to ring.  "Say, this corner might be trouble due to different colored material on the road.  The driver of that beater truck seems to be looking for a driveway and might make a sudden turn without signaling.  That railroad track is crossing the road at a 45 degree angle, I'd better make sure to hit it at 90 degrees, etc."

 

[EricD10563]

I was a faster rider when I was younger and maybe thats when I was really at my top.  Now I think I ride more fluid like and I flow a little better, sort of like I'm riding in the rain. I went for a ride the other day and this is how I put it to the young guys who were on GSXR's and I think he was a little surprised that I stayed with him: How well does that bike handle? Not well at all but I have been riding it for more than 20 years and I know it. I know this bike well and that makes some of it's handling problems less of a problem. So now that I'm in my mid forties and have been riding the same bike for more than 20 years I feel I can ride this bike well.  I still take out the Twist of the Wrist book or similar to try to learn more or read the forums.  I have been riding for 30 years and I'm not willing or able to ride like I did 20 years ago, I do feel relaxed and comfortable when I ride, not nearly as hectic compared to when I was 20.

[Ian]

I'm 33, for streetriding I was faster when I was 30.  But I wanted to be.  I think I'm smarter about riding fast now, and I have more fun doing it because I'm on a less capable bike than I once was.

[Shizoku]

At 48 yrs of age "I'm not as good as I once was, but I'm as good once as I ever was"

Shiz

[ksann]

At 48 yrs of age "I'm not as good as I once was, but I'm as good once as I ever was"

Shiz

Damn Shiz, you really are old  





ken

[Shizoku]

Damn Shiz, you really are old  :eek
ken

...and I'm really starting to feel it.  

Shiz

[LENSMAN]

I'm not at the top of my game, but I enjoy the twisties. If I hit one too fast, I still get a brief surge of panic. I've braked more than once, where I should slowed more before going into the turn, or leaning more. I'm hoping to take a track course in '08 to improve my cornering skills, but still... I'm better than many of the kids out there. Also, there's not a cruiser that can match my SV for cornering.  

[yellow wolf]

i am retiring at the top of my game!! its sunday the 17th of december and the guy buying my GL1800RR is gonna be here at 1 pm to pick her up!!!

its a very very sad day but i need to go dirt riding with my son so the wing must go!

to those i met at the gap it was fun,and to those i video taped i hope you enjoyed it!!

there is two magazine write up on my deals gap 1000 coming out sometime soon and that was the coolest thing i have ever done!!