Moving up a level

Dammit! Am I going to have to join the gym now? I got pissed off that I had to stop my trackday early due to being knackered.....I fear it may be time to get fit!! Great timing eh? Co-inciding with the new baby.....wonder if the gym has a creche?

a worked body is fitter and can relax more....controlling the bike would be easier and yo'd be more relaxed as a result. As we all know, relaxation is the key to almost any sporting success.

Has anybody experienced this before?

Yes, Casey Stoner in 2007.

Is there a limit to how long this lasts?

Yes, Casey Stoner in 2008

Woah there guys. I think we are looking at the wood and bumping into the trees somewhat.

Thousands of racers are as fit as Rossi. Fitness will give you an edge but 80% of riding is psychological.

We can all ride a bike, we all know how to change gears, get around corners, brake etc. None of us can be Rossi but we could all be as quick as the guy 2 secs a lap faster than us, the only difference is mental,

Think back to your first time on track, all of that was hard to do because you were so tense. Then after a couple of sessions you began to relax and things started to get a bit smoother.

We have all had rides where everything seemed to flow. You drifted into the first corner and it went well, which set you up for the second corner and so on. These always turn out to be our fastest laps.

Equally we have all gone out and nailed it up to the first corner, hit the limiter, braked til our eyeball exploded, chucked the bike in, survived and passed 6 people on the exit, nailed it to the next corner repeat to finish. Then we pull in and punch the guy that has timed us 4 secs slower than our earlier laps.

Same on the road. Smooth = fast. If you are riding well it will all come together. If you arent then no amount of fitness or effort will help you. If it did Rueben Xaus would be world champion.

Like you say you have reached the next level. Like when you first got a knee down. You couldnt do it and your mind built it up to be a big thing. Then you did it almost by accident and it scared you a bit. Then it happened a couple more times and you got used to it. Now, you barely notice as your mind is elsewhere.

Freestyler you should stay off that Redbull shit. I have driven all night to trackdays and done them on caffeine and Red bull. I just end up feeling wired. When I was a kid we used to do a line of coke then race around a road circuit at night. I knew of a lot of good riders then and several of them are dead now. None died when we were doing this but you get used to pushing on on the roads and end up riding like it all the time.

Now I drink a couple of litres of water on a trackday. Unless Ducati Pete is there then we drink 40 cups of tea

I was thinking of swiching to coke its a lot cheeper .

Hi Luke, The avatar is a little tricky, it's features has recently changed, use the second one, it is the "direct link" just highlight it in the 2nd column, the direct link, copy and when you paste it,, place it in the 2nd slot in your profile box, just under the browse tab,

lemme know... I just did mine yesterday, you have to push the reset tab afterwards, then click profile again and look if the image is in your avatar box, I can call Big Toby or Plipton to help us if need be, do not give up oh cursed one...

used to we would press browse and have the image on your desktop, then press the open tab and it would go to that browse slot,

that does not work the same now for some reason so I transferred it directly from the photobucket. Luke... it took me 10 tries to get this one in here and it was one of many i tried, don't give up we have some bugs in the system right now..

Brizzy, sorry bout the jack...

here it is, For the avatar...I used the 2nd column "Direct Link" in photobucket to copy from,

then pasted it to the 2nd slot in the avatar profile... did you do the same?



the image of the carbon fender is the initial instructions... use the bottom link, you swipe it to highlight it then copy, then bring it in here and paste directly to the place the print is posted..

Well done Bill Gates, now you are me so I must be the frog

'So powerfully did the whole grim aspect of Ahab affect me, and the living brand which streaked it, that for the first few moments I hardly noted that not a little of this overbearing grimness was owing to the barbaric white leg upon which he partly stood.'

sounds like you been hangin with Pete...

'In his fiery eyes of scorn and triumph, you then saw Ahab in all his fatal pride'.