Lets set the way back machine for 2010. I was a new rider and had just had my first major learning experience (crash). Shortly after I was pointed in the direction of a magical DVD called "Twist of the Wrist" which was supposed to fix everything wrong with my riding. Over the next years I tried to apply what was in the book and DVD, never pulling the trigger on the class... until now!
California SuperBike School has long since expanded past California and even comes as far north as The Ridge Motorsports Park in Washington. When I saw that for the second summer in a row they were coming to the PNW and that one of my friends was going, I took it as a sign from the Motorcycle Gods that I was destined to go; so in December I signed up for the July level 1 class.
Through a little ebaying and some credit card abuse I had already been to the track 5 times (4 if you discount the kart track) before July. I chose to take the Interceptor rather than the track Ninjette. The Interceptor has a wider power band, higher speed (RMP is huge). and most importantly has a kickstand.
Rather than give you a blow by blow of the day (just about every other author in the Sportbike community has done so) I'll give you the broad strokes and my impression of the school.
First off the question other Crotch Rocketeers always ask me first: How much faster did you get? None. I didn't get faster. I got slower. How does that work? I'll get to that.
The school day starts off pretty much like a trackday, other than the two huge tractor trailers advertising CSS and the thirty S1000RR bikes parked out front. All the riders go to registration and (if they're using their own bikes) to tech. Right off they send the level 1 students to the parking lot to do the weave. The nice ladies working that exercise will not pass you until you do the weave correctly (countersteering). It took me three tries to do it to their satisfaction, and here I thought I knew what I was doing.
CSS Level 1 is all about correcting the five most common rider errors. To oversimplify things I'll sum up the morning as being all about throttle control. There are classroom sessions and then they send you out onto the track with your coach. Its a 2 student to 1 coach ratio and after each session your coach debriefs you and formulates a plan for the next outing.
The first on track drill is 4th gear with no brakes. Its psychologically very difficult, and my coach had me continue the drill on subsequent sessions. Turn 13 at RMP is an acute left hand turn that leads into a downhill corkscrew complex. That complex was my nemesis all day, but I wasn't the only student having trouble there. Its not that its that sharp of a corner or that its downhill, or that its a complex of corners downhill, its a combination of those things.
If the morning is all about throttle control then the afternoon is about your other controls and your vision. For me it didn't all start to "click" together until the "relax" drill. I went slower and relaxed my arms and suddenly thing smoothed out. I wasn't as scared any more and my lines got smoother.
Back to the question at the outset, why didn't I get faster? I would say that CSS Level 1 made me a more conscious rider. I'm more in touch with what the bike wants and with what my inputs do. With that increased consciousness I've become like a caterpillar who is suddenly thinking about all 100 legs and has to re-learn how to walk.
After the school was over and everyone was packing up, I hunted down Keith Code and got him to autograph my copy of Twist, just a little bit of hero worship.
CSS is a top notch experience. The instructors and coaches are all knowledgeable and approachable. In the classroom they often answer questions by playing a video demonstrating exactly what the student is asking about (they've been doing it so long they have videos exact to the questions that people ask). Everything they teach they provide a scientific reason why they're doing it.
They provide breakfast/lunch/snacks/electrolytes. There was quite a variety of bikes in Level 1: a race prepped R1, GSXR 600, ZX6R, then sport touring bikes like my VFR, a BMW GS, and even a Triumph Thruxton.
The day after the school I stayed around to attend the MotoFit/Keigwins day to practice what I'd learned.
As you may recall I bought a track ready baby Ninja this year with the intent of racing. Ironically after attending CSS and the trackday after I have lost my desire to race. I realized over this weekend of track fun that I have pretty bad survival reactions to other riders being really close to me. Given that thats exactly what racing is, maybe I should shelve that for a little while. The other thing is that the baby Ninja is not street legal so I can't get enough seat time to be really good on it, given that its vastly different from what I ride most often.
