Featured In the Roadracing World 2020 Trackday Directory Special Issue:
“I’m in Turn Two on the main course (a.k.a. Big Willow) for an Alpinestars Friends and Family Ride Day. I’m riding a trusty Suzuki SV650 again (the eighth one I’ve owned, and I swear I’m not going to sell this one!) and I’m carving around the outside of a rider on a big-bore hooligan bike, one that’s got a solid 35 horsepower on mine.
“It’s not just that his bike is more powerful that makes the moment memorable. It’s that the rider is a professional, with skills good enough to excel in his discipline, and he’s well paid to do what he does. But those skills didn’t get him and a more powerful bike around Willow as quickly as I could get the SV around there that morning.
“It’s an apples-to-oranges comparison—and that’s my point. Sometimes, we don’t give ourselves enough credit for learning to ride well at a track day on a proper road racing circuit. There’s always someone faster than you at any given track day. Later on that day, I thought I was flying on a new Suzuki GSX-R1000R—a seriously amazing machine, by the way—when Ben Spies and Casey Stoner came by me on either side like I was standing still.
“Yeah, that Ben Spies and that Casey Stoner. And the past World Champions didn’t look like they were trying hard. Stoner may have been texting as he went by…”
—On The Learning Curve, By Michael Gougis
If you’re a member of the track day riding family, give yourself a pat on the back. You’ve learned skills that a lot of the Internet claims to have, yet you’ve put yours to the test in the crucible of the circuit, in real time, in real life. Editor at Large Michael Gougis’ ruminations on skills and speed kick off the Roadracing World 2020 Trackday Directory! Order your copy today, or pick one up at leading retailers, including Cycle Gear stores nationwide!
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