| Update
July 28, 2009 | | I can already
feel the improvements, and I think it's easy to see that I've gotten much better
at handling the street. I am practicing what I learned at the clinic everywhere.
Not just in empty parking lots but at every start and stop, and every corner and
turn. Granted not all the techniques come into play at low speeds in heavy traffic,
but what I learned in the clinic has helped me gain confidence and I am no longer
suffering any type of anxiety while riding. I am riding smoother and with greater
focus. I am telling you now that I am really enjoying riding on the street now
more and I am looking forward to a couple more GP races this season. I will continue
to use the things I learned in class until it is secong nature. Plus I look better
riding now. For motocrosser's,.... there really is a difference between the an
MX track and the street. I have become a more well rounded rider and I have Total
Control® to thank for it. | | |
| Total
Control® | Advanced Riding Clinic | |
On Saturday July 18, 2009 I attended the Total
Control® Advanced Riding Clinic held at Dreyer Motorsports. This is different
than the ABATE class. This was a clinic which included time in the classroom and
time on the bike while being personally instructed. The cost of the clinic was
$295 and well worth every penny. I can honestly say that during the first workshop,
we were not 10 minutes into the program before one of the clinic instructors spoke
one sentence that made the entire class worth the cost of the class, the 9 hour
instruction and the 6 hour round trip drive time to the workshop. I feel it would
be bad business ethics to reveil his sentence, so I won't do that. But I will
have more confidence in my abilities now that I am focusing on working on just
what was discussed. | | I
race motocross and I am not a street rider. I have only logged 1600 miles on the
street this year. My entire life I have been aboard bikes with knobbies and motors
that were not street legal. Oh sure I can jump, I can throw roost in a corner,
whoops have never given me to much of a problem and I can do a deep scooped rocker
section like an A rider who is 30 years younger than myself. But none of those
things exist on the highway. So I feel I am a novice rider when on pavement. I
was doing stooopid things like squaring off corners at intersections, just as
if I was trying to block a line and keep an inside advantage and even worse putting
to much trust in the traffic around me. I've holeshotted in many races where my
bike was so clean you couldn't find dirt or a smudge anywhere at the start and
after running the first moto, I'd ride back to the pits only to find rubber swirls
all over my side number plates. I didn't remember anyone rubbing me but how can
you deny the fact I when I'm washing and polishing tire marks off the bike before
my next moto. I thought I would be fine on the highway. |  |
| If I can race so tightly on the track, it should be easy to ride on the
street. How wrong can one guy be? I took a ride with Mr. and Mrs. Dreyer out thru
the country after the "Dreyer Special" build was complete. I ride well
on knobbies, as I mentioned earlier it's all I know. We rode thru the country
west of Indy and they showed me some great scenery while also sorta teaching me
how to ride with someone. On the way back to the shop, it was only me and Mrs.
Dreyer aboard her V-Twin. I noticed I was getting what some might describe as
an anxiety attack. All at once it felt like the cars around me were closing in.
At one time, I almost stood up on the pegs just as if I were racing to gain a
better view and more balance. But I sat on the bike and pretended as though everything
was fine. Once back at the shop I was better, but just days afterward I admitted
to everyone including Tim Moore who organized the build for the "Dreyer Special"
I was having problems on the street. He reminded me that I am a good rider and
I did well in my license exam but maybe I should take the Total Control Advanced
Riding Clinic. I agreed and now here we are. | | |
| The class instructors were good,.... Ernie and Leon,............ Leon was
all about us wanting to learn,.. he almost seems as excited watching someone start
to get it. Prolly sleeps well at the end of a day knowing he's helped someone
ride much better and maybe even done something that could save a life. Ernie had
a keen eye and noticed my biggest weakness almost immediately. I knew it and now
so did he. They worked with all of us personally as we negotiated some set courses.
They tought us about suspension, sag, valving, all important issues in maintaining
a proper suspension. They talked about apexing, and technique, body position and
something I never would haveexpected, FEAR! I was all ears. This is what was botherin'
me the most and it seemed like the best time to block out everything and focus,
focus, focus and listen to what they were saying! One thing they ask at the beginning
is no matter what you've learned before, to please do your best to follow there
instruction and give 100% to what they are trying to teach. I agreed and even
told myself no matter what I hear I will to my best to do it the way they say. |
| | | The rest of the class were on sport bikes and nothing
at all like the Dreyer Special. The Dreyer Special is a 2009 WR250R with full
travel race suspension on Kenda "barely legal" Trakmaster tires. The
instructors wanted me to grab a bike from the shop and juse it instead to help
me take advantage of alot of the techniques that we were to attempt. I had to
say NO,... I am doing this on this bike cause this is all I know and I want to
to this aboard the Special. They agreed and were surprised I didn't dump it I
think. I do not recommend riding on the street with knobbies unless you've got
years of motocross experience. There are some things taught that may not have
pertained to motocross, but now I feel I have an option to use the best I got
from this class and what I've learned from racing motocross. | | |
| This class by Total Control id wonders for the guys in my class,.......
one rider in perticular showed a great improvement by the end of the nine hour
course. But in all I'd say every rider benefited greatly from the class. I watch
kids at the track every week start to get it,... and it gets me excited and makes
me happy, I was gettin' the same feeling watchin' the men in my group tackle and
accomplish the tasks asked of us. | | | | This
class was by far the smartest thing I've done in 10 years to help myself gain
confidence, ride better, smarter and with greater excitement. This class teaches
you things that will make motorcycling fun again. When you find yourself doing
something you never thought you'd acheive, it's as fun as watching'a bunch of
girls drop their pants and slide on the snow. It's made it fun for me again, Thank
you Leon and thank you Ernie for the lessons I will use probably the rest of my
life. And to add to that,........... I'd have to say thanks for helping me stay
alive! | | | | |
Bobby
Paul Elkins
Reads Racing Unlimited
Dreyer Motorsports |
| | |
