Triple outLaw's
By TMX Archives on 13th May 11
Right, so I have managed a few outings on the Suzuki RM125, consisting of a practice day at Dean Moor and a one at Preston Docks. So Im starting to get used to the bike... and think Im learning but most importantly, getting faster... well a little anyway!
For the bike's next outing, I decided to attend a training day organised by Triple D Motosport in Kendal, with the tuition headed up by British MX1 Championship rider, Jamie Law.
The training sessions were held at the awesome Dean Moor Motocross track, and boy was I glad I had chosen the week I did! On the same day the previous week, horizontal rain and winds had battered the open moorland venue! Luckily though, the great British weather did a complete U-turn and we arrived to a day blessed with glorious sunshine!
So after a few formalities of filling-out paperwork, everybody kitted up and headed straight out for a quick warm-up and the opportunity to get to know the track layout.
Triple D's Neil Crayston and Jamie had already been out and picked out our first ‘section' to focus on. It was a horrible corner with bobbly ruts leading up to it, and some solid deep ruts round it. – one that I'd already picked out as one I hated!
Jamie watched each of us tackle the corner our own ways, so knew exactly what we needed to work on. After a few demos where he made everything look so simple and smooth, it was back to our turn.
He explained that the main point was to stay standing upright on the pegs into the corner – this way any bumps or bobbles the bike hit could be absorbed. I can't say any of my attempts were pretty, but I got round. I even managed to stay in one of the rutts on a couple of occasions, possibly because Jaime was standing positioned to block any alternatives!
What was great about each of the sections we worked on was how Jamie broke it down into portions, and made us think not only of the section itself, but how to get the bike in a good position leading up to it and also what corner, bump, or straight was to follow.
He could also pick out what each of us was doing right (or wrong)! There were some fast riders amongst the trainees, but the few pointers Jamie offered helped everyone.
The lunch break brought a welcome rest – I was already knackered! So the selection of drinks, biscuits and chicken drumsticks Neil had laid on included a nice sugar hit for the afternoon!
Back out on the track, the dust was beginning to build. As the day wore on we worked our way round some of the more technical points on the track, and any that any of the trainees were having difficulty with.
The final aspect we worked on was starts. Having never ever done one, it is fair to say I was more than a bit apprehensive!
However, if I'm ever going to get myself into a race I know I need to learn how to master this technique!
Once again, Jamie gave a spot-on demonstration before handing it over to us. My first attempt was appalling! I think I had hold of the brake!
Attempt two was marginally better, and so on untill about my fifth effort when something sort of came together and I headed off. Kind of not in a straight line – but I got away!
After everybody had had a few goes on their own, we were then set of in pairs at the drop of a stone. Some of the guys I came up against were fast, and wasted no time blasting away from me.
At the end of the day we were allowed to just head off for a last practice session. For me – I just headed back to the vans!
Nearly five-hours of riding had left me totaly goosed! Struggling to even hang on to the bike, I was more than happy to load the van up and go grab a brew!
I think I can speak for everyone on the training day in saying that we all learned something that we can take away and put into practice when next out on the bikes.
So a massive thank you to Neil Crayston from D3, and also to Jamie for a top notch day... Good luck ‘JLaw' in this year's Maxxis Championships!
