Guest Writer: Taking Control- Hope is not a plan

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Jamie Renna on his FJR1300 at Thompson Motor Speedway. photo: otmpix.com

Guest contributor Jamie Renna shares his thoughts on sport touring and the benefits of advanced knowledge and training:

There is a genuine adrenaline rush that comes after carving a corner with a smooth approach; throttle roll off/brake, lean and a spirited throttle roll on.

I’m new to motorcycling. I’ve got less than 3 years of riding under my 52-year-old belt. They have been fun years. I’ve crammed two Non-Sport Bike Track Days and two trips down the famous Blue Ridge Parkway in my early years of this new challenging hobby. My bookshelf is populated with several well-read reference books including Keith Code’s Twist of the Wrist II, Lee Park’s Total Control and Ken’s Motorcycling the Right Way. Reading, and re-reading these books have provided me with a much better understanding of how motorcycles work and why they behave the way they do.

Motorcycling is a learning activity and that really appeals to me. I get great satisfaction from beating a challenge by utilizing my small but growing collection of riding skills. The instantaneous feedback of successfully carving a corner can result in a grin that extends from ear to ear.

Getting it Right

My quest for a smoothly carved corner has too often been thwarted by factors that seemed to be out of my control. Something was happening that kept causing me to:

correct my lane position in mid-corner
swerve to avoid an obstacle I should have noticed
scrub off speed in a descending and/or decreasing radius turn
and other unplanned “Wow, that was close!” maneuvers.

The Big Question

I wondered: Were all these grin-defeating events out of my control and simply the price of admission for spirited riding in a non-track environment? I think not.

My Training Tour Experience

I’m now confident that I can take control of my riding in a way that will minimize the risk and make close calls a thing of the past, partly because I spent two fun (and rain) filled days touring southern VT and western MA with Ken as part of a 1 on 1 personal Training Tour.

I don’t want this to sound like an infomercial, but I wanted to share all of my thoughts beyond a brief testimonial.

I chose to invest in Ken’s training to augment the Track Days and copious reading I had previously completed. I concluded I needed on-street training to learn how to better manage the factors that prevented me from exiting EVERY corner EVERY time with a grin.

Ken tailored a 2-day curriculum that matched my skills and comfort level. We rode for ~250 miles over 2 days with frequent roadside stops to review Go-Pro video of my less-than-perfect technique. Ken provided crisp, objective, real-time commentary on my riding performance via Bluetooth communicators. You get to do a lot of neat things at a track day, but you can only get this type of personal observation and critique in a small group Training Tour.

The on-street coaching included a disciplined approach to observe and act upon all the leading indicators that are present before you even approach a curve. Ken provides the decoder ring so you can proactively read the leading indicators including:

curve radius
rate of change for the curve radius (increasing, decreasing or constant)
guardrail position
telephone poles
camber direction changes
and pedestrians

He will narrate to you via the Bluetooth communicator all of these indicators to better prepare you to ultimately exit a curve with a big grin.

Once comfortable, the roles will be reversed and you will get a chance to narrate to him all the indicators that each curve presents to you. It’s a bit intense. If you are like me, you will feel a fun change as you morph from a reactive (“I really hope there are no surprises on the other side of this corner.”) rider to a proactive curve-carver. Your confidence level will rise faster than your tachometer as you get comfortable reading the road and being in position to get every drop of fun out of every curve.

The on-road sessions are periodically interrupted with parking lot drills to sharpen skills that might have atrophied. These include slow speed U-turns and emergency swerving left or right. Other fun drills involved hard front or rear braking on a sandy surface to experience the shudder of your ABS system.

One last memorable drill was to rapidly stop from a speed of 55+ mph. This type of stopping might be needed to avoid hitting a deer if swerving is not an option. Ken had me do this drill in a remote area where we were sure no other vehicles were present. Doing it on a dry road was fun…doing it later in the day while it was raining was…rewarding.

Final Thoughts

Remember: Hope is not a plan.
Take full advantage of all your opportunities for qualified training.
Read.
Ask questions.
Read again.
Go to a Track Day.
Read some more.
Take a Training Tour.

There are lots of grins waiting for all of us in those curves. Go get your share.

Jamie Renna is an aeronautical engineer who started motorcycling after his 50^th birthday. He has aggressively pursued numerous forms of training to ride safely while seeking the next big grin. His newly found motorcycle peeps have been a great source of riding technique tips, motorcycle maintenance skills and most of all laughs.

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