California Superbike School

9.15 a.m. We commenced our trip towards Pembrey (Llanelli, South Wales, England) and Level 1 and 2 course with Califorbia Superbike School. Ahead of us we had a 24 hour boat trip to Newcastle (Upon Tyne), and a 600km trip through England. We decided to ride through Wales, and after some boring kilometres (about 300 of them) on the highway we were in Wales. The roads in Wales are quite similar to the roads in Norway, tight and twisty. Very nice scenery, and the weather was quite good as well. Saturday afternoon we reached our destination, a very nice Bed and Breakfest in Llanelli (about 10 km from Pembrey ractrack).

First of all, many thanks to CSS and their staff for two excellent days at Pembrey (and no, I'm NOT paid to say this..). The CSS motto is "Cornering, discover the Art", and that is excactly what I did. There were about 7 to 8 CSS instructors on the track each session (5 sessions each day). All the way around there were marshals reporting back to track control. Each instructor had about 4 students to take care of, and they followed and guided you several times each session.

Before every track session (five each day) there were classroom drills. CSS is telling you what to do (a two way discussion) in the classrooms, and it is up to you to practice it on the track after class. You're riding in your own pace, and instructors off track and on track are following you.

The Level 1 and Level 2 sessions each day started with "one gear no breaks" on the track. This is to keep the pace down so you are able to learn your drills from the classroom sessions. Going to fast and you will learn nothing. During the day the speed gradually increases, and it is very important to train on the drills beacuse they build upon each other. As the speed increases it is important to do what you are teached to do, and you are quite safe on the track.

Riding quick and safe on the track comes down to if you are confident. There are at least 5 things which affects your confidence on the track : line, surface, traction, lean angle and speed. Many of the drills are how to control the "survival instincts". The "survival instinct" may tell you to get of the throttle, but it might get you into trouble if you do. If you are in the middle of a high speed turn and you roll of the throttle, you will for sure go wide. The right thing to do is keep rolling the throttle through the turn, and maybe lean more to get through the corner. The CSS teaches you gradually to be more confident on the track, and many of the techniques are about controlling the "survival instincts". We are learning about reference points, deep turning points, look and turn and so on.

Level 1 teaches you about : throttle control and no brakes drill, turn points, quick turns, rider input and two step. Level 2 continue where Level 1 stops : reference points, change lines, vanishing points, wide view and pick up drill. And as part of Level 1 and 2 you can also to a couple of paddock drills as steering and "slide bike" (not sliding but steering and looking). The classroom drills are good, the instructors are easy to listen to and follow during the classroom drills (no boring moments). I picked up many new things in these two days. On my next track day (Anderstorp, June 2001) I will continue to train on what I learned in these two days. And riding on the track is no "relaxing" sport - be 110% focused all the way around. The payback is enormous when you got the feeling of when things are working OK (well, that is until someone bastard is overtaking you..).

The weather these two days were perfect for track days, either to hot or to cold. As from all previous track days I've done there are loads to learn. The main difference between the CSS course and the other I have done is the level of details about riding techniques. The CSS course is purly a course which teaches you to ride fast on the track. So with the course, the book "Twist of the wrist" and Keith Code's video supporting the book I have many hours of study and practice ahead of me.