Forgetfulness and Fixes – A Day of Missteps – Lesson #20

2023/1/3 “2nd Sporty Ride Challenge”

A belated Happy New Year.

Right at the start of the new year, I went to a riding school.

The eternal challenge of slalom.
This time, I’m going to try to stay low and pull between turns.

Another challenge is making tight turns.
For this, I’m going to try to make the most of the space around me, rather than just focusing on the pylon in front of me.

Orientation

The first lesson of the new year was full capacity with 22 people.

Most of the participants were regulars.

The instructors were the usual two.

After a quick orientation,
we got ready to ride.

Warming up

Take out your regular bike, adjust the air pressure, and you’re ready to go.

Warming up begins

During the first warm-up,
I thought the brake lever was kind of down,
but it gradually got closer…

And it actually moved from the master cylinder!

I frantically had them tighten the screws.

S-curve

As always, I’m loosening up my body on the S-curve course.

After a few laps, I’ll try driving with one hand.

I still have the feeling from last time,
so I’m driving well without straining myself unnecessarily.

Maybe that’s why my body isn’t warming up at all.
Even though it’s warmer than the lesson at the end of the year.

Slow riding

This is a new standard.

Idle in first gear,
and ride in a twisting motion without tilting the bike.

I think I’ve gotten used to this.

When I turn the handlebars of a standing bike, the bike leans slightly to the other side,
so I realized that if I move my body inward by that much, the bike stays straight.

I moved my body a little in the direction of the turn,
and turned the bike with the handlebars while keeping the bike upright,
and it felt good to ride.

Usually, after I finish warming up,
I remove the inner jacket,
but I’m not sweating, so I left it on.

Braking

This time, there are a lot of people,
so there is no warm-up with repeated braking.

We can’t brake perfectly like last time.

I seem to have forgotten a lot of things.
Is it because of the New Year’s holidays?

I was especially careful about my posture.

Turn

New discovery!

Before practicing turns, there was an explanation,
about the timing of releasing the brakes.

I knew that the front brake should be released earlier than the rear brake,
but as I was watching the demonstration run and listening to the explanation,
I realized that the position at which you release the brakes is almost the same for both!

If you release the brakes behind a pylon,
both the front and rear brakes will be released in the same position,
so in terms of time, the rear brakes are just longer.

That’s what I realized (only now…).

Actual run

Because there are so many of us, we run carefully each time, but
I can’t run as usual.

I can’t brake.

Something’s not right.

I keep turning left for about 5 minutes,
and when I get the OK!,
I move to the right side.

The right side feels good.

After going left and right, I noticed
that my outside foot doesn’t feel like it’s hooking the tank.

I guess my hips aren’t moving.

I couldn’t get my senses back, so the morning was over.

Course Slalom

This time, the course slalom was the first thing in the afternoon.

I started off unsure, not feeling good about it.

When we changed positions, I also fell back.

It’s so slippery.

I can’t brake,
I can’t get to the inside of the corner,
and I’m clearly late on small turns.

My body won’t move in the first place.

In that state,
I try to concentrate on braking,
but the tires start to slide outwards….

The vibration switch is activated,
and it’s a complete mess.

After the break

After the break, the instructor watched us from behind.

After that, I start from the back of the pack.

I run slowly and, for now,
move my body actively.

I feel like I’m slowly getting my senses back,
but when I apply the brakes hard, I slide off to the outside…

Pylon Slalom

Straight-line pylon slalom

Straight-line pylon slalom is becoming an eternal challenge,
but after listening to the explanation,
I start running.

First, I run in third gear,
trying to find the right timing for rear braking.

I gradually twist my hips more strongly,
but my body keeps moving forward.

But finally I started to sweat.

Offset Slalom

This time’s offset slalom had a layout where the spacing gradually narrowed.

In the offset slalom, it was also difficult to get close to the pylons.

Perhaps because I had been concentrating on how to hold the front brake during the last few lessons,
I realized that I wasn’t pressing the rear brake hard enough,
and as soon as I pressed it hard, the bike started to turn.

Match the brake release position to the apex of the turn as well.
Release the front brake and hold it on until the apex of the turn,
and do the same with the rear brake until the apex of the turn.

As the bike starts to change direction, actively move your body to the inside.

Your leading motion is also returning.

And finally, you’re able to ride!。

Usually, I put my inside pinky finger against the back of the pylon,
but this time I was told to put my inside shoulder closer.

When I focused on this,
my line of sight was lowered and it felt like I could turn the bike even sharper.

I was also much closer to the person in front of me,
so my speed seemed to increase too.

My last run was my best ride of the day.
The instructor who was watching me said,

Thank you!

Summary

I didn’t achieve my goal at all, and it was a day of getting my senses back.

It’s good to try new things, but let’s not forget what we’ve done in the past!

This lesson was a bit of a waste.