First 3rd Class Challenge – New Levels, New Learnings – Lesson #24

2023/4/30

Early in Golden Week, I took the “3rd Technical Ride Course” for the first time.

I took the course for the first time during Golden Week in May 2021, and in May 2023, I took the technical course.

It seems that even after turning 50, you can still grow.

I had originally made a reservation for the usual “2nd Touring Ride Challenge” the next day, but about two weeks before the technical ride, I applied for a cancellation waiting list.

I was the fourth person to apply, so I had given up, but I was contacted three days before and was able to take the course.

It was forecast to rain, so I wonder if that’s why there were cancellations?

Orientation

I’m feeling nervous after such a long time.

Today, there are 20 people in the lesson.

I heard that there are fewer lessons when it rains…

I was the last of the cancellation group, so I got the last bib number, 20.

Today, there are 20 people in the lesson.

Several people were participating in the technical class for the first time.
I feel a bit relieved.

Looking around, I’ve seen roughly half the people here before.
They’re all very skilled.
The instructors are the usual two,
and they’re giving me great advice,
so I’m looking forward to getting something out of this today as well.

” he said.

Come to think of it, this instructor
was an apprentice when I first came here.

Warming up

I got my usual bike.

The front tire is a little warped,
but it should be fine!

I set the air pressure a little low.

Warming up start

I started from 19th place

!!!!!!!!!

It’s not raining, but the road is completely wet.

But I’m still faster than I was on dry roads during the Sporty Ride Challenge!

Accelerate hard in a straight line! Shift down hard!
Yes! Shift lock ^^;.

The person at the back of the car is also being considerate and leaving more space between them,
so I can drive at my own pace.

I’m a little farther away from the cars in front, but I’m warming up without pushing myself too hard.

S-curve

Without a moment’s pause, we warmed up with S-curves.

The road surface is starting to dry, but here too, it’s faster than before.

The mileage is probably higher, too. More than usual.
The pace is so fast!

Braking & Turning

What’s different from the Sporty Ride Challenge is that
the course check requires full acceleration and sudden braking! And shifting is required!
You can go up to 3rd gear.

Braking and turning are separate,
but braking and turning are one subject.

Course check + shift up, shift down

This is something that I almost never practiced in the 2nd Sporty Ride Challenge.

Accelerate by shifting up, then shift down while decelerating.

Accelerate from one end of the course to the other, up to 80km/h (or even faster), and ride around in circles.

Personally, I think that full throttle and hard braking make it easier to see the condition of the bike and how I feel today, so this ride felt like a finishing touch to my warm-up.

Targeted braking

I do targeted braking only three times.

I stop at the pylon that marks the turn.

The indicated speed is 80km/h. I shift up to third gear.

I shift down while braking. I drop down to first gear.

Even in this group of skilled riders, there were riders who had shift-locked, so I felt a little safe and started from the back.

I didn’t know where to start braking, so I braked really far in front and ended up braking normally.

My first braking on a technical ride was like braking at a traffic light (lol).

Next time, without any hesitation, I made a move, blipped the throttle and downshifted!

I managed to do it!

Turn

If you continue like this, it’s time for a turn.

I can’t make any turns like I used to. (T_T)

If you change lanes to the left turn and use the brakes lightly for a long time,

Once we started shifting gears, it was all a bit confusing.
We just had to get used to it.

The morning lesson was coming to an end, and the sub instructor came over to help us out.

It was like another dimension!

Of course, the banking angle was deeper than mine,
but it wasn’t abnormally deep and I didn’t feel any fear.

But what shocked me was the feeling that the front tire had dug into the road,
and the speed at which it turned from there!

But what was that feeling of being dug into the road?
For me, it was more of a feeling that the front was about to slide smoothly.

I had achieved my intuitive goal!

Line of sight

What I thought was important today was line of sight.

---

With these thoughts in mind, the morning came to an end.

Lunch break

After eating my lunch, I went for my usual walk.

In the square in front of the circuit,

Pylon Slalom

This subject is also different from the Sporty Ride Challenge, so the main instructor explained it to us individually.

The straight pylon slalom is 6m, 5m, and 4.5m for the Sporty Ride.

The offset slalom is 5m and 2.5m, compared to the 7.5m for the Sporty. There are also three patterns for the swing width: 2.5m horizontal and 2.5m vertical.

There are also two figure eights. These have become a permanent fixture in recent Sporty Rides.

Instead of going around in circles, you do the practice you want to do here, so you can run back by running along the side of the course.

This time, I was recommended to focus on the 5m and 2.5m offsets, so I did that.

Straight pylon slalom

The 4.5m straight pylon slalom has the same spacing as the pylon slalom at the driving school.

It’s narrower, but I personally feel that this fits the rhythm better.
It’s slow, though…

Offset Slalom

It’s a 5m offset, and I can drive it, but I have to wait a while to turn in the second half, so maybe that’s the problem?

I’m still a long way from being able to turn all the way to the end like I did in the morning, but I managed to do it.

2.5m would mean even more waiting time.

And I have to wait at full lock, so this isn’t the right answer.

The instructor said that the 400SF turns too much at full lock, so I’m making a lot of mistakes.

Course Slalom

I started this one almost at the back of the pack.

There really was a pylon that looked like a U-turn in the S-turn.

I can’t remember the course even after scouting it out (T_T).

It’s not that I can’t ride at all.

Of course, I try to ride slowly and carefully, so it’s not like I can’t ride at all, but there are a lot of turns, so it’s overwhelmingly slow!

But when I’m maneuvering the bike around like this,
it’s kind of fun.

Summary

I’ve been riding pretty well recently without being conscious of my body movements, so I thought it was fine, but I guess I was wrong.

This time, I realized that eye contact and body movements are important.

Also, this class is fast-paced, so the distance is quite long at 46km.

In the sporty category, we probably rode about 30km with this number of people.

Well, we’ll review it in the next sporty ride challenge.