This is my third lesson at the Suzuka Circuit Traffic Education Center.
I took lessons in May, August, and September. I’m taking them at a good pace.
This time, I stepped up to the 2nd Sporty Ride Challenge.
2nd Sporty Ride Challenge
I took the course for the third time on September 24th.
This time, the “2nd Sporty Ride Challenge” is limited to a small group (8 people).
Normally, the capacity is 22 people, so you should be able to ride as much as you like.
Well, the participants this time ranged from my age to older, with my son and one other person being younger.
I guess the people who can take the class on weekdays tend to be older.
What’s more, my son and I are the only riders doing 2nd for the first time.
My son is breathing down his neck, determined to not lose to the “old guys” (laughs).
What’s with the “old guys” thing?
Orientation is light
Basically, there are no first-time students, so the orientation will be light.
Today’s menu
| AM | ・Brake ・Turn |
| PM | ・Pylon slalom ・Course slalom |
This is all there is in print, but as always, you can imagine the content is rich.
Son is depressed
After warming up and taking the bike out of the garage,
it’s time to start the warm-up ride.
It’s a CB400SF again this time.
All three times it’s the blue No. 2 bike.
The meter is about to go off…
Once we’re ready, we ride freely around the premises.
The level is already high at this point!
My son is already feeling down.
In a fighting pose!
After the warm-up, it’s time for a braking lesson.
We learned the trick to good posture.
The posture required to withstand sudden acceleration and deceleration forward and backward = fighting pose!
What an interesting way to teach!
The actual braking lesson involves repeated acceleration and braking over a short distance.
On the way there, we accelerate to 50km/h in first gear and then brake suddenly.
On the way back, we use second gear and brake suddenly from 80km/h,
like a seesaw, many times.
It’s quite difficult… Actually, it’s quite tough.
Is your son okay?
Some people fell!
After this, we did a U-turn.
“If you’re aiming for 3rd place, you should enter from about 2m beside the pylon…”
You should go around the pylon,
and then come up straight next to it.
This is like gymkhana! That’s impossible. Besides, everyone was doing that turn!
Apparently I opened the throttle too early, so I was bulging outwards…
I was afraid of getting caught up, so I couldn’t hold back on the throttle (;_;).
I was curious about my son, so I followed behind him, and he was doing pretty well! Good riddance.
Oh, some people have fallen! That’s scary.
All that’s left is to just keep driving for the rest of the morning!
Lunch break
He brought his own packed lunch.
The last time he went, the shops at the circuit were closed due to the effects of COVID-19.
While eating his lunch, he got excited talking about the lessons with his son.
He may have lost to the “old guys,” but there’s more to come!
He doesn’t seem depressed.
“Point your belly button!”
The afternoon lesson started with pylon slalom.
The course was full of pylons,
6m apart, 5m apart.
(Really, it was a mess)
Then came the offset slalom.
(The offset slalom was closer than the 1st^^;.)
All we could do was run!
After a while, my son was stopped by the instructor
and given some advice.
He just had to get used to it. He ran while receiving advice over a megaphone!
“Keep your upper body moving!” “Point your belly button!”
Bingo for “belly button”!
As an aside, I also ski.
When I’m taught how to ski,
I’m given all kinds of instructions like “face forward” or “face your chest forward.”
Sometimes I’m told “be conscious of your outside foot” or “be conscious of your inside foot.”
That’s the exact opposite!
But then I think.
Humans have about 200 bones.
About 400 skeletal muscles.
About 200 muscles are used when walking.
We don’t consciously move each one of them.
Humans, and animals, are almost all automated.
So, to get someone to move correctly, you have no choice but to tell them keywords and how to move their whole body.
When you change instructors, they look at your habits at that time,
and of course they’ll tell you the exact opposite, like “be conscious of your inside foot” because you’re putting too much weight on the outside.
But the goal is the same.
They’re correcting you to the correct position.
I was told this when I was taking skiing seriously.
“Try even movements that are considered taboo.”
I’ve only just started to understand what that means.
I guess taking videos and looking at them objectively is a quick way to improve your skills.
A corner of the “Ossans” movement begins to crumble
“Old guys #1” taking a break in the shade.
And then I got a cramp in the base of my left leg! “Old guys #2”
I dropped out for a while.
Taking breaks in between, we just kept practicing.
I got pretty good at making small turns in the offset slalom.
The last lesson is course slalom
At the instructor’s request, the best “old guy” took the lead.
A white-haired rider who probably had 3rd place experience!
I kind of admired him.
I started from the back of the pack.
I did three familiarization laps to see what the course was like,
but there were a few small turns along the way that I couldn’t make.
I was also left behind by my son, who was in front of me…
Unable to make small turns, he took a series of shortcuts.
The “No. 1 old guy,” who had returned to the starting point earlier, was smiling as he watched me ride.
There’s no choice but to ride like monkeys!
Slowly, the number of “old guys” taking a break increases.
Because it’s a small group, as the number of people taking a break increases, there isn’t enough time to park our bikes in the waiting area,
so we just keep riding like we’re on a circular course.
Two-seater, huh?
My son is also being given advice by the instructor.
Other people have been stopped and given advice too, so I’m sure he’ll be stopped soon.
When will that be? I’m a little nervous.
After a while, the instructor and my son are riding together on the course.
That’s pretty weird.
When I asked him later, he said,
“It accelerates like crazy, leans like crazy, and spins like crazy.
I was so surprised that I didn’t understand more than half of what he was saying (laughs).”
I was advised to use the rear brake more when making small turns.
Thanks to this, I now occasionally go to full lock,
and I no longer take shortcuts.
Thanks to the “belly button” effect, I’m now able to turn clockwise too!
Finally, it’s starting to be fun!
The instructor still can’t stop us.
As the time left is getting short,
as usual, the instructor follows each of us and watches us as we ride.
And he gives us some kind words,
and when there are less than 10 minutes left, he finally catches up with me.
When we get back to the starting point, the kind words I receive are,
“You’re having fun riding. Please move your body more.”
This was a really fun lesson.
However, the road to 3rd place looks tough.
“Overtake Dad and get on the DUCATI,” the instructor told my son.
It seemed like I was better this time.
This harvest
“Turn your belly button”
This concludes Riding Lesson Memo #3.
