Biking Techniques (Part 40)

Other Mistakes

Shifting

Missing an upshift

No problem. Just pull in the clutch, roll off the gas, and shift up again. Maybe you'll be in the right gear, maybe you'll be in one higher, but it'll work.

Missing a downshift

Now if you miss a downshift, you have other worries. It will distract you, and probably mess up the braking you're doing at the same time. Keep braking deeper into the corner as you shift up into the next gear (going down an extra one would be very bad!), and turn in for a very late apex as if you missed the braking marker. You'll be very slow around and out of the corner, but it'll keep you on the road.

Braking

Braking Too Late

Keep braking. Go deeper into the corner and brake more until you slow way down, then turn in for a very late apex. If you're approaching the edge of the track, don't look at it, but look in towards a late apex and turn in anyway. The chances are the bike is capable of doing it (since you left a traction reserve today) and you will scare yourself but not crash.

Cornering

Scraping the pegs

Like I said earlier, scraping the pegs is a sign you leaned too far; I also talked about what to do to stop doing it next time. But what about this time? You're in the corner, rolling on the throttle, and the peg starts scraping.

What do you do?

The simplest answer of course is "nothing." Lean your upper body in more, roll on the gas, and ride the bike through the corner. That's not easy to do, of course -- the natural reaction is to get off the gas, and that's just asking to crash. You don't want to upset the suspension. Keep in mind that when you're in the corner, you want the bike to be smooth. Even when you're dragging the pegs -- or hard parts for that matter -- you must avoid doing anything sudden.

If you have a shaft-drive bike, rolling on the gas very hard can lift the rear end of the bike up and pull the peg clear of the ground. (To a certain extent this works on chain-drive bikes, but it is a lesser effect and depends on swingarm geometry.)

You can straighten the bike up some too, but avoid doing sudden corrections -- don't upset the bike. It doesn't take much to lift the peg off the ground, and a sudden jerk on the bars is likely to cause more problems than you have already. All you need is a small correction.

From TrackDoD Novice Group Orientation