Biking Techniques (Part 43)

Find the Most Traction

When it's really wet, as opposed to damp, going fast means finding the most traction. If some parts of the track are wetter than others, you want to ride on the drier part.

As you ride around, be aware of the track and how the water gathers. Most corners on a track are banked to the inside, so the water will run from the outside in. That means that in the case of a wide banked track, the water will be significantly deeper on the inside than the outside -- on an oval in a Southern cloudburst, you could easily be talking about ¼ inch difference. That's a lot of traction difference. Likewise on the street, the road tends to be crowned, so the center of the pavement will have less water than the edges. Ride where the water's shallow.

Coming out of -- or into -- a corner, you may find that years of racing have left a small depression where heavy cars have worn and compressed the asphalt. That will be deeper than the surface either side of it. Ride where the water's shallow.

It's not only depth of water to consider, but the traction of the surface. For many years, Summit Point had long concrete strips through many corners where cars had worn the surface. That concrete was treacherous in the wet. So pick your line to avoid the concrete. Also, a well-used track in a dry spell will build up rubber on the line. That rubber will be slippery until it washes off -- pick your line to avoid those streaks.

From TrackDoD Novice Group Orientation