Biking Techniques (Part 44)

Rimshots

When it's really wet, riding a "correct" line can take second rank to finding traction. If the track's well-used, or there was a sports-car race right before the bike event, the rubber will be on the line -- it will lay down in the braking zone, go across to the inside, and track back out at the exit. So taking the line will put you on slippery pavement.

Under these conditions, you'll find the most traction following the radius of the corner -- a Lazy Line. You have a choice of following the outside of the corner, or the inside -- both take about the same time to get around the corner, but on the outside you'll be going faster and therefore have better exit speed from the corner.

So that's what a Rimshot is: a Lazy Line deliberately taken around the outside of a corner in the wet to find more traction.

Approach the corner on a line offset from the normal tire track. Brake in a straight line, trail off and into cornering as you cross the dry line, and roll on slowly through the corner as you follow the outside. You should have the bike mostly straightened up as you re-cross the rubber on the dry line, and accelerate on a line offset from the normal tire track on the exit.

From TrackDoD Novice Group Orientation