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The Kevin Schwantz School |
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Posted by Mike Emery
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Wednesday, 13 September 2006 |
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Page 2 of 3
Now in the past, most instructors have offered me an intermittent nod of approval at speed and left me to slice and dice slower students. The instructor's lack of tuition or even interaction simply filled my head with delusions of grandeur, leaving me thinking that I could do no wrong or was doing no wrong.
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Not so with this school. It's the first time anyone's ever bothered to analyze my riding style and been both proficient and attentive enough to actually point problem areas out to me. With an unusually high teacher to student ratio, I enjoyed tremendous attention from those said teachers, reaping the rewards from the riding tips they shared. Each instructor initialed a decal on my helmet after each mini consultation, ensuring effective policing by the boss (Mr Schwantz) that everyone was doing their jobs.
I started out the day with brand new boots, gloves and leathers. In fact I probably had "crasher" written on my forehead, whilst looking so squeaky clean. I chose the SV for my first couple of 20-minute sessions preferring to test my new gear Karma and build my speed up, instead of writing about how I crashed a school Gixxer', being a smart arse.
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Describing the Road Atlanta track without falling into more cliché-ridden comparisons is hard. It's a veritable roller coaster ride with elevation changes that have to be seen on a motorcycle, rather than a lazy boy, to be believed. I was told that if you can ride this track at a reasonable pace, that it'll help prepare you for nearly every type of riding situation. This track really has all types of corners and more.
The lectures, given in between track sessions were also both informative, entertaining and almost always included an anecdote from the 93' World Champ to reiterate the points covered. This combination of good tutoring and proper attention highlighted to Lance that all was not well with my downshifting. He taught me the proper technique for blipping to downshift and showed me the immediate benefits to doing it right. I could immediately relate that lesson to my next track session, continuing my upward learning curve.
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