Rusty Riders

[Rossvickicampbell]

Grum - we are on the same track buddy.  I only get a couple of rides a year so Rusty is an understatement.  However I try the holeshot approach and also rely upon the adrenaline rush (red mist) to keep me going for as long as possible.  But what also shits me, besides the lack of fitness, is the lack of consistency.  My 2 meets this year were our Wandering natural Terrain and our 15th Annviersary meet.  I rode so bad at Wandering I actually dropped back to C grade and got my arse handed to me by somebody whom I use to call a friend (thanks Duncan  ) - yet went to the 15th and rode better than I have ever since coming back into bikes - 2 weeks apart.

For sure are gone the days where I could go to the local badminton () grand final, go to the after GF party until 0430 and then decide it was a good idea to go and race a 4 hour Pony express on my own - at least that is how the fading memory remebers it

But - I still love it - I just wish work didn't get in the way so I could build up some fitness, get some consistency and enjoy my 3 "quick" laps!!!

[All Things 414]

I've decided to have a decent 'crack' next year and that means starting now.....
With my wife's consent (ya gotta love the girl) I'm allocating every Wed to do some riding training. Not doing endless laps of a track flat-out but practising technique. I do this on my modern YZ 250 which I'm trying to race or ride every weekend that I'm not on the old girl.
I got a heap of Gary Semics DVD's and his training manual. It just blows me away how much the guy can help and just how many bad things I've been doing when I've been riding over the years.... That's the whole idea of the training days. Practising these things until they become natural.
I do some basic dumb-bell exercises for the arm pump (from the DVD's) and that helps heaps.

I'm doing it all as a bit of a mid-life crisis experiment and I find it all very interesting. Just things like use of controls (not just "turn that thing as hard as you can an' go!"), body pivot points, stuff to do on race day and lots of stuff I would have thought was crap until now.

I did a tri-club day at Barrabool on the weekend and whilst I enjoyed running with the younger guys I did a lot of crashing which was a bit demoralising. I evaluated the day, worked out what the problem is (with the bike, not me for a change) and am looking forward to my next modern meet again.

It's all very interesting and I'm enjoying it!

[BAHNZY]

On the South East side of Melbourne where i am located the nearest public track (Wells Rd Public Track Aside) is Parwin which is 90 minutes away, a total of three hours of traveling to just to get there and back. That means a commitment of a full day just to practice.
We used to ride at various mates places but thay have been scared into a position that they have stopped riding on the property altogether, either by fear of litigation in the case of someone being injured or the local council by laws that barely allow a ride on lawn mower to be used.
I'd ride more, if i could ride somewhere closer to home that diddn't take a full days commitment.

[Curly3]

You can't get more rusty than 28 years between races but I had my first race 5 weeks ago.
As far as training goes, unfortunately I still work on the tools and I walk the dog every day, thats about it.
I've got another ride coming up in 4 weeks and I'm already on the search for more horsepower.