At 6ft 3 no!! Cadwell is very tight, as you come from pits you'll head through the trees known as hall bends and then barn corner this is often damp first thing so go steady until its fully dry, there are a blind corner at charlies just after the start finish straight which takes some learning, it's a double left so don't tip in too early on the first! Just take your time on first session or so to learn the circuit, one of the best tho!
I'd say you have to be bloody careful. I tried in the rain once and started to build my speed up lap by lap and ended up spinning up the back coming out of the bend at the foot of the mountain in an attempt to launch myself uphill, but just ended up kicking the back out. Fortunately i was hanging off to keep the bike as upright as possible, which allowed the bike to pull itself back into line. A proper brown trouser moment.
you will wheelie off the top with ease,you will probably do 2 wheelies up the mountain as it has a dip part way up. i think you are expecting a bit much getting the rear wheel off the ground , you would have to be going bloody fast into the corner at the bottom of the mountain ,and accelerating on full throttle up the mountain. google it, i think neil mackenzie did a write up on how to do it.
with regard to knee down,you could always try hanging off the side of your bike like a monkey,gauranteed to scrape your sliders,however there is 1 downside,people laugh there bollox off at you whilst they are going round the outside... dont get hung up on KD,it's not so much a skill more a guide as to where you are in relation to lean angle,if your going fast enough and leaning enough(so going round the corner in a fluid motion,not 50pence peicing it) then your knee will touch.* *as long as you shift a little on the bike.i butt cheek on the seat,1 off. have a look at my avatar pic,i dont stick my knee out or hang off that much but my knee does kiss the tarmac a little bit...
for knee down its mostly in your head that you cant do it. once you beat that voice in you head saying you are going to fall off its really simple from then on.I do tight to the tank, one cheek off and then pretend your mirror is a obstacle you are trying to look around not over the top.oh and get used to body position on corners even when your not trying to slide so that when it does happen it feels more natural. oh and never look down to see how close your knee is lol
The lads at my work, some of which claim to have done trackdays, have just said im either gonna crash ir get crashed into. Is it that bad? Kinda worried for my bike now
that would suggest that you have a 100% chance of binning it.... which you can tell your work mates is complete, utter bollox! id honestly say you have more like 5% chance on the numbers you see (in novice group) bin it... but thats just my gut feeling, i'm sure they would prove me wrong
Well id consider my self a competent rider im quicker than most people i ride with and yet still very comfortable. just had a lot of ecperience i the 4 years ive been riding had 5 different bikes. in favt by saying this im sort of reassuring myself. im probly gonna get a bit over excited and then rein it back in lol. i wanna enjoy the experience and take my bike home in 1 piece jjst dunno what to expect in terms of other people in the group if theyre gonna be a lot qyicker or just reckless..
Don't concentrate on/worry about getting your knee down or getting air off the Mountain. I have known people try on their first track day and it didn't end well You will have enough to concentrate on with learning lines; entry points; exit points; breaking point etc etc.
Tyke, that's Complete bollox. There's a few yesterday that dropped their bikes, one right in front of me... I still don't know how he binned it, I was carrying more speed and lean angle, yet he ground his pegs and low sided. i think the biggest danger is people slowing too much on the corners, and you nearly rear end them ( i experienced this on every session) or someone overtaking you on a a straight, then wanging on the brakes and slowing right down on the corners... Forcing you to take a different line and overtaking them on the outside... That's good though hehe. I absolutely loved it, it's safer than a road, you can get more traction and carry more speed, safely. It's totally different to road riding, and waaay more exciting! Do it mate, you'll love it!
Its booked si. its getting done!! Im running more roady tyres than you though lol. Just gonna take a lap at a time. Only person im tryna impress is myself, if i dont upset the beast she wont upset me!!
If I can add my bit to this, take it easy, ask instructors/tyre guys for help and advice, they are there just for that. Out on the track, just let the speed build lap by lap, session by session and it will come quickly. Avoid the rear brake as much as possible and don't be too focused on getting knees down, again this will come as the speed grows. Getting knees down sometimes isn't the quickest way of getting around corners. Most of all, don't worry about it, just ride sensibly, respect other riders and you will have the time of your life!
