So today was my first ever trackday and was @ cadwell park. Where to begin... Decided to book a B&B in louth for the night before so that I could have some sort of lie in this morning, never happened, I got to Louth mid afternoon yesterday and since there was already a track day on at cadwell I decided to go and have a look, watch the various groups come over the mountain and was sat there thinking "shit what have I let myself in for here...." Headed back to the B&B for a few sherberts and fish n chips and called it a night around 10pm. Hardly slept. Woke up at 3am and didn't really get back to sleep my mind was going wild with a mixture of excitement and nerves. Decided to get up and neck some relentless and wait for the sun to come up over louth. Headed to cadwell at 6:30 to find nearly all the people camping there still asleep (bet they loved me coming past with the yoshi @ 101dB ) Signed on at 7:30 and had the safety briefing at 8:30 which was surprisingly brief. All the nolimits instructors were more than helpful and dead friendly. Fast group was out first and as I was stood there in the paddock next to my bike surrounded by proper track bikes all with tyre warmers I felt rather out of my depth. So inters went by and it was my time to get out on track, heart was pounding. First session was literally just survival mode, there was no overtaking in the novice group but since I didn't know the track my lines were all over the place. Came back in feeling quite slow and pathetic wondering what I was doing on the track. Second session came round and after to warming laps I decided to go for it, got a nice wheelie on the mountain and started putting the corners together, the amount of grip once your tyres warm up is unbelievable. Id got chatting to a nice lad with a Gixxer from leeds in the morning who had done quite a few trackdays before and got some tips. Third and fourth sessions I was just a different rider, coppice is by far my favorite bend (you can throw it in at a silly speed from the start/finish straight which I was hitting 155 on, deffo the grin factor one for me), charlies and park 1 n 2 were also fun, lean, hang off, lean little bit more... touchdown! I came away from the 2 sessions before dinner buzzing that I had got my knee down on my first trackday and had overtaken quite a lot of riders who had all the gear. Broke for lunch about 1 and went to fill her up again. Did two more sessions in the afternoon one of which I asked for help from the instructor, got told after the first post dinner session that I should be lookin at inters next time cos its not massively faster but probably more safer as the riders have some experience. The session straight after dinner was probably my best managed knee down on most right handers and got a little scrape going through coppice and mansfield. By the second afternoon session I was getting tired and losing concentration, went out on about the 3rd lap I overcooked it up the mountain, got all out of shape and pretty much went straight on through hall bends, straight across the grass but managed to keep it upright. Rejoined the track, completed that lap and finished my session there. At this point I thought it was better to call it a day and leave with the bike and myself in one piece knowing I'd done fairly well for my first time on track. All in all it was the most exciting experiences of my life and all I can say is... I need a track bike. Bank account prepare yourself for a raping... Anyone considering doing a track day, don't um n ar anymore, just book it. Here's some pics Touchdown The roadsmart 2s held up really well, ample grip Cheers everyone!
Well done young Tyke, excelent reporting there. Pleased you had a good experience and are raring to go for the next one. Again. Well done.
Brilliant mate just brilliant, really good read and you seem to have ridden really well and your body possition on the bike looks very good but maybe try to grip the bike more with your outside leg to help you with stability. Fancy taking me along to the next 1 ?
Great report Tyke. Nice pics too, who took them? Congrats on accomplishing the old knee down, can't wait to get out on track this year after my May tour.
Haha yeah man i'm up for that, next time I don't wanna go on the blade tho cos I was holding back for fear of binning it. Once i've got myself a track bike I'll be booking again, up to you if you wanna take yours fez and as much as I enjoyed the day if you wanna experience it somewhat worry free I'd either rent a track bike or buy one.
Sounds awesome mate but glad yours didn't end in tears like mine! Well done for getting a move on its the greatest feeling ever isn't it!!
Yeah I wanna do inters for deffo next time, not that I'm mega quick but there was only 2 in my group that were overtaking me, I lapped a couple of people and overtook loads between barn and mansfield, felt that the novice group is quite dangerous at times, we had a few red flags
Nice one, glad to hear you had a great time. The first time you see the Mountain can be a WTF moment, love sitting by the side of it or watching from the club house when the BSB boys are out practising. Good move on calling it a day when you felt tired, always good to recognise when to call it a day and get home in one piece.
In regards to the position thing mate, you're right I need to hook my outside leg in more. To be honest the position for getting your knee down just fits, you'd have to have a shit load of lean otherwise, and you need the speed as I got quicker I ended up getting it down on most of the bends apart from hall and the hairpin. When it first went down it went down so hard that my knee actually bounced back up and hit my bike, tipped it in a bit smoother on the next bend lol
Glad you had a top time looks like you rode very well, are you sure it was your first track day knee down on every corner I noticed you didnt have your mirrors folded in did you not find that a distraction. Hopfully see you at oulton park sometime.
I didn't manage a touch down on the chicane, or hall bends and the hairpin. Did on all the others tho, well chuffed. Only experience I've had before is on the nurburgring last year. The mirrors were taped up mate
Glad you had a good day on track, sounds like you're hooked now. I ended up buying a trackbike after I had done half a dozen trackdays on my road bike. Was definatley a good move Unfortunatley had to sell my last one a few years ago. So I'm off to Silverstone this Sunday on the blade. I'm sure you'll be a lot quicker on a trackbike as the fear of binning your pride and joy is not a factor. There's loads of them out there.... I look forward to reading what you end up buying..... Good luck
Thinkin either old R1/blade, or a sports 600, the blade just pooned everything on the straights today tho, si's map he sent me is awesome, power wheelies in 1st, 2nd and 3rd!!
Nice one sounds like your a natural you certainly got a great day for it, fancy cadwell my self as heard loads of good feebdack .
Good stuff and glad you enjoyed it. Track riding is definitely the best thing ever and does make road riding seem a bit tame in comparison! Good report too and glad you are thinking of a track bike. Anything you are thinking of?
