Jamie Whitham Trackday
Discussion
I was bought one of these for Christmas and really looking forward to it (although I haven't booked on yet). I couldn't decide whether to take my own bike or borrow one of theirs as my bike is more of a sports tourer (Z1000SX). However, I've decided to take me own for 2 reasons:
1) Cost - I'm a tight Yorkshireman and can't justifty the £500+ to hire an R6 for the day
2) I'm never going to be a racer. At the age of 43 with only 2 trackdays under my belt as much as I'm trying to perfect my riding I'm also interested to see what my bike can do. It seems a bit pointless perfecting my skills on a bike that I'll never ride again.
Has anyone done one of these? I'm more than likely going to go Mallory as I've done Cadwell and Anglesey is too far. Presumably it's a similar affair to a normal trackday but I'm keen to know what to expect on the day really. I'll be putting fresh rubber on for the day as my tires will be ready by then anyway so might as well get the timing right. Guessing there will be somewhere to buy more fuel on site - I'll be riding down so won't have the luxury of taking any gerry cans. I have lever guards, full leathers and the bikes in great condition so can't really think of anything else. I might book a hotel and stay down there as I imagine it will be quite a tiring day.
1) Cost - I'm a tight Yorkshireman and can't justifty the £500+ to hire an R6 for the day
2) I'm never going to be a racer. At the age of 43 with only 2 trackdays under my belt as much as I'm trying to perfect my riding I'm also interested to see what my bike can do. It seems a bit pointless perfecting my skills on a bike that I'll never ride again.
Has anyone done one of these? I'm more than likely going to go Mallory as I've done Cadwell and Anglesey is too far. Presumably it's a similar affair to a normal trackday but I'm keen to know what to expect on the day really. I'll be putting fresh rubber on for the day as my tires will be ready by then anyway so might as well get the timing right. Guessing there will be somewhere to buy more fuel on site - I'll be riding down so won't have the luxury of taking any gerry cans. I have lever guards, full leathers and the bikes in great condition so can't really think of anything else. I might book a hotel and stay down there as I imagine it will be quite a tiring day.
I did 2 last year at Cadwell. Should say 2 in a row.
Very similar to a normal day I guess (only done 1 track day previous). Alot less people per group. More open track etc.... A debrief after every session (I went to a couple). Instructors seemed helpful.
Worth the extra money in my opinion. I'll try to book on the Cadwell ones again later in the year.
Very similar to a normal day I guess (only done 1 track day previous). Alot less people per group. More open track etc.... A debrief after every session (I went to a couple). Instructors seemed helpful.
Worth the extra money in my opinion. I'll try to book on the Cadwell ones again later in the year.
8IKERDAVE said:
I was bought one of these for Christmas and really looking forward to it (although I haven't booked on yet). I couldn't decide whether to take my own bike or borrow one of theirs as my bike is more of a sports tourer (Z1000SX). However, I've decided to take me own for 2 reasons:
1) Cost - I'm a tight Yorkshireman and can't justifty the £500+ to hire an R6 for the day
2) I'm never going to be a racer. At the age of 43 with only 2 trackdays under my belt as much as I'm trying to perfect my riding I'm also interested to see what my bike can do. It seems a bit pointless perfecting my skills on a bike that I'll never ride again.
Has anyone done one of these? I'm more than likely going to go Mallory as I've done Cadwell and Anglesey is too far. Presumably it's a similar affair to a normal trackday but I'm keen to know what to expect on the day really. I'll be putting fresh rubber on for the day as my tires will be ready by then anyway so might as well get the timing right. Guessing there will be somewhere to buy more fuel on site - I'll be riding down so won't have the luxury of taking any gerry cans. I have lever guards, full leathers and the bikes in great condition so can't really think of anything else. I might book a hotel and stay down there as I imagine it will be quite a tiring day.
Go to Anglesey. It’s epic. Ride up the day before and stay ober in one of the many B&Bs. There’s a good one, The Prince Llewellyn in Aberffraw that’s about 5 mins from the circuit. 1) Cost - I'm a tight Yorkshireman and can't justifty the £500+ to hire an R6 for the day
2) I'm never going to be a racer. At the age of 43 with only 2 trackdays under my belt as much as I'm trying to perfect my riding I'm also interested to see what my bike can do. It seems a bit pointless perfecting my skills on a bike that I'll never ride again.
Has anyone done one of these? I'm more than likely going to go Mallory as I've done Cadwell and Anglesey is too far. Presumably it's a similar affair to a normal trackday but I'm keen to know what to expect on the day really. I'll be putting fresh rubber on for the day as my tires will be ready by then anyway so might as well get the timing right. Guessing there will be somewhere to buy more fuel on site - I'll be riding down so won't have the luxury of taking any gerry cans. I have lever guards, full leathers and the bikes in great condition so can't really think of anything else. I might book a hotel and stay down there as I imagine it will be quite a tiring day.
https://www.rentbyowner.com/property/the-prince-ll...
The days are a bit different from a standard trackday as there are a lot fewer riders on track and a lot more coaches, most of whom are BSB (or support class) racers. All are there to coach and help develop you with some optional free classroom sessions between track sessions covering a wide topic, alongside any 1-1 advice you may pick up from them seeing you out on track.
Also don’t rule out becoming a racer. I did my first trackday at 40. A decade later I was racing with a National licence, albeit being upstaged by kids about a third my age
richhead said:
Mallory is a very short track, so easy to learn, i would pick cadwell tho, also i would never ride my bike to a trackday, even the slightest of offs could make it unridable, how would you get home?
Crashing isn’t compulsory. It’s also possible to crash riding anywhere on the road and you’d face the same issue. I’ve done a few Whitham days and they are good.
The intensive sessions are good, you and 1 other person has an instructor assigned to just the 2 of you for the whole day. After each session you will get direct feedback and review some of the GoPro footage from that session. You also receive all the videos at the end of the day.
I did it with Dan Linfoot at Croft and I got a lot out of it.
The regular sessions are with 10 or 12 riders with 1 instructor assigned to that whole group for all sessions throughout the day. Again you get the chance to have a debrief with the instructor at the end of your session but this is done in a group scenario so if you want any direct feedback from them you will need to speak up in that session.
When I did the group session at Mallory I had Ian Simpson as the instructor in my group and he was mint. Unfortunately for me though the day ended badly at the Devils Elbow but that was my own fault.
If you’re riding there on your own bike, be honest with yourself about which group you want to ride in (novice, inters, fast) and don’t get too excited on track and you’ll be reet.
The intensive sessions are good, you and 1 other person has an instructor assigned to just the 2 of you for the whole day. After each session you will get direct feedback and review some of the GoPro footage from that session. You also receive all the videos at the end of the day.
I did it with Dan Linfoot at Croft and I got a lot out of it.
The regular sessions are with 10 or 12 riders with 1 instructor assigned to that whole group for all sessions throughout the day. Again you get the chance to have a debrief with the instructor at the end of your session but this is done in a group scenario so if you want any direct feedback from them you will need to speak up in that session.
When I did the group session at Mallory I had Ian Simpson as the instructor in my group and he was mint. Unfortunately for me though the day ended badly at the Devils Elbow but that was my own fault.
If you’re riding there on your own bike, be honest with yourself about which group you want to ride in (novice, inters, fast) and don’t get too excited on track and you’ll be reet.
Thanks for everyones feedback - much appreciated!
In terms of riding the bike down, if the worst came to the worst I'd get one of my lads to collect it in the van however I'm hoping it won't come to that! I might jump in a hotel that night though as it will be a long day! 8:30 sign on and 17:00 finish with a 90 minute ride either side of that.
I'm going Mallory because I've only ever ridden Cadwell twice and although I love it I wouldn't exactly say I know it well anyway. A couple of my mates who regularly ride on track suggested Mallory as it's quite an easy track to pick up (apparantly).
Shamefully I've only ever touched my knee down once and this was about 25 years ago! My aim is to break this virginity and looking at the track it looks like there's a couple of places I should be able to make this happen.
In terms of riding the bike down, if the worst came to the worst I'd get one of my lads to collect it in the van however I'm hoping it won't come to that! I might jump in a hotel that night though as it will be a long day! 8:30 sign on and 17:00 finish with a 90 minute ride either side of that.
I'm going Mallory because I've only ever ridden Cadwell twice and although I love it I wouldn't exactly say I know it well anyway. A couple of my mates who regularly ride on track suggested Mallory as it's quite an easy track to pick up (apparantly).
Shamefully I've only ever touched my knee down once and this was about 25 years ago! My aim is to break this virginity and looking at the track it looks like there's a couple of places I should be able to make this happen.
8IKERDAVE said:
Thanks for everyones feedback - much appreciated!
In terms of riding the bike down, if the worst came to the worst I'd get one of my lads to collect it in the van however I'm hoping it won't come to that! I might jump in a hotel that night though as it will be a long day! 8:30 sign on and 17:00 finish with a 90 minute ride either side of that.
I'm going Mallory because I've only ever ridden Cadwell twice and although I love it I wouldn't exactly say I know it well anyway. A couple of my mates who regularly ride on track suggested Mallory as it's quite an easy track to pick up (apparantly).
Shamefully I've only ever touched my knee down once and this was about 25 years ago! My aim is to break this virginity and looking at the track it looks like there's a couple of places I should be able to make this happen.
Don't Focus on the fascination of getting your knee down. It doesn't make you quicker. Knee down is all about your body position on the bike. Over anything else. Any corner can be knee down if your sat right. But it's not necessarily the fastest way. In terms of riding the bike down, if the worst came to the worst I'd get one of my lads to collect it in the van however I'm hoping it won't come to that! I might jump in a hotel that night though as it will be a long day! 8:30 sign on and 17:00 finish with a 90 minute ride either side of that.
I'm going Mallory because I've only ever ridden Cadwell twice and although I love it I wouldn't exactly say I know it well anyway. A couple of my mates who regularly ride on track suggested Mallory as it's quite an easy track to pick up (apparantly).
Shamefully I've only ever touched my knee down once and this was about 25 years ago! My aim is to break this virginity and looking at the track it looks like there's a couple of places I should be able to make this happen.
Sidecar Man said:
Don't Focus on the fascination of getting your knee down. It doesn't make you quicker. Knee down is all about your body position on the bike. Over anything else. Any corner can be knee down if your sat right. But it's not necessarily the fastest way.
I completely understand this which is why I've never really pursued it on the road. But the tart in me wants 'that feeling' 
8IKERDAVE said:
I completely understand this which is why I've never really pursued it on the road. But the tart in me wants 'that feeling'
Take Sidecarman’s advice. The obsession with knee down is why a lot of people end up sliding down the track due to poor body position, or orbiting the moon due to even worse throttle control. Gassing Station | Biker Banter | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff