2014 Lone Star Riders Invitational
Post date: Apr 22, 2014 10:52:27 AM
Lone Star Riders Invitational
In the spirit of the Gathering of the Clans picnic, the Lone Star Riders would like to invite the Lone Star BMW Riders and the BMW DFW Club to spend a day at the track with us this coming Aug 2nd.
Now I know there are many of you who have already taken your large street bike to the track, on either the 1.7 Track at Cresson or maybe Eagles Canyon. If you have, then you already realize that the track is the best place to work on and improve your skills used in safely negotiating the curves we love to ride as we do on just about every road in North and NW Arkansas. Now the 2 tracks I mentioned above were designed to race with long straightaways that allow you to gain very high speeds before having to slow your vehicle down to negotiate a very technical set of turns like Rattlesnake on the 1.7 track at Cresson and turn 7 at Eagles Canyon.
Now there is a smaller and tighter 1.3 mile track at Cresson which was built as a practice track and is never used for racing. Just a few years ago Dave Wonder (the owner of Ride Smart Motorcycle School) started renting this track for the smaller 250 and 600 cc sport bikes. In fact, the first time Ray Harrelson and I rode this track we found it very fun and a good exercise in negotiating curves. We could also get more laps in during a 20 min session.
This 1.3 mile track has all of the road features that we enjoy riding in places like northern Arkansas and southern Missouri. It is shaped like a horseshoe with sharp hairpins on the two tips, long sweeping curve in the middle, and nice curved straights which allow for safe passing. It also has several elevation changes with a blind turn like we experience on the river road between Presidio and Lajitas.
Here are some comments I found from a Ride Smart Instructor as to what he liked about this track:
The Cresson 1.3 track is my favorite to teach on, and I believe the best training track we have in Texas.
1. It's short, so you see those corners pretty often and you are given more opportunities each session for cornering practice in familiar corners than on longer tracks.
2. It has slow and fast corners, blind, reference-point-only corners, uphill and downhill corners, and a difficult decreasing radius. With every type of corner, it's a great place to learn!
3. It's tremendous fun!
Here is a short video that we produced. It is from footage of our group's day on this 1.3 track last June. This will show you what it is like:
Yeah, I know it’s hot in August...but this is Texas and it’s always hot in the summer. When have you ever not gone on a good ride with your friends, even if it’s hot? I know it’s a long from home to Cresson, TX, especially when they want you at the track for tech inspection at 6:30 or 7:00 in the morning. But we have a solution for this…..there is a new Best Western right across the road from the track. Last year we all spent the previous Friday night there and then got up the next morning, ate breakfast, and then rode our bikes across the road to the track.
Now this session is only open to larger touring bikes like ours where the equipment requirements are much more lax than what you would have to deal with in a Novice Level I class. This means you will NOT have smaller sport bikes riding with you and passing coming out of a corner. This track has 2 or more areas on the track where you can safely pass. And your flip-up full face modular helmets will be allowed and you can wear your mesh pants and jackets, gauntlet glove and boots over the ankles…but no 3/4 helmets.
All lights, your mirrors and license plate will need to be taped with blue painters tape. I find it very useful to go ahead and pull the fuses to the headlight and rear lights. And for tech inspection you will only need your bike and helmet inspected…..no other riding gear..
Now if we start early and my plan works, our 3 clubs can fill up this class and we will be the only participants. The problem is that there are only 25 slots available, so the first 25 registrants will get the class.
Several of us who will bring 10 X 10 Quik Shade Canopies. Feel free to bring yours along with your lawn chairs and coolers. We will have an area saved for us by a few that will get there early Friday. Ride Smart will have plenty of water iced down and coolers of Gatorade available as well as free hamburgers and hot dogs for lunch. But, you can pack your own lunch/snacks and bring your own drinks.
We will have 20 minutes of riding for each session with a 30 minute class between each session. This class will be tailored just for our style of riding so you will get no instruction on hanging your butt off the seat in corners. But, you will learn how to use your upper body to change the center of mass of you and the bike to give you more corner clearance.
So……who wants spend a day at the track with us?????
Here are the direct links to the Best Western in Cresson and the Ride Smart registration page for Aug 2nd:
https://www..ridesmart.info/secure/cart.php?gid=178 (Make sure that you register for the Tourers Back Road Skills session).
Also, would you please go to the link below and fill out the short form. It is a way for us to better track the participants and to contact you directly with any information that may be helpful.
http://www.lonestarriders.com/forms/2014-lone-star-riders-invitational-sign-up-form