The California Superbike School, or "CSBS," is a racing-centered rider school. While it's CLASS's goal to make you a better street rider, Keith Code's school makes no such claims. It's clear from the first classroom that you're here to learn to ride a track and ride it fast. What you learn here will make you a better street rider because you'll be a better rider in general, but that's not the goal. My report from the 1st school exists somewhere in the mailing list archives, some day I'll dig it up and repost it here. This report covers level 2.

Level 2 picks up right where level 1 left off. If you didn't learn enough in level 1 you could be in trouble here. It's assumed that you know the basics - good throttle control, good eye control and good "one-turn" technique. Again, read the level 1 report for details.

While level one centered on teaching you the basics, level two gets into the philosphy of riding and controlling your fear, or "survival" instinct. The best way I can describe the philosphy is pretty Zen: "See everything but look at nothing." This means a good racer sees everything in his vision but centers his attention on nothing. As a moving entity - a really FAST moving entity - fixating your attention on a single point in space can be disasterous. The training is geared to teach you to notice but not fixate on the things that vye for your attention - a grease spot, other motorcycles, or even the marks you set for yourself.

If you're reading this and you are a rider it's essential that you pick up Code's two books - A Twist of the Wrist numbers I and II. They explain this much better than I can. Suffice it to say that as a rider on a track you must pay very close attention to the details of the track. You use them as markers for yourself as you go around. Here's a quick mental dump of my markers at the second turn at S.I.R.:

• Turn two: Keep on outside of track about four feet from the line, head straight for the shiny coke can at the end of the turn. Downshift three times on the straight, get RPMs to 5k smoothly. Lean left 1 second before the turn - countersteer sharply at the skid mark that looks like a "U", gas around turn to apex one. Look for edge of vision, try to hold stare. Prepare for second lean at white mark at apex - finish 2nd half of turn, thread the two potholes at end of turn. Mark horizon - when you see it start to fade away gas hard. Check speed - should be at 90mph on exit.

Now the trick - do this in the space of about 4 seconds WITHOUT taking your eyes off of the horizon. You should notice your markers but don't LOOK at them. It's tough! To top it off, just when you think you've done it correctly some guy passes you on the inside as though you were standing still. Not only is this sport difficult to master, it's expensive and it can kill you. DAMN I love it!

Here are some of the drills for Level 2.

1. Explore the track. This drill comes after the no-brakes 1-gear warmup laps. Keith basically wants us to ignore the lines we've been setting for ourselves all day (or every day) and see what it's like doing "alternate" lines. Go wide, go inside, do every possible path around the corners. Why on earth would we do that? Obviously because if you're racing you may find yourself in a part of the track you didn't want to be in. Wouldn't it be better to be comfortable with the whole track just in case? Most of us found the drill very helpful. It's interesting to see where you come out of a turn when you go in the "wrong" way. Sometimes your exit speed's better and your next approach is easier. Sometimes not. Either way, if you don't have to spend any of your attention money because you're unfamiliar with the track you're better off. (Read the books for this concept.)
2. Look for the horizon. This was my best drill by far. Keith wanted us to just see if the horizon line was affecting our reactions. When asked, most of us didn't think the horizon had an effect on our riding. Guess what? It does. I noticed that when I couldn't see around the corner or down/up a hill I instinctively slowed down. Why would I do that, since I know the track continues down the hill or around the corner? I've ridden it dozens of times. Nevertheless, I was slowing. I made a concerted effort to gas as soon as I saw the horizon fade. It made a big difference. I was exiting turn 2 at 90 instead of 70. By the end of the day I was heading down the turn-3 hill at 100+ instead of slowing at the top to 65 or so. No wonder guys kept passing me here. Here's a trick we learned: Look for the horizon, on the track or on the street. If it begins to fade away as you approach, the turn is increasing-radius. If it stays the same it's constant. If the horizon gets closer it narrows. Think about it.
3. Push-ups. The idea is simple - push the bike upright from a lean at the end of your turn. It gets the bike straighter, getting more tire on the road and therefore more traction. That means you can gas earlier. I only did 5 laps on this drill as I was almost out of fuel. It really helped on a few turns, and was really difficult on others. I'll continue this drill next week for WLTD #2.

That's it in a nutshell. There's more, but those are the basics. I learned a few things on this track day. Here are some things I realized:

1. The faster you go the more you fixate on a single object. As my speeds increased on turn 2 I found myself thinking, "Wow, I'm going really fast. Look how fast the apex is approaching." The natural brain reaction is, "Danger! Slow down." You've got to love a sport that teaches you to ignore survival instincts.

2. The horizon line affects your reactions. When there's a wall coming you can't see around your instinct is to slow down. Ignore the fear, go faster. The horizon will break and more track will be there waiting for you. Try it, it works.

3. Motorcycling is a mental sport. It's a lot like golf or skiing. Have you found you do your best skiing when you're relaxed? When you're really thinking about smashing that drive, isn't that when you really choke?

4. If you don't think about what you did you won't learn anything. You must pay attention to the outcome of any decision. If you don't notice you won't learn. It's the basic cornerstone of Twist of the Wrist 1. It seems obvious, but you'll be amazed by what you don't notice when you're trying to go really really really fast.

WLDT (Wet Leather Track Day #2) is next week. It's a perfect arena to test what I've learned at the two schools. There are no instructors or drills, just what I decide to do with my track time. Next year I will definitely do level 3. It's amazing to me how much I improve with every track day. I will probably skip CLASS as the instruction level is not nearly as high as CSBS. Instead I'll be sure to do the Ducati club track days in Spokane.

That's it for now! I will review my progress after the track day next week. One word of advice - go get the books, and if you're serious about becoming a better rider then get some instruction. A few hundred bucks spent on track money will make you faster than any horsepower modification you can make to your bike. What use is 130 horsepower if you don't know what the hell you're doing?