Learning to lean…

Last Monday I attended FAST Phase I at Shannonville Motorsport Park… part way between Toronto and Kingston. It’s a racetrack used by cars, gocarts, motorcycles etc… but that day they were running an event where you could get some help learning how to corner/brake/accelerate a motorcycle properly. By the end of the day we were allowed to speed around the track as fast as we felt comfortable, using what we learned in sessions given all day.

I left Toronto around 5:30am to be there by 8am (it’s roughly a 2hour+ drive), and when I pulled in the first thing that caught my eye were the rows of SV650s, and 600cc sportbikes from Yamaha, Suzuki, and Kawasaki:

I stood around the bikes with some other attendees until a FAST employee (the main instructors wife) came over to take us into the main facility to complete registration and listen to a 90-minute safety and theory intro:

Here’s 2 pics showing a panorama view of the track…

…as well as other “critical infrastructure”.

Soon enough we were ready to suit up: all safety gear was included (though you could bring you own if you wanted) then we had “class pictures” of each of the 3 groups. I’m at the back on the right… in the 3rd group of the day… for people who had never done this before (or who were with friends out for their first time)

The day was split into 7 10-minute sessions… with breaks + instruction while other groups were riding. Other than the morning intro in-class we were outside at the track all day. Here I am ready to roll out (#20 bike in the middle)

The first 2 riding session in the morning were instructor-led… meaning each group of 2-3 bikes was following an instructor around the track to get a feel for things… and the bikes switched positions each lap so the leader could watch them and see how everyone was doing.

The 3rd session was right after lunch, and involved straight-line acceleration and braking exercises. You accellerated to one set of cones shifting up a couple gears… then braked and downshifted to the second set of cones, trying to be as smooth as possible. Then an instructor gave you a couple quick suggestions on how to improve… then you tried it again….

The 4th and 5th sessions were the first where we could pace ourselves while instructors watched in turns 2 and 4. Between sessions we would have a break and a mini-class to review skills we should try to practice in the next session, and you got to watch the other groups drive and come in to park

There was one more follow-the-instructor session, then a final chance to race around as fast as we willing to go. In the later sessions they emphasized the importance of body positioning… to hang half-way off the seat with your leg out towards the inside of the turn… unfortunately I don’t have any pics of me in those sessions… which is too bad.. since it would be nice to have some proof I had better form by the end of the day 🙂

I had a great time at FAST: the instructors were knowledgeable and friendly, the safety gear and bikes well maintained… and although my first lap around the track was a pretty fearful experience (learning to trust the bike leaning through tight turns)… by the time I got a couple sessions under my belt I was trying to take every corner every lap a bit faster… trusting the bike and tires a little more each time.

I wish I had another day to just lap around the track. I don’t think it would ever get old (well… maybe after I got overconfident and crashed 🙂 )

We wrapped up with some final personalized suggestion from the instructors, a thanks to the staff, presentation of “most improved” awards… and handout of the certificates saying we passed the course. And the chance to buy some photos of the day (many shown here, special thanks to Flair Photo) and clothing/hats (bought a T-shirt!)

The electronics that would have also reported our lap times was broken, it would have been nice to have the times to compare to later trips… but that’s a minor issue. I definatelty will be going to FAST again! Even if you’re like me… a street rider with no urge to race… it’s worth going to feel how much more confident you become in your riding after just a few hours…