Yep. Went to an Advanced Cornering School before, but it was nothing compared to the professionalism the California Superbike School has. The curriculum is well thought out and tested. When I was there, they told us they have logged in over 5-million track miles and over 175,000 students. They travel all over the country doing schools at all the major tracks. Here's the link to their site. Incredible class, I recommend it to anyone.

www.superbikeschool.com


I learned more in that 1 day that I ever have by myself at a track day. There is no substitute for proper instruction. You will honestly transform as a rider within the first couple of hours riding on the track performing the drills. They give you a little booklet at the end so you could continue to practice their drills.


Laguna Seca was pretty far away from me as well (but not as far from you though.) I will admit that I spent more on travel than I did on the class. So total, this one day experience cost me well over $1400. Just the flight and hotel was $550, then the rental car another $115, then the rental for leathers and gear was $75. Not to mention gas & food. I would have rode my bike out, but being mid November, I was worried about running into severely cold weather. When I head back out to the class in April, I'm taking my own bike either by truck (if one of my roommates goes with me) or I'll just ride the 1200 miles out there and back.

All in all, I'm not regretting spending that much at all. Investing into my riding education and getting myself that much closer to a possible racing career is priceless to me.

 

nice post Fox! You should have left out the pictures of turn 2 and turn 8. everytime i see them, it pisses me off (cause i can never make them on gran turismo)

 

^^ HAHA! Yeah, I always missed those corners on Forza 2, Gran Turismo, Tourist Trophy, etc. But now that I know the turn in points and where the Apexes are, it's a walk in the park. Here, let me help you nail your digital Laguna Seca video game needs..........

Turn 8/8A and 2 are tricky turns, but turn 2 is by far the trickiest. It has 2 apexes, therefore 2 turn in points. So it's kind of like having 2 turns smashed into one. The instructors duct taped white X's onto the track to show where they recommend turning into the corner to hit the apex just right. Turn 2 and Turn 8 have 2 of them. You can see it in the pics below...........

You can see the first turn in point in the pic below for turn 2: (about 4 bike lengths behind the green bike)



And if you look closely, you can see the second turn in point to hit the second apex: (right in front of the green bike.)



Turn 2 gave me the most problems. The riding coach and I spent a lot of time mastering that corner, and eventually I nailed it. Turn 8 isn't so bad though. As long as you hit the first apex and ignore the fact that you just dropped a couple stories in height within a couple seconds, you're fine.

Now the corkscrew. You can see the second turn in point for the corkscrew (or turn 8A) It's about a 1/2 story drop from the top of turn 8 to the turn in for turn 8A. Incredible G-forces at work. Makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside once you get through it.



Hit those turn in points and you'll achieve Gran Turismo success!

 

i'll be there dec. 20th...can't wait....

i'm so ready to see how i fair against other racers track times there....

i'll be happy if i can get with in 15 secs. of them...

 

ahhh completely jealous!!! ... Very nice Fox! .. It brings me back to the days where I would play that track with the trackdodge viper for 6+hours at a time or until I got blisters on my thumbs. My best was like 1:21.3x. The good ol' days!. Also jealous that you guys on the west coast still can hit up track days! .. In VA here its been like mid 40s for the past week and half. Almost lost my back tire yesterday due to lack of grip [&:].

 

I still HATE U!!!!!!!!Sorry I mean I HATE U even more!!!!!!
Good to hear U had fun and more importantU made home safe. Welcome backB. Fox.

 

Those pics give me a Woodrow Wilson! I was there for the Red Bull GP, and I am going againnext year. What was it like actually riding through the corkscrew? I think I'd **** my pants. We didn't get a chance to get over to that turn, but I hear the elevation change is just rediculous. Great pics, bro! Good job on furthering your riding education, as well!!

 

VooDoo, are you riding out to Laguna Seca for the GP or driving? I think we should stage a CBRForum ride/meet for the 2008 GP. I would love to ride out as a group, picking up even more members on the way out.

 

We aretrailering the bikes from Southern Oregon. We are going to stay in the "Arrow?" camp. You are welcome to stay with us at our campsight. We are going to be next to the ****ters, and the "band" (which I will probably be playing in). We party, Que, and just live the experience. I will have paddock passes, and you can borrow them for part of the day if you come. If nothing else, it would be sweet to meet up somewhere as a group! If we don't, it will be a crime. Let's keep in touch as we go! Now, spill the beans about the corkscrew...

 

Oh yeah. The corkscrew.........at a high rate of speed is absolutely insane to ride down. Negative, Positive and Lateral G-forces pulling your body around all in a couple seconds time. When I said it makes you feel all warm and fuzzy.......I really meant it. It gives you a similar feeling as you would get after riding a rollercoaster.........but you are still on the bike that you have to ride without crashing it.

I was even talking with some other first time Laguna Seca-ers that have riden at other tracks like Willow Springs, Firebird, etc. And they said that there is no other track that compares to Laguna Seca. They said this is it. They said this is the best track the country has to offer hands down.

So all of you that play this track on video games and watch it on the telly.......YES, it really is as good as you are thinking it is.