I just spent a weekend with Fasttrax at Nelson Ledges in Ohio (Northeast Ohio). I did the Track Day School on Saturday and the Road Racing School on Sunday as I am going to start doing some endurance racing with them. I highly recommend this club as it is a great organization with some fantastic instructors. Simply the best time I have ever spent on 2 wheels!!

http://www.fasttraxlive.com

http://www.nelsonledges.com

The track surface is not the smoothest, but it is a fast track with some nice sweepers. Was a lot of fun on the ol' F3 that I just built!

 

I was going to ask how long you thought your ROTM would last out there on the track, but then I see you built an F3 for it. good choice. havent done fastrax, or nelson ledges.

I did do Keith Code at Mid-Ohio last year, and that was a blast. I have a couple of SportBikeTrackTime days lined up, Barber and Mid Ohio again

 

Yeah, can't imagine taking the 1000 out there. I bought the F3 specifically for the track. So she should continue to do nicely.

Couple of us are looking at doing the STT on July 5th for the twilight special thing. Always wanted to go to Barber too, maybe sometime. My buddy was at the Keith Code school last summer and loved it. He was wanting to do the next phase this year but wants to keep the $$ for racing. We are racing the 3 hour endurances as a team.

If you get a chance try out Fasttrax...good people and a lot of fun. If you want any info on it just let me know...

 

Hey - where are you from?? I was there that weekend too - well, for teh saturday "track rider" school. I was on the red EX 500, and am shopping for a track F3 myself!

I actually wasn't thrilled with the Fasttrax 'school.' their instructors knew their stuff - I don't mean any disrespect that way, but all they did was have us follow them in a string of riders. I was only directly behind the instructor once, and they NEVER got behind me to see if i was applying what they were teaching.

It is a matter of personal preference, but I like NESBA's way - their 'Control Riders' monitor the group and will pass you and signal you to follow if they want to show you something. Then they'll wave you by and watch you to see how you apply it; re-passing you to show you again, or give you a thumbs up and be on their way. After each session, there's no classroom time, but you can individually pick the CR's brains about what they saw you do, and what they were showing you.

I love it. it's like having a private coach for 3-4 laps, then having the next 15 minutes to practice what they showed you.

let me know where you're from - we may be at a lot of the same events.

 

I am out of Newark Ohio, which is about 35 miles east of Columbus. I will be at Nelson Ledges on most of the race dates to compete in the endurance racing with some friends. We are looking at signing up for the Twilight STT on July 5th at Mid-Ohio, but have not done that yet.

As far as the Track Day Schools, I am surprised at what you said. No offense taken, but there were instructors doing the control riding and looking for people that needed help. I had one of them ride by and remind me to get on the ***** of my feet and another later in the day ride by and give me a thumbs up. I am also a blabber mouth and asked a boat load of questions. It is possible that my instructor was a big part of it too. He is one if the best riders there. Also, the Road Race School gives you a lot more direct instruction. That class was on Sunday. So the 2 days together is what I ended up doing. My friend's daughter was in the class...she was the one that dropped the red SV in turn 13 on Saturday. She really lost a lot of confidence after that and on Sunday one of the guys spent the entire morning getting her back on track. That really impressed me and she is doing great now. As a matter of fact she is scheduled for races on the 1st of June. So I guess maybe it was the combined weekend and all that. I don't know, I just felt at home there and personally had a really great experience. So anyway, I am sorry that you did not share the same experience.

Was your EX the one that either ran out of gas or fouled a plug? Not making fun, just trying to see if I have the right person. That is the only EX that I remember. You can't go wrong with the F3. One of the fastest guys at Fasttrax rides an F3. It was the bright yellow one. He actually holds the track record. I love mine and I am looking forward to getting some more track time on it. I have to get a steering damper before I can race it. Got a few other things to do, but they are minor. Good luck on the F3 search!! Maybe I will run into you again sometime...

 

Hey - sorry for the delayed posting. the F3 i was looking at was under-whelming. Now i'm close to buying a really well set up F2, so here I am again.

No offense take from any of your questions or comments - yes, I was on the red EX that ran out of gas - except I had gas. I still don't know what actually happened... I literally came into the pits, took the tank off, realized I didn't have the right size socket to change plugs, put the tank back on, and it started... The only thing I can think of is maybe i pinched a fuel line, or maybe my fuel filter isn't flowing right w/o a full tank of gas putting pressure through it(?)

I didn't think the fasttrax school was bad - I just like a more open format. If I were to design a school taylored to my own preferences, we'd do a 'sighting' session at the beginning of the day, then the instructors would follow US instead of us following them. I just felt like my instructor showed me what to do, but never actually followed me to see that it was sinking in. I know all the instructors there are good riders - good enough that if they're behind me for a lap, they can EASILY pass me and show me what I was doing wrong the lap before, then wave me around and let me work on it for a few more laps.

the girl on the SV was kicking *** and taking names for as new to track riding as she was. I was behind her early in the morning, and she was doing everything right except body-positioning. I didn't see her later in the afternoon, but i'm sure she got better that afternoon, and Sunday.

I didn't even know she went down at first - I nearly went down in the same turn though! My confidence was definitely shaken as well. Might be why my day wasn't spectacular.

Girls on the track **** me off though - and I mean that in the best way possible. I was at BeaveRun this past weekend and meta girl who absolutely thrashed me.she's a WERA racer (22 yrs old) and completely fearless. Broke 2 ribs, and her neck about two months ago. Was back out there last weekend, getting ready for this weekend's race. Her (female) friend wasn't as fast, but man is their weight advantage unfair! let's see... even IF i could afford a 2007 CBR 600RR, she'd still power away from me on the same bike!

 

rk97, i was in the race that "the girl" crashed in. I think her name is katie or cassidy. On saturday at VIR me and the girl kept swapping position in a practice session, i was doing my best to keep up with her, man was she fast. On Sunday i was behind her and she tried to split 2 guys before going into the uphil right handed turn 7 and caught the back end of the guy on the right, and it took her down, her novice racer shirt got caught in the guys bike and drug her, she broke her neck cause her head hit the rear wheel and then broke her ribs when her bike hit her and knocked her loose. I went by and then there was nothin left but a cloud of dust and an ambulance on the way. I talked to her at the next race in Summit Point, WV.... she was doing better and said she couldn't wait to get back on the track, she was out supporting her boyfriend who eats people on his "John Deere" 600rr.... I hope she'll be at the next race this upcoming June 9th to see how she does, im sure she'll be just fine. tpgpz, you should check out WERA.... a great organization to race in, everybody is friendly and tries to help you out if your a novice racer, but once you turn expert your kinda on your own....

I raced at Nelson's Ledges at the beginnig of may and the track was rediculusly fast and bumpy.... in my first race a guy wrecked me out, so i have to get a new helmet, it won't pass tech anymore.... then in my second race i was running 13 out of 40 and my battery died! ahhh.... i was feelin so good out there and then she just shuts down on me.... ah well, thats racing, be careful and maybe ill see you guys at the track

 

Her name is Katie - I really only met her once, and didn't want to make it sound like she was my best buddy or something. She's an STT coach and was at the event I did this past weekend. I was pitted 2 spots down from her and borrowed their shade when it got hot out.

Her friend was in my "novice" group. she wasn't exactly slow either, but it was only her third (my second) track day, so we were hanging out and talking during the classroom sessions where they tell you what an apex is and stuff it was an odd mix for us - she had more track experience, but i had been to that track before, so we were actually pretty even through the turns.

i am 99% sure Katie will be racing at the next event.

I haven't seen Drew ride, but everyone on the NESBA board has made it sound like he's ungodly fast.