| RIGHT BODY, RIGHT MIND | ||||||
| Over the winter months I have sometimes struggled to come up with interesting things to keep my website fresh. With no racing action here in Canada for 75% of the year, it is hard to find news or conjure up ideas. | ||||||
| So I was extremely grateful when I was recently asked by Tiger Tom Marriott how I motivated myself to get better. He suggested I give an insight into how I go about things, so I am happy to do that. I must stress that these are my own personal methods and what may work for me may be totally unsuitable for someone else. I'm not even sure if they work for me really, but I know without this type of focus I couldn't even dream of going out there with the Division 1 guys. | ||||||
| So here we go. Speaking from personal experience I believe there are five main pieces of the puzzle to put together. These I've listed as follows: | ||||||
| 1. Really Want To Go Quicker | ||||||
| 2. Make Sure Your Equipment Is In Good Order | ||||||
| 3. Get Yourself Physically Fit | ||||||
| 4. Stay Focussed On Race Nights | ||||||
| 5. Have The Support Of People Around You | ||||||
| So we'll take each one in turn. | ||||||
| 1. Really Want To Go Quicker | ||||||
| I found there was a certain point in my racing career that I stopped going to speedway meetings to enjoy the riding, and started going to enjoy the results. Of course, it's important to enjoy being involved in speedway in any capacity, but I found myself going home disappointed if I had not gotten a good result. I had been concentrating for so long on trying to ride and slide the bike well, I had forgotten it was a race and the idea was to try to win. What I'm trying to say is you won't go any quicker if you don't want to pass that rider in front of you. Once you get the mindset to cross the finish line ahead of the guy in front, you will find your speed picks up naturally. It's also a blast trying to win a race from the back. I should know, my gating is lousy! Be warned however, taking this attitude can result in frustration at times and there's a fine line between hard enjoyable racing and finding yourself, and everyone around you totally p****d off! | ||||||
| 2. Make Sure Your Equipment Is In Good Order | ||||||
| So now we've gotten the mindset we want to win. We can't possible give ourselves a chance of doing well if our bikes are no good. I'm not saying we all need the latest, most expensive equipment. Just make sure the things are well enough maintained and prepared so they start reliably, run smooth and are safe. It is impossible to enjoy a nights racing if our machine typically takes a lap of the track pushing before it splutters into life. And equally important, it is impossible to ride a speedway bike well if it does not run smooth with good throttle response. No misfiring is A MUST! If you can't figure it out yourself, find a friend in the know in the speedway fraternity and get them to look at it. Have confidence when you unload the machine on racenight that it will work well. And don't forget to check those brakes! | ||||||
| 3. Get Yourself Physically Fit | ||||||
| It is SUPER important that speedway riders are fit. "The race only lasts a minute", you may hear people say. Then I ask you this, "Is a 100 meter sprint athlete any less fit than a marathon runner?" The answer is no. Anyone involved in sport should keep themselves as fit as their daily schedule allows. This becomes even more important when you reach the twilight of your speedway racing career. Joints and muscles are typically less flexible when the body ages and so the chances of injury rises dramatically with age. The other factor here in Canada is the heat and humidity. It's unusual if we are not racing in 90 Degrees of heat and 95% relative humidity. With wearing leathers and all the other protective equipment, the heat itself can be a major drain on the body's energy levels on racenight. Building muscle is not the correct type of fitness regime for speedway. Cardiovascular fitness and suppleness are the important factors. During the off season I work out 40 minutes per day on an elliptical trainer in my basement (excellent low impact workout for my old injury-ridden body) and then do some push-ups and sit-ups every night. I also do a lot of stretching exercises to give myself a chance of bending rather than breaking when I crash. During the racing season, riding the bike is training enough. Actually there is absolutely no substitute for practice and becoming "bike fit". Give yourself a chance to win by being fit enough to hang on without becoming dangerously tired. | ||||||
| 4. Stay Focussed On Race Nights | ||||||
| Difficult to comment on this as I'm sure it's different for everyone. All I know is that if I'm not totally focussed before each race, then my result usually suffers accordingly. We all have our own mental preparation before a race. Make sure you take time out to go through your routines and get in the right frame of mind. However, that word of caution again, the people around you are your friends and loved ones and they are usually there to help. Don't become so selfish that it upsets them. Again, I am speaking from personal experience here and it's still something I need to concentrate on. It's that fine balance again. Make sure everyone enjoys their speedway experience, but get your racing head on! | ||||||
| 5. Have The Support Of People Around You | ||||||
| This is incredibly important for me as I try to go quicker and quicker, and by doing so take more risks. We all have responsibilities to our families and friends. I am the first one to accept that speedway is probably not the ideal sport to be doing whilst trying to contribute to a family, pay the mortgage etc. It is therefore very important (to me anyway) that I have the support of my family to go and try harder in my racing. It's not just the risk of injury either. It's all the money that gets poured into the sport for little or no return. It represents a huge financial commitment, one which many of us can ill afford. I am very thankful I have the support of two sponsors for this season which has certainly made the financial side of things easier. But knowing that your family are at the sidelines cheering you on and wanting you to win is the greatest help of all to me. | ||||||
| So, I hope my words above are interesting. As I said they are based on my personal beliefs and experiences and I certainly don't want to be seen as "preaching" to anyone. However, I'm sure that anyone that rides or supports a rider will agree with, or be able to relate to at least some of the comments. Give me a call or drop me an e-mail if you agree or disagree with things I've said. Anyone who wants further information on how to be a speedway rider might want to check out Stan Bradbury's excellent book published on the CSRA website (see my "Links Page" to get there). | ||||||
| COMMIT TO THE TURN, THAT'S THE KEY! |
| Many people say a speedway race is won or lost at the gate. In other words, whoever gets out of the gate first wins. I have to admit, there are a fair number of races where that seems to hold true. A speedway race is so short that there simply isn't enough time to work out how you are going to pass the rider in front of you, let alone actually make the move. |
| So we have established that the gate is very important in the likely outcome of the race, and that's certainly an area of my riding which needs improvement. However there is another part of riding a speedway race which is even more important than the gate. It's also much more difficult to get right! I'm talking about the transition from straightaway to corner. This is by far and without doubt what separates a good speedway rider from a bad one. |
| If you have the nerve (and ability) to hold the throttle on down the straightaway and commit to the slide into the turn without backing off the power before the rear wheel breaks loose, you hold the key to going quickly, and being able to pass others. I know this is the area I must improve dramatically on this coming season if I am going to survive as anything other than an "alsoran" in the highly competitive division 1. |
| The ability to do this better than others not only keeps your average speed around the track up, it allows you to close on riders in front of you as they themselves enter the turn. It's the only way I've found so far to set yourself up for a passing move. I'm speaking from limited experience in my Division 2 exploits last year, but it's something I felt "coming" and it felt right. I just need to improve on it. |
| So, I'm not really worthy to be giving advice or tips as I'm not top flight (yet), but I will say to anyone who is learning the art of riding a speedway bike, go quicker into the turn and see what happens! |
| One noticeable thing is that the youngsters seem to be able to achieve this much easier than those of us comparitively late entering the sport. The truth is, it's 75% down to nerve and 25% down to ability! (I was going to say it was 75% down to "balls"... but I must remember our female riders too)! The youngsters know no fear. I do. |