- May 18, 2017
Some time ago I signed up for a motorcycle circuit training. Was originally going to take place at the motorcycle practice circuit of the Dutch police force, but due to COVID-19 that has been shut down and the organization I booked with offered me an alternative: go to the F1 circuit of Zandvoort instead, at no added cost. Yes please, where do I sign?!
So this was a guided track riding experience with coaching. There were various groups of differing speed and experience levels. Having never ridden on a track, I signed up for a beginner group. We got 4 sessions of 15 minutes each with 15 minutes of coach feedback in-between each session. I was kind of nervous, not sure what to expect. At first, I felt the pace was kind of fast but after the first two laps or so, I got into it and I started feeling comfortable.
We never went really fast (top on the straights didn't peak above 130kmh or so, but this allowed us to work on the technique a bit (body position). As the sessions progressed, I felt things could go a bit faster, but not everyone in my group kept up when pace did increase so that held things a bit back. There were really fast groups as well mind, but there were good rules about overtaking/being overtaken by groups so that went really smooth.
Anyway, looking from the outside in, it may not seem like much (especially when you look at the pics which are decidedly not knee-down 😅) but at moments it felt like I was flying 😄
Definitely gonna sign up for another one of these, in a slightly faster group (got the feedback I was ready for a faster group, so yeah). I can recommend doing something like this to anyone. Riding on a track is so unlike riding in traffic, it's amazing. And one of these guided training events really takes away the uncertainty and scariness of a track for a beginner like me.
Fish & chips at the Zandvoort seaboard afterwards
So this was a guided track riding experience with coaching. There were various groups of differing speed and experience levels. Having never ridden on a track, I signed up for a beginner group. We got 4 sessions of 15 minutes each with 15 minutes of coach feedback in-between each session. I was kind of nervous, not sure what to expect. At first, I felt the pace was kind of fast but after the first two laps or so, I got into it and I started feeling comfortable.
We never went really fast (top on the straights didn't peak above 130kmh or so, but this allowed us to work on the technique a bit (body position). As the sessions progressed, I felt things could go a bit faster, but not everyone in my group kept up when pace did increase so that held things a bit back. There were really fast groups as well mind, but there were good rules about overtaking/being overtaken by groups so that went really smooth.
Anyway, looking from the outside in, it may not seem like much (especially when you look at the pics which are decidedly not knee-down 😅) but at moments it felt like I was flying 😄
Definitely gonna sign up for another one of these, in a slightly faster group (got the feedback I was ready for a faster group, so yeah). I can recommend doing something like this to anyone. Riding on a track is so unlike riding in traffic, it's amazing. And one of these guided training events really takes away the uncertainty and scariness of a track for a beginner like me.
Fish & chips at the Zandvoort seaboard afterwards