from PJ:
My Contribution…. I’ve got alot of experience, both years and miles. I’m by no means an expert, but I feel I’ve gotten pretty good at what I do, and I thought that this might be a good spot to share one of the tips I give to riders who are trying to improve their riding, so here goes:
EVERY ride should be spent working on technique. You should read and study all you can (I recommend Keith Codes’ Twist of the wrist II).
When you get on the bike you should have ONE technique in mind that you need to work on – Looking through the corner, keeping your head up, body position, scanning with your eyes, relaxing your grip on the bars, smooth throttle control, etc, etc..
Work on that technique for that ride, and as many rides as it takes to make it second nature, then shift to another technique till it’s second nature, etc..
No matter how long you’ve ridden and how confident you feel, know what your weakest point is and be working on it for the next ride. A ride that you’re not working on is a wasted ride.
Sometimes riders get caught up trying to ride someone else’s ride, or trying to work on 4 different things at once, then get frustrated by lack of improvement, when all they really need to do is work on ONE technique at a time and they will find overall improvement and understanding through that one at a time method, and eventually find huge gains overall without getting themselves in too deep and while feeling the success of getting better.
Think in your mind right now about what single technique you’ll work on with that next ride, and make a habit of it…