Yorick wrote: ↑Tue Aug 25, 2020 11:17 pm
Did you take Woodlands flat stick ?
Yeah, of course
Yorick wrote: ↑Tue Aug 25, 2020 11:19 pm
On a more serious note @Bigyin , after dragging us out of gravel traps for many years, did finally getting on track show you just how fast the top lads are ?
I always knew that even without getting on track having played as an F1 sidecar passenger and the speed differential from road to track but i see what you mean. There were 3 or 4 guys out in Novice who were waaaay above that level and probably at top Inters/low Fast group including a Desmo racer. I could see as they passed me the difference in speed as well as confidence and the ability to pick and choose their lines to pass other riders when i was taking a lap or 2 to find a spot that i was comfortable passing someone without stuffing it up the inside or causing someone else grief.
The fast guys just got on with it and no scary passes as far as i could see and they gave me enough room i was ok with even on the closest passes. My only issues were with riders who were a little slower than me and moving about on lines when i was about to try and pass, especially into the braking area for the hairpin at the end of the straight as i felt i was having to brake early and gentler to avoid other riders but with more experience could have left it later and harder.
On a proper sports bike i might have been quicker but i think the big all purpose bike i have commuted on, toured on and taken off road did quite good on the track as well
Bigyin makes a good point about proper quick people in Novice, if their any good they pass you with no dramas (usually on a CB500), I'm at the quicker end of Novice, and it takes me ages to overtake, especially if the person I'm trying to pass is on a powerful bike (with 60bhp I don't pass much on the straight), I dither around looking for a spot and end up diving underneath someone on the brakes or accelerating out of the corner quicker than them (only for them to come back past me once I'm flat out at about 130mph).
If I go up to Inters I feel like I'm a mobile chicane, so I stay in Novice where I'm enjoying myself and give people tons of room.
Was great to see the regulars again and some new faces. Big shout once again to Steve and Ceri for putting it all together. Was always going to be a bit different without the traditional Saturday night BBQ ( Piss up..) but my wife and I had a very pleasant evening in the Premier Inn with you all. It was nice to have a chat, catch up with old times, away from the circuit.
I'm pleased to see the feedback on the 3 x 20 format - to be honest we knew it was a formula that would work even without the COVID stuff but the general opinion from all the riders is ''bring it on, let's have some more''. We'll have a chat about it over the winter and even taking into account the general UK Trackday market is a little false at the moment, it may be a direction that PBTD's will go down for 2021 and leave the volume market to the likes of NL and MSV. The main stumbling block will be the availability of 2021 dates from Pembrey - we need a lot more weekend's to cater for our normal overall seasonal numbers so we'll have to wait and see on that one. We have already had discussions with Pembrey on this and they are extremely happy with the format as it stands. I also believe we have to build some more ''value'' into our days so will give that some further thought.
And so to the subject of Garages. They are big enough to accomodate 60 riders / 3 x 20 event and in theory they could be a goer, but it's not that simple. I have a number of concerns - the sight lines of the Pit Road / proximity to Honda Curve and the ability of our customers to handle a ''Live Pit Lane'' situation. And, of course the cost. At the moment the ''hire cost'' would not be viable. Finally it would be impractical to half the riders in the traditional paddock and some in the garages - so we're either All In or All Out.
A couple of other topics :
''On Line'' Signing On will be the new norm for all UK TD companies and will continue. Ours is a very basic system and we're already looking at modifying it as we come up against some new situations. I'd like to get some ''Audio Files'' done over winter and some video clips. The main current problems are riders leaving it to the last minute / not bothering to Sign On and Riders clearly not reading the information. Considering the efforts to get this up and running and me having to rite it all out ( and get it all cleared with the authorities ) it really winds me up and several riders have had a stern word. We've now adopted the procedure that if it's not done a wrist band is not issued until 10.00am so they have to sit the first session out.
We've asked 3 riders to leave - as they had brought their children with them. One had come from Cornwall ! Not a nice situation. I did feel for the kids - with Dad trying to pull as fast one.
Riders in the wrong group - always a problem and with only 20 riders on track it helps a bit / and doesn't as they stick out ! I have heard of of Booking system that highlights - looking at your trading history / your normal group is full / if u book a different group / it flags it up - so will look at that.
Marshalls are working on the Assembly releasing'' situation to solve the grouping up sinario so its work in progress.
We're back again this Friday and Saturday - 3 weekends of TD's - on the bounce - never been done before and I'm certainly feeling it !
Anyway - that's enough from me
Ta for coming, ride safe and see you all again.
Alan.
PS Ta to Yorick for the ''Pembrey Circuit guide'' if you don't mind I'd like to nick it !
Alan PBTD wrote: ↑Wed Aug 26, 2020 8:48 pm
Evening All
Riders in the wrong group
Told you i was in the right group in Novice ...... this time
Thanks for making my first time out to play go smoothly and was interesting over a beer to hear the other side of the coin from the organisers point of view
