Corners

I am reading this article on cornering and found this:

Before entering the corner, you should have the correct speed, be in the correct gear, and have the throttle (slightly) turned on. Then you lean in, and you stay in the outside of the corner.

I didn't realize the throttle should be ON going INTO the turn, but as soon as I read it, it made sense. I couldn't help but think this would make a big difference in cornering smoothness and accuracy. I have been turning the throttle in while I was in the turn, since I started to ride. 

I went for a two hour cruise through some of Southcentral PA's back roads and the difference was immediately noticeable. Smoother, and I also felt a lot more confident. 

 

Ducati: Up in Da Club

One of the toughest parts of my job is the road time. It is not unusual to put on 300-500+ miles per week. This time of year, I can do a lot of that by motorcycle, getting in to the office early, suiting up (yes, I stiill wear a suit and tie) and tagging a colleague to drive to client meetings for the day.

This week, we had presentations at the Lehigh Valley Country Club in Allentown, PA. I took the highway up to the Club and got some looks as I rolled up the long lane to the parking area. I am guessing they don't get a lot of motorcycles in the Club?

I went to the event, mixed, mingled, networked, then hopped on for the best part: the ride home. When I do this, I will get off the higway (I-78) quickly, then try to find a good road home. I look for a fairly good-sized, asphalt (there are still more than a few dirt roads in PA, but that's a ride for another day) road that is heading the direction I want to go, in this case, West.

We have had rain in PA for nearly one-month straight, and the result is subtropical greenery. The entire center (centre for my international readers) of the state is a gorgeous, deep emerald, and it makes for great scenery with the surrounding mountains through which I rode today. The deep (Penn State) blue sky offered an additional focus point.

There are a lot of corners on these roads, many of them quite severe, and it reminded me of how much more I need to learn, but also how far I have come. Long sweepers, and even more abrupt turns, where I can see the exit point are good for me. I look all the way through the turn and the bike glides effortlessly around the turn. I am also learning to read the contours and signs of the road (following the line of the telephone poles through the trees, watching the vanishing point in turns to see if it's decreasing radius).

But, blind turns still make me a little nervous, I find that I go into some turns too hot, and my lines are not at all clean, worse still on the sharper turns. I am trying to practice each of these, and more riding has been a good start. I think the other key is more deliberate riding, focusing on each of these things specifically and intently.