I just got back from taking Jason Pridmore’s Star Motorcycle School at Spring Mountain (located in lovely Pahrump, Nevada). I went up there with the usual suspects from my other rides here in SoCal and it was really nice to have a group of friends to take the course with.
I started out the weekend in the “Street Group” but my best day was the second when I ran with the”Advanced Group”. I was, frankly, somewhat apprehensive about running in the fast group because I didn’t want to hold everyone up. But I decided that in order to learn more (which is what I signed up for) that I needed to follow some fast guys and cue off what they were doing. Humility is a great teacher in my experience.
Miles gave me great advice on the first day about turn 8 (this one was a nice right hander at the end of a decent straight but led into a really tight left) which was to carry as much speed as I wanted to into it and initiate my slowing at the end of that turn as I transition into that left. I followed Miles and one of the instructors (who was on a B-King) for my first session and what an eye-opener that was! I found that you really could carry much more corner speed which allowed me to actually make a smoother transition into that left (I no longer had to think about turn 8 and could concentrate on that sharp left). This actually allowed me to sorta catch up to some of those who passed me in the straight. I made one session in the street group that day because we missed ours waiting to ride with Jason Pridmore and that technique was something that was not being practiced in that group which meant I probably would not have learned it if I stayed in that level.
I ended up really working on each turn individually. Practicing my lines, trying new ones. Which, was one downfall about the weekend. I am at a certain level in my riding in which I am comfortable with the bike and comfortable with going fast leaned over so most of what I learned was specific to Spring Mountain as opposed to generic riding. That is not to say that I could not apply these techniques to other tracks or to my street riding. Instead it meant that I never once had this epiphany of knowledge in which all became clear.
The school was good. This is the second formal school I have taken. The first was Keith Code’s school two years ago. Both had their advantages and disadvantages. One thing that I really liked about KC’s school was the one on one attention that you received from it. At Star you really had to seek one of the instructors out. When they did talk to me they really were not critical enough about my riding. The curriculum was also a little more structured in KC than it was in Star. Star was all open track sessions and you could bump from level to level without needing permission or showing any improvement in skill (i.e. it was the honor system). One thing that I saw the street group not doing was looking through the turn and at where they wanted to go. Many riders that I saw were concentrating on the road directly in front of them which gave them less time to react to what was happening. I definitely feel that is one thing that should have been pressed a little more. But, I liked the casual atmosphere and the price was not bad ($625). I am not sure I would take another Star school class simply because the format did not work as well for me but I think that a lot of folks learned a lot and it is a great introduction to track riding.
Overall it was a great weekend and I had a great time. But it ended on a bit of a sour note. On my last lap of the day my bike suddenly died mid-turn. Luckily it was at the last turn right by the pit entrance so I did not need to walk the bike far but it was frustrating to me. Now I gotta take the bike back to the shop (it just completed it’s 30k service) to find out what is wrong. Well, that is the way of Ducati sometimes….
