Shaken

[NinjaBob]

Did a track day at Nola Motorsports yesterday on the YZF R3. Was a hugh turnout and especially in my class, Intermediate, with a lot of out town riders I had not seen before at Nola. I'm used to getting passed a lot on the R3 most are on 600 or litre bikes and there are several straights for safe passing. But on the first session after lunch there were several close passes in the corners. I decided to call it a day, as I was getting exhausted and hurting anyway. I packed up and headed home. Today I see this on FB
http://www.theadvocate.com/new_orleans/news/article_ef9ac082-22bd-11e7-8524-ef0bc9103737.html

[RIDEMYST]

Dang sorry to see that. -JEP-


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Patmo]

Hate to see this happen, may the young man RIP and may his family and friends find comfort. 

I am a firm believer that we need to listen to our inner voice sometimes.  I did the same thing as the OP did one time.  Was at a track day at Mid Ohio and called it quits early because I just didn't feel comfortable with some of the other riders.  Nothing dramatic happened after I left, but I'm still glad I left when I did.

[NinjaBob]

88 riders yesterday. Nola runs a great, safe track day but 88 is too many. They had several really good control riders but no way they can keep tabs on 88 riders.

[Brick]

Whoa! Glad you are ok Bob! That is a bummer.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Outlaws Justice]

R.I.P to the rider, I agree 88 is a lot to watch that is almost 30 per group.


NinjaBob, not to sound harsh but why if you get passed so much with the 300 did you not run in the slower group? I personally pick the slower group so I am not getting passed and being a rolling road block for others, I could ride faster and some say I can ride in B, but I am there for fun, not to race and I get what I want from C group.

[NinjaBob]

R.I.P to the rider, I agree 88 is a lot to watch that is almost 30 per group.


NinjaBob, not to sound harsh but why if you get passed so much with the 300 did you not run in the slower group? I personally pick the slower group so I am not getting passed and being a rolling road block for others, I could ride faster and some say I can ride in B, but I am there for fun, not to race and I get what I want from C group.

That is a good point and I did consider it and may try it in the future. The potential problem is that C group is geared for novices, instructional and heavily regulated. I am friends with the lead instructor however and will discuss with him and see what he says.

There  were 3 other 300s in intermediate and I did have fun riding with them. A large part of the problem was the large group. Previous track days there were only 14 or 16 intermediates and getting passed  was not a problem.

[stevegrab]

Based on the comments on the story sounds like the press did their usual bang up job (and hatchet job on MC crashes noting how dangerous they are are) but has since been updated to more accurate and less sensational since.

I agree on trusting your gut, be it a track day or a street ride. Recall once one of our guys showed up to breakfast, said he didn't feel right then got pulled over by LEO on the way. Bowed out gracefully and went home. Nothing ominous happened later, but who's to say what may have.

[doug mcpeek]

Bad ending, but the rest of the story sounds familiar.

Every "Idiot" group I was ever in, EXCEPT at NESBA track days, was chaos.  The last one featured "instructors" who were too busy practicing for racing to ride herd.  NESBA has more instructors in the "Idiot" group than others and they follow you back to the pits with feedback.

[NinjaBob]

The fatal crash actually happened in the advanced group, which is usually CMRA racers and some veteran locals.THis time there was a group of friends from Houston riding in advanced and I have heard they were "racing" each other, which is not allowed. The crash occurred between two of these friends. NOLA open track days actually run a pretty good operation with lots of regulation and instruction for the novice group and control riders who provide guidance and feedback in all groups. I think the main problem last week was the huge turnout. Almost twice as many riders as any previous track day I've attended.

[HawkGTRider]

Ken Condon, who ran the MSTA/COG track day down at JenningsGP in February, is also an instructor for Tony's Track Days up in the Northeast. I believe I remember him saying their events were a break-even proposition with riders numbering in the low 80s. More than that and they might make a little extra. NOLA's track day may not be as expensive as a track in the NE, but the numbers you're talking about don't seem that far out of line for many track day events.

[NinjaBob]

NOLA has some outside providers running track days occasionally but the ones I have been attending are In-House. So they don't have to pay for track rental and they only schedule when the track is not rented. And I believe the control riders work for track time. Prior to the April 15 date we never had more than 50 riders.  But they did tell us in January we needed to increase attendance if we wanted more dates.

[wardie]

NinjaBob I have attended track day at Jennings and the Keith Code Superbike school both very well run but very different but safe.

With 88 riders it's very hard to see everything around you especially coming up from behind. I don't know with that many riders if I would feel safe because I would be concentrating on getting better at a couple of things not necessarily in race mode so it's understandable when your head says time to go better listen. I did not listen to myself one day at Mid Ohio. I was  tired but wanted to get in a couple of last laps and went out tired and hot. I went off at about 80 and was very fortunate to save the bike and my bones.

To this day when I do get tired whether street or track I come off unless I am on an LD Run and just have to get there by a certain time...good points all. Wardie

[NinjaBob]

Jennings was great fun and felt real safe with mostly old ,  mature riders all on similar bikes and only about 15 in our group!