4th Round Inxon Printing Series De Wildt on the 28th May 2011

The 4^th Round of the Inxon Printing Series was held at De Wildt on the 28^th May 2011, Having missed the three previous ones, I decided that I could not miss out on this one, and with it being held at De Wildt I just had to enter to see what all the fuss is about.   I must congratulate the organisers with both the pre-registrations as well as on the day registration, the setup is well organised and runs exceptionally smooth.   There was no waiting in long lines.  It took me a whole of 2 seconds to collect my race documentation.  Well done guys and girls!  My only suggestion would be to put up signs indicating where the registration caravan is parked.  In total 277 bikes entered and 116 quads.

Seeding depends on previous races and at the speed you get your entries in on.   This being my first race I had to start right at the back from row 55. I started in 273 place and finished 9^th in the ladies class and 230^th overall.

The course consisted of 3 laps of almost 60 kms each.  Its a tough, challenging and not too technical route,  with plenty of twists and turns through bush, river beds and trees.   I often overshot sharp turns due to severe dust.  Once in the riverbed you can recover from the dusty sections and this is where I made up most of my time and managed to catch up some of the riders that were ahead of me on the starting grid.  Having a 125 2t made it easier for me to negotiate the thick riversand and rocky sections.    

Route markings seemed to be the problem of the day, this was not the fault of the organisers.  The locals must have found it amusing to remove the markings and then to watch us poor idiots at the rear of the pack getting horribly lost and riding around in circles.  However the organisers were ontop of their game and on my second lap all the markings were back in place and there were no more excuses for getting lost.  

If you’re a keen racer then the Inxon series is a must.  Just be warned bike fitness is essential. 

Want To Rail Rutted Corners And Berms Like A Motocross Pro?

Of all the passing maneuvers executed in a motocross race, the majority are done in corners so learning to corner properly is a crucial skill. Just follow these tips and you'll be the berm master at your local motocross track.


As you approach a corner be looking well ahead, the entry to most corners will be rough with braking bumps so try to pick the smoothest entry line.


You should be standing up in the attack position to brake effectively and also to allow your legs and arms to soak up some of the bumps.
As you finish braking move smoothly into the cornering position in one fluid movement, that is with your inside leg out and forward to weight the front wheel.


Never lock your knee and try to keep your foot parallel to the ground to allow it to skim along. Keep your toes pointing ahead, if you let your foot turn out or in and it catches on a rock or some other obstacle on the track you'll give your knee an awesome tweak, trust me it hurts!


With your leg out weighting the front wheel also put as much weight as you can on the outside footpeg, this is especially important on flat and off camber turns.
As you're in the corner you should be looking through the corner picking the exit line you want to follow.


One of the tips to remember when cornering in motocross is 'steady in, fast out', brake as late as possible but stay in control as you enter the turn.


The fastest line through a corner will usually be a sweeping line across the apex similar to a road racers but this line can leave you vulnerable to an inside pass if you have a rider right behind you. In that case a better line would be tighter and closer to the inside of the corner so as to not leave an opening.


Corners can be roughly divided into 3 types - bermed, smooth and rutted.


Berms.
Berms come in all shapes and sizes and because you can carry more speed through them, so many motocross riders instinctively head to the berm. Whilst cornering around the berm can quite often be faster, particularly in wet conditions when traction is hard to find, a lot of the time the inside line around a motocross track whilst feeling slower will actually be quicker.


Take a good look at the berm, does the corner have a wide apex meaning is it a long way out to the berm from the inside of the corner? The extra corner speed you carry will be lost if you're travelling 3 times the distance of the guy who took the inside line through the same corner.


Having said that, the fact that berms allow you to lean the bike into them and carry more speed through the corner means that you can get a good flow happening from one corner to the next.
The steeper the angle of the berm the more you can lean the bike into it.


The best line is usually to enter the berm high and then turn and drive down the face as you exit. Stay smooth through the berm, squaring off by locking the back wheel to slide it around and then driving down the face is slower than holding a smooth flowing line.


The exception to this is when you need to avoid a rough section on the outside of the berm where you would normally exit or if you need to square up your line to get good drive to a jump straight after the berm.


Squaring off in berms can be good for block passes, these are done by outbraking the rider in front of you and taking the inside line into the berm and going under the rider you want to pass, brake slide your back wheel onto the higher line on the berm and the rider who is now behind you will have to brake or take evasive action to avoid hitting you from behind.


You probably won't make a lot of friends at motocross races with block passes but they are an acceptable, legitimate form of passing.

Smooth Corners.Because of the neutral or off camber in smooth flat corners, body positioning on a motocross bike is crucial to get the most traction and drive. As you finish braking for the corner slide forward into the cornering position on the bike.

This should be seated with your inside leg out towards the front wheel. You should be up on the corner of the seat so that as the bike is leaning over for the turn your body is still vertical. Lean heavily on the outside footpeg, this will help weight the bike for increased traction.

Look through the corner and aim for the line that you want to exit on. Once you pass the apex of the corner you should be accelerating just enough that both wheels of the bike are starting to drift. Exercise good throttle control, because flat corners have so little traction it's very easy to be over-zealous with the throttle and have the rear wheel step out.

As you exit the corner, straighten the bike up to get better traction and increase the amount of throttle.

Rutted Corners.Cornering in ruts takes a combination of skill and confidence. Ruts psyche out so many motocross riders because the technique requires the rider to allow the rut to steer the bike. Because of this learning to corner well in ruts can make a huge difference to your lap times.

Entering the rut is the most important part of the whole process, dropping into a rut partway through a corner certainly is not the best option.
Again brake hard into the corner and approach the entry to the rut at a steady pace. Enter the rut with your weight forward, your elbows up and your head over the cross brace, lean with the bike into the rut weighting the outside peg.

Allow the rut to steer the bike, if you try to fight it the front wheel will climb out and you'll get out of shape. As you pass the apex of the rut start accelerating, the more speed you can carry through the more centrifugal force you'll exert on the bike causing it to really stick in the rut and allowing you to accelerate hard out.

Look through the turn and focus on the exit, not down over the front guard. As you exit the rut the bike will start to sit up and you can accelerate harder into the straight. Practice really is the key to cornering in ruts, with confidence the whole process becomes so much quicker and easier.



Extracted from - motocross racing tips.com

14th May - Round 3 Northern Regionals MX - Dirt Bronco's

Bike used :- Honda CR125 2003


The day started off bad.  What's the first thing they tell you when you race - do not be late as this adds to the stress of the day.  Well try being an hour late - it really makes the stress of the day worse.  Luckily we had Gary from Dirt Bike Fanatics as pit support  and he was already there and all set up.  (Thanx Gary)


The race track was perfectly prepped yet again well done guys.


There were quite a few new faces.  The ladies class just keeps getting bigger and better at every race.


My starts are still not getting any better and I have a fear of them so badly that I cannot even think of them.  I practise starts and ace them but when it comes to race day its as if I forget all about the training and practise sessions and I end up getting the starts all wrong.  This phenomena stills remains unexplained to me.


The girls have definately improved their riding, training and hardwork paid off.  I however seem to be getting worse.  Not sure if I was just having a bad day or if age is now becoming a factor.   Lets just not mention the age lets just say that the girls are getting better and that they have worked hard and trained hard. 


Alecia fed me carrots from her carrot spewing machine.  Alecia has improved her riding by bounds and leaps - I'm so impressed with her.  She has managed to get her riding style down to a fine art.  She looks comfortable on the bike.   Well done girl!     However shame and sorry for you but I'm still one place ahead on the points.  Mmmm best you get cracking cause I'm only one point ahead.   So I'm still holding on to 5th place overall - I'm impressed with myself, but this might not be for long as the points are not far apart. 


 Well done girls.