wsRadio Las Vegas Interviews
Julian Taylor - Publisher - AllAboutBikes.com
Assumptions shattered.
When Julian Taylor suggested we meet at the Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, I thought it would be a great opportunity for us to catch up on what's been going on in our busy lives for the past few years.
What I didn't expect on this visit was to be completely taken in and mesmerized by a sport that was unfamiliar and almost foreign to me.
I soon realized that the few assumptions I brought with me to the Monterey Peninsula about Superbike Racing were completely inaccurate.
What I discovered was a complex and graceful sport that requires its participants to have a working knowledge of physics that would make Sir Isaac Newton proud, the fluid motions of a ballet dancer, and the touch of a brain surgeon to deftly control their high-tech racing machines flying down a straightaway at 150 MPH. But most remarkable to me was the cornering. In the blink of an eye, rapid deceleration entering a hairpin turn creates strong G forces pulling the rider forward toward the handlebars. But then, like a Zen Monk in meditation, they command mind and body to relax and remain completely calm, as their Superbikes lean into the curve at such an extreme angle that their elbows are only inches from the track's surface.
What I saw was part sport and part art form.At the end of each practice session the twenty or so advanced student riders and their Skip Barber instructors glide their KTM superbikes into the pit area, one behind the other, not unlike checking in a rental car at the airport. With helmet in hand, they collectively head for their classroom.
Absent is any sign of emotion, no high fives, no vocal shouts of accomplishment. Each rider understands that emotion creates unwanted adrenaline and perhaps dangerous over-reactions that must be kept in check in preparation for future circuits around the 2.4 mile course that are planned throughout the two day class.
Join me on this special broadcast of Las Vegas Is Talking and meet Julian Taylor, Publisher of AllAboutBikes.com, Eva Mitsche and John Hinz of KTM and the remarkable Jeff Haney, Head Instructor of the Skip Barber School of Racing.
Forget your assumptions....just listen.
Click Below To Listen Now
