Getting Great

We all want to be faster, but to become great (quick, precise, consistent, and repeatable), you have to have a plan and commit to it.

As time goes on and I continue to work on my own riding, I’m finding that the true greats in this sport (and any discipline, really) are those who have explicit goals, passion, and are exhaustively focused on improvement. People chasing a lap time may be able to do it by pushing themselves beyond their comfort zone and might get that lap time once or twice. All too often though I see people who do that without really focusing on technique and often times it results in them falling down. People who just say ‘I want to be able to get to 1:50 at Thunderhill’ are doing the same thing as saying ‘I want to be rich!’ To do either, you have to build a pathway.

I’ve been following a drummer on YouTube by the name of El Estepario Siberiano and he has some amazing skill. He’s best known for his shorts on YT but I recently watched a Drum Beats Online video discussing his ‘secrets.’ One bit that really hit home and made me pay attention and is completely parallel to high performance riding/driving and most anything.

This nugget is SO true. This is more than nodding and smiling politely, this is consistently thinking about it, working on exercises and any other kind of training when you’re not at the track. I frequently see top level MotoAmerica racers training on 400s at the same kart track I like to ride; when you’re driving your car to work or the grocery store, experiment with your brake graph, work on minimizing off throttle-off brake time, work on your throttle builds, etc.

In this screenshot, you can replace ‘drummers’ with whatever it is that you’re working to improve on.

This is a tough one. I grew up in a household where we didn’t celebrate the success of others, we tended to be skeptical or assume that they had an unfair advantage. That may sometimes be the case but celebrating success of others is a huge part of intellectual and emotional maturity. This is a fundamental way of thinking and for me, coming from the opposite, it’s an ongoing change in the way I think about things. Someone’s faster than you and does it well? Outstanding, use that for inspiration. The people who can consistently perform well, be it at a race pace or the first time they hop on a new bike or go to a new track, these are the people I want to be like.

Have you ever been on track and get passed by someone who misses apexes and their general technique is questionable? Don’t use that as a source of inspiration. All too often I’ve seen that happen and 4 corners later I see them at the base of a cloud of dust. Have you been passed by a professional national level racer and been able to keep them in sight for 2 or 3 corners? You may have noticed that they’re probably riding clean, hitting apexes, and still gapping you. That’s the inspiration you want to look for if you want to keep doing this and doing it without falling down.

Moving along in the video it goes on to discuss unreasonable expectations. While Esterpario’s videos are primarily 40 second long YT Shorts, the examples he records may take 9 hours of practice and 80+ takes (which he discloses), and this is from someone who is already exceptionally skilled. How does this relate to riding? A properly skilled rider seldom just ‘happens.’ They’ve put in thousands of laps working on their craft and what you’re witnessing is the culmination of their training and practice.

Another thing to keep in mind—you may work with a high-level professional coach and they may point out something where they see a significant opportunity that’s within your grasp. Don’t think that you’re going to get that completely mastered or even become proficient in a day or two at the track, it may be a season-long endeavor to get it down. If you go to a two-day track school, unless you’re just beginning, don’t think that you’re going to go out and set a pace 10 seconds off the lap record on your next outing (unless you’re already only 11 seconds off it). You’ll leave the school with a couple of things that are most applicable to you and your riding and then you’re going to have to practice those things for most of the season. All of this takes time. I’d love to tell you there are silver bullets but this stuff is complicated and so much of it is mental.

I’m no drummer but I enjoy the drumming videos. What I really liked about this video is that in explaining a truly excellent drummer, maybe a 1/3 of it was about technique but the bulk of becoming excellent is the approach, mindset, and commitment. This is true of drumming, as well as riding or driving well (and consistently). To do anything well requires proper commitment and mindful practice.