Kelly’s Korner: Changing the Approach to Riding
Last Updated: November 30th, 2020
It’s official: making my dirt bike a supermoto for the track is one of the best riding decisions I’ve made yet.
Remember last fall when I was too afraid of crashing my Triumph to enjoy Horsethief Mile? That all changed in early May. This time, I took my new-to-me Honda CRF 230 outfitted for the track and had more fun than I’ve ever had at a Total Control track clinic. Not worrying about hurting my bike freed me to enjoy the rush of being on the track, and gave me real focus to work on vision and line, and body positioning. I have much practice to do in those areas, and others, but I am so excited to keep doing so without fear of crashing my Street Triple R.
There’s a lot to be said for taking a small, humble bike out amongst the BMWs and Ducatis. For the first time ever, I was passing people (despite riding a woefully underpowered bike, which will not remain the case) and smiling the entire weekend because I was simply having a great time, both on the bike and off.
And that’s what riding should be — fun. The minute I turn being on my bike into a negative competition against myself or feel too much stress, I lose the purity of the experience. The solution I have found is to take a different approach to certain forms of riding. For example, up until this past year, I only rode sport bike on the street and at the occasional track clinic. Now I also ride a dirt bike out in the desert and forests, and on the track. That basic change has made everything about my riding more fun and exciting, and it has bettered my street riding, too. (See last month’s Kelly’s Korner)
I guess the message is that, if we want more out of our riding, we should apply more than one strategy. Of course, that’s just a parallel for living in general, which is another reason why I love riding — it’s full of life lessons.
Get out and ride!
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