Novice or Intermediate for Barber in April

I'm sure you can run Intermediate. It's going to be a lot of people's first event of the season. We'll all be out there warming up to the track and learning how to ride again. It's been 5 months since I last rode my bike. It's going to take a couple sessions to feel comfortable again. Lol

 

Once in a group..... Stay in the group...

 

I'd say ride intermediate. I just got bumped to advanced late last season but signed up for intermediate because I'm bringing a new to me bike to Barber but I'm sure I would have been fine in advanced and will probably wish I would have (as Marc said) stayed in my group.

 

Ride what you have been riding in.
If you dont feel comfortable in Intermediate, I'm pretty certain you can bump down (if theres a spot.) Coaches and staff would most certainly help you fell comfortable in your class or bump you down if they see its best and safest for everyone.

As long as your smooth and predictable.....you'll be perfectly fine. Ride at your pace.....not anyone elses. Its not Wera, CCS, or another other race org. Go out and have fun. If your predictable and smooth....the faster guy will get around you. Barber is bigger enough for very safe passing.

 

I'm a bit confused. You never said that you were bumped to Intermediate at some point in time during the 4 or so track days that you did last year. So did you get bumped by one of the coaches last year?

 

I was thinking the same thing....but figured that he had the bump or he wouldnt have been able to sign up for "I". (Correct me if Im wrong)

But to say you were one of the fastest guy last outing (and assuming you were in Intermediate) knida weird to be asking about steppping down to N.

 

OK, thanks for the reply. I would suggest staying in the "I" group, but first thing to do is get one of the I coaches to go out and spend some time with you. Follow them at a relaxed pace and learn some good lines are Barber. If you've never been there, and you said you had not, it can be a bit intimidating for a newish rider because of some of the elevation changes and blind corners...... plus you obviously don't know the track yet. Take it at your own pace and be consistent with the lines that you are shown

 

You can ride intermediate or advanced safely with the BUMP as they call it... If you feel a bit timid to ride advance we all understand since we were there at one point as you can imagine. I suggest Asking a coach to ride with you. Those guys love helping people and noticing your improvements. It helps our sport to have more folks like you loving life at track. Just don't let yourself gets spooked when someone comes around you. Get used to it plus realize it's safe people coming around you. What you also want to be careful of and let me explain it this way..... I have racing blood since I grew up racing motocross. When I was in intermediate and someone came around me I got frustrated because someone just passed me. My advice is to not let yourself ride above your head thus allow anxiety to push yourself to hard when someone comes around you. Enjoy the experience and realize with time and more track days you will make small improvements and pass people also safely. Allow yourself to enjoy the small improvements you make each time you go out on track because it's that which our brains crave. In fact the addictive part of riding track is that what our brains find fascinating the small improvements.

A few examples: 1 Body builders see their shoulders or arms get bigger and that fuels their workout. 2 Runners who find it hell to run 2 miles keep doing it because they realize the improvements and find it easier to push to 3 miles (while two miles is easier) Then they push to 4 miles and three miles is easier. We as humans need to push. 3 I ride skate boards and my girl notices me doing the same thing over and over. She does not notice the small improvements (and confidence) I notice. With each time I get better even if she does not notice.

With all this said I don't mean to say that a mild amount of anxiety is not healthy. Remember there is stress and there is distress. If you keep yourself to a healthy amount of anxiety and stress levels you will improve. When someone comes around you simply realize "I can go faster there" or "what tires do they have" or "wow Im slow". As a racer I push myself but seldom to I fell I am over my head....sometimes hydroplaning in the rain into T1 at Barber can be distressful LOL

Plus my tires are so soft and sticky it's easy work to go thru traffic in advance even making the liter bikes look slow on a ZX6.

 

As @VernLux said... show up, grab a coach and spend all the time you need with him/her. Barber is a super fun track to learn as I just learned it last October. my first few laps I was like... "Holy Sh*T, how am I gonna learn this?" by noon I was ticking off some fast laps!

 

I was in a similar situation two years ago. I found that watching some trackday videos on YouTube was very helpful. By the time I went on track I at least knew where the track went, right left, up, down. Also was able to pick up rough reference points from the videos. Go with I group, relax, have fun and wave when you fly by me.

 

I have tried running down a class a few times and found it more frustrating than helpful. I will be new to Barber as well so you won't be the only new one learning the track. I plan to grab a coach as well and am sure there are a few others that wouldn't mind a tow in the morning sessions.

 

I went ahead and contacted Crystal to move me to A group after reading my own reply, lol! The intermediate class was sold out so now there is one spot for Saturday the 19th open, better hurry!