Advanced Clinic Wrap
This past weekend we hosted riders of all ages and abilities at the Driveway with our Advanced Skills Clinic. There were riders from Houston, North Texas and a current Worlds (Jr.) medalist, all living and playing happily with each other and aiming to polish their skills with the season looming ahead.
The weather, for a second day in a row of clinic activities, was beautiful, sunny, and warming quickly. We began the day with a challenging cornering drill wherein we suffered our one and only mechanical of the day, a rolled tubular tire. Luckily rider and equipment emerged intact and would successfully complete the morning’s activities. It was a reminder to everyone how important it is to know the limitations of your equipment when mishaps are small and isolated before jumping into a mass start where the stakes are higher.
Joey Carves It Up
When the morning dew burned off the Driveway infield, we headed into our patented Circles of Death where we practice bumping and low speed balance. The most entertaining thing each year is watching some of the kamikaze junior riders wreak havoc amongst some of the more “mature” riders only to be beaten out by the latter group’s studied and deliberate approach. Slow and steady wins the race? Not usually in a bike race but definitely the case in this drill.
Lawdog Lays Down
After that we threw shoes back on and practiced bumping each other on pavement this time… No actualy that’d be a terrible idea. We then did a favorite drill that pairs up chaos and feedzones, two things that go together as naturally as babies and pacifiers. There were some slapped bottles and a few discarded bottles that were pedaled over (green energy drink guts splashing accross the tarmac) but in the end I think our attendees were better prepared to safely take that single, crucial feed in the middle of Ft Davis stage race or Copperas Cove Classic in the dead heat of June.
This bottle lived to see the bottle cage
Then the most anticipated part of the day… when I would divulge the secret to winning every single sprint our attendees would ever enter. Without further ado, the secret as captured by photography for the first and only time ever…
Know this, Win Sprint
That’s right, the number four. I guess you’d have to be there to know what it means and how to unleash it against your competitors. The second half of the clinic we did a number of race simulations and even a full-blown mini-race dominated by Lawson but much more importantly won in sweeping fashion by Metro VW’s Todd Farrell and Will Rader. You’ll have to join us next year or on a Wednesday night at the Driveway (details coming soon) to get the rest of the details from the morning.
Thanks a milli to Kevin Schaefer for his beautiful images and again being our Graham Watson, only way fitter and less bald. Enjoy a few more pictures from the second half of the morning.
Wheeler, Resident Cornering Instructor
Bill Neale 007
If the Ladies are smiling, we're smiling
Lady Haga taught the youngsters how to Post Up
January 20th, 2010 at 9:48 pm
The (m)8-finger post up.
March 8th, 2010 at 3:12 pm
[...] In collaboration with DLA Piper (aka Paul Hurdlow) and Holland Racing we’re pleased to announce the DLA Piper Beginner’s Program at Driveway Austin on select Wednesday evenings throughout 2010. The Beginner Program will mimic the skills portion of our January cycling clinic, albeit in a more compact, 90-minute format. We’ll offer varying cycling skills and tactics exercises at each of the Beginner Programs to encourage repeat participation. If you want to learn the basics of bike racing before participating in your first mass start event, or if you’re a seasoned vet but want to hone up on some skills, come on out. If you have a friend that’s new to racing, please send ‘em our way as well. You can learn more about the DLA Piper Beginner’s Program Schedule and see the schedule by visiting, drivewayseries.com. Read more about our January skills clinics, here. [...]