Lombardi School, Lev 2: Pocono Raceway 9/4

As I have posted in the Absolute Cycle Forum:


I believe that last Tuesday the launch of the Lev 2 course was a success. I had 3 riders that at the beginning of the day displayed substantial differences in speed and technical skills, but still they looked compatible as group to me. Unfortunately one of them, Rich, had to leave the track after the second session to follow his friend to the hospital, because he had suffered a slight concussion in a crash. With only two students, Tom and Bob, Steven Lombardi and I had the opportunity to put together an extremely intense course. Both, Tom and Bob are motorbike veterans so it was like to teach " new tricks to old dogs". It's definitely easier to instruct someone totally new to bikes than someone with decades of riding under his or her belt. Regardless, I honestly believe that I was able to discover and correct hidden attitudes and frames of mind that were affecting their overall performance. Also, Tuesday I chose to adopt a teaching style where I was explaining: the concept, why it is supposed to be done in such a way and what we try to achieve from a technical point of view. A very intense approach to learn the art of riding that requires physical and mental concentration all through the day by the instructors as well the students. Both riders, Bob and Tom have improved dramatically their riding. By the last session Bob became much more proactive with his body and detailed in dealing with cornering while Tom almost seemed to be another person:by the end of day he was able to create calmness, smoothness and control in his riding. No more fish tailing on the brakes, no more sudden reactions of his front end during the turns, overall a new Tom, capable of being totally in charge of his riding.
Unfortunately my guys were forced to leave the truck a couple of sessions before the end of the day for different personal issues, right after having ridden their best sessions. They looked tired but extremely happy for their achievements. We were able to cover probably only half of the program that I had prepared for the event, but it was OK. The level two course is tailored exactly to the skills and the real needs of each rider so I take the person from where he or she is to escalate my instructing along with his or her improvements. For every topic I have created drills that could be used to facilitate the assimilations of concepts. Obviously every rider is different so there could be a person that can go from point 1 to point 9 of the program in one day vs another one who can only get to the point #5. Regardless, substantial improvements in lowering the lap time and in the technical skills are always guaranteed.
In our school we have always put a lot of passion and joy in instructing, and last Tuesday, even in the Lev 2 course, I feel that we laid out a new milestone for the Lombardi School. As always, you can find good instructors only with good students, so a big and honest thanks goes to Bob, Rich and Tom: you guys made my day.

Ciao,

"Another great event organized by Absolute Cycle, our boutique-style local road racing club" ..... thanks to Roy, Mark and the rest of their crew

Our first PMP girl track rider

Hello everyone,

My name is Krys and I am honored to be the first PMP female track rider. One thing a woman will never tell is her age. I believe age is relative to how you “feel”.
However wisdom and experience are two things I embrace with age.
I am the Service Manager at Global Auto Mall for the last thirteen years. I have 5 car lines. I have been with the company for approx 18 years and have had dealership service experience for the last 22 years. (I started young. Wink wink). My father owned a service/gas station for many years. When I was a little girl, I pumped gas for $2.00-$5.00/day. As time went by, I was managing the shifts at the station. Dad was no dummy. At 17 he had me pumping gas in shorts during the afternoon commute. Thank God he had more class than having me on stage and riding a pole. LOL! No Jerry Springer for me. Being around cars my whole life you’d think I’d be into Nascar.
Even then, I never ever wanted to be one of those provincial women with a conservative if not bigoted attitude.

When I was approx 12 years old, my brother came home with a Honda CR 125. I would sit on it in the basement learning shift patterns. This came easy for me because just a few months earlier, I had a dear uncle teach me how to drive a Toyota with a manual transmission. Not too much later, I was sneaking the CR125 out onto the street.
I eventually became friendly with some people who did trail riding at the Meadowlands landfill and invited myself. I started on I YZ80 and gradually up to a CR250.

Unfortunately, I was on my own at a tender age and was forced into taking on a lot of responsibility and not much room for fun. I had to find my place in the world. I don’t want to bore you so……


Jumping ahead, approx 6 years ago, I met Pete. Pete had a CBR 600 F2 and a Suzuki Bandit. Pete and I work at the same dealership. One day he rode to work. We were chatting and he asked if I knew how to ride. I told him of my earlier days. He handed me the keys and said,” here. Go. “ I instantly became so excited. Pete and I started dating and eventually got married and I became addicted to riding and watching AMA, MotoGp and World Superbike races. I took the MSF course and every bit of free time I had, I was on the bike, becoming better and more confident.

My friends went to Pocono for a track day and took the Lombardi School course. They came back from that day somehow different. I liked what I saw. I wanted it too.

In 2004 I had my first track day with the Robert Lombardi School. I didn’t know what to expect and I was very nervous. The instructors were so knowledgeable, kind, patient and perceptive. By the 3rd session I knew I wanted more, more, and more! I also knew I wanted to be around these people. Positive, helpful, and solid people. I instantly bonded with Rob Lombardi and became friends with him. I followed his career and kept in touch. I also adored Alex and Todd from day 1.

Unfortunately, with my crazy hours at work, I could not be aggressive with my track days and because of my job, I lost a whole season. I am now learning to put myself first and will not allow my work to dictate my life.

This season I have dedicated myself to be the best person I could be. Mentally, spiritually, and physically.

I am now traveling to different tracks, I have taken motorcycling vacations, and I am expanding.


I will be great at this!

I have a personal trainer and I do Bodyflow. (Copy write Les Mills…www.Lesmills.com) which incorporates Tai Chi, Pilates, and Yoga. I will be writing about this form of exercise for the PMP blog. It’s great for a solid core, balance, strength, and a clear and healthy mind. It balances blood sugar, cholesterol and helps you sleep better.





Whether at the track or just enjoying each other’s company during a meal or a couple of cocktails, the friends I have made from this sport are the best friends I have ever had in my life. I will never jeopardize these friendships. They have helped my riding skills. But more importantly, they are helping me to shape the real person I am. They have helped me grow as a person. Instead of sympathy, empathy or pity, they offer love guidance and solutions to whatever plagues me.

Rob, Alex 555, Todd…….Thank you for all your support, encouragement, guidance and love. I am eternally grateful to you guys: Mike, Naim, Frankie, Uncle Steve, Antonio, Pete, Maurizio, Diana, and a very gracious Bill Jones. Thank you for being so loving and generous. I couldn’t ask for better friends. Diana.. stop work enough to breathe and get on the bike! You’re the best girl!
The list continues. Almos, Mario, Alex, Alex, Dave……I can’t wait to get to know you guys. Thank you in advance.


All good things
Krys aka Gearheadgirl
Krysified@aol.com
Myspace.com/krysified

For the series ... that's how we instruct.

In almost ten years of instructing or couching in road racing clubs, it's normal to receive positive feedbacks from students or riders, especially since the explosion of web sites forums. The following one was posted this morning on the NESBA bulletin board and I believe that the author wrote it with passion ... the same pure passion that we, in the Lombardi School, have always used in helping people to improve their riding skills and in general their track experience.
**************************************************************************************

"How I Became a better rider, Thanks Alex!"

Author: Littlefish
I attended my first track day ever at VIR on August 25, and it was even MORE fun than I had expected. While I did expect to enjoy it, I did not expect to learn so much about riding my bike. I rode a couple of sessions and then spoke with a control rider (Mike I think) briefly about trying to go faster, which helped. I rode another session and I was going slightly faster each time.
Then the miracle happened.
Towards the end of my first session after lunch I had a Control Rider (who I found out later was named Alex) signaled me to follow him. I followed him through five or so laps. He patiently waited for me to catch back up when I made mistakes. I was not only able to see his line, but I was able to get a solid idea of how late I could wait to brake and how fast I could go into the corner. The first time through Oak Tree, I started to brake at the same spot I had been, when I realized he wasn’t slowing down….I got off the brakes. I was amazed to figure out how fast you could enter the corner, and then lightly brake in the first section. I didn’t get it right, but “I GOT IT”. For the first time I was able to SEE how the two separate turns were best taken as one continuous turn. It wasn’t just Oak Tree; I followed him through better lines on every section of track. Just that information made riding the corners much easier to negotiate at speed.
I was also able to watch his riding position and his head position. Alex’s riding position was vastly different from mine, but I wasn’t able to figure out how it was different. Every time I noticed his head position, I realized he was looking much further ahead that I was (when he wasn’t looking back to see how I was doing). I started trying to look as far up the track and through the corners as he was. I was amazed at how much things started to slow down. I was riding as fast as or faster than before, but everything seemed to come at me slower, and I had more time to plan and execute my turns. Before I had been reacting to the corners, now I was riding the corners. After the session I spoke with Alex briefly, he gave me some advice and said he would follow me next time so he could observe my position and the way I ride.
Unfortunately I wasn’t able to work with Alex the next couple sessions because he was helping other riders, and I could hardly begrudge someone else getting the same expert tutelage I had gotten. It was probably just due to good planning on his part, because in the next couple of sessions I worked on riding the lines, braking and looking ahead that I had learned from him. No one was behind me and I didn’t feel pressured to impress or do things right. I was amazed at how much more controlled I felt and I assume I was going faster because instead of getting passed into and out of every corner, I was almost never getting passed. I also put my knee to the pavement for the first time. The feel freaked me out a little, but as I’m sure you all know, it exited the hell out of me at the same time.
Luckily, on the final session of the day, Alex pulled up to me just before the start and told me to fall in behind him. The first several laps I followed Alex again. More comfortable with taking the corners at speed, I was able to pay better attention to when he was picking up the throttle, his position, and the exact line he was using. Following Alex was so much easier than riding on my own. I didn’t have to worry about when to brake, how fast to enter a corner or where the line was. On just the second lap of the session I dragged my knee through a couple corners. I didn’t panic and stand the bike up like the first time; I was too intent on what I was doing. The next couple of laps it just became another thing that happened when I managed to stay on Alex’s line and not slow down more than I should at the entrance. Like all good things, the time to follow came to an end.
Alex pulled to the right and signaled me past. I tried to continue to ride the same, but with the added responsibility of thinking for myself, my riding suffered a little, mainly on the corner entrance. It seemed that if I got the corner entrance right, the corner flowed nicely. I rode several laps with Alex behind me. About half way through the session I made a big mistake and ran off the track exiting Oak Tree. I stood it up and rolled through the grass, more than a little embarrassed but happy to still be rubber side down. Alex signaled me into the pit. He told me that my riding position wasn’t right and it was causing me to fight the bike. He started to explain what he meant, but I guess it was obvious I was confused. He told me to follow him and brought me to his pit.
He patiently explained and demonstrated the proper position. Then he showed me my position. I had to admit that he had it right, and I had to admit it was ugly. I knew that my position was bad, but I have become comfortable with it. I had looked at my pictures in the Pics Of You trailer, and I remarked to my friend that I wasn’t going to buy the pictures because I looked so bad. With my poor position established, Alex told me to climb aboard his bike (which was on a stand now). He had showed me how to lock me knee in, bend my elbows, lean parallel with the bike and get my body AND my head down, but when I got on his bike I immediately took up my bad position without thinking. Then he put me into the correct position as he explained why I needed to be in that position. It made perfect sense and it FELT RIGHT. He also pointed out that I was tall (6’3”) and that the bike was built for someone significantly shorter that me. He explained how I could compensate for this and still use the bike to lock myself in with my lower body instead of holding myself in position with my upper body. This let me lower my upper body into a good position, and allowed me to use my arms to steer. I watch great riders on T.V. all summer (I have for years) but I have never been able to emulate their positions. It wasn’t until Alex forced me into the correct position that I finally got it. By the time Alex finished getting me into the right position, the session was over, and I wasn’t able to practice using it.
I came to the track expecting it to be fun and expecting that I would figure out how to get faster. After the first session I was certainly having fun, but I realized that I had no idea what I was doing. At the beginning they announced that the Control Riders would regulate the traffic, keep it safe and help out the riders. It amazed me that someone would actually take the time to really teach me how to ride, but that’s what happened. My short time working with Alex has been more valuable than all my years of riding and watching Speed T.V. When I returned to my pit and told my buddy that about my last session, he said that it was too bad that I missed half of the track time for that session. I explained to him that I would have given up all the track time I had that day in exchange for Alex’s help.
There are just two things left to say. Thank you NESBA, and THANK YOU ALEX.

PMP Event: Pocono Raceway 7/23

We had hoped for beautiful weather but we were told that it was going to be overcast all day with some rain late in the afternoon. Then on Monday morning we heard that we would have had a few drops in the morning followed by a break leading to the afternoon shower but … we got not break, just a long shower.
The event was hosted by Absolute Cycle, a new club that in a short term has already position itself as one, or maybe the best, NYC road-racing club. Unfortunately the rain has ruined the party so in the morning we had a limited number of people that took the chance to drive up to the Pocono Raceway to gamble with the volatility of the weather conditions. In the Robert Lombardi school we had only 5 students, a situation that would have been perfect for them under dry conditions, given the instructor to student ratio of 4:5, typical of more advanced classes. Anyhow along with Steven Lombardi, Todd Cuso and Naim Behdzet, I tried to give the school hoping that the sky would open but in reality it got worse by the hour: after only two sessions we decided to call the day and issued a credit for the class to be used in one of our future school events. In the Lombardi School we believe that a course should be thought in fair conditions, the only way for the students to refine and improve their skills while achieving the “Basic Level” goals.
A special thank to the control riders Frank Aluzzo and Joe Russo for riding with the participants to the event under such inclement conditions.
<

PMP Event: Pocono Raceway, May 3rd

After going to Jennings in Florida, last Thursday the PMP crew had its second event hosted by Absolute Cycle, but this time in Pocono Raceway in PA. Luckily, given the unstable temperatures in the North East, we were blessed with a blue sky and a warm sun that made even more pleasant a racetrack day where we started our engines in the morning a turned them off, who knows at what time, in the afternoon.
The PMP crew & Friends have done a wonderful job in helping this new club in organizing a really professional event. While Naim Behdzet, Steve Lombardi, Todd Cuso and I were instructing in the Lombardi School, Mario Pires and Alex Herrera guaranteed the Control Riding in the Intermediate Group and characterized the Expert Group with some exciting dicing.
The school itself was a success because the entire class, 11 riders, improved dramatically from one session to another one. A round of claps definitely goes to Michael and Kevin: these guys were able to push hard their German and British “Cows”. When in the morning I saw their touring bikes, a BMW and a Triumph, I feared the situation where we had to commit an instructor just for them, instead they end up rolling those machines as fast as their colleagues with sport Japanese bikes.
During the day I had the opportunity to leave the classroom to show my face and/or my wheels to all my friends around the track and I have to say that Roy and Mark from Absolute did a wonderful job in putting together a real “stress free” event: their boutique-style club has in its dimensions and care for details a unique combination that has not competitors at local level. Of course on the field we have to give credit to the professionalism of the corner workers, PA POSSE, guided by our friend Speedy and to the passionate work performed by our Control Riders.
I am going to let the email received from my friend, and pure motorbike lover, John Glass, to summarize the event:
*********
Alex, I would like to thank you for being so helpful and going out of your way to check out my progress yesterday at Pocono. Also, my thanks to Alex Herrera for the generous use of his time! My main concern yesterday was to get a good track day behind me without trying to go too fast, and that is exactly what I accomplished. Remember. this is only the second time I have ridden a motorbike since last Fall, but it did wonders for my confidence. I now feel ready for more track time. Also, I really enjoyed the way the event was run by Absolute. It seems to me that Roy is doing this simply for the love of the sport, which makes for a much different atmosphere than an event being run by an organization that is simply trying to make money. I also appreciate that they had an Advanced Life Support unit there. Something that we hope is not needed, but is very important to have if necessary.

Getting back to Alex Herrera, following him was a great experience! He is so quick and smooth and being behind him I saw how late he could turn in to a corner which gave me the necessary confidence to try it. I certainly can't do it like him (or you) but it gives me a good learning base to build on. We are never too old to learn! I spent some of my time between sessions watching the fast guys, and especially Alex H. I saw some very fast and excellent riding.

Lastly, I am sorry I missed you at the end of the day. I waited a while but did not see you and as it was getting late, me being tired and a long ride ahead, I decided it best to get started.

Best wishes to you and all the PMP guys. Hope to see you soon

John Glass

*********

Also I wish to Eliecer Montoya, PMP rider and owner of “Strawberry - Shakes and Grill”, our headquarter in North NJ, a quick recover from the accident that will keep him away from the race tracks for a few weeks.
I have attached a few pictures kindly offered by Dennis Cuevas, from Racedayphoto. The Lombardi School instructors are wearing blue shirts while the students are in red. The control riders were wearing orange shirts.











PMP bikes: Painting by Mario Pires, Decals by Diana