Happy Trails Experience & The ROADSHOW
Words & photos from the training weekend by: Jan Van Vijnckt (Conograph)
Link for more photos: CLICK HERE
Venue: Lylstad Dirt Track
Just outside Amsterdam, Netherlands Date Aug 11th-13th
A perfect weekend in August with the roadshow and Jeffrey Carver’
Over the years ‘Dirttrack Lelystad’ has been one of our hometracks, so I was surprised from the very start, with the difference Jeffrey’s training would bring.
What brings the difference in technique, is it faster?
How does the bike handle under a different approach?
Well, I must say I couldn’t be more impressed after the weekend.
We were with a big group of friends from different countries, that are used to training & racing together.
I wondered how it would go? Who would make the most progress and how would it translate later on the track.
Jeffrey started with the absolute beginning of flattrack.
How your body is positioned on the bike, how you set up the corners.
And specifically thinking ahead, building your momentum to pass others on the track.
I’ve owned a Triumph T140 ’79 flat tracker since the age of three.
It is a big and heavy twin bike that is totally different than the other lighter japanese bikes I race.
Jeffrey is one of the best at handling/understanding these kind of bikes. The advice he gave me about the front fork &
spring setup was more than 20 steps forward for me.
Understanding how your suspension influences the handling of your bike and how to set it up for each track is very valuable. I learned to keep track of the data, what changes were made and what adjustments worked the best for me.
One of the basic drills were to do small donuts and very small oval practices.
I was a little bit hesitant to try this on the Triumph.
When i started the little ovals, I didn’t feel good on the bike because the short distance with the corners was not easy on my heavy British machine!
But listening to Jeffrey’s advice changed everything for me.
I went faster, with a bigger smile and pushed the bike deeper.
Well…Thanks Champ, didn’t expect this!
Feeling me advance in speed & trusting the bike more on the track was more than I hoped for.
It gave me the confidence I needed to get more out of the bike.
The roadshow (Lana & Gille) asked me to document everything thru my photography.
I have shot every race with my camera for a long time.
What is remarkable, is that now I can see how others are changing their style on the bike.
Going further and faster in the corners and tighter battles!
Ending the weekend with many laughs, some beers and bigger friendship.
I couldn’t wish for more.
Thank you The roadshow, Jeffrey Carver and Dirttracklelystad (Huub) for the weekend.
Hoping to see more of this next year!
