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You want to go faster next time -
… then you got to
figure out what slowed you this time!
Lets face it almost no one has a perfect race. No matter how good you
are - or in my case - 'are not', there is always room for improvement
somewhere.
And that’s what this article is all about!
 To
go faster next time, you must do a 'Post Race Assessment' -
and act on a Post Race Action Plan!
Get your FREE 'Post Race
Assessment' sheet HERE.
A post race assessment is what will help you figure out what went - or
is wrong, with either you, your bike, your preparation,
or your pit strategy! All three of these can have a major effect
on the outcome of your day.
You want proof - just ask the riders who rode
Saturday at Weston this year - who didn't waterproof their electrics properly
and had bike failure on lap one. There were lots of them - quads too!
A wet Weston Beach Race always catches out
many riders.
When riding in an off-road competition many things can spoil your day.
Often its something simple you may have overlooked, or someone else
caused. But quite often with a little forethought many of these things
could be prevented from happening again next time.
The best riders in the world have always had a system for this - usually
a few comments to their mechanics, or a band of helpers as they come off
track. But we are not all that lucky, so most of us need to do this
ourselves the best way we can.
I always found the best time to write down what went wrong, was as soon
as possible after the event, - as the longer you leave it, the more you
forget. So even if you are on a promise that night, make a few notes
about your race day first!
To help you do this I have rewritten a simple sheet
I created many years ago, which has most of the important questions
already on it - so you don’t have to think to hard. But you may need
to alter it a little to suit your own needs.
You will see it starts of with questions about the event. The name of
the event, the date, how long it was, what were the track and weather
conditions like? These have a lot of relevance when setting up your bike
for a similar event, or the same one next year and can save a lot of
headaches too!
Simple things like - how much fuel you used, can be of great importance
for many reasons. It gives you an idea of how many cans to take with
you, which pits to put how many in (when there are 2 fuel stops per lap
- as in the big national enduros ), and when to pit stop for fuel. Many
a race has been lost through running out of petrol on the last lap!
Other items are about bike setup, such as tyre choice and pressures.
Make a short note on how they behaved on the going. Was there any
problems with them etc. Also suspension setup. Most bikes nowadays have
very good suspension, which can cope with a great variety of different
tracks quite well. But sometimes it is worth adjusting the forks and
rear shock to suit a special event. In sandy going many riders prefer
stiffer settings to prevent the front tucking under. Or softening up the
shock for a root infested race, where a stiff setup would throw the
front end all over the place.
Its also worth noting what oil you are using. Not just the weight, but
also the brand. This way when you make a comment such as 'the front felt
harsh and twitchy', then decide to change a few things, you'll have a
record of what's improving (or getting worse) and have some idea why!
When racing a 125 Husky in the Nationals many years ago, I found that
many peculiar things used to happen, that never troubled me when racing
local Hare & Hound events. The Dyfi 2 Day used to be a favourite and
well British Championship event. But my little 125 used to let me down
terrible on this event by fouling spark plugs. Something it never did
anywhere else in the country. One year I went through 3 in the first day
and ran out so didn't get very far on day 2. Thinking about this problem
many weeks after the event and reading through my notes, I noticed I had
jotted down that the 'carburation was a bit blubbery on downhills'.
These were VERY steep long downhills (well if you know the Dyfi - you'll
know its down steep mountains!). This helped me realise that it was fuel
problem causing the spark plugs to foul up and stop working - and mainly
because the fuel was flooding the bike, when the carburettor was at
extreme angles.
By simply adjusting the float height the 'blubbering on downhills'
stopped and the bike was much better. Not totally cured at the Dyfi as
it happened, unfortunately that took another year.
I had also noted down that I was racing on BR9 plugs at that event to
keep the cylinder head temperature down and help prevent detonation
destroying the motor. Important when you caning a 125cc as hard as you
can - with 14 stone aboard for 12 hours racing! It turned out that at
the Dyfi, highly tuned 125's preferred to be run on BR8's to stop this
problem. Which was being caused partly by altitude and temperature
differences high up on the mountain top.
When I returned the following year I had read all the notes, double
checked the carburettor adjustments - and took LOTS of spare plugs -
both BR8's and 9's, just to be sure. Okay it might seem over the top
but, - I got my bronze medal. And when its costing a total of £300 to
go away and do a British Championship, it's worth getting it right!
Towards the bottom of the Post Race Assessment sheet you will notice it
asks about the riders Age, Weight, Height, Condition and Ability.
These are all relevant. If you are not fit, you may ride a powerful bike
very quick for three hours, but it might tire you to much in a six hour
race! When analysing why I did so bad in an early Rhayder 2 Day British
Championship, the thing that stuck out most was - 'When stuck in a bog,
I didn't have enough strength to lift it out'. This in fact lost me 3/4
hour in the first morning. Eventually I had to find some branches, make
a raft and lever the bike out of the goo. Back in those days I was
riding a Husky 250 twin shock, very fast and very reliable. BUT very
heavy. That’s why the following year I moved to a 125. I was a bit to
heavy for it, but I never got stuck so much that I could not lift my
bike out by myself ever again!
Finally there is a space to comment on the performance of your pit crew.
Its amazing how much difference a good service crew can make. I was
lucky enough one year to be staying at the same B&B as and adopted
by the Royal Marines off road race team at the Diss clubs - Breckland 2
Day British Championship round, what an eye opener that was.
As I pulled in to pit, one marine would be undoing the fuel cap and
pouring in petrol, while another was offering me food and drink -
already opened. A third marine was wiping my goggles and giving me dry
gloves and a fourth counting down the time spent - 1 minute 30 seconds,
1 minute, 30 seconds, ten seconds, go!
This had two major effects, one I felt like a real pro. No one could be
getting better treatment than this, what a booster. Secondly when I was
exhausted on day two, there was no way I felt I could pull out through
tiredness. After racing on that whooped out track for a total of eleven
hours I was shattered, beaten to a pulp and desperate to stop and go
home. But when arriving at the fuel stops towards the final day's end to
be told "Look all our team pulled out hours ago, we have stayed on
for you, your not going to let us down are you?". Well what would
you have done with a half dozen mean looking guys looking menacingly at
you?
Well of course - I did what all of you would have done - I finished. Yes
I have a lovely cup in the kitchen to prove it too!
So yes a good pit crew makes a heck of a difference. If you don't
believe it just ask around, you won't have to ask many to hear tales of
- ' I lost ten minutes because when I got to the fuel stop, there was no
one there yet with my fuel!'.
Its no good just making an assessment, you MUST then make an Action
Plan. That is - "what are you going to do about the
problems". Its no good just noting that something is wrong, - you
got to fix it!
As an example - not a very good one I admit. I managed to find part of
an old 'Post Race Action Plan' I wrote out after the Windblow
Enduro in South Wales back in 1995. Which will give you an idea of what
problems I found with the bike and what I planned to do about them. I
think the bit that’s missing was probably about the rider's condition,
well I would want to admit publicly to that would I?
Please download the sheets - and I hope they will be of use to some of
you.
Get your Post Race Assessment
sheet HERE.
Below -
One of Biker's old Post Race Action Plans.
Article - Adrian Harris
Articles
Copyright © Adrian Harris - Not to be
reproduced without prior permission.
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