First Corner Blues
Posted on November 11, 2009
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Down and out
You race into the first corner after getting a great start only to find yourself tangled up in a mess of bikes. You change your line at the last minute and narrowly miss out on taking a soil sample of your very own. Great, you are out of trouble, but because you came in so hot the bike stalls and you are left with the task of firing your bike up again.
With all the adrenalin running through your veins you’re eager to get going so you try to start your four stroke while it’s still in gear in an effort to save time, instead of worrying about finding neutral like you know you should. Finally you give up and click the gear lever a few times rolling the bike to make sure you’ve got it and then kick it over again, even pulling in the hot start lever this time.
Left behind
Now the problem you have is that the rest of the pack has been speeding away the whole time you’ve been trying to get moving. The biggest problem you have is the feeling of failure, there is a huge gap between you and first place and if your in a relatively short moto the tension and disappointment builds quickly.
Choices
So what do you do? Give up, take it easy and save your strength for the next moto or dig deep and chase them down? Ask yourself this question. If you were watching someone in the same situation what would you expect them to do?
A helping hand
Imagine you have seen the guy stall or crash in the first corner and you’ve run over to help, only he’s handed over the bike to you because he thinks its all to hard to catch up. You’ve got nothing to loose so you decide to go for it! Now if you look at it as if someone else caused the problem and your trying to salvage as many points as possible you will most likely have a much better outlook on the race and restored confidence.
Pride and glory
So now the race is over and you gave it everything you had. You chased down a bunch of riders and maybe even got them all. It’s a great feeling to know you can come from behind and still put on a good show.
In the end
It’s times like these that make us better riders. You may have picked up some new lines or more speed because you rode more aggressively. That feeling will stay with you in the future. It’s important not to give up, always ride to your ability and try just that little bit harder sometimes..
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