California Superbike School - Level 3

@pricetta and I did Level 3 at Donington Park with California Superbike School this week. As per usual, the CSS team were both really welcoming and fantastic with their schooling and on-track coaching. We both had a really fun and enjoyable time.

The focus of the day was body positioning, with the outcome being by improving it, you can stabilise the bike before, through and out of the turning, developing more confidence and enabling more speed. The difference was quite profound, even for an old hand like myself.

The weather forecast wasn’t great. It rained in the morning before going on track and stayed damp for a while, but the first few lessons don’t require you to use more than a single gear and no brakes, so it was absolutely fine. There were some rain showers later in the day, but the timing worked out so it wasn’t while we were on track. Over lunch it dried almost right out and we were able to get more of a pace on as we were allowed to use more gears, and some brakes over the rest of the day, with the last session being Dealers Choice - ride how you want.

I almost didn’t get to ride at all though! I had a mishap. The Constand I use with my V2 struck again, quite literally, by smashing me in the head with the leaver as the handle got away from me and the full weight of the bike going down forced the leaver up into my head - splitting the skin and requiring a trip to the Medical Center.

There the most humorous and caring medics, with the supervision of a doctor, used medical glue to stitch my head together and put a bit patch over it to enable me to get my helmet back on without bothering it. Bonus!

I won’t be using the stand again. It’s going in the bin. Will get some traditional paddock stands. It’s a shame though, as I really liked the stand, but it’s bloody lethal!

First time being injured at a trackday in 20 years, and I wasn’t even on circuit!


Got a towing vehicle now. Much quicker and simpler than with the EV, which would have been fine around the UK, more or less, but we plan on going further afield where the extra time needed with an EV wouldn’t be much fun.


Just been patched up in the Medical Center. Fantastic facilities here at the track.


There’s much more room at the circuit on a CSS day, so here’s our area. We bunched up but didn’t need to really.


Claire getting ready to go out for her first practice session!


Classroom lessons - Static body position demos and testing.


One of the other body position demo bikes.


Fanciest fuel can I’ve ever seen!


Initial briefing. I was in the medical center being treated like a real racer at this point.


Claire getting some words of advice from her coach before heading out on track.


Claire having a debrief with her on-track coach after a practice session.


Claire putting into practice some body position improvements, through the foggy esses.


Claire starting to adopt some more body position learnings.


Claire implementing the Hook Turn technique through the last corner. Looking good!


And at the end, Claire won best student award for making the most progress on the day! Some BSB/WSB tickets on the way. Congrats and well done Claire!


Me about to have my debrief with my on-track coach. He’s probably wondering what the hell I’m doing on the bike after a trip to the medical center.


Foggy Esses


Last corner, I think. Tarmac still feels not quite 100% dry at this point, so going a bit easier.


Tipping into the last corner, I think.


Again, last corner. Don’t think the photographer wanted to move from the pits very far.

If you have any interest in improving your track riding, I would 100% recommend California Superbike School. It’s without a doubt the best way to improve, no matter your experience level (novice to old hand like me) and the experience is so much fun! Plus the people are some of the nicest you’ll ever meet. Great atmosphere.

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@Jay you need to buy another helmet, like an entry level Arai and wear it at all times. Then switch to your real helmet on the bike. Then soon as you are back in the pits, swap back.

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Or maybe a pit crew helmet? :grin:

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Jokes aside it’s definitely an idea. Hard hats on building sites are rarely needed until they are.

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Reading your track day reports @Jay makes me wish I was 20 or 30 years younger, thanks for the sharing your experiences.

…and are the trailer wheels a coincidence?

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Thank mate. I’d say you’re likely not to be too old mate! The age range of CSS attendees seems to be 30-60. Quite a good number of silver haired folks there looking to have fun, improve technique and gain confidence. It’s a wonderful experience for all, IMO.

Hah, you know, I hadn’t noticed the wheels! That wasn’t planned, just a happy coincidence!

You also can go to a trackday with just road experience and have a great day.
they even do leather rental

Thanks for the encouragement, I’m a decade over 30-60. My biggest worry is I’d be too competitive, when I’ve gone karting with the grandchildren I get black flagged for driving too aggressive. The marshal’s words of wisdom being “it’s not a race” (that concept is lost on me)

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The first few I did I avoided being near mates on track for that reason, you can treat it just like a road ride, but with less risk

I’ve only done Ron Haslam Race school. Riding around with your speedo taped over and no mirrors was pretty awesome. Less things to think about.

Congratulations to Claire. :+1:

[Trigger warning: generalised sexist remark follows] Of course being a woman gave her an advantage; we all know men refuse to listen to advice and instruction.

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A woman has never won the award in the previous CSS school levels we’ve done. So don’t agree with this. Nor the sweeping generalisation. There are plenty of guys super eager to learn there. I deserved that award regardless of gender.

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