Riding motorcycles has always been inherently dangerous. Although safety has improved with better tires, suspension, traction control, and riding gear, the laws of physics still apply when things go wrong. Be it on the track, street, or dirt, fellow riders are often are the first ones to arrive on scene when somebody crashes. And since emergency medical professional may not always be nearby, there are steps rider can take to improve the situation, or at least attempt to prevent further injury until paramedics arrive.

As a career firefighter/paramedic, an AFM racer, and an instructor with a track-day provider, my fellow instructors and recognized the need to develop simple approaches to being more than just bystanders–and actually assist in a emergency medical response.

Even though we developed our approaches for track-day situations, they can also apply to your street or trail riding. The goal is to get the injured rider stabilized, initiate basic life support, and have them ready for transport as soon as possible in order to maximize their overall outcome. In the emergency medicine world, we have a goal called The Golden Hour–getting a trauma victim to definitive care within one hour of the injury. Following these steps before paramedics arrive can shorten the on-scene time for the injured rider, increasing their chance of survival. Keep in mind the physician’s Hippocratic Oath of “first, do no harm,” which is important because many injuries to crash victims actually occur after the initial incident; we want to minimize the chance of further injury. 

The first step is to understand and assess the initial scene and plan an approach. There are three priorities when dealing with a downed rider, with the first priority being you. You need to make sure you are safe and that your bike is located in an area where the both of you do not end up becoming bowling pins should another rider come through, grab a handful of brakes, and crash into you. Target-fixation is a real thing, and it is not uncommon for riders to be distracted and crash themselves when approaching an incident. Walk backwards towards the incident if you must, or have a fellow rider watch for traffic, but make sure your safety comes first.

The second priority is making sure your fellow riders and bystanders do not become part of the incident. And the third priority is the downed rider; this may sound callous, but it is there for good reason–to make sure you do not expand the incident, creating more injuries and diverting medical resources from the initial accident.

As you approach the downed rider, you can gain perspective of the potential injuries by looking at their position, the damage to the motorcycle, and the damage to any trackside objects that may have been hit (“furniture,” as some Irish road racers would call it). The rider’s position combined with the collateral damage of the incident will tell you the “Mechanism of Injury,” a medical term to indicate what probable injuries may have occurred. For example, if a rider low-sides and takes a header into the tire wall, the Mechanism of Injury would tell us we could expect head and neck injuries.

As we approach the rider, we want to look at their movements, which can give you an indication of injuries. Are they favoring an arm or a leg, are they moaning, are they moving in a rational manor, or are they disoriented and asking repetitive questions?  Most riders, especially newer ones, will lie on the ground for a moment to collect themselves; experienced riders and racers will often jump up and look at their bike to see how damaged it is, even when they have sustained injuries. Many racers have experience with injuries, so the shock factor is not so high following a crash.

If you are an instructor at a track-day event, make eye contact with a cornerworker and let them know what resources you need. This is where it is important to know what hand signals are used at each track so you can communicate the need for a red flag and/or an ambulance, or if there is oil on the track. Having a good relationship with track staff is essential during an unexpected event. 

Once we make contact with the injured rider, we typically will not move them. The rare occasions when we will move a rider is if their airway is compromised or if further injury will occur from their current position; but most of the time, we do not move a downed rider.

Next, we follow the basics of Airway, Breathing, and Circulation, or “ABCs.”  For our purposes we are just assessing to see how well the rider is managing their airway and how effective their breathing is. There are really only two occasions where we will immediately remove a rider’s helmet–if their airway is blocked in some manner, or if they are vomiting. This is a very delicate procedure, as you can cause further neck injury when removing a helmet if it is not done correctly.  That being said, a neck injury is irrelevant if the person dies from not being able to breath. This is one of those exercises you want to practice beforehand. With a quick internet search, you can find a number of online tutorials on how to properly remove an injured rider’s helmet.

The circulation piece for our purposes is basically looking at their skin signs; the big red flag is if they are pale and sweaty. When you are in full leathers lying in the dirt at Buttonwillow Raceway in the middle of August, even a healthy person will be sweaty, but a combination of someone looking pale with profuse sweating can be in indication that the person is going into shock.

The next step is to assess their mental status or “Level of Consciousness;” this is done by asking four basic questions, “What’s your name? What happened? Where are you? What is the date?” If they answer all four questions correctly, we have determined that they are “alert and oriented times four.” This is important to relay to paramedics when they arrive. This line of questioning is used universally among emergency medical personnel, so they will immediately understand what you are telling them.

If you are dealing with a disoriented rider, this can be one of the more challenging scenarios. First, this is an indication of a head injury, which is bad. Secondly, they are rarely cooperative, so you can expect erratic and even combative behavior, repetitive questioning, strange requests, denial of any injury, and most of the time they are going to insist on taking their gear off regardless of what you tell them. We do not want to restrain people in this situation, we want to do our best to calm them down and keep them from injuring themselves further.

Dealing with non-head-injury situations can be easier; our goal with these riders is to simply stabilize their injuries. This is typically done by holding the injured appendage in the position you found it. If you can feel a pulse at the wrist or ankle, great, this tells you that whatever fracture they may have has not severed or blocked an artery. Stabilizing an injury goes the same for head, neck, and back injuries. With this situation we want to hold the person’s helmet in the position we found them, assuming their chin is not pressed against their chest and blocking their airway. Let the injured rider know what you are doing; our goal is to prevent movement of the head that can further injure their spine. Imagine a bowling bowl attached to the end of a broomstick; moving that bowling ball is going to have an immediate effect on that stick, and we want to keep them both from moving. This can be done by kneeling down by the rider’s head and placing your hands on each side of their helmet; this is referred to as “holding c-spine.”  Make sure you are comfortable because you are going to be there for a while.  Once you hold an injury in place whether it is an arm, leg, or head, you do not let go until you can hand it off to a paramedic.

Bleeding injuries are another challenge. In these situations we want to apply direct pressure to the area to stop the bleeding. If the wound continues to bleed, you can attempt to elevate the appendage above the level of the heart, but this must be done with care to ensure you are not moving the arm or leg in a manner that will injure the rider.

Should it occur, the worst-case scenario is when a rider is in cardiac arrest. We often assume this is from a traumatic injury from a crash, but of the few I have encountered at the racetrack the majority were the result of medical conditions such as a stroke or heart attack. Regardless, if you are trained in CPR, which you really should be for a lot of reasons, you can begin resuscitation efforts. And whether you are trained in CPR or not, it is critical that you get help on the way immediately. 

Now that we have done what we can for our fellow rider, we are going to hand them off to the arriving paramedics. The paramedics do not need a long story as to what happened, and they will likely blow you off if they feel you are distracting them from the rider, so your simple goal is to tell them who the rider is, their age, their level of consciousness, extent of their injuries and what you have done.  For example, “This is John, he is 36 years old, alert and oriented times three, complaining of left leg pain, it appears his leg is broken at the ankle, we have held his leg in place and kept his head from moving by holding c-spine since he isn’t able to answer all of our questions and we’re worried about a head injury.”  The paramedic will thank you and let you know if they want you to keep holding the leg and the head. With this information, the paramedics have a head start on their patient assessment, reducing their on-scene time and you have prevented further injury by stabilizing John.  Great job!

Ultimately, a rider critically injured in a motorcycle crash needs definitive care from a surgeon. Your goals are to maximize the rider’s chance of both survival and to minimize injury. Utilizing basic life support skills, you can give riders that chance. I hope this has been helpful. Be safe and always ride with the best gear available!

About the author: Clive Savacool has been an AFM racer and a riding instructor with Carters@theTrack since 2008 on the west coast; he won an AFM Expert-class championship in 2019. Savacool has competed in several professional races including the 2014 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. Savacool’s experience in the fire service began in 1996 in the San Francisco Bay Area and he recently left the position of Fire Chief for the City of South Lake Tahoe to be CEO of the software company LogRx. For more information on rider first aid, Clive can be contacted at savacool71@gmail.com

The post Rider First Aid: When A Rider Crashes appeared first on Roadracing World Magazine | Motorcycle Riding, Racing & Tech News.

Taking Your Kid Racing:

Top 10 You’re Doing It Wrong If…

By John Ulrich

10. You don’t have comprehensive medical insurance or group coverage for your kid.

9. You’re spending money you don’t have—such as going racing instead of paying the rent or mortgage—and are betting on your kid becoming a successful and wealthy professional motorcycle racer.

8. Your kid thinks that responsibility for your family’s future financial well being rides on his or her young shoulders.

7. Your kid isn’t attending school and hasn’t earned (and isn’t going to earn) at least a high school diploma.

6. Your kid has no Plan B in case his or her dream of becoming a well-paid motorcycle racer does not work out.

5. Your kid isn’t willing to behave at home and do well in school as a pre-condition of being able to race.

4. Going motorcycle racing is not the most fun your kid can imagine, and is not your kid’s favorite family activity.

3. You’re yelling at your kid in the paddock, and/or your kid is crying as the result of something you said or did at the races.

2. Your kid believes that your support and love for them is conditional on good racetrack results.

1. Your kid is racing with an injury that affects his or her judgment or ability to control their motorcycle.

The post Taking Kids Racing, Part 6: Top 10 You Are Doing It Wrong If… appeared first on Roadracing World Magazine | Motorcycle Riding, Racing & Tech News.

First Person/Opinion: What I Have Learned

By John Ulrich

Kids who really want to race are going to race sooner or later, one way or another. They may have to wait until they turn 18 (like I did), scrounge up second-rate safety gear and jump on some poorly-prepared, ill-handling pile of junk they put together themselves or get from somebody else, but they will race. If you’re a parent and you can, you’re better off accepting that fact and doing what you can to help your kid race as safely as possible, with the best gear and best-prepared, most reliable racebike you can get your hands on.

Not all kids want to race. I have four kids. One wanted to be a racer from before he was five years old. The other three had other interests. Nobody can keep a racer from racing. Nobody can make anybody who doesn’t want to race, race. Don’t even try it.

Mini-clubs holding events on kart tracks are excellent places for kids to start racing, riding small-displacement miniature motorcycles like a Honda NSR50 or a converted-to-pavement-use small dirt bike. The parents of many young racers have found that access to racing makes an excellent carrot, providing very strong motivation for a kid to act right and do well in school. Racing can also help teach important life lessons, including being where you are supposed to be, when you are supposed to be there. For example, if you’re not on the grid in time, race officials are not going to wait for you before throwing the green flag.

Kids need a Plan B. Very few young racers will actually be able to make a career out of racing. They may have a lot of fun, make great friends and learn valuable life lessons, but turning racing into a paying profession is an extreme long shot. They need a back-up plan, and that starts with doing well in school and learning a trade or profession.

Kids are going to get hurt, whether you let them race or not. One of my kids rode his bicycle out into the street and got hit by a car when he was seven, suffering internal injuries and spending six weeks in the hospital. One of my daughters fell and crashed into the piano while running shoe-less in the house at age five, trying to make the corner between the living room and the hallway, and broke an ankle—five minutes after I told her for the millionth time not to run in the house. My other son broke his first bone riding a Yamaha YSR50 on a kart track, after he asked me how to do a plug chop and I neglected to add, “make sure you do the plug chop early enough on the front straight that you still have room to brake normally and make the pit entrance without flying end-over-end into a chain-link fence.”

If an ambulance delivers your seven-year-old after he’s been hit by a car and he has internal bleeding, nobody at the hospital will blame you for the kid getting hurt. If you bring your five-year-old daughter into the emergency room with a broken ankle and tell the doctors that she fell while running in the house and hit a piano, you won’t get too much grief from doctors and nurses. If you show up with a 13-year-old boy who crashed his YSR50 on a mini-bike track (while trying to do a plug chop) and broke his arm, you will get a lot of grief. The parents of a 13-year-old girl who is in the emergency room at the same time and has almost the identical arm injury—but suffered when she fell into a hot-tub while running on wet concrete—will not get any grief.

Exactly what a kid starts racing on doesn’t matter as much as it matters that the bike be well prepared and safe to ride, with no parts falling off or critical systems failing at the wrong time. If the brakes don’t work right, the throttle sticks open or the chain is prone to falling off, making laps without incident becomes a lot more difficult, especially for a youngster. Don’t worry about buying the fastest bike or getting more horsepower out of the bike you have for a beginning racer. Worry about making sure the bike works right, handles well and has good tires on it.

Racing is a lot like playing the piano. The more practice you get, the easier it is to do. The more laps a kid makes on the racetrack, the easier it is for them to race, and the easier it is for them to improve.

Don’t be in a hurry to move a kid up. It’s a big jump from something like a Honda NSR50 to a Honda RS125 or a Moriwaki MD250H. It’s an even bigger jump between a 125cc GP bike like the RS125 and a 600cc Supersport bike, in every way: Physical size, weight, horsepower and sheer speed. The fastest I ever got a 150-pound Honda RS125 going was 124 mph (based on gearing and rpm). A 370-pound 600cc Supersport bike will push over 175 mph under the right conditions, and is a lot easier to crash. Lots of very successful riders have come up through two-stroke 50cc, 80cc, 125cc and 250cc purpose-built racebikes before making the move to larger, four-cylinder four-stroke racebikes. These days, riding a 650cc twin-cylinder four-stroke is a lot more common (and practical) than riding a 250cc two-stroke, but serves the same purpose. The same is true of racing a four-stroke Moriwaki MD250H instead of a two-stroke Honda RS125. And it’s OK to keep a young rider in a given class until they can run at or near the front consistently.

Kids tend to pressurize themselves at the races, and the bigger the races and the faster the bikes, the more that can be a problem. The last thing they need is an adult adding to the pressure by telling them they better go faster or that they have to win. I try to keep kids calm and encourage them to work on incremental improvements in their riding during the course of a race weekend.

Big, professional event weekends that host races for young kids must be approached with caution. Too many parents of kids entered in races held at big events seem to think that it is their kid’s one and only chance at a lucrative career, and that he or she better perform well in front of all the professional team managers at the track.

But in reality nothing any young kid does on any given day is going to land them a professional ride or any extra support of any type, and the only people who really care about where a kid finishes already know the riders involved. In my opinion, a lot of kids are better off racing and honing their skills as part of a club weekend, without a big crowd and without the self-imposed (or parental) pressure that comes from racing during a pro race weekend.

Kids and their parents shouldn’t even think about racing at big events until the kid is mature enough to handle pressure, create reasonable expectations for themselves and deal with disappointment without throwing a fit. Kids will be better prepared and will get better results if they figure out how to race, get used to their racebike and learn racetracks at club or regional events.

Some race weekends are going to be a lot more fun than others, and some race weekends are just going to be bad. Kids need to know that up front, and to realize that one frustrating race or one bad race weekend is not the end of the world. Once during an AMA Pro weekend at Road America, a 17-year-old who rode for my team hit a bump and crashed out of the lead entering the Carousel on the first lap of one of his races. Then he gridded up and crashed out of the lead of his other race in the same place, on the same bump, also on the first lap. I found him up in the rider’s lounge of my semi-truck, tears running down his face as he sobbed, “I-I-I-I’m s-s-s-s-s-orry.” I told him, ‘Don’t worry about it, everybody crashes and if everybody didn’t crash, we wouldn’t all have to wear uncomfortable leathers on hot days! It’s OK, we’ll go to the next race and try again.” He went on to win multiple AMA Pro Championships and graduated to a career in the 500cc GP/MotoGP World Championship.

Fast forward to the 2010 AMA Pro weekend at Road America, when 16-year-old Elena Myers (who rode for my team at the time) crashed out of both her races, both times on a bump entering Canada Corner. She wasn’t crying when I found her, she was just mad! Every kid is different, and often, every situation is different.

Sometimes, especially in difficult conditions, all I’ve wanted to do is to see a kid finish a race on two wheels so we could regroup and come back to race on another—better—day.

One young rider who rode for me in the 1990s was crashing way too much, sometimes three times a weekend. “Don’t even try to win,” I finally told him. “Don’t even worry about going fast. Just remember why we all started riding motorcycles—because it was fun. Go back to that, and concentrate on having fun.” He was finally able to do that, and suddenly he was finishing on the podium in every race he entered. He went on to a fabulous career in AMA Pro Superbike.

Another very nice, polite kid who rode for me not only crashed way too much, but worse still, he kept getting hurt, usually suffering a concussion and often breaking major bones. No matter what I told him, he kept crashing, and he kept getting hurt. I tried everything. I told him not to worry about results. I told him just to have fun. I even told him that the last thing I wanted to see was him getting carted off in the ambulance again after he crashed one of my bikes. Nothing worked. I finally figured out what was happening by talking to the kid’s friends. As soon as I finished telling the kid to have fun and left the immediate vicinity, his stepfather would tell him that this was his one and only chance for a professional career, and that he better go out there and go fast right now. He left the team, ended up estranged from his stepfather and finally quit racing altogether.

Nothing good comes from crashing. One year I had two riders in AMA Pro who each averaged one crash for every 1400 racetrack miles they covered. My third rider averaged one crash every 200 racetrack miles, and a friend of mine had a kid who may have set a world record with an average of one crash every 50 racetrack miles! Whether it’s a race or a qualifying session or a practice session, finishing on two wheels counts!

I’ve always been on the lookout for talented young riders. One of the ways I used to scout new riders was to ride with them on the racetrack. One time I was racing a Honda RS125 in a WSMC Formula Three race at Willow Springs and found myself involved in a pitched battle with a 14-year-old on another RS125. The kid wasn’t very heavy and was able to out-accelerate me in a straight line, but I used every trick I knew to stay in touch with him. A few laps from the finish, I started going wider, turning and getting back to full throttle and under the bubble while he was still running around at partial throttle on the inside of the final turn on the track. I’d roll off a little to keep from passing him at the line and tipping him off. On the last lap I set up for the corner and timed everything perfectly, sailing past him just before the finish line. After I came in and took off my helmet, I went over to where he was pitted to explain to him what I had done and why it had worked. As I walked around the corner of the trailer he was pitted out of, his father was yelling at him, “Why did you let that old man beat you?” I just turned and walked away, but I felt bad for the kid—and for the dad, who had missed a perfect opportunity for the kid to learn something that could have made him a better racer.

These days I rely on my son Chris Ulrich—the 13-year-old with the plug-chop problem mentioned earlier, now a seasoned AMA Pro Superbike rider—to do my on-track scouting; his reports were key in my decision to sign Martin Cardenas in 2007, as a replacement for an injured rider on my team.

Another way I scout riders is to watch them from trackside, and to look at their stats, compiled by pouring through AMA Pro Racing timing and scoring data and by looking at MyLaps.com AMB transponder reports from various regional and club races. I’m less interested in seeing a single fast lap than I am in seeing consistent fast laps and an improving trend during a race weekend and during a race season. I also try to judge a rider’s lap times and results against my evaluation of their equipment.

Over the years I’ve worked with dozens of very young racers in one way or another, and I’m proud that I was able to help launch several into fantastic careers. Some people seem to resent that my own son was among the riders I’ve helped race. I’ve never really understood why some critics think it was OK for me to spend my own money to help Mrs. Hopkins’ 15-year-old kid John or Mrs. Spies’ 15-year-old kid Ben or Mr. and Mrs. Myers’ 12-year-old kid Elena or Mr. & Mrs. Solis’ 13-year-old kid Benny, but not OK for me to help Mr. and Mrs. Ulrich’s 13-year-old kid Chris.

But it doesn’t matter what anybody else thinks: I’d do it all over again. I had a lot of fun taking Chris racing and watching him progress from winning on a Yamaha YSR50 and on a Moriwaki MH8OR at CMRRA races held on kart tracks; to winning WERA National Challenge Series races on a Honda RS125; to finishing third in the AMA Pro 250cc Grand Prix Championship on a Yamaha TZ250; to becoming the first (and only) second-generation overall WERA National Endurance Champion; to winning AMA Pro Nationals on a GSX-R and becoming a team owner in his own right.

One thing that was I completely unprepared for, was discovering that when your own kid does well in racing, it feels 10 times better than anything you ever accomplished in racing yourself. I found that out the first time Chris won a CMRRA race, and when he won his first AMA Pro National race, it completely blew me away.

It’s been a wild ride taking kids racing, including one of my own. For the most part, it’s also been incredibly rewarding, and I wouldn’t have missed it for anything.

Check back tomorrow for the next installment of Taking Kids Racing. 

The post Taking Kids Racing, Part 4: What I Have Learned appeared first on Roadracing World Magazine | Motorcycle Riding, Racing & Tech News.

Editorial Note: Earl Hayden died in December, 2021. His son (and 2006 MotoGP World Champion) Nicky Hayden died in May, 2017.

EARL HAYDEN—Professional Road Racing’s Most Successful Father:

The RIGHT Way To Take Kids Racing

Former dirt track racer Earl Hayden is a unique parent. He has three sons with successful careers in professional motorcycle racing: Tommy, Nicky and Roger. His two daughters, Jenny and Kathleen, raced for fun. Nobody knows more about going racing with kids, starting at young age.

Asked about the right way and the wrong way to take kids racing, Hayden says, “I’ve seen it all, parents yelling and cussing and hitting their kids, especially in the PeeWee days. I about got my butt whipped a few times when I tried to talk to them, but I have had a few of them come back later and say they were happy I said something to them.

“When parents spend a lot of money and everything they expect the kids to do really well. There was a referee way back who said something that stuck in my mind. He said, ‘Listen, at the end of the day, kids, you hug your mom and dad, and Mom and Dad, you hug your kids.’ I don’t ever want to go to bed being mad at one of my kids, and I don’t want them to go to bed being mad at me. If you put that kind of pressure on them that’s what is going to happen.

“One time at Daytona Tommy got into Turn One dead last about five or six times in a row. I said to him, ‘Tommy, I’m gonna put my leathers on and I’m gonna beat somebody to the first turn. I don’t know if I’m gonna make the corner, but I’m gonna beat somebody.’ He said, ‘Dad, no matter how bad you want me to get to the first corner first, I want to get there first more than you do.’

“The kids, all they want to do is make Mom and Dad happy. Yelling at them isn’t going to do anything but burn them out, and it’s definitely not going to make them go faster. You’ve got to be the coach, the cheerleader, the financial person who puts all the money in, and you have to be Mom or Dad. But the kids have to put out the same level of effort that Mom and Dad are putting in. If the parents want it more than the kid, you better quit. The kid’s got to want it as bad as Mom and Dad.

“People used to think I pushed the kids. They would ask me, ‘Do you make them race?’ I said, ‘Listen, the only thing I make them do is brush their teeth, go to school, and their mom might make them take a bath.’ There’s not one time I made them race. I was usually begging for a weekend off. ‘Let’s don’t go to Texas this weekend.’ And their favorite saying was, ‘Dad, you can rest when you die.’

“Most parents want to buy their kids’ way down the straightaway and this and that. If I could go back I would probably add weight to their bikes to make them ride the corners and stuff better, because when they have to line up against Valentino Rossi they better know how to use the brakes and how to get through a corner.

“Most parents want to buy them down the straightaway. Most of the kids who got that kind of treatment didn’t end up a World Champion or even a National Champion.

“The most important thing is practice, practice, practice, but you’ve got to keep it fun. So we would have play races every day. We would use the flags, the starting system, and I would let the winner carry the checkered flag around. We were playing around, but they raced hard. The next thing you know three or four hours went by and they had fun the whole time. But if you’re out there pushing on them and kicking on them it’s not gonna be fun. Parents pushing on the kids takes all the fun away.

“There’s no shortcuts. I started the boys on 50s, then 60s, then 80s, then 125s, then 250s and built that foundation. We had kids come in to race us and the dad would be yelling at them for getting beat. I’ve seen parents hit their kids so hard they knocked their faceshield off. ‘We came all the way from California to come here and you get beat by them?’ That parent never even thought about we had been racing six, seven, eight years longer than their kid and no one expected him to beat us. He’s not supposed to beat us.

“You have to be careful when parents are really, really mad, but when they’ve gotten through yelling I’ve gone up to the dad. I don’t go telling him he’s doing everything wrong, but I say, ‘Can I just tell you something I hope as a favor? Not that I’m any smarter than you, but please don’t do that to the little kids. All they want to do is please you and make you happy.’ And I’ve had parents come back later and say thank you, because it does kind of make them think a little.

“It’s easy to get caught up in it. You might be at the AMA Grand Championships and your little kid falls down and loses the Championship.

“And if you’re just at a local race or a regional race, nobody knows what happened except you and your family. So there’s no reason to get all worked up. Nobody’s gonna know your kid got sixth instead of second or third in that club race. So there’s no reason to get all worked up. And what happens when your kid is 11 years old isn’t going to make the difference in whether you get a factory ride or not. You want to win all the races and all the awards coming up the ladder, because it does show you’re progressing, but not winning everything is not the end of the world.

“Kids are going to make mistakes, a lot of mistakes. They are going to crash and do it all, but at the end of the day you have to stop and ask, ‘Did we get better?’ Because you’ve got to keep getting better.”

Asked what he did when racing and school conflicted, Hayden said, “No drugs, no alcohol and stay in school. My boys had to stay in school or they could not race. With my kids I left Friday after school—unless we had Friday practice, and then I left Thursday. Then I would drive all night to get back, and they would be in school on Monday morning. Jake Lewis, this kid I help now, he gets all A grades in school. When you get all A grades you can miss a Friday and the teachers will work with you. But it’s funny sometimes because you can go miss a week to go to a cheerleading camp or whatever, but if you want to take a week off to go race motorcycles at Daytona they don’t see it the same way.

“And kids have got to respect each other. They don’t have to like each other, but they’ve got to respect each other, especially on the track. Two dead-equal riders, teams are gonna take the kid who is a good, respectful kid who looks like he is having fun over a kid who is a problem or has bad behavior or has dropped out of school.

“I put on a dirt track one time. I had 150 riders come out, and 149 of them were complaining the whole time. But I had one kid come up and thank me for putting on the race. I used to have my kids go up to the organizers and thank them for providing them a place to race.

“I really believe in doing it as a family. It can be a great family sport. I love this sport, and I love little kids. I wish every parent could have the feeling I had when Nicky won the World Championship. Winning the National Championships are great, too.

“Above all, when you take your kids racing, it’s got to be fun. If it’s not fun, why do it?” 

Check back tomorrow for the next installment of Taking Kids Racing. 

The post Taking Kids Racing, Part 3: Advice From The Late Earl Hayden appeared first on Roadracing World Magazine | Motorcycle Riding, Racing & Tech News.

KEVIN SCHWANTZ On Working With Young Racers

Roadracing World: How do you coach kids and keep them safe?

Kevin Schwantz: “It’s never easy because once the kids get to the Red Bull Rookies level they’ve got pretty high goals and because they’ve got exactly the same equipment as the other guys they know that if they’re the best they should be the fastest guy out there. I find most of the kids try to latch on to someone going faster and try to figure it out. My approach to those kids is you’ve got to go out and work at it, it’s not something that’s going just click and you find a second. You’ve got to go out, find your rhythm, find your pace, then start trimming bits off in every section. Even at the top, riders struggle to find where the limit is; Casey Stoner is a classic example, he’s won a bunch of races this year but he’s crashed out of a few in the first six laps. It’s never easy to get that through to kids because they go ‘the other kid’s doing it and he’s making it look easy.’”

Roadracing World: What kind of tone do you use?

Kevin Schwantz: “To work with these kids you’ve got to learn each kid and what makes that kid tick. What I really liked about the U.S. Red Bull Rookies program in 2008 was that I got to ride with the kids: That’s such an easier way to coach a kid. I’d follow them, I’d pass them, I’d lead them ’round, then let them pass me back, so I could see what they’re doing wrong. Then we’d come in, we’d talk about it and maybe if the next session was qualifying, so I wasn’t riding with them, they’d come back in with a beaming smile: ‘What you told me helped me so much!’ You got to learn each kid. It’s different with the Red Bull Rookies Cup in MotoGP because there’s so many people trying to coach the kid, whether it’s parents, managers or some of the 125cc GP guys. In America we had the kids more secluded, we kept the parents away, we had our own mechanics working on the bikes, so it was a great opportunity to work with them. It’s so difficult from the edge of the track to pick up on what they need to do better.”

Roadracing World: How do you keep an eye on dads who may put too much pressure on their kids?

Kevin Schwantz: “You can see that absolutely in every kid that’s out there, whether they’re doing it because they absolutely love it, it’s the best thing they’ve ever done in their lives and there’s no pressure, they’re just having great time; or there’s the kids going ‘Oh man,’ and you can tell they’re getting heat from mom and dad who are going ‘Do you know how much money we’ve spent to get you here?’ And there’s every scenario in between those two extremes—no pressure and more pressure than a factory rider trying to win a World Championship at the last race.

“We’ve got a big enough group of people here to deal with any problems like that. If we see dads getting angry or pointing fingers, we can’t tell the dad how to raise the kid, but we can walk in and say ‘I know where his struggles are coming from’ and try to help them.”

Check back tomorrow for the next installment of Taking Kids Racing. 

The post Taking Kids Racing, Part 2: Advice From World Champion Kevin Schwantz appeared first on Roadracing World Magazine | Motorcycle Riding, Racing & Tech News.

Part 1 of a series, reprinted from the April 2011 edition of Roadracing World & Motorcycle Technology Magazine. Copyright 2011, 2015, 2020, 2024. All rights reserved. www.roadracingworld.com

RANDY MAMOLA, NIALL MACKENZIE AND GUY MARTIN’S DAD GIVE US THE INSIDE LINE ON HOW TO BE A RACER’S DAD

By Mat Oxley, (April 2011)

MotoGP, Moto2 and World Superbike grids are full of them—racing sons of racing fathers. From Valentino Rossi and Casey Stoner to Stefan Bradl and Leon Haslam, the motorcycle racing world is ruled by riders who have had been bred for speed, via both nature and nurture.

Gone are the days when youngsters instinctively rebelled against what their parents did; now we’ve gone back to the old, old times when the son of the candlestick maker became a candlestick maker.

And there’s no one better to dispense advice on bringing up your own kid to be a hard-core, race-winning motorcycle racer than a hardcore, race-winning motorcycle racer. Forget the harrowing tales of five-year-olds tumbling from their motocross bikes, lying sobbing in the mud while their dads scream at them to “man up” and get back onboard; these men will tell you how to be a nice and successful racer’s dad.

Randy Mamola is the most successful GP racer never to have won the premier World Championship. Mamola won 13 500cc Grand Prix races for Honda, Suzuki, and Yamaha, and his son Dakota now races in the British 125cc Championship.

Niall Mackenzie scored 500cc Grand Prix podium finishes alongside Kevin Schwantz, Wayne Rainey and Mick Doohan. These days he looks after sons Taylor and Tarran who also race in the British 125cc Championship. Taylor is already winning British Championship races.

Former TT rider Ian Martin is dad of real roads maverick Guy Martin. And 125cc GP and Moto2 winner Stefan Bradl is son of 1991 250cc World Championship runner-up (and five-time GP winner) Helmut Bradl.

“The Hardest Thing About Being A Racer’s Father Is The Guilt”

Multiple GP winner RANDY MAMOLA has a six-point plan for racer dad success.

1. Stress Education and Discipline

“Whatever your children want to do in life, you get behind them. But it’s got to be in the kid’s heart, they’ve got to really want to do it. That’s the same across the board, learning at school and so on. What my wife and I impress on Dakota is that education is of the utmost importance. With racing, training and school work he’s got a lot going on, a lot of late nights and early mornings. He’s a typical kid—every now and again he falls out of line—so we discipline him, like we ban him from riding his scooter.”

2. Don’t Pressure Them

“The hardest thing about being a racer’s father and trying to get stuff over to your kids is the guilt. You ask them to do something, you give them guidance, something happens and they crash. So I try not to put pressure on Dakota. I have the same concerns as any parent, but I’m the same at a GP. Every time those MotoGP guys go out and do their battles, I say a small prayer for them.”

3. Racing Isn’t Work, It’s An Adventure

“My childhood ended when I started racing at 12. I didn’t have girlfriends and all that because I was always on the road and racing. That’s the life of a sports person—it just absorbs you and there’s nothing you can do about it. When I raced, it wasn’t work, it was an adventure. When I was a kid I wanted to be a drummer, then I rode a motorcycle and it was the trickest thing ever. Everyone reading this knows that when they first got on a motorcycle it changed their life forever.”

4. Disassociate Your Relationship

“As an ex-racer and a father, I know too much, which can go against my son, but all in all, it’s definitely going to go for him. Its sometimes more frustrating to get something across to your own blood. If you disassociate that, you can probably communicate better. When I talk to other kids I get through to them easier than I can with Dakota, because we’re too close. I’m his father, so he sees me first as someone who disciplines him.”

5. If You Argue, Apologize

“There’s times when Dakota and I get upset with each other, that’s normal—he’s a kid under pressure and I’m his dad. As a kid, pressure is want. It’s not pressure in a bad way, it’s pressure in taking you to the next level. If I’m too hard on Dakota I apologize—I tell him it’s only because I want him to do certain things and I can see he could do them if he just did this or that. Also, I’m learning to be a father handling the pressures he’s going through which I once went through.”

6. Give Them An Open Mind

“I walk tracks with Dakota. We stand at a corner and I ask him, ‘What are you doing here?’ He says he’s doing this, so I say, ‘What about doing that?’ What’s really rewarding is when he goes, ‘Wow, that works!’ But you’ve got to keep it very open. You say what works for me may not work for you, but what I want you to see is that there are always different solutions—always keep an open mind.”

Postscript: When this is written in early 2011, Dakota is currently waiting for a serious left shoulder injury to improve. The injury, which he first sustained in 2007 but has since led to multiple dislocations, includes nerve and muscle damage which means he is unlikely to ride again until late 2011 at the earliest. “We’ve had offers from teams to race in the UK and in Spain, but we’ve had to put it all on hold to give his body a chance to recover,” says Randy Mamola.

“I Can Give Them A Map Of The Best Way To Approach Racing”

Former British Champion NIALL MACKENZIE has a plan for his two kids.

“It’s great for any family to do stuff together. I don’t think it’s too important to be best mates with your kids, but my relationship with my kids involves a lot of respect and a lot of fun. The best thing is that they desperately want to go racing, which is a great lever for doing school work and behaving well.

“Apart from having fun on bikes there are a lot of life lessons in racing. When they are young and innocent they think everyone in the paddock is wonderful, but they soon realize not everyone is what they seem.

“They don’t really believe you when you tell them stuff, so when they’re having a really bad day you tell them it could all turn around tomorrow and it quite often does. When that happens you remind them what you said, so the next time they know that things can turn around.

“You do see parents who expect their kids to be out there winning. It may sound a bit strange, but up to now winning hasn’t been the thing we’ve been working towards. We just work towards them getting better. It’s dangerous to push them to win in the first few seasons; so much can go wrong. I’ve probably held them back more than given them a push.

“I’ve made my kids aware that there’s some mad parents out there and there’s parents who don’t send their kids to school as much as they should—maybe they know their kid’s going to be the next Rossi…

“I really believe I’ve got a good template. I can give them a map of the best way to approach it; not so much on riding, but on having a plan: Being organized, being fit, keeping the risks to a minimum, learning to be a racer step-by-step, rather than trying to do it all in one weekend.

“My approach is to give them little bits of information, rather than bombard them with too much. The aim is always to make progress, whether it’s a better lap time or smoother riding. Always small goals and small steps.

“Our first priority is safety. If we leave on Sunday night and everyone is in one piece, that’s a successful weekend. As a parent you are programmed to protect them, not to put them in vulnerable positions, so in a way it does feel all wrong.

“They’ve had a few knocks. The worst was seeing this older guy on a 600 make a stupid pass and wipe out Taylor in testing. He was only 15 and that was horrendous seeing a hairy-arsed adult do something to your child. I keep reminding them that it’s dangerous: You don’t have to do this, if you feel scared you’ve got to walk away. I don’t push them because I couldn’t live with the consequences if they got hurt.

“I drum it into them: Give it everything you’ve got and try to enjoy it along the way. They definitely dream of making it to MotoGP, but they are realistic. They know that if this doesn’t work out that the rest of life isn’t a disaster. They’ve got skills and talents I never had at their age, so I make that clear—they can do anything they want.”

“I Thought Blooming Heck, This Isn’t Looking Good”

Ex-TT racer IAN MARTIN’S son Guy is addicted to the most dangerous form of bike racing, on public-road circuits. How does a dad deal with that?

“It was the laptop job what got Guy started on the roads. He got a 10-second penalty for cutting the chicane at Rockingham in 2002, that’s when he had that do with the official’s laptop. ‘Course they took his license off him.

“I said, ‘You better have a rethink, boy, knuckle under and do what you’re told.’ Guy’s a bit highly strung… from his mother’s side! He said, ‘We’ll have to get an Irish license and go road racing.’ I took him ’round Scarborough (a street circuit in northern Britain) in me van, showed him the way ’round and he said, ‘Aye, I think I could get into this.’ He did some Irish short-circuit meetings and then the Newcomers (race) at the Ulster GP at Dundrod—that was unbelievable—the Newcomers record was 112 mph and he put it up to 118.

“I don’t think I’ve ever done a TT lap with him. The first year his biggest thing was the David Jefferies onboard DVD, so he was totally focused as soon as he went. Having done the roads meself I know the buzz you get. I don’t think there’s a buzz anywhere like going down Glencutchery Road. I know what the lad’s feeling, so you can’t take that away from him. I’m 100% behind him.

“It’s this adrenaline thing. He says you’ve got to do things that take you to the edge and you don’t get that on short circuits. He’s a bit of a maverick. Even at work, he doesn’t conform to the norm. I was one of them fathers who let the mother do all the keeping him right. I just told him behave yourself and that was near enough for me. He was good at school, not outstanding. His maternal granddad was Latvian; had to fight for the Germans in World War II, so that may be the oddball bit.

“I’m not nervous at all. The only time I was really worried—apart from his big crash this year (2010), of course, when I was at home—was when I pit-boarded for him at Ballacraine a few years back. He’d gone through and next minute the red flags come out. Next thing a fire engine comes ’round the corner. I thought, `Blooming heck, this isn’t looking good.’ But it wasn’t Guy. Big sigh of relief.”

“When You Are Young And Things Go Bad, Your Head Is Destroyed”

STEFAN BRADL tells us what it’s like being the GP-winning son of a GP-winning dad.

“I started racing because I was inspired by watching videos of my father. I started riding around the garden when I was four, just for fun. I only thought about racing when I was 12. My parents weren’t happy, but they said, ‘OK, we don’t want to stop you, we’ll give you a chance and if you’ve got talent we will help you.’

“When I started it was very important to have my father by my side because I knew nothing—he taught me about lines. settings. tires, more or less everything. He just gave me tips. He would only say, ‘Try this.’ He never said, ‘Do this.’ He never gave me pressure and that was very important.

“Sure, I made many mistakes and my father lost a lot of hair because of me! I always wanted to go my way, but I followed his tips when possible. He gives me less advice now, though sometimes he has an idea and I say, ‘Why not, let’s try it.’

“The biggest thing, when you are young, is that when things go bad your head is destroyed, so you need somebody by your side. Everyone needs somebody to be with at the track, like Valentino (Rossi) is always with Uccio. To be alone at the track is not OK, you need someone who can take you out of racing, because being focused on racing 24/7 is bad.

“I had a bad accident in Malaysia when I was 16 and my leg was shattered. I was f—— happy my parents were there. But sometimes being with your dad 24 hours a day can be too much. We do have arguments about racing—my mother always in middle—sometimes big ones. The biggest of our relationship was last year when I wanted to go to Moto2. My father wanted me to stay in 125s another year, but I wanted to change classes. Eventually, I hope to be in MotoGP.”

Check back tomorrow for the next installment of Taking Kids Racing. 

The post Taking Kids Racing, Part 1: Advice From Dads Who Raced appeared first on Roadracing World Magazine | Motorcycle Riding, Racing & Tech News.

Pueblo, CO – Last Sunday [April 28], the LegionSBK racing series made history with its first-ever Race Academy at Pueblo Motorsports Park (PMP). Despite starting with wet and chilly conditions, the day transformed into a pleasant mid-60s temperature as the sun broke through the clouds and a gentle breeze swept away the dampness. PMP Track Manager John Brandow and his team ensured the track was impeccably prepared for the aspiring racers. It was an ideal setting for a memorable day.

Preceding the on-track event, all students were required to participate in a comprehensive two-hour online classroom session hosted by the LegionSBK leadership group on the Friday evening prior. Founder Matt Cooper and New Rider Director Phillip Takahashi delved deeply into the essential skills necessary for transitioning from street and track riding to successful club-level privateer racing. Topics ranged from budgeting, travel logistics, and class selection to safety protocols and advanced riding techniques.

Technical Director Nicholas Koken and Track Operations Specialist Nathan Bell provided additional insights. The students received a wealth of real-world examples and practical advice, covering everything from race craft to sponsorship acquisition and balancing family commitments.

The on-track portion of the event commenced with further instruction, with a strong emphasis on race craft. Renowned guest coach Nick Ienatsch from Yamaha Champions Riding School led the morning’s informational session. Subsequently, students were divided into three classes based on bike weight – Lightweight, Middleweight, and Heavyweight. Each class participated in 20-minute track sessions, with coaches leading racing drills in small groups to enhance skills.

In the afternoon, the focus shifted from instruction to practical application, as students engaged in on-track launch practices and participated in two mock races per class. These races tested the students’ flag and safety protocol knowledge, with various flag scenarios presented at pre-planned stations. Under the guidance of top-tier coaches and riders, students navigated common racing situations, including passing and re-gridding drills.

Out of the 35 participants signed up for the Race Academy, 32 successfully graduated and are now eligible to receive their LegionSBK & AMA sanctioned road course Race License. LegionSBK extends its gratitude to all participants for their dedication to the sport.

Several local sponsors and business owners contributed to the success of the Academy, including Slick Mobile Oil owner Allison Ferini, WH Realty Company’s Brandi Wright, and Jim Wilson from Ride On Motorcycle Training. Longmont Tire Company provided tire support and insights into the Pirelli Moto brand. Additionally, Root Access Roasters, the sponsor of the Hooligans class, kept everyone fueled with freshly brewed coffee throughout the event.

LegionSBK extends its appreciation to Pueblo Motorsports Park for its hospitality and to the flag marshals for their vigilant oversight. For more information or to get involved with the LegionSBK racing series, please visit LegionSBK or contact info@legionsbk.com

The post LegionSBK Race Academy At Pueblo Motorsports Park Graduates 32 Students appeared first on Roadracing World Magazine | Motorcycle Riding, Racing & Tech News.

Check out http://www.cvmaracing.com for more information about racing in southern California.

Check out http://www.roadracingworld.com to find out more about motorcycle road racing in your area.

The post Video: Stuman Rides: “How To Get Started In Motorcycle Road Racing” appeared first on Roadracing World Magazine | Motorcycle Riding, Racing & Tech News.

To read more articles like this one originally published in the December 2015 print issue of Roadracing World, subscribe to Roadracing World. (The article has been updated with additional photos and information from later MotoAmerica racing seasons.)

By Dr. Laura Ellis

Racers and team owners place great emphasis on building and tuning fast, lightweight, reliable bikes, but building and fueling the rider is just as important. Motorcycle racers are extreme athletes frequently performing in difficult conditions. I get a lot of questions from racers on how to optimize their performance. This article addresses some of the most common concerns I see in the sport.

A critical part of fueling the racer is optimal hydration. Consider it part of race preparation. The two goals of optimal hydration are to improve athletic performance and prevent dangerous complications of dehydration, some of which can be severe.

In this article, we will define hydration and its relevance to racing; provide scientific facts to dispel some myths about hydration; and give the reader excellent hydration options.

In medicine, we define hydration as “the status of the fluid-electrolyte balance in a patient.” Fluid in this case is water. The electrolytes we’re concerned with are sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium.

The human body is 60-75% water. Some parts of the body have more water than others. For example, the brain contains 95% water, the lungs 85% and blood 82%.

Body water is stored in two major ways; 2/3 is intra-cellular (inside the cells) and 1/3 is extra-cellular (outside the cells), in the blood stream and in between the cells.

Water is replenished by ingestion of food and water and is lost in a variety of ways called “insensible losses,” via exhaled air, urine, feces and sweat. Insensible water losses vary substantially with small changes in ambient temperature, humidity and physical exertion.

For optimal health and daily function I recommend drinking half your body weight in ounces of water. This assumes you are at or near your ideal body weight. For example, I weigh 132 pounds, which is ideal for me, so I drink around 66 ounces of water every day. That’s about 2.0 liters a day for me. Don’t count what you drink during exercise-that’s in addition to your baseline volume. Nearly everyone is under-hydrated so if you follow my daily rule you may find that you urinate quite frequently for a day or two. You’ll adjust. And you’ll notice you feel better, sleep better, are less hungry and lose unwanted weight easier. The feeling of thirst is a signal from the brain indicating we need more fluid. This thirst mechanism diminishes as we age so don’t rely on feeling thirsty before you drink. In fact, by the time you feel thirsty you’re already behind and will be functioning sub-par. Catching up can take hours or even days depending on how under-hydrated you are.

Current evidence suggests that many athletes start a training session or competitive game or race under-hydrated and do not consume enough fluids to replace sweat loss. This puts them at a distinct disadvantage, mentally and physically. Under-hydration can lead to dangerous outcomes due to poor decision-making, slower reaction times, muscle cramping and even seizures and occasionally death. Think about the times you’ve crashed. Can you attribute any of them to fatigue or slowed reaction time? Many racers tell me “yes.”

It’s important to know that sweat loss is mainly water, but it also contains minerals, which we refer to as electrolytes. Electrolytes are essential for conduction of electrical energy between and within cells, for maintaining cognitive function (decision-making), communication between nerves and muscles (reaction time) and for muscle contraction itself.

Sweat contains large amounts of sodium with much lower concentrations of potassium, magnesium and calcium.

Of the four key electrolytes contained in lost sweat only sodium can typically be depleted through sweat loss alone.

Sweating 2.0 liters per hour (which is not uncommon) in a hot race would mean that within two hours your daily intake of sodium has been depleted. Considering that there are no usable reserves of sodium in the body, you need to replace sodium as you exercise. The other three electrolytes can typically be replenished by tapping into stores within the body.

Why is sodium so important?

Sodium is not only the most likely to be lost, it is also the electrolyte most required during training and racing.

Blood sodium loss and gains are tightly regulated by the kidneys with drives from the brain to increase salt intake or drink more water as necessary.

Normal blood levels are maintained between 135-145 mmol/l (mili moles/liter) concentration. Given sodium losses, small reserves and narrow band of operation, it is relatively easy for athletes to become sodium depleted.

Low blood sodium in sports is mostly due to the dilutional effects of drinking water or low-concentration sports drinks in excess of sweat and urine sodium losses.

This condition is known as Exercise Associated Hyponatremia (EAH).

With EAH, the athlete experiences weakness, nausea, muscle fatigue and cramping. As sodium levels drop even further, resultant fluid shifts occur in an effort to equalize and water moves into the brain. This can lead to agitation, seizures and occasionally death.

Risk factors for EAH include long (4-hour+) races, slow running pace, female gender, low body weight, pre-race excessive water intake, over-drinking (more than 1.5 liter/hour) during racing and abundance of drinks during the event weekend.

What about the other electrolytes?

Potassium

Along with sodium, potassium regulates the electrical integrity of the cell membrane and is therefore important in nerve conduction.

Potassium also helps transport glucose into the cell so it is crucial for energy generation.

Low blood potassium is usually due to diarrhea, fasting and taking certain drugs such as diuretics long-term–not from sweating.

In sports, low potassium is rare. Certain ultra-endurance athletes who generally have a poor solid-food diet may be prone to low potassium, leading to nausea, muscle fatigue and weakness.

Potassium supplements should always be taken with caution and on the advice of a doctor. Contrary to what your mother may have told you, eating bananas has no significant effect on blood potassium levels.

Calcium

Calcium is intimately involved in muscle contraction and relaxation and nerve conduction.

Your body has vast supplies of calcium stored in the bones which are tapped into when needed.

Generally, in a well-nourished athlete eating a normal diet with dark-green vegetables, calcium deficiency during racing is rare.

Dietary sources are generally better than supplements. Equally important are weight-bearing exercises. Swimmers and cyclists suffer the same bone calcium loss as sedentary individuals so remember to fit weight-bearing exercises into your regimen.

Magnesium

Magnesium is necessary in every cell for enzyme reactions as well as muscle contraction and energy production.

Prolonged exercise and training with poor diet can lead to depletion although this is rare to surface in an acute setting.

Magnesium deficiency can lead to dizziness, fatigue and depression.

There is no evidence that taking magnesium supplements by people with normal blood levels offers any benefit in sports performance.

To sum it up so far, inadequate replacement of water and sodium will lead to early fatigue, weakness, nausea, muscle fatigue and cramping.

So, HOW MUCH should you drink while training and racing?

The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) Position Stand on Exercise and Fluid Replacement:

Before Exercise: Preload by drinking “500 mls (milliliters) fluid two hours before exercise to allow adequate hydration and allow excessive water to be excreted by the kidneys.”

During Exercise: “…individuals should be encouraged to consume the maximal amount of fluids during exercise that can be tolerated without gastrointestinal discomfort up to a rate equal to that lost from sweating…” In other words, figure out your sweat rate and simply replace what you lose. Example: A 1.2 kg loss would be replaced with 1200 mls of fluid. Measure this once or twice in various conditions (temperature and humidity) to get an idea of volume needed, then use it as a guideline for future activity in similar conditions. Sound complicated? It’s not. Professional athletes do it for a reason–it gives them an advantage. Here’s how you do it. Weigh yourself before and after a training or race event. Convert the difference in weight from pounds to kilograms, (1.0 pound x 0.4536 = kg; 1 kg x 2.2046 = lbs.). Your sweat/water loss in mls is 1000 x the kg difference. Most water bottles have ml and oz gradations so just look at the bottle for the conversion to ounces.

Now, WHAT should you drink while training and racing?

What’s the difference between all the drinks on the market? It’s confusing!

Rather unhelpfully the sports drink industry has confused hydration with fuel with recovery.

We classify sports drinks into the following groups:

Protein drinks (no carbohydrates).

Energy drinks.

Carbohydrate drinks (with or without electrolytes).

Electrolyte-only drinks.

Let’s look at each one.

Protein drinks are popular among bodybuilders. They are primarily designed for muscular recovery post-exercise or to act as a dietary protein supplement. Protein drinks will not aid in training/race hydration needs and are typically too light in electrolyte content to help significantly with fluid balance post-event. Certainly not useful as part of your race hydration. Examples are Muscle Milk, Maximuscle, Promax, Impact, Whey Protein.

Energy drinks usually contain a lot of sugar (8%-12%) and caffeine (or natural sources of it such as guarana). They are “lifestyle drinks,” not really “sports drinks,” but are marketed at sporting events and the companies behind them sponsor many top athletes and events, even though athletes are unlikely to be drinking them. (It’s sort of like the M&M’s sponsorship in NASCAR.) Energy drinks are too sugary to work as effective rehydration drinks (above 6%-8% carbohydrate fluids are hypertonic and absorption through the gut slows down) and they are unlikely to contain electrolyte volumes found in sweat loss. Examples are RedBull, Relentless, Monster, AMP. Again, these should not be part of your race hydration.

Carbohydrate drinks are the original sports drinks, typically with 6%-8% isotonic carbohydrate solution. They often contain modest amounts of electrolytes (approximately 200-350 mg/l sodium) to assist with electrolyte replenishment and to increase palatability. They have been proven effective in boosting endurance performance for activities lasting longer than one hour at a suitably high intensity. One major issue with carbohydrate drinks is that if they are used at times when fluid requirements are very high (e.g., in the heat or during very long events) and an athlete is drinking a lot of them they are consuming an unnecessarily large amount of calories which could lead to gastric upset. They serve a purpose but have some of the issues of energy drinks and typically do not sufficiently meet the electrolyte needs of most athletes. Mixing energy and hydration needs in one drink can create imbalances since often energy and hydration needs are at different ends of the scale. Examples are Powerade, Gatorade and Vitamin Water (which actually contains calories but no sodium!).

Electrolyte-only drinks contain no or negligible amounts of carbohydrate/sugars and no protein so are designed simply to maximize hydration. They are hypotonic so are absorbed more rapidly in the gut than carbohydrate drinks. While electrolyte-only drinks do not provide carbohydrate or protein sources to meet the energy demands of exercise, products such as energy gels and bars can be consumed as energy is needed. This allows an athlete to fine tune/balance their intake of fluids, electrolytes and calories separately depending on the ambient conditions, length and intensity of the activity they are taking part in. Electrolyte-only drinks can be used before, during or after exercise to replace fluids and electrolytes without the addition of carbohydrates or other calories if they are not required. Examples are H2ProHydrate, Hi5, Zero, nuun and Elete Water.

Some riders say they have had good results using Pedialyte (or generic equivalents) for rehydration. It’s important to note that electrolytes need to be replaced only when they are lost such as in sweating or with vomiting and diarrhea. In the case of athletes we’re concerned with losses due to sweating and this is nearly exclusively sodium loss. Calcium, magnesium and potassium are stored in certain body compartments and are mobilized as needed so rarely need to be replaced. Pedialyte is perfectly fine for athletes to use for replacement but has more potassium and phosphorus than is needed–but no harm done, you just pee it out. My favorite electrolyte replacement for hydration when sweating is H2ProHydrate simply because it has what you need and nothing you don’t need, plus it comes in tablet form which is easy to transport and use. It comes in 250, 500, 1000 and 1500 concentration tablets which allows you to use a prescribed strength for pre-loading the night before sweating and using a different strength for competition and training days and adjusting to conditions (temperature, intensity, humidity) as needed. A “sweat test” can determine your sodium loss, which is unique to each athlete; this is what the true pros do–prescription hydration.

Since 2014 my team has used H2ProHydrate by Precision Hydration for fluid and sodium management. It comes in an effervescent tablet that you simply drop in your water bottle. H2ProHydrate is widely used in Europe and is produced in the UK. Over the last year it has been added to the programs of many American pro soccer and football teams. You can obtain it in this country by ordering it from various distributors. Much of the information in this article was provided by Precision Hydration.

Another good product is nuun, also an easy to use and transport tablet, which is available in the U.S. at sporting goods stores and outfitters.

For maintaining energy for long days at the track and especially for endurance competition, I encourage a diet with quality protein and complex carbohydrates. Vegetables are a critical part of this. Avoid processed food and simple carbs. If you are exhausted and need quick energy for that last race of the day, then you can add a quick fuel such as fruit juice or sports gels but expect to experience a “sugar crash” when you get back to the pit. It’s always best to maintain steady fuel, which results in a steady, reliable output of energy. That’s what gives you the winning edge over the guy who’s gulping sugary drinks and eating honey buns.

Here’s to your optimal health and on-track performance!

Dr. Laura Ellis is a wellness physician and vein surgeon with practices in Asheville, North Carolina, and in Laguna Beach and West Hollywood in Southern California. She has authored numerous articles in medical journals, and has written two books, The Hormone Handbook and Inside Out. She is host of The Dr. Laura Ellis Show at Sunset Gower Studios in Hollywood. Her medAge® Comprehensive Health Program focuses on the prevention, apprehension, and reversal of degenerative illness in all patients and on optimization of cognitive and physical function for competitive athletes. Prior to establishing her current practices, Dr. Ellis worked as a trauma surgeon and as a general surgeon. And she is a former racer as well as a current street and track rider.

Dr. Ellis ran her own team, AXcess Racing, in the 2016 MotoAmerica KTM RC Cup Series, with riders Brandon Paasch and Jackson Blackmon. Paasch won the championship with seven race wins and a total of 16 podium finishes in 17 races.

For more information contact Dr. Laura Ellis via the medAge® website at www.medAge.com.

Racing Doctor: Who Is Laura Ellis, MD?

“A Minute Reduction In Your Reaction Time Can Be Devastating…”

By Michael Gougis

The journey from non-rider to racer for Dr. Laura Ellis was short. She started riding four years ago; last year, she won a rookie title with CCS. As a medical professional specializing in nutrition and exercise, she also quickly noted that lots of racers spend far more time on their machines than they do on their bodies.

Ellis applied her experience racing and working with athletes to the sport of motorcycle road racing, and has been working with racing organization staffers and racers across the nation to help them optimize their physical and mental performances. Racing provides a particular need for proper hydration, as few sports that drain the athlete’s fluids require said athlete to wear a full-face helmet, body armor and leather suit at the moment of maximum exertion.

And in few other sports are the stakes as high. “Even a slightly slower reaction time can be devastating on the track,” she says.

Ellis is a surgeon with a practice in Asheville, North Carolina, and others in Laguna Beach and West Hollywood, California. She also is an author and the founder of medAge, a medical program designed to develop lifestyle changes to improve her clients’ health as they age, and she advises athletes on training and nutrition.

That was the background against which, four years ago, Ellis visited motorcycle-mad Italy and got hooked on two-wheelers.

“I started riding only four years ago–I was 48 when I started riding. Kinda strange, huh? Prior to that, I had never ridden a motorcycle,” she says. “I traveled to Italy four years ago and I noticed that lots of people ride two wheels, whether they are on scooters, motorcycles or bicycles. Men and women, younger and older. I thought it looked pretty cool! So I decided to learn how to do it myself.

“When I came back to the States, I took the Motorcycle Safety Foundation course at the local community college. I enjoyed riding so much that I hired a coach to help me to learn how to ride more acceptably and safely. I wanted to learn how to do it right.” The private coach she hired suggested training at the track.

“I met quite a few folks at the track who race and I got an invitation to race with a couple of guys the following year,” Ellis says. “I of course said yes, because I was turning 50, and I thought, ‘When else am I going to have an opportunity to do this?'”

Ellis quickly moved from a Suzuki Gladius to a Yamaha YZF-R6, and her first race was with CCS at Carolina Motorsports Park in April of 2014. “I wasn’t fast but I had pretty good technique. I had to be careful that I held my line well, that I didn’t deviate, because there were (other riders) passing me. I had to be predictable. My focus was on being predictable and holding my line,” Ellis says.

“It was great. It was a lot of fun. It was thrilling but not scary. As long as you’re prepared and you understand what is happening on the track-you have to be very cognizant of the other riders out there expecting you to behave like they do, which is to be predictable.

“A couple of guys got really, really close when they were passing me,” Ellis continued. “After the race, they came over and said, ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to get that close.’ It really didn’t frighten me, but I could feel them and hear them very, very close to me! It was very polite and kind of them to come over and make sure I was OK with what had happened. And that’s typical of what I’ve seen from most racers.”

What she observed while racing and spending time at the track was that many racers focused on machine prep to the exclusion of preparing themselves.

“I noticed that many of the riders spent so much energy on the bike and not nearly enough on themselves as an athlete. The equipment was, generally, well thought-out. They prepared that well. But they didn’t always prepare themselves well,” Ellis says.

One area many riders can make an immediate improvement in is hydration, she says. “Many racers don’t realize that how they consume food and drink is very important during training and recovery as well as on the day before a race and on competition day itself,” she says. “Hydration is not just water. The communication between the brain and the muscle, between the nerve and the muscle, really relies on proper electrolyte concentration and the fluid shifts between the compartments of the body once you start sweating to keep sodium levels proper. If your sodium becomes very low, those fluid shifts can lead to either high or low concentrations of sodium in certain body compartments.

“What you see most of the time on the track is that the communication between the muscle and the nerve can be compromised. We call that reaction time. You begin to slow down. You might not be able to do as well–you might not win–but you can also make mistakes.”

Dr. Ellis ran her own team, AXcess Racing, in the 2016 MotoAmerica KTM Cup Series, with riders Brandon Paasch and Jackson Blackmon. Paasch won the championship with seven race wins and a total of 16 podium finishes in 17 races.

For more information about medAge and Dr. Laura Ellis, visit www.medage.com.

To read more articles like this one originally published in the December 2015 print issue of Roadracing World, subscribe to Roadracing World. (The article has been updated with additional photos and information from later MotoAmerica racing seasons.)

More, from a Competition Bulletin issued by MotoAmerica:

High Temperatures expected at COTA

We are expecting temperatures at this weekend’s COTA round to reach or exceed 100 degrees on most days.

Please see the document attached HERE regarding healthy hydration tips for all in attendance.

The post How Do You Deal With Riding In Extreme Heat? Hydrate Right! appeared first on Roadracing World Magazine | Motorcycle Riding, Racing & Tech News.

Riding How To’s

This video covers two techniques that any rider can use to improve both your traction and confidence on corner entry. @gasonbikeup-motorcycles produces videos to show how the same techniques that are used by MotoGP and World Superbike riders can translate to all riders, track or street. If you’re interested in road racing, track days, or simply how to get the most out of your sport bike this video is for you! You’ll learn from Eric Wood, the head coach for the oldest motorcycle track training school in the United States. In this video, we discuss a common problem that affects both top racers and street riders when they need to stop the bike as quickly as they can. The solutions to better braking may surprise you!

Timecodes

0:00 Introduction

1:10 Foundations to getting a motorcycle deep into a corner

1:35 The most common mistake motorcycle riders make on the brakes

2:19 The first 5% of braking – your key to better entrances

2:38 How different corner entrances affect your brake application

5:14 Your weight is transferred, now ramp braking to full pressure

5:44 Balancing time to full pressure with stability – brakes zones are often short

6:43 The transition from throttle to brakes – a front fork’s view

8:36 Understanding how suspension action matters in braking

9:04 How physics comes into play with motorcycle braking

11:15 Secret #1 to mastering the brakes on a motorcycle

11:45 Secret #2 to mastering brakes and corner entry on a motorcycle

12:59 Demonstrating the technique for rolling off the throttle

13:30 Two places to apply GasonBikeUp techniques on the racetrack

14:51 Wrap up

Please subscribe and leave us comments – we’d love to hear what you like about this video and what else you’d like to see!

Have feedback or suggestions? We’d love to hear from you! Check out our website at https://gasonbikeup.com or email us at info@gasonbikeup.com.

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#motorcycleriding #motorcycleracing #motorcycletraining

The post Video: Gas On Bike Up With Eric Wood: Less Crashing, Better Braking appeared first on Roadracing World Magazine | Motorcycle Riding, Racing & Tech News.