Is one minute really enough time to improve our track-riding skills?
Lorenzo Campani, instructor at the italian Aprilia Racers Days Riding Academy, accepted the challenge, namely to explain a number of basic theoretical and practical track-riding principles to us in less than 60 seconds.
So, visors down, engage first gear and let’s start with “The ideal trajectory in a bend”!
WANT TO KNOW MORE?
The centrifugal force that Lorenzo talks about is defined as a fictitious force that counteracts rotary motion and acts on the centre of gravity of the body in question (in this case the bike + the rider).
When you place the bike on a circular trajectory (like when you’re negotiating a bend), the force exerted by the bike’s weight – which would tend to cause the bike to fall inwards – compounded by centrifugal force, will instead give rise to a resulting force along the theoretical axis that connects the point where the wheel touches the ground and the centre of gravity point.
And that’s what lies behind the thrill of leaning into a bend!
LORENZO’S TIP
“Use your head, literally and metaphorically!
In addition to being quite heavy, your head also houses your eyes and we humans will always naturally tend to head in the direction that our eyes are looking!”
