RUST magazine: RUST#30

ktm extreme event
My turn. I approached steady, then less than a bike length from the
tyres gently accelerated and for half the length of the pit floated, only
then, losing momentum and with the back wheel noticeably kicking
around, I dropped into a tyre and stopped abruptly, ending up under
the bike.
“Good start, but you did two things wrong – you stopped accelerating
and as you did you moved your weight centre, a natural reaction but
wrong, you have to keep accelerating and keep your weight back.”
Taddy demonstrated the technique – it’s a fine balance. He carries
only so much speed and he accelerates in a very gentle fashion,
carefully opening the throttle, not pinning it. He didn’t want to reach
the far side of the pit – where oblique angled concrete beams awaited –
with too much speed.
Giving it another go, Taddy’s instruction was starting to work. with
just a little more confidence and a little more speed going in, followed
by a steadily increasing throttle and weight resolutely sat over the back
mudguard I was doing it! and added to that, as Taddy reminded me, by
using that old nugget of looking up, to the end of the section – not
down at the detail – I was projecting my path more positively.