Riding on the wind

What better way to achieve your dream of being a racer than to join the California Superbike School (CSS) to learn the basics of riding on a track?

- Ajit Menon M

I HAVE BEEN RIDING MOTORCYCLES FOR ALMOST 14 YEARS now and there’s nothing more significant than getting your knee down while banking through a corner. Trust me on this. It’s the only question you get asked by your fellow riders. So, when our editor asked me if I wanted to join the CSS for their three-day programme which would get me their Grade 3 certificate and bring me closer to my dreams, I said yes.

Now, CSS is a motorcycle training programme not a racing school. They come to India about once a month to teach their students how to ride on a track more confidently while staying aware of everything happening around them. You are to become a better rider, not a hooligan.

This was my second time riding on a track. My first experience was at the Kari Motor Speedway in Coimbatore that lasted two days but that was almost six years ago. The only thing I learned from that session was that I had to keep the toes of my feet on the foot-pegs. Mind you, it was being conducted by folk who had just experienced racing and the teacher-to-student ratio was 1:15. So, there was very little that I could have learned. Well, the training at CSS was entirely different.

I wanted things to go smoothly, so I started by learning the track layout of the Madras International Circuit (MIC). The MIC was built in the late 1980s and inaugurated in 1990. The track is owned by the Madras Motor Sports Club (MMSC) and was previously known as the Madras Motor Race Track (MMRT). The circuit is around 3.7 kilometres long and 12 metres wide. The track is also FMSCI certified to conduct F3 races.