The Washington times., 1913-08-02
TRAINING RIDERS
ISONE OF HARD JOBS
MotorcycIists Need Practice in
Taking Banks at Eighty
Miles an Hour.

Training youngsters in the art of
flirting with death may have less COM
plications than developing youthful
ball player for big league service, but
in the matter of caution I fail to see
how McGraw exercises more than /
have been forced to use in conditioning
twenty-five riders for the present sea-
sen at the Stadium Motordrome at
Brighton Beach," says Arthur Chapple,
champion motorcyclist of 1912.
THE most natural thing for new
man to try to do on his first trial is
to open a machine to its capacity, be-
cause he has heard riders say that
they can't stay on the steep surface
unless they are travelling at least
eighty miles an hour. r..-, -
Now, they probably never rode at
that rate before. and, as result, when
they attain such a speed the muscles
in their eyes become monentarily par
alyzed. they lose control of their ma
chimes, take spill, and even If they
come away alive, are rarely willing to
take another crack at the speed game
on the board track.
Must Learn To Ride Banks.
Consequently the principal thing in
teaching an aspirant the tricks of the
game is to impress upon him not to
try to climb the steep wall until he
has been accustomed to riding a motor
for FIVE miles or more at the rate Of
from sixty to eighty miles an hour
without a stop.
This speed can easily be attained
by riding in the crotch at the bottom
of the incline, which starts on leyel
and gradually runs to the steep sides
of the bowl
"In this position a rider schools his
nerves and senses so he can stand the
pace, sometimes taking week before
he can feel at ease while grinding out
miles at from fifty-five to forty-eight
seconds
Then it is comparatively easy to
have a man cut a few seconds more
of the time for a lap and take the
like a straight-away. Nothing less than
eighty miles an hour will hold that por-
ton of the track.
Develop First Points.
This is the first point in the develop
ment of the new rider. Steadiness in
following a given line and also in guild
ing a motor under changing conditions,
such as from the pole to the top of the
track and back again, and holding a
lap IN any particular line by movements
OF the body and not the handle bars
are the next things essential, and then
a rider is ready for spin with another
"A veteran is sent out and the re-
cruit mounts the surface after him.
The experienced rider waits until the
newcomer catches him and then rides
alongside, first on the bottom, then,
dropping back. he comes up on the out
side, letting the beginner take the pole
BY alternating positions several times
in this manner the newcomer becomes
accustomed to having a motor a short
distance away and also learns how to
drop back or TO cross in front of an
opponent without cutting his man or
might land him against the guard raifI
at the top and cause a spill for both.
How To Gain a Lap.
"when a good round of this is in
duIged in, the veteran slows motor,
and sends the starter out to gain a
lap. This is done so that the begin
ner may get experience in coming into
field and passing a man clear at
great speed. The veteran hugs the pole,
on the first occasion, but moves to-
ward the top each time he is passed
until he is just far enough away to let
the colt pass on the outside. This
sends him through an opening that re-
quires steady hand, and teaches him
practically all of the rudiments OF
handling a motor and meeting the va
rious general conditions of a contest
Two veterans are then put on with
the beginner, one on top and another
on the pole, and after the youngster has
been taught to watch both men for un-
usual swerves of their machines, he is
graduated as a full-fedged recruit, and
ready to take up the fight in the open |
events. |
Caption is the watchword of train |
ing men in this sport, due to the seri-
BUSINESS Of accidents and the result to |