Riding with Doug Polen Sunday
 

Actually tomorrow and Sunday, but Sunday he'll be towing me around the track with a headset in my helmet.

Got so excited I even trimmed the blue tape around my headlights ;)

Doug Polen's 1ON1 Riders School - Home

If you're near Kyle Texas (between Austin and San Antonio) stop by.

I hear thats a way cool ride, Doug can go 2 up with one hand on the bar, i have seen pictures of it

Hey,

How about doing me a favor? I have an old race bike that he might have ridden in the AMA superbike series in 1987 for Kosar Racing. I plan to restore it and I am looking for some information on the bike. I have talked to his team mate from 1987, Ottis Lance, and I'd like to talk to Doug. I think he lives in California now and I'll be headed out there in about a month. If you could ask him for his contact info, I'd appreciate it.

Oh, and enjoy the school. I intend to take one one of these days...

JR

Doug lives in Camarillo, IIRC. About 45 minutes north of LA.

I'd like him to sign my bike, a '93 888, some day.

Sure, I'll give it a go. As a fallback you can always contact him through his website, but if we get him out to dinner tonight I'll bring it up.

I sent you a PM.

Thanks,
JR

Hopefully the non-dedicated riders will be watching the red river shootout and it won't be too crowded today.

Lots of UT fans in my office and one smarta@# who wore an OU shirt just to piss people off..

Well, survived the butterflies Sat and Sun and rode with Polen, who towed me along with his voice in my ear for 3, 15 minutes sessions throughout the day. The track day organizers, Elite Track Days, also set up a special 20 minute session for the 6 of us to ride alone, which was most excellent.

The net of it is that I got way faster, as did the other students.

Doug imparted a lot of great track and race craft throughout the session and was instinctive about how much to press my limits--taking me just beyond until I got comfortable, then just beyond again.

Extraordinary person. He rode the entire 2 days with hardly a break of 5 minutes or so. The first day he had 1/4 sandwich and 1/4 small gatorade and 2 Dr Peppers. His knowledge and passion are endless, too, and loves to talk about most anything race-related.

Pic of my daytona after 2 days of butterfly carnage:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1255961659.jpg


Good to go. I'll post pics when I get the CD from them. Jack

JR, I'll get this started for you, too. In the excitement and quest for his attention, I didn't talk to him directly about it. But I talked a lot with Brian, his business guy, and he'll do it for me. J

Oh and I have some really funny stories but they're best heard with his gravelly texas mumble-drawl...

So, how was it riding around with someone talking in your ear? Was it distracting? Hard to hear?

Thanks,
Jeff

Many thanks for that.

JR

Not distracting at all. At times it was difficult to understand his longer comments, but the "get on the gas now!" or, "brake earlier! corners are coming at you faster!" were pretty easy to pick up..

they also prep your bike for you, ask you each time if it's running/suspending ok, etc., and will help you as much as you want with set up. Doug can see if you're front or back isn't behaving right and suggest some changes to his guy for you.

This part is extremely useful and of course can only be done if you're using your bike.


JH