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Ice Racing Reminded Me That You Get What You Prepare For
A few years ago I took a leap and tried my hand at motorcycle racing. From that experience I learned that the barrier to entry in racing is both quite high and fairly low. More than anything, it became clear that in racing, as is often true in life, you get what you prepare for. This last weekend, I took to the track again and found that to be truer than ever.
The summer season in Michigan is a wonderful time to play with motorcycles. The days are long and mild, enabling rides in full safety gear without sweating off five pounds. Even on the warm days the temperatures are tolerable with a little foresight. The yin to the summer yang is the depths of winter, and this year has been a “real winter” for us Northerners. The cold set in and snow keeps falling. No matter, that’s why I bought some studded tires and built proper guards for them so I could bundle up with an extra layer or two and keep racing year round. Well, that was the plan, anyway. Past mild winters combined with other distractions have kept my ice racing setup on the shelf for literal years, but when I recently noticed a free weekend lined up with an ice racing event nearby, it only made sense to register and see if I still had any speed on the frozen water.
What I found was just reinforcement of and old adage: In order to progress, one must practice. Taking up a sport that is so dependent on weather conditions lining up with my motivation, free time, and finances was optimistic, to say the least. While needing gray and cold weather to create ideal conditions, the bright spot about ice racing is that it’s pretty easy on equipement. The studded tires don’t really age when stored properly, so despite my my road race slicks turning to rock-hard junk after a couple seasons in the garage, the studded Kendas slipped right onto a set of aluminum rims and were ready for another outing. Unfortunately, it turns out I wasn’t.
Riding ice is really interesting. It’s similar to flat-track racing, with its lack of front brake and use of the rear tire stepping out sideways to rein in momentum as riders push the bikes later and deeper into the corners that make up the small oval, effectively turning the smooth arcs into a V-shape punctuated by two drag races. I won’t pretend to be any good at it. I’m not that bad though, but I learned over the weekend that my pace is only acceptable when I do all of the preparation work—which is far more than simply installing studded tires and ensuring the tether engine shut-off switch works.
I put all the parts on the bike, got myself to the track, and paid the entry fee, but upon taking to the track for practice I was quickly reminded that is not everything. As my brain was furiously recalling where the friction point on the clutch is with heavily gloved hands, it hit me that I haven’t ridden a motorcycle in months, and I underestimated my ability to get back in the groove. Literally and figuratively.
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In the short, four-lap heat race I misjudged the exit of turn two and stuffed both myself and the bike into a deep snowbank after I got on the throttle early and ran wide. I got lucky and flipped over the handlebars into the soft snow but was reminded how bad that could have gone when the ambulance rolled out onto the ice to respond to a crash just 20 minutes after mine. The chill of the Michigan winter air is cold, but watching the ambulance leave its parking spot in the paddock will stand up the hair on my neck no matter the temperature.
Now, it’s not like my goal was to go out and win. There was a zero percent chance of that, and I fully recognize it. Even as I was driving there I knew there would be faster bikes and faster riders, along with the magical combination of the two, which will likely forever keep me from the top step of the podium. To me, getting up to pace is running mid-pack, but when I show up on such outgunned machinery as my trusty Honda XR250R, it means I need to be in good form, or I just become a rolling chicane. Instead I found myself needing to remind myself what I was going to do on the motorcycle, when, and why, mainly trying to recall what I did last time I was on the ice … nearly four years back. That’s too long ago to try and re-teach myself from memory while holding the throttle wide open in fourth gear.
So rather than having a day of racing, I enjoyed a day of mild frustration as my brain forced out the unrealistic expectations of me somehow magically being better at something I have not practiced or thought about in years. The daydreams of backing my Honda into turn one with ease in the first practice session were not the reality I prepared for, and therefore not what I got. I got exactly what I did prepare for, though: A day out riding motorcycles and meeting new people.
There is no such thing as casually going racing, and this weekend was a great reminder of that.
Kyle, you must like cold weather burrr… glad you did not get hurt. Oh by the way the check engine light light was glowing on your dash, they usually light up for a reason.
Sharp eye, HelenC – I was looking for the road…
I first saw ice racing while stationed in W. Germany in the 80s.
First saw ice fishing in MN in the 00s, never had a desire to try it😁
I’m sorry – although I admire the courage, I saw a guy go through the ice (on a snowmobile) once long ago, and I have since had an uncontrollable fear of going out on a frozen surface any further than I know the depth wouldn’t reach my knees. [The guy was rescued and recovered, but his machine was lost to the depths. And yes, I know that ice racing, fishing, etc. is normally done on ice that has been checked out, but still, my fears are my fears…]
That’s part of why I attend this specific event and location; it’s a flooded flat track. The parking lot is solid dirt (covered in snow) and the ice we race on is frozen over the same dirt. No falling through risk!
I am curious to experience being out on a frozen lake, but I would guess there is a fairly solid subconscious reason I’m in my 30s and still haven’t actually gotten around to doing that.
Oh, well that’s much less dangerous! I feel better for you. 👍
I do snowmobile and the trails I ride do often cross frozen lakes. I think what scares me more than falling through (think that’s a primal fear we all rightfully have) is hitting heaved ice at speed. Also, while trails across the lakes are clearly marked, ice fishermen have been known to fish right on the edge of the paths and leave piles of ice from their augers to freeze to mess with riders…
I have a good friend who lives lakeside in Minnesota (maybe EVERYONE in Minnesota lives lakeside?). He is a snow machiner and ice fisher and keeps inviting me to come out to do both with him. After reading your post, I’m even more firm in thinking he’ll only ever see me in mid-summer! 😉
I’ve done the frozen lake thing in Wisconsin with 17 degree weather while Tobogganing or sledding down gills to the lake. Ice Hockey on the lake was fun also. Tons of fun but also silly cold. Having done snowmobiles I’d likely be game for ice racing. But now I live in Texas so that ain’t happening anymore.
Sliding around on two wheels provides it’s own challenges. While not living near snow, I found Danny Walkers Super camp to be a great place r learn the art of the slide, front and rear. One can learn a whole bunch on a TTR125 with a wet oval. 🙂
That was the stuff I was trying to remember! Danny and crew (JD Beach was guest instructor for my class) run a great operation. Would love to go back since it’s been nearly four years. Just need to convince myself the $$$ is best spent there rather than buying another project… Which gets easier with each trip to the track lately.
I’ve said for years that ice racing was a great off season training program for balance and throttle control and its great fun. I raced moto cross in the summer and hit the ponds in the winter back in the 70’s in Michigan. The goal was a feet up slide on ice while practicing which I achieved one clear frozen afternoon. Perfect conditions and/or a plowed track was always a concern. As a young college student I could ride during the weekdays when folks were working. So any local ponds were fair game.
Wait – what – that was FOUR years ago??
The clock only moves forward…
A LONG time ago I went ice racing on my trust XL175. Sheet metal screws in trail tires were not the hot setup.
I also monkeyed on a CB750 sidecar. We got bunted and I ended up on top of the snow pile.
A friend who was there said, “you know you’re a real ice racer when your snot freezes.”
Hey. If mother nature throws you lemons make lemonade. 2 fun events events to get you out of your toasty house in Wisconsin. Merrill ice drags (car races) and Junker sled weekend Three lakes Clapped out snowmobile snow cross. The 2 up races driver and passenger have to jump off every lap and switch positions
Snowmobile cross is something I have yet to see in person and know for a fact I will never line up to participate in. Those riders are something else!