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It?s never too late to learn at the California Superbike School!By:Kartik Ware |Published :April 05, 2011 Photos: Aditya Bedre & Preethi

Two Days Ago

I showed up at the MMST, greeted by uncharacteristically pleasant weather. It was warm, but not life-threateningly hot as it usually is. I’m here for the California Superbike School brought to India by Preethi. And this edition is even more special – Andy Ibbott, Darren Sweetman, Steve Brouggy and Dylan Code among others have come down, the first time riding coaches from CSS around the world have come together for a track school. I wandered off towards a few cars that had just pulled up. Among all the new faces, I saw a familiar one; one that I recognised from the Twist of the Wrist books and videos that are imprinted on my brain – Keith Code himself. Another day, another idol.

Two Days Later

Again, it’s almost perfect riding weather. Right knee dragging, the world is blurring past at an insane angle. Going as fast as I dare through C5, I feel almost blessed; the gods of motorcycling are smiling indulgently upon me. I wind open the throttle perhaps a bit too enthusiastically. Then, with a sound that instantly reminds me of Batman’s two-wheeled contraption burning rubber in The Dark Knight, my R15’s much-abused and frayed rear tyre loses traction, throwing me headlong into the first proper powerslide of my life.

Had it happened only two days ago, I wouldn’t be recollecting scenes from Christopher Nolan’s excellent movie, but sweeping the track with my own tumbling physical self. The difference is, just yesterday I’d seen Keith straddling a chair and explaining the Pick Up technique and later practised it on track with coach Darren Sweetman’s eagle eye observing my every move. That was among the many things Keith and his merry band of instructors taught us at Levels I and II of the CSS. And it seems, given the fact that I didn’t crash, I even managed to learn a few things. Things that every motorcyclist must be made aware of. Two wheels deserve two lines, even if they are by someone as poetically challenged as I am.

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