Annual Track Day Discussion

[Spiderman]

Originally Posted by leedsmatt7

If we could get high enough numbers to be able to invade a track and hold it as an ORG fort for the day then I'd be more inclined to come, the biggest factor putting me off the experiance at the moment is that riding with strangers I wouldnt want to either hold them up and ruin their day or even be on their behinds and scare them silly but if its you lot I couldnt care less lol, you know what I mean we'd be more smypathetic to each others ability as a group attending.

In some ways you're right and in some ways not. Its a little easier to think "oh its only Spidey, he wont mind if it stuff it up the inside here" or "oh looks there goes Spidey, i'm gonna catch him this time and keep up with him" and sometimes the old addage of familiarity breeds contempt becomes true.
I enjoyed out mixed inters group at Brands as there were enough friends mixed in with enough strangers to keep it sensible i thought. I do really worry that if it was ALL Orgers is might get a little out of hand as people push themselves to try and show off to others about how much faster they were than their mates and thats when bikes and gravel usualy like to be introduced to each other.

I think the only real way for this to work is like you suggest matt, like an AR organiser but an AT organiser so says "right, i'm putting myself forward to organise the AT at my local track which is xxxx, these are the available dates" and make sure they keep it well away from the AR date too as you say, as we dont want to reduce attendance for either event.

In fact i think we need a poll now to simply find out numbers who would in theroy attend an Org AT and then worry about locations after numbers.

Not sure Track days aren't pretty much a regional thing.

Rockingham's fun. It aint Picturesque but it's curvy, got a lot of Lhders, it's cheap & runs a lot of weekends. Would I travel half way across the country to go there though? No. Recon I'd choose it before snetterton, silverstone national or Lydden though.


Welsh weekend at Anglesey anyone?

Thats fair enough spidy I see what your saying and it makes sense but trying not to sound like an old man I thought a track day was about leaving the ego at home and putting your clever helmet on.

+1 to the poll, I'd attend (in theory)

[Spiderman]

Originally Posted by leedsmatt7

Thats fair enough spidy I see what your saying and it makes sense but trying not to sound like an old man I thought a track day was about leaving the ego at home and putting your clever helmet on.

+1 to the poll, I'd attend (in theory)

And i'd agree with you, that is the point but i just know human nature, especially in large groups and just how easy it is to think about getting one over on a mate

[flymo]

Originally Posted by Spiderman

And i'd agree with you, that is the point but i just know human nature, especially in large groups and just how easy it is to think about getting one over on a mate

Ha harrr

Some interesting points being raised here - and so many options!

I think it's important to draw a distinction between the AR and an AT.

The Annual Rideout is a weekend camping and rideout event, organised solely for Orgers in a manner which makes it as affordable as possible and in a different part of the country from the previous year. A huge amount of thought and effort has to go into finding a suitable campsite and planning a rideout.

There is only ever one Org AR.

Whereas an individual has a choice of countless available trackdays each year.

My initial thought on having an Annual Trackday is simply to say, amongst friends (whether 'in person' friends or those who've 'met' online - ie the Org) - "I'd really like to do a trackday this year - and getting a whole bunch of us in the same place would make it even more fun".

That's what happened with Brands on 2nd July. I rustled up a couple of nice people who said "I will if you will" - and it just snowballed from there.

To me, it's more about having a consensus amongst my Org friends of saying "let's all do this" - then we all make our own bookings - than creating a tailor-made event that relies on a minimum number of people taking part and the organiser getting into bother with deposits etc if people pull out.

In terms of location, it's tricky. I like the principle of saying that we'd do a different circuit every year. But if none of my Org friends ended up wanting to do it, because it's too far away, then I wouldn't go either.

We could do it alphabetically:

Brands... done (Chris numbers, what is your hang-up about Brands being "too expensive"? It's the same as Silverstone, give or take a tenner.)
Cadwell (as per some enthusiastic suggestions in this thread!)
Donington
Mallory
Oulton
Pembrey
Silverstone
Snetterton
Anglesey
Then back to Brands!

The only frightening thing about that would be that I may not get back to Brands for 8 years.

OR

Those of us who did Brands, who loved it, and would do it again next week if we could, simply agree with each other we'll do it again next year and simply book nice and early and make the rest of the Org aware.

And any other regional groups who want to do the same for a circuit in their area can do the same, and the trackday junkies / loaded people can join in with as many of these as they'd like to.

Ultimately, a track day organised by an outside company is there for the taking or not. It's not the same as the Annual Rideout.

I'll happily put up a poll, once I'm certain I've got a handle on what everyone's saying in this thread.

[Spiderman]

Great post, lots of good points.

ll i know is i dont wanna wait 8yrs before i'm at Brands again

aying this has made me realsie that maybe a yearly Brands day is the best option for me and any other regional ones i feel flush enough to attend i will. and i'll try and drag others with me too.

Maybe this is one of those thing that just cant be organised and just needs to 'happen' like it did this year?

[Binky]

I booked a trackday at Cadwell this morning with No Limits. It's on 22nd September if anyone else is interested?

Anyway. I remember Phil24/7 getting the org a discount of 10%. He managed to persuade No Limits to hold a handful of places for us, thus allowing org members to book as and when they wished and still getting the 10% discount.

I spoke to the chap on the phone about doing this with Cadwell in September. He said we'd need around 5-6 minimum to get a discount. Maybe Cadwell could be a test/practice/dry run before attempting an actuall AT next year?

We could easilly do the same again for the AT without having to pay any money or a deposit. They do ask however that if the places aren't filled, say 30 days before the event that we release the saved places for the general public so they can still fill thier track day...

Cazza, rather than aphabetically, how about regionally??? So it moves up and down the UK each year???

Originally Posted by Spiderman

ll i know is i dont wanna wait 8yrs before i'm at Brands again

Maybe best to have the org trackday around March - June time. Then if anyone else has any desires (Brands for instance), they can then go there at thier own free will with whoever else wants to join them.

I hope i've been articulate and my points aren't lost in my waffling on.

[chris8886]

Originally Posted by Cazza

We could do it alphabetically:

Brands... done (Chris numbers, what is your hang-up about Brands being "too expensive"? It's the same as Silverstone, give or take a tenner.)
Cadwell (as per some enthusiastic suggestions in this thread!)
Donington
Mallory
Oulton
Pembrey
Silverstone
Snetterton
Anglesey
Then back to Brands!

The only frightening thing about that would be that I may not get back to Brands for 8 years.

my problem with brands is with money as you point out and i'm sure i'd love it if i did it.

i just don't see it being a value for money track. silverstone gp circuit can be got in spring/early summer for less than £100 if you book early enough. whereas just for brands indy circuit you're looking at £150+ from spring to end of summer for a very short circuit. then take brands gp £200+ for the same period. it's just a huge amount of money, when you could chuck it in the first session and not ride for the rest of the day (admittedly you could end up doing this at any TD).

i really would love to do brands because i here just about nothing but good things about it. i just need to pluck up the courage and pay the money i probably would've gone to brands this time if i hadn't been going on holiday because so many of you lot were going so i suppose i would end up going to brands if that was the general view and place where everyone wanted to go.

[Binky]

Just thought i'd mention we managed to get a discount on the trackday at Cadwell easilly enough. Only six people have to sign up too... Though we do have to release the places ten days before the event. Understandable really.

http://forums.sv650.org/showthread.php?t=135642