SoCal Track Days - Chuckwalla (Desert Center, CA)
Posted: Wed Dec 23, 2015 2:57 am
My first track day provider review! =D I'm going to try to get them all up here eventually for you West Coast women.
I've ridden with SoCal Track Days a few different times now. The owners of Chuckwalla Valley Raceway also own this track day organization. It is one of my favorites!!!
The most important thing to know is that this org is NOT for brand-new riders. They specifically are formulated around A & B group riders, and most definitely not first-timers. The reason for this is that they run an open track day -- no sessions. You get on and off whenever you like. I think this sounds intimidating at first -- it was to me. And then I realized some important things. 1. The super fast racers like to ride with each other, so you can plan your sessions by watching them get on and off track, and 2. it is SO RELAXING and FUN to go out for as long as you want, as many times as you want. I got so tired on my last day that I was doing 10 minutes on, 10 minutes off for the whole afternoon until I just started riding like a foolio and took myself off track.
I believe that the atmosphere is created by Mickey, the track owner, who also does the morning meeting. He stresses being safe and passing nicely. People really respect him and act accordingly. There were zero crashes that weekend. Considering the mornings were in the low 40s and there was a giant sandstorm with massive wind gusts, that is really impressive. I also put extra effort into following his rules... others did, so I did too. Plus, he is quite serious about blackballing people from the entire state of CA if they egregiously break the rules. It works.
The behaviors on track are mostly really great. There are a few bad apples at any track day, but I've found that those behaviors come from the non-racers and less experienced track riders. I have been on track with AMA racers and they pass so smoothly and nicely - they also are quite inspiring and beautiful to watch. I did have a guy hit me once (of note, there is something like 40-50 feet of spare track... so it's not really easy to hit someone), told them what he looked like, and they located him and he was brought over to me by the ear for an apology. Their corner workers are watchful and good. And I like them as humans - I enjoy riding with them and hanging out. The only truly bad riders out there were last weekend - and they were all STAR School (Jason Pridmore's school) "coaches". They were horrid. I tried not to be on track at the same time, and when I was test riding a 250 on track, I got off because I felt too at-risk because of their behavior. They've never been on track with us before, and I suspect they only were because they had a school the following Monday, but I was disappointed that there were no formal corrections taken for their bad behaviors.
Anyway - big thumbs up for SoCal Track Days (and Chuckwalla Raceway in general).
I've ridden with SoCal Track Days a few different times now. The owners of Chuckwalla Valley Raceway also own this track day organization. It is one of my favorites!!!
The most important thing to know is that this org is NOT for brand-new riders. They specifically are formulated around A & B group riders, and most definitely not first-timers. The reason for this is that they run an open track day -- no sessions. You get on and off whenever you like. I think this sounds intimidating at first -- it was to me. And then I realized some important things. 1. The super fast racers like to ride with each other, so you can plan your sessions by watching them get on and off track, and 2. it is SO RELAXING and FUN to go out for as long as you want, as many times as you want. I got so tired on my last day that I was doing 10 minutes on, 10 minutes off for the whole afternoon until I just started riding like a foolio and took myself off track.
I believe that the atmosphere is created by Mickey, the track owner, who also does the morning meeting. He stresses being safe and passing nicely. People really respect him and act accordingly. There were zero crashes that weekend. Considering the mornings were in the low 40s and there was a giant sandstorm with massive wind gusts, that is really impressive. I also put extra effort into following his rules... others did, so I did too. Plus, he is quite serious about blackballing people from the entire state of CA if they egregiously break the rules. It works.
The behaviors on track are mostly really great. There are a few bad apples at any track day, but I've found that those behaviors come from the non-racers and less experienced track riders. I have been on track with AMA racers and they pass so smoothly and nicely - they also are quite inspiring and beautiful to watch. I did have a guy hit me once (of note, there is something like 40-50 feet of spare track... so it's not really easy to hit someone), told them what he looked like, and they located him and he was brought over to me by the ear for an apology. Their corner workers are watchful and good. And I like them as humans - I enjoy riding with them and hanging out. The only truly bad riders out there were last weekend - and they were all STAR School (Jason Pridmore's school) "coaches". They were horrid. I tried not to be on track at the same time, and when I was test riding a 250 on track, I got off because I felt too at-risk because of their behavior. They've never been on track with us before, and I suspect they only were because they had a school the following Monday, but I was disappointed that there were no formal corrections taken for their bad behaviors.
Anyway - big thumbs up for SoCal Track Days (and Chuckwalla Raceway in general).