Sketchy Track Day Riding at NYST???? What say you? 

You were constantly riding towards the left side of the track going up the straight then drifting over to the right to make turn one. Typical big bike behavior, guys on smaller bikes are still on the gas while you drift over and brake in front of them. HOLD YOUR LINE, when you drift over too make turn one, you are cutting off the people who brake later than you.

Riding even at the bottom of A group is safer and more fun than anything B group can offer.

Oh yeah. This is a typical day at NYST in my experience. Ive been passed by coaches in the non passing zones almost every time I go. Not saying that it bothers me, but if your a coach I feel like you should be setting a good example of how to ride the track. Ive had days where ive lost more than half the track time i was supposed to get because ppl kept crashing.

Stumbled across your video. I saw you had some questions/comments and asked for your thoughts so what the heck, here comes a novel. My perspective is coming from a guy who works for a track day organization. I've worked flag marshal stations out on track, Pit Out, Pit In, Race Control, and Track Boss. I've also worked as a track marshal for MotoGP. I'm mentioning that so you know this isn't just the opinion of some random guy, it's the opinion of some random guy who is making the decisions about what goes and what doesn't go at a track day. I'm assuming the orange vests are the instructors or control riders. I also don't know the track so my comments about riders being on or off line are based on where I thought the line was according to your video and track maps I found online which show the race line. I should also note our org. allows passing anywhere on track as long as it's done respectfully. All that means is there will be passes that are perfectly fine in our org. which will be against the rules of your org. Starting with your GoPro comment. We don't allow most cameras on helmets for a couple reasons. First and foremost, all the tracks we now go to don't allow the cameras and we have to enforce the track rules. I've been told by track safety directors that there have been instances of life changing injuries and deaths on track due to the camera mounts snagging on something during a crash. Because of liability issues this trend is happening at more and more tracks so I wouldn't be surprised if it happens at a track near you. Cameras are fine as long as they are mounted and tethered to the bike but that's is a different discussion for a different day. 11:17 In our org. the rider in the grass would get black flagged. He needs to come in and explain what the heck happened that lead to his agricultural line and I need to evaluate his state of mind to see if I'm going to let him back out. You're allowed one oops like that with us, the second time and your day is over. 11:41 The traffic jam is something we keep a very close eye on. It helps us identify who is making good decisions on the bike vs. who is having trouble making good decisions on the bike. It also helps identify riders who need a bit more monitoring and maybe instruction. If the "conga" line stays formed up and riders can't safely pass we can blue flag the leader to relieve the congestion (if the org. uses the blue flag) otherwise we can black flag the cause of the conga line and basically make him do a ride through in pit lane to relieve the congestion. Typically it sorts itself out. However, a slower rider is a great opportunity to learn how to set up and execute a pass. 12:18 The no passing zone. Turns 1, 2, and 3. According to the track map you were nowhere near the race line entering T1 or T2. The riders on the right are actually closer to the line and technically have the right of way. Going in to T1 it was clear you weren't going to be able to get around any of those 4 riders so you should have stayed behind the 4th rider in the group instead of coming along side him. I'm a bit strict about the race line because when you're on line everyone knows where you're going to be. It makes you a predictable rider which is safer for everyone. It also makes you easy to pass. You stay on line and the passing rider can easily come around you and get back on line safely. If you're off line it's now your responsibility to re-enter the race line safely. That means you need to look behind you to figure out if it's safe. I know, you're not supposed to look behind you when you're on track, but you have to to safely re-enter the race line. When a rider is off line they are creating a problem. Our last track day we had a rider off line and an instructor passing on the left. The rider then decided to get re-enter the race line without checking to see if it was safe and hit the instructor. The instructor stayed up and the other rider crashed hard causing us to a red flag the session. The rider who crashed said it was the instructor's fault but the video clearly showed him re-entering the race line without checking to see if he could do it safely. 12:30 Nothing wrong with what the orange vest rider did with the outside pass. After the apex the corner is considered over and riders are free to pass on the inside or outside. Of course, if your org. said that's a no passing zone then that was a bad pass. Often instructors and control riders are given different rules on passing because of the job they're doing on track. You might be told no passing, but the instructor is allowed. 12:33 You were on the race line here and orange vest made a bit of an aggressive pass. As an instructor/control rider he should have checked up and passed after the apex of T3 or moved to the right and made the pass. So yeah, I agree, that was sketchy. 12:36 T3, by your org's. rules that was _probably_ a bad pass. I say _probably_ because you and the rider in front of you were pretty far off the race line so was it really a bad pass when the passing rider was on the line? Had you been on line that would have been a bad pass worthy of a black flag and a discussion. So, by your org's. rules he _probably_ shouldn't have passed but by our org's. rules that was nice and clean. To be perfectly honest, at this point I'd be concerned with the rider in front of you. He appears to be riding too slow for this group and doesn't know where the line is so he's presenting himself as a danger to rider safety. I'd get eyes on him for the next lap or two and if he shows signs of being in the wrong group I'd pull him in and have an instructor evaluate him or simply talk to him about bumping down a group. Just from this 30 second view, I'm not liking what I'm seeing. 13:30 T12, I'm ok with that pass for a couple reasons. He was about 6 feet from the instructor and he made a very clean pass. He also checked up for the next rider in front of him and didn't pass. That shows me he knows how to set up a good, respectful pass and also good judgment on when not to pass and respect a slower rider. That's the behavior I want to see. Also, he did it to an instructor. If it was an issue the instructor would gotten in front of him and tail tapped for him to follow into the pits for a discussion or would have told me and I would have black flagged the rider for a talk. The instructor didn't seem to care and I thought it was a good pass. Lastly, even though that spot is a long sweeping corner, it's practically a straight so I'm good with that pass. 16:16 Another agricultural line, automatic black flag. Anyway, my $0.02.

Passes were all clean honestly as you get more seat time you start to understand why. Never let yourself get frustrated while on the track cause it will affect your focus and it can be dangerous. You were riding very well then you can tell you were a lil frustrated cause you started missing your apex’s. Glad you were all safe at the end brother!

This track looks awesome 👏🏽

I've been a member of this track since it opened. Riders meetings are always clear about flags, zones to pass/not to pass. But that wasn't addressed in the track video. The last session of the day is always a bit sketch- everyone trying to be a hero before they go home. Go on you for checking up. Yes some bad passes going on- it happens. I've followed riders back to pit to address such infractions. At 62 I won't heal as fast as the younger riders- so I get pissed. I enjoyed the overlays of data cause I'm very "seat of the pants" in detecting how I'm doing. Hope your next time goes better. It's a great track run by an even greater family.

Hi there, can I feature this clip for my next youtube edit? I'll credit you with watermark on screen as usual. Thanks in advance.

There fine ur in expert. U just gotta be ready

LOL. That’s B group for ya.

I think most of that was ok, kind of aggressive some of it but mostly not too bad. That inside pass on turn 3 though, Holy cow that was way too close for comfort, if he had stayed tight to the curbing and left lots of room I wouldn't say it was anything crazy but the fact that he cut across the track and crossed the other riders line, that was not good. Intermediate can be tough because there is such a wide range of skill levels and paces on track. Sometimes the closing speeds are pretty huge.

Been a semi regular Sunday rider at NYST for this season, NYST is regulated really well in my experiences there, the riders in the orange red vests are coaches, they watch riders from the sides and they come out to catch the riders that need help to stay safe on track, intermediate is a mixed group of beginner riders, you should of ridden in the advanced group . But great video hope to see you on track on day