THE STOPWATCH

If my memory serves me correctly, there hasn’t been a whole lot written in motocross about the benefits of the stopwatch, and even though it’s not a secret, it’s probably not used enough in amateur racing. There are a few types to look for, one being a hand held stopwatch, another is a timer mounted to the bike with a transponder that picks up a signal when you pass it on the track, (www.powerstart-systems.com). The advantage of the bike mount type is you don’t need someone there to hold the watch for you, and all your lap times can be downloaded at the end of the training session. Once you complete the first lap, as you pass the transponder each lap, you can look down to where the timer is on your front fender, and if you see a green light, you were faster than the previous lap; a red light means you were slower than the previous lap. Plus you can use this type for accurate timing through sections and starts, but don’t forget to go out onto the track and get your transponder before you leave.

 The greatest thing about a stopwatch is it doesn’t lie. When you are out testing, whether it is tires, pipes, motor mods, suspension, lines, sections, whatever, it tells you what you need to know, am I faster or am I slower? Even if you have a modded out rocket ship, you may actually find it’s slower than your stocker around the track.

 Another thing is it can help track your progression, with all my riding and training, am I really getting faster? Here is where a log book can come in handy. Each time you go to the track and ride, you should note the date, conditions such as weather, track conditions, and lap times. Use can use 3 or 4 ratings, something like cold, mild or hot, and dry, mild or humid, and track conditions like, dry, prepped and muddy, and also smooth, rough and very rough (gnarly). Take as many notes that will help you as you feel necessary, things like foods eaten, drinks like Gatorade, water or high end sports drinks like Accelerade, and Enduroxr4 recovery drinks (www.accelerade.com), bike set up’s and how the rider is feeling. My point being, the more information you gather for making accurate comparisons, the better. Obviously your lap times would be lower on a smooth, prepped track with perfect weather than on a hot humid day, with a dry and gnarly track.

 When I have private lessons, I usually have to rider accountable to the stopwatch; this keeps that student working hard to better their times. Also it let’s me know as an instructor that we are in fact getting results and the rider is getting faster. Typically we time a section (maybe 2 or 3 corners or a part of the track) several times to get a good average and also to set a fastest time. Then we set up a drill within that section, maybe 1 or 2 corners or an obstacle, and work on the weaknesses till we get the results we want. Then we go back and will time the rider again several more times through the entire section and compare times, this always results in lower times through that section.

 The stopwatch also can time endurance moto’s, and 1 and 2 lap sprints, and really to compare just about anything if you can do it accurately. The scary thing is riders who just ride and train without the stopwatch and don’t REALLY know the facts, and are not getting the results and rewards that others are getting by training with the stopwatch.

 So if you are already using a stopwatch, keep it up and be creative on how you use them, and for those that are not using one, try one, I’ll bet you never go back. Go keep it low!

Larry Morton,

www.5mmxs.com  www.mxsafety38.org