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Doug Polen's 1ON1 Riders School - Riding With Doug
Included with each school... Included with each school are the services of a suspension specialist throughout the day. Basic sag settings are adjusted in the morning and each rider can come back as many times as they need during the day to fine tune to their liking.
Knowing this, and knowing that each machine is capable of so much more, Polen then challenges everyone by asking them to ride outside their comfort zone and to do what he says over the radio. "Your bikes are nowhere near their limits. Trust me." he says. With this simple nugget in mind, I followed the Champ onto the track. Characteristically, Polen never pushes on the first lap to allow the tires to reach operating temperature. Come the second lap, however, things start to pick up. Doug is still leading the way, only now he has a sense of where I'm strong and where I'm struggling. In my weak areas he would point out where to be on the track, when to turn it in, where to be on the exit and even when to pick it back up and drive out. In the areas where I was strong his advice was simple, "Don't let up, stay on the gas, and driiiiiiive to the edge of the track." After putting my faith in his hands and following his lead, my best lap at the end of the school was six seconds quicker than my mid-day time. More importantly, I felt as though there was still more in reserve, I was much less fatigued after each stint, and I was slowly regaining the confidence I had lost prior to the class. Judging by the smiles on the other students-as well as their lap times-this was probably a sentiment shared by all.Students follow Polen throughout... Students follow Polen throughout the day at an ever increasing pace. Throughout each session he's on the radio describing the optimum line and what you should be doing on the bike. At the half-way point in the... At the half-way point in the day, Polen gathers the students together and discusses what he's seen so far, the improvement in lap times and what to expect next...which is putting your faith in him as you go quicker than you ever thought you could.
As with any school, you're only going to get out of it what you put into it. And for a few hundred dollars Polen will teach you something. There are some obstacles in the school structure that could be different, but the program is still in its infancy and is always evolving. During the day he's largely busy with students, but whenever there's a break in the action, and at the conclusion of the school he's available for questions and is always willing to shed some light from his experience. As for me, I ended up having a chat with Polen as we were all packing up. He noticed a dramatic difference at the end of the day from the morning sessions and reiterated some basic concepts that he believed were the reason for my string of bad luck. More importantly, he changed the way I approach riding. So now the question that is begging to be asked: is it worth it? Despite the issues and the methods that could be done differently, any school is a successful one if you can walk away learning at least one thing-the fact that it's light on the wallet doesn't hurt either. Is it worth it? In a word: yes.
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