October 20th Sat. Round 1 – Burbank, CA
The first ever M Gymkhana® Event came to the United States and so did the weather, which unfortunately scared off a lot of people. Don’t forget M Gymkhana® Rider’s ride rain or shine, because REAL riders ride… rain or shine. The light sprinkling showers in the morning dumped a little moisture on the tarmac and almost dried completely by 12:40hrs which was just 20 minutes before the 1st session was to start. The 3 courses (2 MGX Day Session® Courses and the M Gymkhana® Competition Course) were set and ready to go. It turned out to be perfect weather, nice and cool about 68-70 degrees with overcast skies. The introductory MGX Day Session® Course #1 was fairly basic which started the riders off with a few simple slalom turns and one 270 degree right hander.
The intermediate MGX Day Session® Course #2 saw a few more wrinkles put in it which proved to be a bit more challenging for the riders. The introduction of two yellow (ride through) cones, which made very tight radius turns a requirement proved to be difficult. After the 1st session we had a brief break to talk about a few techniques that would help with better turning, being more confident with leaning the bike over, etc… And the riders went out for the 2nd session. That’s when we saw growing confidence, increased pace, braking points went deeper and although we had a few cone knock-overs which is normal, the overall riding improved. Some riders went back to the introductory MGX Day Session® Course and saw vast improvement with much more smooth transitioning from side to side, smoother corner entry and more direct and smooth throttle control.
The middle of the 2nd session saw some riders venture over to the
M Gymkhana® Competition Course Walk-Thru. After about 30 minutes of walking the course to get the course zeroed in, the 1st time attack began on time. The Competition Course was very technical with two higher speed sections, a “fingers” section and several 270 degree turns both right and left handers.
Although the weather did scare a lot of people away, overall we had a lot of support from Fasttrak Insurance who actually came down from Orange County, Burbank Kawasaki loaned us a “Mule” for the course set-up, loads of people stopped by to check us out and those that did come, left at day’s end, more capable riders!
Thanks to Burbank Airport and the City of Burbank for allowing M Gymkhana® to have the use of their facilities. We hope that this location will continue to be made available to us in the 2013 Season as well.
Don’t forget to come out and participate in the next 5 Events scheduled for the 2012 Fall M Gymkhana® Season.
$300 to the 1st place rider, $150 to 2nd and $75 to 3rd at the end of the 2012 Fall M Gymkhana® Season. We appreciate those that came and look forward to those that will continue to come to Try M Gymkhana® for yourself, next week October 27th and for the remaining 2012 Fall M Gymkhana® Season!
M Gymkhana® 