CA SBK: Streets of Willow

[JohnC]

I found myself out here in Cali with a free weekend and total disregard for my own safety. And frankly, after not riding a motorcycle for almost a year now, what better place to get re-aquainted with two wheels than a California Superbike School event. My brief review follows:

Streets of Willow is a short, relatively narrow, technical track that rewards precision and balls. There are a couple of relatively high-speed blind corners, like turn 2 leading to 3, and the turn right after the banked "Bowl". The end of the lap is a very tight chicane and hairpin turn leading onto the short front straight.

I feel like I really figured things out better at this event than at the last school I went to (in 2006 at VIR). The combination of slower, more technical turns and no long straights (to make up speed) meant that I really had to work on my corner entry and body position. No knees on the ground yet, but I was hanging off a *lot* more than I ever have before, and consequently had the bike hustling through the corners at a pretty decent clip.

Here's a picture with my trusty steed:



Also, referencing Gerald's thread, maybe this was national "Track your Desmo RR" weekend: