Advice: Speed is all relative

Keeping up with the Brouggys

It seems I've touched a nerve with my latest columns about me finally reaching the twilight years of my life... Okay... so I'm not quite 40 yet... but it still feels old! Many riders that attend our events (who happen to have a good 15 or 20 years on me) are taking exception to my comments about age and it's affect on how you ride a motorcycle. Interestingly many younger riders are also not happy with my theorising. I've been told they particularly hate it when I sail past them at a great rate of knots and disappear into the distance. Obviously their idea of 'older and slower' is vastly different from my own...

Although I'm far from a professional racer and haven't really turned a wheel in anger since the end of 1990, my experiences mean that I may ride a little quicker than what some people consider 'slow'. Others that I observe ride considerably quicker and yet still are considered 'slow'. So...what is fast...and what is slow? To a MotoGP Rider, 1m30.068s around Phillip Island is fast, yet 1m32s is 19th on the grid and in no-mans land. In an Australian Supersport Race a 1m38s lap will get you right up the front, but 1m40s will put you mid field once again. On a ride day a 1m55s lap will put you into the fastest group of the day and a 2m10s lap will put you into the slowest group. I repeat my question "what is fast and what is slow?"

The fact is that judgments like "fast" or "slow" depend very heavily on where the rider is coming from. I have regular contact with riders that only dream of breaking the two minute barrier at the Island and others that can beat that time by nearly 25 seconds per lap. If these two riders were on the track at the same time, the faster of the two would lap the other every 3.8 laps. So the two minute per lap guy is slow, right? Well...that depends...

A judgment like "fast" or "slow" can only be made by the person doing the riding (and the talking) as they are the only ones that can make that call. If you've only ever managed to get to 2m20s before, then breaking the two minute barrier would be like breaking the speed of sound. What does it matter what others can do? Chances are the slower of the two riders may not have had the opportunities to ride as the faster one has. Or they may simply not be capable of matching the other rider. So what! Faster doesn't necessarily mean "fast" and slower doesn't necessarily mean "slow".

Keith Code has a plethora of one line sayings that say it like it is and cut conversations like this cold. One that comes to mind is "It is what it is". 2m20s around the Island is 2m20s around the Island. Period. Is it fast or slow? Well that depends now doesn't it! The point here is, don't use others as a benchmark as to whether you're fast or slow, use yourself. Unless you're wanting success in the racing field, it doesn't matter. If you focus on yourself, accept that whatever you're doing "is what it is," then you'll be able to tell the world whether you're fast or slow. And they'll just have to accept it...

Good luck with your riding.

Steve Brouggy is the owner of the

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