After spending most of my disposable income on four wheeled racers and snowmobiles for ten years, I was pretty well confident that going on a track on two wheels was a fairly easy transition. After all, I understood lines, braking points, apexes, concentration and all that stuff – all I needed to do was apply all this knowledge and experience to a different set of wheels. Kinda like learning a fifth language.


My Kawasaki 250 Ninja was reputed to be the ideal learner bike, so this was really going to be an easy thing to do. Just show up at Mécaglisse, the motorsports playground North of Montreal, learn the tight paved track, and go for it. No problem!

Things did go well indeed early in my first day, last October 2008, with me feeling more and more comfortable on the track, the Moto123.com photo and video crews getting all the material they were after, and me going quicker and quicker as the day wore on. Until… it all came crashing down on my left shoulder – literally, as I must have recorded the highest ever high side off a 250 Ninja, putting myself in perpetual pain, and off a bike or other motorized toy, for three uncomfortable months.

An in-depth analysis of the accident, helped by expert witnesses, told me two things: do not brake hard on bumpy surfaces, especially if the curb also sticks out, and more importantly, track riding is not intuitive – you need to learn how to do this properly to remain pain free!

Wisened by the adventure, I analyzed the available schools over the winter to see which one matched my needs and appeared to be the most professional of the lot. Turns out that ARC Turn2 ran one and two-day events at Calabogie, near Ottawa, ON, that seemed tailored to my needs. I was going to go for their two day event, aboard my brand new 2008 Suzuki GSX-R600, rather than rent one of their well prepared machines.

I got there bright and early and well rested, to complete paperwork and bike inspection, before being assigned to an instructor, then sat down for about 45 min of basics on lines and on-track behaviour. We then started a series of 15 min on-track sessions, first behind the leader in a fixed order, then taking turns running right behind the leader, then ahead of him, then finally being cut loose. Over the two days, we were observed, recorded, criticized, led and followed – all to better understand what to do and how. We were also shown the proper position on the bike in the corners, on a stationary bike in the pits, then being shown a real live demo by the instructors on the track.