What do you do on the gate?

[dad2six]

What do you do on the gate?

Watch the Light or listen to the cadence?

[sandchick]

Watch the light mostly...Go on red hips to grips!! if the lights are unable to see like I experienced this year at the Redline Cup in Vegas then go on the first beep!!

[sixstringsteve]

I'm a listener myself. I've had the opportunity to go to a couple clinics and try both listening and looking. Without a doubt, I was more tuned in to the listening. Kinda like how I ride a lot better with my left foot forward rather than my right foot forward.

However, I heard that the grands were so noisy that some people didn't even hear the cadence, and missed their gate. Sounds like an excuse for a lousy gate to me, but if it's true, watching the lights would have helped in that situation.

[redneck]

BUT you have also got to understand that the lights differ from track to track. Sound is one thing that stays the same. It's gonna be what works best for you. Can you balance the gate while looking at the lights in the corner of your eyes? Practice throwing forward on red then adjust. If you hit the gate lean back a bit more. Work on it till you find that "happy medium"

[b2]

I'm a listener. I've tried looking but just don't feel comfortable. I've been on gates where it's been VERY difficult to hear the cadence--both locals and nationals.

[ogr13]

I listen.
Then I try to figure out how I'm going to catch Greg...

[LocoTone]

I also listen....then I try like hell to keep up with b2

[JAlvey]

I know people who do both. It seems like a majority of the experts and pros are watching the lights (or at least reacting to the lights). At the nationals, it's really hard to hear the cadence because the announcer is going to be screaming about the class in front of you crossing the line. At nationals, and most of the bigger local tracks, the lights are always in the same spot. There are some local where the lights will be hard to see, and some where the speaker will be hard to hear, kind of a toss up. At Redline finals this year, the sun was shining right on the lights, making them hard to see. At one of our local tracks this year, the lights and speaker were placed way over to the right, so if you had Lane 1, you couldn't see/hear anything. I remember one moto where Melton and I were in 1 and 2 and never heard anything, and basically just rolled out of the gate thinking it dropped by mistake.

A couple of things I've learned over the years that help
1- If you decide to change what you are doing, you need to give it at least 50-100 reps to see if it works. People will often change their gate based on what someone is teacing them, try the new technique 2-3 times, decide it's slower than the technique they've practiced 10,000 times and give up.
2-Get a routine in the gate the goes from the time you roll in and set up, all the way to the 30 foot line. If you watch the expert class guys in the gate, you will note the same routine going on every time (I play with my gloves, jason does a burn out, kiss smacks his chest, Robby spins his cranks backwards, clift stands up late, B2 falls over etc. ) This will also help you get set quick if something werid happens.
3-remember that if you have normal physiology you react quicker to visual input than auditory input(and to peripheral vision more than central)
4-dont look down at your front tire even if you are listening
5-get advice from a bunch of people who have been around, but remember #1 above (try lots of reps if you change technique)

[dad2six]

Thanks

That's good advice.

[b2]

...B2 falls over

can't keep a freakin' secret...

[LocoTone]

^^^^ That's freakin funny!!

[onephastkiss]

http://networkedblogs.com/suBUi

[b2]

http://networkedblogs.com/suBUi

haha. that's funny stuff... i haven't raced Diaz but I've been in staging with JPP before and you can tell that's how he is--getting focused on his race. Other guys in the 36-40 group on the national scene do a variety of thins... Al Roybal is typically running his mouth but always offers up a sincere "good luck guys, guys good luck" as we load into the gate. Robert Riofrio is crop dusting, others are goofing, other are serious. I like to goof or talk a little as it takes the stress out of it. And of course locally, I like to ask Dallas where he's taking us to dinner as the cadence is starting...

[billyschuler]

ive recently bought into this after forgetting my basics for a while and i think its key, now that ive been focusing on my gate ive been pulling ahead and i think it helped alot in the 28 over open this weekend. i get my tire in n lock it down adjust my cranks stand up to make sure pedal position is correct them sit down,, then i focus on one spot on the gate and think about things that piss me off, haha gets the adrenaline going, then when the cadence starts i stand up and move forward over my bars which helps me remember to turn my hands down over the grips , right after it says riders ready i sink back just little ( thx jonas) and load my front foot a little , lift my head and focus on the light. i think routine in this aspect is super important.

[sixstringsteve]

You were looking killer on the gate Billy, I was wondering what your secret was. You tore it up out there.