Ups & Downs
Ups & Downs
UP: To roadrace guru Keith Code, for being back in business. Following a two-year hiatus during which he campaigned a Yamaha TZ250 as research for his third book, Code has re-opened his famed riding-technique school under a slightly different name, California Superbike Cornering Schools. The 1997 schedule includes 35 dates at 14 racetracks, with tuition ranging from $275 to $695, depending on whether students use their own bikes, or one of the school’s Kawasaki ZX6Rs or Honda RS125s; riding-gear rental costs an additional $50. To enroll, call 818/246-0717.
DOWN: To Elle magazine, for having a short attention span. In its April calendar section, the women's fashion publication listed the Le Mans 24-hour motorcycle endurance roadrace, followed by a wisecrack that read, “All one can do is wonder: Why?” So we put the question to 1993 World Endurance Champion (and Cl/l/test consultant) Doug Toland, who replied, “At 3 or 4 o’clock in the morning, I asked myself that same question, but once I was on the bike, blasting around the track at 150 mph, I forgot all about ‘why.’ It’s the ultimate test of man and machine.”
UP: To religious columnist Tom Ehrich, for having an open mind. In a recent editorial titled “Open throttle, mind-God’s riding with you,” the Episcopal priest from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, recounted his experience as a passenger on his brother’s BMW. “It is thrilling!” he wrote. “A feeling of freedom, an awareness of vulnerability, a new awareness of streets and buildings, a new sense of speed, different sounds-all this comes rushing at me at once.” Though concerns of teasing about mid-life crises are keeping Ehrich from buying a bike himself, we think he’s well on his way to becoming a faithful motorcyclist.
