Rally racing is one of the most exciting sports for power sports enthusiasts. Rally racing will take you through rain, snow, sleet and ice over hundreds of miles of unforgiving terrain. Regardless of the course or how practiced you are in the sport, rallying will put your skill, speed and endurance to the test.
Whether you’ve been in a rally race before or this is your first time, you must prepare sufficiently both physically and mentally for the upcoming event. Preparation is not just about getting a quality and sturdy Fly Racing gear or packing your bags and tuning your bike. It’s about physical training, mental conditioning and rhythm schooling. If you want to compete in the next big race, you need to shape up. Use the tips below to get started.
Mental Preparation
Much of rally racing is a mental sport, as racing for days on end with little human contact takes a lot out of a person. Racers always push themselves to do better and be better than those around them. It’s important to note that rally racing isn’t necessarily about winning by beating your opponents, but rather, about beating nature.
Physical Preparation
Your training should exercise your whole body, from your neck all the way down to your toes. Training should begin the moment you decide to participate. One suggested exercise is rowing. This is because rowing trains everything from your shoulders down to your back and to your legs. The race rhythm starts with your training rhythm. You can’t expect much if you don’t train smart. You don’t have to kill your body training, but you have to train to your body abilities and listen to your own limitations.
Bike Preparation
It is important that you prep your bike well before the race. And prep the bike yourself. You’ll need OEM motorcycle fairings to reduce air drag. The secondary functions are the protection of the rider from airborne hazards and wind-induced hypothermia and of the engine components in the case of an accident. By prepping the machine yourself, you will know every inch of it, inside out. When it breaks down in the middle of a race, you will know exactly what to do to access different parts of the bike.
Bike selection
Choosing the right bike is important, because of the different terrain the course covers. Weight and carrying capacity are a delicate balancing act. Since a rally-style race traverses public roads, the machines need to be street-legal too. Start with something as light as possible as you will be adding a bunch of OEM as well as best aftermarket motorcycle parts to the bike.
The weight becomes noticeable when you have to keep picking up a bike in the sand and heat and you’re exhausted and dehydrated. In this context, a single-cylinder motorcycle makes a heck of a lot of sense.
Finally, it doesn’t matter whether you finish first or last. What is important is that you chase your dream, take part and that you have a go — while others wish they had.
