Photos by Marisa McInturff
In celebration of my recent full right‑knee replacement, I’m going to walk you (pardon the pun) through an on‑bike training exercise I came up with that has helped get me back into fighting shape at the beginning of each season of police motor competitions around the country. It’s not an everyday training drill but more of a measuring stick, because it challenges key aspects of my riding process while also providing an actual stopwatch that I can use to document where I sit on my personal mountain of progress over time. And while you might not compete in slow‑skills competitions, this simple drill can really help ratchet up the intensity and expose mental and physical weak spots in your riding.
It’s called the 40/40 challenge, because we are going to do 40 figure‑8 patterns around two cones, placed 40 feet apart from one another. Yes, that’s correct, 40 figure‑8s. I promise I have a method to my madness, so just stick with me on this one. First off, we can all agree that motorcycle riding demands increasingly greater mental and physical effort as the duration and intensity of our ride increases. And that means faster, longer riding will generate a degradation in accuracy and consistency. In other words, the awesome rider we were before lunch is nowhere to be found just a few short food‑coma hours later when we wick up the speeds and hit that awesome canyon everybody’s been talking about. And as the universe demands, it will be that precise moment when we are called upon to make some snappy decisions and avoid a critical situation in the journey. So it makes sense that we would benefit by subjecting ourselves to a safe and accessible “stress test” that challenges things like dexterity, repeatability, endurance, mental focus, and good timing – all the areas that help predict if we are to have a safe (or not so safe) experience during those long days in the saddle. That’s what this 40/40 challenge offers us.
For those of you wondering why in the world I am requiring a full 40 laps of figure‑8s, it’s simple; 10 laps won’t test your physical endurance, 20 laps won’t reveal inconsistencies in your bike control, and 30 laps won’t fully expose the mental degradation that will surely join the party as you attempt to run this exercise as rapidly as possible. So 40 laps it shall be. Ready? Let’s do this!
First, find a safe, quiet parking lot and measure out a space precisely 40 feet point‑to‑point, marking each point with chalk. Set a cone down directly over each point you marked. Next, have a stopwatch handy. I use my cell phone mounted on my handlebar so I don’t have to call my neighbor over to help me with timing and scoring.
Next, orient yourself so you are facing the far figure‑8 cone and line your front tire up just behind the nearest cone, as this closest cone will represent our “starting gate.” Once you are ready, go ahead and start your stopwatch but don’t take off just yet. Because this drill is set up to be run solo, wait until the stopwatch hits 5 seconds before you take off. Once the stopwatch hits the 5‑second mark, take off and execute your first figure‑8 lap.
A couple rules you should follow: After each lap call out the number you just completed, from lap 1 all the way to lap 40. Why? Remember, we are running this drill for time, so a significant amount of our mental concentration will be focused on clutch, throttle, brakes, turning points, and more. Calling out our laps forces us to manage multiple motor skills, increasing cognitive load in the process. This divided attention scenario further exploits components in our riding process that are not yet muscle memory. In fact, many competitive motor officers who train on this drill tell me that the verbal lap counting is the hardest part, so don’t be surprised if you lose count numerous times and are forced to restart.
Once you complete lap 40, ride straight past the last cone (the same one we started at) and check your stopwatch to notate the time precisely when your front tire reaches the cone. Let an additional 5 seconds tick off so you have time to safely slow your motorcycle and stop the timer. Your final run time will be your total stopwatch time on the display, minus 10 seconds. Rinse and repeat this drill as much as you like, but don’t be surprised if you get frustrated, tired, and have significant lapses in coordination at various points – it’s by design.
I’ll close by saying that I hope you set this up and give it a try, because, like an actual stress test at the doctor’s office, this will provide honest feedback as to how “healthy” you are on the motorcycle and clearly exploit key areas you can work on to ensure your abilities are available when you need them.
To watch a demonstration of this training drill, go to the Police Motor Training with Quinn Redeker channel on YouTube and search for the video titled “Motor Competition Figure 8 Challenge‑Get Out The Stopwatch!”