Forty figure-8s sound easy enough, but when you go as quickly as possible and count each lap out loud while racing against the clock, the intensity( and your heart rate) ratchets up.

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

40 / NOVEMBER 2026 / RIDERMAGAZINE. COM