Let me try a driving question... (I know, a bit off topic ;^)
I know the fastest way through a typical slalom (that's not to
say I can do it as fast as say, John Thomas; just that John
has shown me how to do it ;^).
But what about some of the variations on slaloms....
[I know these questions are tough in the abstract
and answers can vary -- I am just fishing for what
different strategies people use in attacking such things.]
How do you attack a mildly curving slalom? Do you ignore the curve
entirely and just adjust naturally? Do you just think of putting your
car next to the cone but turned slightly (tangent to the curve)? Or
do you make an exaggerated move to the left as you pass to the right
of every other cone? Or?? How does the curve effect the speed you
can take it? It should make the inside faster and outside slower.
How about a slalom that is offset a bit... or each pair of cones is
offset a few steps from the line formed by the previous two cones.
There were several variations like that at the Ft. Worth National
Tour. In that case, those offset slaloms were faster than the
corners entering into them ... so you were accelerating.
Do you ignore the offsets? Do you consciously try to make an
exaggerated adjustment to line up each next pair of cones?? Or?
How about a slalom with varying distances: 25, 35, 27, 36, 24?
Assume a straight precedes and follows it. Do you brake as late
as possible before the shorter sections? Or do you brake earlier
in order to get back on the gas as early as possible? Or do you
time your braking to load the front wheels for the tighter turns?
Or?
Just fishing for people's random tips on slalom variations,
Thanks,
Brian
|