To really be successful at the track you need to be totally focused on the task at hand, and this time that was not the case. I had a very busy work week, and was not prepared like I should have been. And for sure last weekends Coachella adventure did not help. I wanted to do the trackday on Friday to get some extra practice in, but again because of work commitments I just couldn't do it. On top of that I hadn't had much time in the gym, and to little rest before the strenuous riding began. Needless to say I was behind the 8-ball before I had even turned a lap on the track.
Friday evening late I got to the track and got my pit set up with my new old girlfriend Kate. (that's a long story) My good buddy Robin had saved a spot for myself and fellow SFMC racer Cary. I got my area all set up, had a couple of beers, and went to sleep. Unfortunately it was ass cold, and I slept like crap which would work against me all weekend.
Saturday morning up early got the bike all tech'd and the warmers on, and was ready to go. I'd had a chat with my suspension people about where to take my settings based on what we had left off with at Buttonwillow. I did my first session, and the bike felt terrible. Back to Catalyst for some major changes. We spent the entire day playing this game. And by the end of the day the bike still didn't handle how I wanted it to. I was really having trouble getting off the corners. I could get into a turn OK but when I would add gas it just felt like the rear wasn't hooking up. Now my bike makes less than 80hp so it's not like it just spins up the rear at will. this was definitely a suspension geometry issue, and we just ran out of sessions to test it with. Part of the problem was me being tired. I just couldn't focus the way I wanted to. Session after session I would fight through traffic finally get some clear track then not have the focus to really take advantage of it.
With all the riding for the day done it was time to settle in for some serious Saturday evening fun. My good friend and sponsor Julio of Tommy's Mexican Restaurant had once again hooked me up with some Tommy's Mix and a couple of bottles of Arete Tequila to give out as part of our promotional work. But better than that Julio had made some shirts for our racing team. It was exciting and so much fun to give out some shirts, and drinks to my friends in the racing paddock. We had a blast, and helped promote the Tommy's brand.
And just for the fun and embarrassment here's a pic of a poor fool who lost a bet about who'd finish in front of whom during the novice race. he lost.
Following the margarita bash was the slow bike races. Once again I was not up the task, or maybe it was the margaritas.
Following the slow bike races were the live interviews over at the Feel Like A Pro pit. Brian Bartelow has done a superior job of elevating amateur racing. His business of renting race bikes, and his pit set up are nothing short of professional level. On Saturday night the folks from On The Throttle TV hosted live webcast interviews. They had an excellent mini TV studio, but I need to talk to them about their lighting, and did interviews with some fast guys, as well as the race director. It was very cool stuff.
Sunday morning and I'm better rested but still not as much sleep as I'd like, and just a little fuzzy. I'm going to need to limit my margarita intake on Saturday nights. I made anther big change to the suspension for the 1 morning session but I wasn't feeling much better.
Race 1 was Open Twins. Not my normal race as my bike is out classed by as much as 100 horsepower, but it can be fun to go out and run with the big bikes, and try to chase people down. At the start of the race I got a great launch but almost ran into the back of the guy 2 rows in front of me so I had to roll off, and so much for my great start. I settled in and started chasing people down. I was keeping a decent pace, but still having problems accelerating out of the corners. My buddy Mark came roaring past me on his big Ducatti, and I happily passed him back breaking for T7. That's my favorite, stuffing the Duc's on the brakes. I think I finished 12th in Open Twins, but I'd felt really tired at the end of the race, and that didn't bode well for the 2 more races I had later in the afternoon.
The next race was 650 Twins. This is the one I finished 10th in last round, and I was hoping to at least stay with the front guys for a bit. At the start I got a decent launch but was held up badly going into T1, and I lost a few spots, then going into T2 a novice on a yellow bike almost highsided which caused all kinds of mayhem. He hit someone who moved over and hit me which caused me to slow way down, and there went some more people. That whole first lap was chaos, Eventually it settled down and I started getting some spots back. I was battling with my buddy John Forman. I have consistently sucked at getting through T6 The Carousel and John would get a run on me down the short back straight going into T7. He'd show me a wheel while breaking and I'd turn right across him sawing off his front. It was good fun. Unfortunately because I was tired I started making mistakes, then I would try harder to make up for the mistakes. I came up on a slower rider from another class, and instead of taking an inside pass on her, and cutting her off I waited which allowed a couple people by me. That sucked. As I desperately tried to make those spots back up I turned into T11 trailing to much brake pressure and completely tucked the front. It was a full on front wheel slide. My handle bars went all the way to the steering lock. Amazingly I saved it and stood the bike up and ran off track. I got back on losing another couple of spots. I managed to finish the race without any other incidents in a lowly 19th position. Not the results we were looking for.
I was done at that point. I had no interest in trying again in my next race. I was tired, I did nothing but make mistakes, I couldn't get the bike to do what I wanted, and I was totally dejected. So I had a beer. If you've been around racing long enough you learn that there are times when you just don't race. Call it intuition, or luck, but sometimes you just call it a day, and put the bike back on the trailer. So that was it for Round 2. Fun was had, no one in my circle of friends got hurt, and we put the bike back on the truck in one piece. We'll do better next time.
As always Thanks to the people that help me go faster.
Jennifer at Werkstatt Motorcycle Repair
Dave Moss of Catalyst Reaction
Dunlop, and Terry at Sport Tire Services
Paul Fine of Fine Design
Julio from Tommy's
1 comment:
Looks like it was a blast Mick-e. I'm gonna try and be there for Rd. 3 or 4. cheers
Rick
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