Friday practice went well. 8 sessions about 20 minutes long equals almost 3 hours of riding, and I needed every minute of it. I hadn't ridden since Thanksgiving weekend, and I knew I would need to blow off the cobwebs. I had a plan. I wanted to take the first couple of sessions really slow, and just take a look around. I hadn't been to Buttonwillow Raceway since March of 2008, and although I could remember which turn came next I had no real reference points. The first couple of session went perfect. I began to remember where to turn in, where some braking points, and visual marks are located. I stayed away from other riders I knew so as not to get sucked in, and try to run with them. That wasn't what I needed. As the day progressed I picked up the pace, and I needed to start making some adjustments to my bike. During the off season I had done a lot of work to the frame, and forks, and my suspension needed some balancing. Off to Catalyst Reaction. I worked the whole weekend with Jim. These people are invaluable. It's amazing how much better the bike handles after some time with them. Now to give myself a little credit I have to give them good feedback or I'm wasting both our time. So we make some changes, and immediately the bike feels better under braking, but I'm having trouble getting it to turn in Riverside which is the big fast sweeping corner. Races are won and lost in Riverside. Later on we would make some big changes to the rear end increasing ride height to get the bike to steer better, and I was able to hold the throttle open sooner going through Riverside. It would turn out to be the place I would make up ground on other riders. The funny thing about that is the fast sections of the racetrack were always the places I sucked. I have a fear of going fast. Now that I have a bike under me that I can trust I am pushing harder, and going faster than ever before. As the sessions clicked off I picked up the pace and started chasing down other riders. It was time to get my head into racing mode. Then I ran off track. Ooops. Totally my fault. I was gooffing off waving at my friend Shandra as I rode by her, and not paying attention to where I was. I got on the brakes, but not soon enough. There was no way I was making the corner so I stood it up, and launched myself out into the silt. I have no clue how fast I was going when I left the pavement, but let's say if I had any coal around we could have made some diamonds. On Friday my parents and best friend from Highschool Louie showed up each bringing their camping trailer. We had one hell of a compound with the 2 trailers facing each other, and my black truck in the middle. Friday night was a great little party. John and Cary from the SFMC had joined out compound on Friday as well. It would be Cary's first race weekend, and she was super excited. I love being around new racers. Speaking of new racers. This year I'm participating in the AFM Mentor Program. I'm a volunteer helping new racers get acquainted with racing and to help them get started. So Friday afternoon Dan Sewell the head of the Mentor Program asks me to work with this kid Danielle. Dan said the kid had some questions about his bike passing tech, and he was pitted near me. Well that turned out to be one hell of a project. The kid had essentially a street bike wiht the lights taped over. Only a few things were safety wired. Me and my dad would spend the next 4 hours helping him get this bike ready. In the morning he rolled right through tech with no issues.
Saturday I wasn't planning on practicing, but through the urges of my friends and family "we didn't drive all this way not to watch you ride" I ponied up the money and practiced. It was a good thing. Saturday practice is race pace. It's a way to get your head in the game, and I was on pace. I was still trying to find a line through the sweeper after lost hills, but I was feeling good. At one point I was chasing Bess Keigwin through the esses and something either came off her bike, or got kick up by her bike, and hit me in the throat. Ouch. Half a lap later that area started burning. Damn that hurts. I reached a gloved hand up to see if I was bleeding, when I wasn't I had a pretty good feeling what was happening. I pulled into the hot pits, and asked Nikki at Catalyst if she could see anything on my neck. Sure enough bee stinger. Damn. I iced it, took an anithistamine, but the damage was done. It never slowed me down, but it did hurt all weekend, still hurts if I touch it.
During one session my arch nemesis #65 John Forman got around me, and I was happy to follow him for a couple of laps. I knew he would have a usable line through that sweeper, and I ended up using that line the rest of the laps I rode. I continued working with Jim on getting the bike to turn better, and by the end of the day Saturday I had a bike that would be the best it had ever been.
Saturday night brings a whole other type of race track silliness. The slow bike races. Last year a group of racers called Soldiers Racing started hosting these Saturday night events in an attempt to get some fun back into racing. 2009 was a tough year for the AFM, and we needed to lighten things up. So of course I had to enter the races on my mini bike. After a couple of heats up against some of the best riders in the club I made the main event. I didn't win, but I did score points in what will be a 7 race series with a prize at the end of the year. I may not be the fastest, but I'm one of the slowest!
Sunday is raceday. I had put a fresh front tire on Saturday afternoon, and Sunday morning a fresh rear. Sunday practice is really a warm up session. Get heat into all the components, and your head into the game.
Race 1 650T. I was gridded 12 on the outside. An excellent spot as the inside of T1 tends to get bogged up at the start, the bad thing is that if anyone goes down the outside riders can get collected in it. The green flag waves and we're off. I got a decent start, and was pretty aggressive going into T1. That's something I've been mentally working on. Being more aggressive at the starts. and that's kinda where my memory ends. The race was a battle royal. I felt fast leaving Cotton Corners through the Grapevine, Bus Stop, Riverside, and over the top of Lost Hills. I would lose ground through the sweeper, make it up in the esses, and lost a bunch of ground through Sunset onto the front straight. The bike would wag, wobble, and weave as it would hit the bumps, but never get out of shape completely. Sometimes I'd get into a tank slapper, but I'd regain composer just in time to get stopped or turned. Sometimes the rear tire would slide while gassing it, but always come back, never chop the throttle always ride it out. Through Riverside at 90mph, knees on the ground elbow to elbow with my competitors praying that no one does anything sudden or stupid, hoping no one throws it away in front of me. There were several crashes, some near misses, some great passes. It was a hell of a race. I finished my highest ever in 650T 10th, with a best lap of 2:00.8.
Race 2 Formula FIV. I got a great start. I went through T1 in 7th place, and I knew behind me were some very pissed, very fast guys. I tried to put my head down, and ride a clean fast race. Going into T3 someone on a Code4 powder blue bike went by me rear wheel in the air and off into the dirt. Whew. half a second later that would have taken me out. Eventually the race settled in a freight train of 6-8 riders all trying to get around Ricky Ford. I was at the tail end of it, and I didn't want to do anything stupid so I only made a couple of passes, but got passed back when i made a mistake. At one point I remember the train of us all going through Riverside nose to tail, inches apart 6 bikes long. Man I wish I had video of that. That was a fun race. I was fast, I felt good, and I ran with some good company.
I'm excited for Sears Point in April. I had a good start to the season. I finished well, and will have good starting positions for the next race. I go pretty well at Sears so lets see if I can finish a little further up the field.
I have to end with another big thank you to Jim, Dave, and Nikki at Catalyst Reaction. They really did help me achieve this success.
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
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