And then there where 4

Today I sold my beloved Honda Superhawk. That was not easy. I've had that bike for 8 1/2 years. We've been through some times that bike and I. I know it was the right thing to do. I bought a newer more upright riding style bike at the end of last year, and I needed to make room in the garage and bank account, but still. It's not easy saying goodbye to an old friend. Not to say that it never let me down, oh no, it definitely stranded me a time or. But still. A lot of memories. Good and bad. The new owner is kinda kooky and passionate about owning it. He has other bikes. The one thing I asked of him was to ride it hard, and fast like I used to. He said that was the intention. Goodbye old bike, ride fast, take chances.

Here's some photos



Me and my new toy, something like October of 2001

















What happens when an asshole turns left in front of you while it raining, March of 2002










Fall of 2002 rebuilt with sexy new forks, mean looking and ready to ride. It would stay looking like this for 8 more years.










First weekend of October 2003 at the summit of Tioga Pass in Yosemite. It would snow 2 days after clearing this pass, and the road would be closed for the rest of winter.








Same trip, but leaving the Brody Ghost Town. I love this picture.

Is it racing season yet?

No but it's coming up quickly and I'm doing something I've never really done before. Preparing early! Why is it so many racers wait until the last second to prep stuff? It's true. So many of my friends will be touching their bikes for the first time in 5 months the week before the first race just then remembering the things that they meant to do over the winter break. I know because I've been that guy. Not so this year. I have a small list of things to do. I pulled the radiator off to find why I was always smelling radiator water, and sure enough there was a divot where a rock had hit it. so off that went to the radiator repair shop Alouis Radiator on Divis they took one look at it and said sure no problem $40. So much better than buying a used one off of Ebay for $250. Next I pulled the forks off for an annual refresh, and maybe some extra magic. My long time sponsor and trusted Suspension experts Dave Moss of Catalyst Reaction I understand the concepts of how suspension works but the actual mechanics of what happens inside the forks, and how to make it better is absolute vodoo. That is why we have suspension experts and I'm lucky to have them as a sponsor.
I a few other minor things to do, but I'm already much closer than I was last year at this time.

Goodbye 2009 Hello Twenty Ten

I will admit I did not do a good job of writing last year. I have only my lazy self to blame, that and the ease of posting snippets to Facebook from my Blackberry. I like FB, but it's only good for quick updates. You can't really create any real depth there. One of the few promises I've made to myself for 2010 is to write here more.

2009 was a tumultuous year. I'm not going to recount all the gory details but I'll hit on some topics of interest. It started out wild with working on the CutandPaste show. I did write about that some. I did a lot of traveling in a short amount of time in the US. The work was new, exciting, and challenging, but it was always by the seat of the pants and I don't really like that. Then the tour continued in Asia, and the chaos got even worse, but the adventure even bigger. I was very glad to be apart of that project, but also very glad when it was over. I was asked back onto the Oracle Howard Street project. There was some vindication in being asked back. I knew last years project had not gone well. I wanted to stand up and yell "I told you so" but what good would come from that? Howard Street as we call it has become old hat. It's an extremely challenging game of logistics, but one I've done a couple of times so it didn't seem that hard until the rains came that is. We got hit with the biggest storm of the year that week. Not the best time to have a 800' long tent in the middle of a downtown street. Through the perseverance of my team we fought back against the storm, and with pride I say we never had to shut the tent, and we never tripped a single circuit. It was amazing. After Oracle came the normal series of fall events followed by holiday events, then one of my favorite projects the Oakland Zoo's Zoo Lights. By the time the end of December came I was burned out from an epic year of seemingly non-stop work. Yes I worked a lot in 2009. My best financial year ever and I'm not ashamed of it. Right place/Right time. Looking forward 2010 seems strong. Events that canceled last year are already back on the books. I'm glad to have work, but I have to find a better balance.

I did get to do some racing last year. I think I made it to 4 rounds with the AFM. I'm looking forward to 2010. I have a new number this year. 93 a 2 digit number. That's significant milestone in a racing career. It means you've been around a long time. It doesn't mean your fast, it just means you've stuck around. This will be my 7th year roadracing. There's a new series this year called the California State Championship. It's one round at each of the three west coast racing clubs. I plan to make it to those three races if none other. It'll provide some new challenges. I need to get my act together, and update my racing resume, and get my sponsors lined up if I'm going to be able to afford the travel to the away rounds. I made a big change to my race bike after the last race. I'll do a write up about that, and what I think it will do to help me. I can't wait to get back to the track, turn some laps and hang out with my friends.

2009 was a bit of a roller coaster, like any year really but the peaks and valleys seemed more extreme. There was love found, and love lost, moments of pride and moments of WTF? A decade has ended, and a new chapter is just beginning. New bikes, new tracks, new interesting projects to work on, new love. I think twentyten will be a good year. I plan to write about here. I hope you follow along.
-mickey

Roast Ox

I'm currently in Hong Kong working on the asian portion of the CutandPaste tour. Right now all I can really say it that I'm exhausted. I had planned on getting some rest, and writing a detailed account of the trip over, my first day here, and getting the show done in less than perfect circumstances. However after a very short sleep after a very long day I went out and had something to eat and a big bottle of beer. Finally allowing myself to get some much needed rest I fell back asleep around noon. Less than 2 hours later I was abruptly awoken by what sounded like a demolition crew, and for all accounts was. Some kind of construction in the hotel so now I'm in the hotel lobby writing this.
ug

Below are some photos from yesterday.

Motorcycles and scooter slice through traffic with reckless abandon. Man I want to get me one of those

From CutandPaste Asia tour

Scaffolding around an entire building made of nothing but bamboo strapped together.

From CutandPaste Asia tour

My high budget house lighting system.

From CutandPaste Asia tour

Noah our technical director in another round of WTF? The two girls who spear headed the local team Dianna in the middle and Athena on the right where under so much unnecessary pressure, because so much was left to the last minute. They where great.

From CutandPaste Asia tour

A quick shot from backstage.

From CutandPaste Asia tour

Mike Brady's suit case. Generously donated to be an extra roadcase as part of the tour has been to 3 continents carrying projector hardware. Now it will makes it's way back to north america

From CutandPaste Asia tour

The local production team added in this photo Cindy, and Joel forefront (pronounced joey) amd John F at 2am waiting for a "man with a van" to come usher away our road kit.

From CutandPaste Asia tour

A very good day at the races - AFM Sears Pt April

On April 26th I finally got to do some racing. First time in 2009. Unfortunately do to work conflicts I couldn't practice on Saturday. I planned on going up to the track Saturday afternoon to set up my pit, change some tires, and get my gear tech'd. I was a little worried at first since none of the people I had been pitting with last year where returning to racing this year. The racing family is a constant ebb and flow, as people come, and people go. Through my facebook connections I reached out to my buddy Stan, and asked him to save me a spot. It worked out great as he was pitted with another buddy Rick, and Sunny. Our little section was in a prime location, and near everything. Thanks Rick and Stan, you definitely made my weekend easier.

When Sunday morning came around, and it was time for practice I was a little nervous. I hadn't ridden much this year, and I feared not being up to speed. I had a plan in my mind of some things I wanted to work on for my one practice session, and set about getting into a rhythm. I had hooked up with my old nemesis John Forman and followed him around for awhile. That was good as it got my head more into a racing frame of mind. When practice was done I checked my times and I was consistently running 1:54's. Not where I wanted to be, but not too far off, and it was the morning practice which is usually slower.

With my bike all prepped and ready for my first race which was #4 I grabbed Kate, and headed up to the grandstands to watch race #1. It would be her first time seeing a motorcycle race. That race was over in 5 seconds. There was a horrific crash at the very start leaving two riders face down just past start finish. One rider having a broken femur, sevored femoral artery bleeding out on the track literally bleeding to death in front of us, and an the other rider unconscious was a terrible way to start the day. Both riders where helicoptered out, and I know now that they will both eventually be fine, but they have a long recovery ahead.

This unfortunately shook me up a little bit. Motorcycle racing is extremely dangerous. That thrill of being on the absolute edge is like nothing else. On the other side of that edge is the possibility of life altering injuries. We don't talk about it. No one does.

My first race was Open Twins. Not a class I usually compete in as it's mostly dominated by big Ducati's making 150+ hp. But there are usually a few 650 riders in there, and it was before my main races so why not? I had a new quick shifter installed so I had been practicing my starts getting used to it. I had a good grid position on the outside of the row. I prefer to start on the outside, and take an outside line through T1. This allows me to carry good speed through the corner, and then take the inside line up the hill into T2. When the green flag flew and we roared away from the starting line I had no clue what position I was in, and I didn't care. I was off on the chase and quickly started picking off bikes in front of me. A couple into T2, another over the hill at 3a, another down into 4, again around the outside of a big Ducati through T6 "The Carousel" and then it started to thin out. That big duc came back by on the straight, but I just laughed in my helmet as I got on the brakes much later than he, and dived under to take the spot away into 7. At that point there where just a couple of 650 riders, Adrian, and Zoe. The faster big twins having checked out already, and the slower riders fading arrears. The three of us would change places several times. If I remember correctly Zoe was leading the three of us, and Adrian had worked past her, and I knew I needed to get by quickly or Adrian would get away. I tried passing into over the hill at 3a, and on the brakes into T4, but I wasn't close enough so I backed off. I tried again going into T6, but that's not my strongest place so I opted to get a good drive out of 6, and outbrake her into T7. I'm good on the brakes since I replaced my master cylinder with a Brembo unit, and I knew I could get it done. In my previous trackday with ZooZoom I worked with Berto Woolridge and he'd told me I needed to work on my trail braking, and here it was paying off. I got on the brakes late, dove underneath Zoe, and held a tight line, but she didn't back off, and stayed just outside of me, setting me up to pass on the exit of 7. This is a classic T7 scenario. The passing rider brakes late, gives up speed to get the position the passed rider take the outside line, carries more speed and takes the position back on the exit. Knowing it was coming, also comfortable in the knowledge that I had a new tire that would give me a little more grip I rolled on the throttle while at full lean and blocked Zoe right at the exit. I think this spooked her a little, and took some of the fight away as she never made a challenge again.

Here's me tucking it under Zoe

From AFM Sears 4.26

Off I went after Adrian. I was better on the brakes than he, but he carried more speed on the exit. I was much faster in 3, 3a, but I couldn't capitalize on momentum into 4 even though I tried a couple of time. I got by him in 7, but he back around going into 9. We traded places several times, and after a little mistake he started to pull away from me. On the last lap I got a good drive out of 8a and reeled him in heading down into 9, but I wasn't close enough to get it done, so I backed off a little trying to gain a little momentum coming out of 9a, heading into 10 planning a late braking move into 11. It went like clock work. I had a solid drive out of 10, and easily pulled up next him, grabbed a handful of brake to get the pass done, and then I noticed the yellow flag. DAMN IT! You can't pass under any flag condition so I had to slow down, and let him back by. I finished 12 in Open Twins. I'd been 11th if that yellow flag hadn't come out. I found Adrian in the pits, and he admitted I'd been robbed. It was a good race, and there was more to come.

The start of the 650 Twins race was nearly tragic. I was gridded waaay in the back, and when the green flag flew as I gassed it there was some incident up front, and bikes where jockeying madly around. I almost got hit from behind, and lost about 20 places. Oh well. Once again I settled in and started picking off riders. Once through the hoy poloy I found myself with familiar company. People I'd been chasing all year long. Right in front of me was Scott 555, and Charlie 649, Scott was riding kinda out of control. He'd got a terrible start, and was trying to make it up all at once. He passed Charlie under a waving yellow. I noted that in my head, and considered a protest. But first the racing. I easily got by Charlie in T6. Finally the suspension adjustments I'd been making as well as trying a different line through the Carousel where paying off, and I was no longer losing ground through T6 anymore. Scott was carring more speed through corners but was not nearly as good on the brakes as me (hmm.. repeating theme)I was able to pull him in on the brakes, and then lose a little on the out. One place I was faster was the entrance to T10. I'd been using that to my advantage earlier getting a good drive and braking into 11. I gave him a little room entering 9 so I could get a run on him through 10. As he exited 9 he looked over his shoulder and could see me coming so he held a tight line on the inside of 10. Fine Scott I'll go around the outside. I easily pulled up next to him. That's when he pulled one of the biggest punk moves I've ever seen. He knew I was next to him. I was all the way out on the rumble strips, and he moved over to his left bumping me out into the dirt. I had no choice but to wait until I'd cleared the dirt and was straight up and down on the track to hit the brakes. I finally did, and I ran way off track losing a couple of positions. I was mad. Really mad that he'd done something so flagrant.
They call it "Red Mist" where your focus gets narrow, and you are so determined, so full of adrenaline, that often after the event is over you don't remember anything. When I exited T11 Scott was through T1 easily a 1000 feet ahead of me. Head down I started pushing through every corner. Trying to find a tenth of a second here, another tenth there. I passed back the people that had gone by when I ran off track with such ease they weren't even there. I didn't want to slow down to make a pass. Stay focused go fast, and he'll come to you. Several laps go by and he's getting closer. Actually we're gaining on the other group ahead. Last lap. Once again I'm right up his tail. I set myself up for the same pass that has worked time and again a solid drive out of 10 with a late brake into 11. We both come out of 10 hard on the gas. I'm gaining when in an instant I watch his rear tire spin up, and snap he's air born, highside. The bike and him are tumbling right in front of me. It takes conscious effort to look away, look down the track and I miss running him over by inches. Brutal.

Formula IV I head an equally horrendous start when half way through 1 a guy in front of me blew his engine. "Oh shit" I thought this is going to be bad, but the guy stayed up, and I missed hitting him, but once again half the grid went by me. so I spent the race picking people off. I'd had a good race with Charlie, and Adrian again, in the end putting some distance between them and myself. Until that final lap. I think it was heading over in T4 I went to down shift and something didn't feel right. I went to shift up into T5, and again something felt wrong, and I knew my shifter had come apart. I considered pulling off the track, but screw that. I nursed the bike around in 5th gear. It made for some really shitty drives out of 7, 9, and 11, but I only lost 2 positions. My new quick shifter had literally broken in two. bummer.

So it was a very eventful day. I can't even count the number of times I went into a hard braking zone with my rear wheel in the air. Yee-Ha!. I think I'm going to get some actual racing brake pads, and we'll see how well we can brake next time!
My finishing positions are nothing to write home about, but it sure was exciting to get there.

Oh and on the way home my bike fell off my moto-tote. Yeah I was dragging my race bike down the 101. It actually did very little damage. Scuffed a handle bar, and the tail section. Another near miss. Lottery ticket anyone?

A special thanks to Marie and Jennifer at Werkstatt for getting me some much needed parts in a hurry.
and thanks to Dave Moss who I didn't speak to all weekend, but his input all last year, and some emails earlier this month got my bike where it needed to be.

Chasing Adrian through T1

From AFM Sears 4.26

On the gas out of T7

From AFM Sears 4.26

Leading Adrian through T2

From AFM Sears 4.26

Exiting T9

From AFM Sears 4.26

You're #1

From AFM Sears 4.26

as always a thanks to my sponsors
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

Racing News

I got rid of my old Nissan Pathfinder. It had served me well, but it's time was done. I had abused the clutch hauling bikes, and trailers around California, and the throw out bearing was whining. So I sold it. Why not my dad gave me his old truck when he retired anyway. Now I've got a 4x4 diesel to haul my bikes around. I got just enough money for that pathfinder to put a new stereo in the truck. HAHAHA


With the addition of the new truck I've also let go of the trailer I was using. It didn't belong to me, but I was it's keeper. Between myself and my buddy Craig we keept in our garages. When Craig let his garage go I didn't want the trailer year round. It took up too much space. No problem I have a bumper hauler anyway. However my XR100 doesn't fit in the back of the truck with the shell on it. So I bought a XR50 mini bike to use as a pit bike. Just like my 100 it's way overdone.



Tuesday march 17th I rode at Laguna Seca for the first time. It was kind of a hassle to get it all together. First off Laguna, a world class track that hosts a round of Moto GP, has a really low sound limit. 92db. So I bought a stock exhaust off of ebay, and mounted that up. That itself turned out to be more of a chore than I thought. The modified wider rear wheel I use rubbed against part of the decorative tip, so I cut it off. then I had to buy a really long bolt to mount it. Fine. Stock exhaust on, get do to my first session after lunch, and I'm meatballed for sound. Yup even with a stock exhaust I was 96.2db. The intake growl is what got me. So I hd to ride really slowly when I got near the sound booth. Lame. Anyway the day was good in the end. I got to ride with A,B, and C groups at the last session of the day. that made for an hour straight of ontrack time. If you could run flat out it would be a fun track. T1 is fast, and takes some time to get comfortable holding the throttle wide open as you crest a blind hill. T3-5 as also fast with just a little late breaking. The famous corkscrew isn't all that bad. It's suck a slow entry that there isn't much to it. However having the nerve to brake really late getting into it definitely would take some time to develop. What really scared me was T9 Rainey Curve. That turn is fast, down hill, and if you get it wrong it sends you straight at a wall. Whew. I'm glad I got to ride there. I doubt I'll be back anytime soon. I've now ridden on all the road race tracks in California. Thunderhill, Sears Pt, Laguna Seca, Buttonwillow, Willow Springs, Streets of Willow, and California Speedway. Time to branch out of the state. I hear Miller is a fun place to ride!





And here's and animated gif I made. This is of my very first lap at Laguna.

I was totally channeling my Rossi at this moment.


Hopefully if everything pans out the next ontrack time is for the west coast AHRMA round at Willowsprings. If not I'll try to make the AFM race the same weekend. If I can't do either of those I might not be on track until June, and that would be a really bummer. It kills me. I have to walk past my race bike in my garage 20 times per week, and it just sits there. We'll see.

I'm digital again!

It's March, and I haven't written anything on here in awhile. Partly because my lame ass lost the charger to my digital camera, and I got lazy about it.
So let's start there. I just bought a Canon SD890 Elph. This is a much improved camera over my S30 that my old buddy Nik gave me. I really like Canon's for the picture quality in low light. I take a bunch of photos for work, and the Canon's do the best job of it.

Here's a few pictures from my backyard this afternoon.

What a nice day here in the city.


I tried the video feature of the camera too. Certainly not a video camera but not terrible for such a small thing.


In other non moto news I'm midway through the CutandPaste tour. Man that is kicking my ass. We've done 5 cities, and we're off to Toronto this weekend. The cross country travel each weekend has been brutal. I'm staying in Toronto for a couple of days inbetween there and Chicago. A little down time will be nice.

2008 in review

Is it really 2009?
How do it get here so fast? It's hard to believe that a year ago I was at California Speedway racing in my first race on my new race bike. A whole new world opened up to me with that new machine. With all the riding I did on a motorcycle that was really set up to race with all the modern components of racing I grew a lot. In some ways I did a lot better than I thought I was going to, in other ways I did worse. I guess I just kept upping my expectations. The better I'd do the better I'd want to do. I had some close calls, like nearly high siding that first race weekend, or coming together with that Buell at the AHRMA race, or even when I got hit twice on the first lap at Thunderhill, but with all those close calls I wouldn't have it any other way. I made it to 10 race weekends in 2008. I missed out on the last AFM race because of my broken ankle. Oh well. I got to meet and become friends with some cool people that I hope I will know for a long time. People like Steve B, and Robin G, even crusty old Zoran. Others like some of the sponsors that I got to know really well like Jennifer at Werkstatt, or Dave with Catalyst Reaction. Racing is an amazingly intense community that really brings people together and bonds them.

The economy for the most part in 08 was good, and I tried my hardest to avoid work, and just ride. I had worked on my ass on in 07, and saved some money up which made the work avoidance even more possible. It was tight a few times, but I always managed to scrape by and buy that new rear tire!

What does 2009 hold in store for us? Well I'm going to focus on work more this year. Racing all over California was awesome, but it left me drained. Not just money but mentally. Always trying to figure out how to pay for the next race or how to adjust my work schedule so I could make the race. It was really intense, and so much fun, but I need to give myself a break. Oh and there's the money part too. I have a really cool project that I am working on with Trisha's company @ E2k. It's called CutandPaste http://cutandpaste.com/ and should be a challenging thing to be apart of. Because I need to be able to focus on it I'm not going to do much racing until the end of the year. I would like to make the AHRMA race at Willow Springs again so we'll see about that. CutandPaste is going to take me to 7 US cities and 4 in Asia so I'm going to be traveling a lot in 09. I'll try to write about my adventures here as ofter as I can.

Below is a picture I made up to give my sponsors in 2008. I like to look at it. It reminds me of all the damn good times I had.

Update to Zombie Bikers on Wheels!

The video is finished and here it is.




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69vOhU40JaU
I recommend clicking on the "watch in high quality" link, and then making it full screen.
This way you get the full feeling.
OK so it's silly, and I broke my ankle but it turned out pretty good.
We definitely had a damn good time making it.

Zombie Bikers on Wheels

On Sunday 10/4 I worked on a music video for a song named "Zombie Bikers on Wheels" This all came about when I had gone with my friend Trevor to a screening of his friend Jon's series of videos called "Zombies from Eureka" Here's some of Jon's work
Zombie Dance

After that screening we where having beers, and Jon was talking about his next project which was this zombie music video involving bikers, and I was like "do you need guys on bikes" A month later there we where in this little industrial strip out in the Bayshore neighborhood near Bev Mo. I had convinced SFMC members Dave "Papa" Schiller, my racing buddy, and Papa's son Eric, and Andy "Rabit" to come along. So there where 4 of us total.

The location was this small warehouse that had old train tracks running in front of it. Most of Jon's Zombie stuff had very simple make up but the band had invited a make up artist named Autumn to join, and she was great. The zombie make up was definitely stepped up a notch or 3. After all 4 of where in makeup Jon started shooting some warm up shots getting a feel for what he wanted to do. One of the residents of the warehouse helped in the filming. He provided a smoke machine, and helped out.

After some establishing shots we started on the bike shots. We rode around in circles a few times, and did some back and forth stuff. The band had a back up singer named Jenny, and I rode Rabit's bike with her on the back, and did some more circles while Jon filmed in the middle. It was tough as I kept having to ride over train tracks.

We'd had enough this riding in circles thing, and we convinced Jon it was time for some stunt shots. Note: Bad Idea. We placed Jon in the middle of the tracks while Eric and I rode wheelies past him. After my third of fourth run when I brought my front wheel down it got caught in the damn train track and down I went. I've crashed plenty of times but this one hurt. I was only wearing my leather pants, and vest, no jacket or helmet as I was in zombie make up. I was rashed up pretty bad on my arms, and I had twisted the hell out of my ankle. Eric helped get my bike up, and after a few minutes we finished the stunt shots. I couldn't just quit.

We had to reshoot Jenny's scene as she forgot to sing her lyrics so back on Rabit's bike with the cute girls in fishnets again. Darn. Then came the customary burn out scene. I had a mostly worn tire anyway so I smoked the hell out of it. After that it was time for street shots. We put our helmets on, Jon got in the back of an SUV, and we hit the streets. We rode really slow around the block a few times trying to look like hungry zombie bikers. That finished out day.

Papa, and Rabit left after that, but Eric, and I stuck around to do some more set up shots, and watch Jon do the band shots inside the warehouse. It was a lot of fun hanging out, but my ankle hurt like hell, and I could barely put any weight on it. Eric and I took off and went to Ace Cafe for a beer still in our full zombie make up. We made for quit a scene entering the bar. It had been a fun day, especially for friends that had never been around any kind of production before. I took off and went to Grandma's Saloon to hang out with Trevor and Jon and talk about the day. Again my ankle hurt like hell and I had to hobble around around.

Monday morning my ankle was still really swollen so I decided to go Kaiser and have it checked out. After the customary visit to the Dr I was sent to xray where my buddy Mole from the Secret Society Scooter Club works as an xray tech. He took one picture and said from the back room "yup you broke it" What? Seriously? He showed me the picture and sure enough I'd broken the medial malleolus clean through. The Dr gave me a splint, and referred to the orthopedic foot clinic where on Tuesday they put me in a full cast from the knee down. Total bummer.

And that folks is how I ended my racing season. What a bummer. I was one race away from doing the entire AFM season. So here it trying to keep my leg elevated as long often as I can for the next 4-6 weeks. I go back next week for more xrays, and to see if I need any screws to keep it all together.


Mmm... Fresh blood



Cast and crew from left to right top to bottom
Papa, Autumn, Rabit, Mickey, Adam, Adam's hot girlfriend
Eric, film maker Jon


My riding outfit


Me and Jenny


Burnt rubber


Newly added Ouch 1


and ouch 2

AFM Round 7 and the 4 Hour Endurance Race

This past racing weekend was something different on the AFM calendar. The 4 hour endurance race. The race itself takes place on Saturday roughly from 12:30pm to 4:30pm, and is what it sounds like, a race that last 4 hours long.

In order to accommodate this we had practice on Friday. That was a bit tough for me. I had to work Thursday night running the stage lighting system for Elvis Costello at the Academy of Sciences opening night gala. It was fun, and a good show, but I didn't get to bed until 1am, and I had to be up at 5am in order to get to the track, and set up in time to make the first practice.

The first part of Friday practice was normal. After I got my pit area set up, and my bike tech'd I began riding my practice sessions. There was a lot of traffic, and I had a tough time getting an clear track. My lap times where all over the place and I think my best time was in the 1:53 range which isn't bad considering I had to get around someone on ever lap.

I had been invited to ride on an endurance team. Team Cyclops, due named after the bike owner Brian who only had one functioning eye. My friend Steve Babuljack, and a guy named Chase McFraland would be the 4 man team riding the beast. Bike #66. Brian had put this bike together in less than 2 weeks time, and it looked like it. It was so stock it barely could be called a race bike. It even had it's passenger seat, and a tail light! Friday in between practice session Brian and I would continue to prep the bike in order to get it tech'd. Right before out dedicated 45 minute endurance practice session we finally got it finished, and OK'd to take out on track. All of our team members where there, and we used out 45 minutes to mostly practice pit stops and rider exchanges. An order of who ride when was determined and out I went on the beast.

Wow talk about a different riding experience. My Kawasaki EX650 is a well prepped finally tuned race bike that handles very precisely, and has amazing brakes. The Beast is a Suzuki SV650 with a stock rear shock, and stock front end, with stock brakes, stock foot pegs and wow. It felt like I was riding a plush chair!. I rode a couple of laps then came in. We exchanged riders, and continued this for the rest of the session each rider riding a few laps then coming in to practice the exchange. When it was over me and Chase looked at each with a bit of worry. Chase is a new racer, but has a lot of experience racing supermoto so the two of us are the experienced riders while Brian, and Steve are first year racers. We're really going to ride this thing for 4 hours? The answer? Yes.

Saturday morning. Brian had acquired some rearset foot controls overnight, and I moved the handlebar clipons to match what Brian had on his normal SV650 racebike, and The Beast was starting to look like a race bike. I used my practice session to ride The Beast instead of my own bike knowing I needed more seat time on this unusual machine. The new controls felt so much better. Now we're racing. I started to pick up the pace as I got more comfortable on the machine and I could feel the brakes starting to fade. OK note to self need to flush the brake fluid. About half through the session I was heading into T2 I downshifted, and leaned the bike in when all of a sudden it slips out of gear into a false neutral (where the transmission is in between gears). The bike naturally stands up, and I begin to head off track when all of a sudden it drops back into gear locking up the rear wheel causing me slide out and when the wheel regains traction the two wheels want to line trying to pitch the rider off in a highside crash. So up in the air I go but I held onto the handle bars and land back on the bike as I head off into the dirt pointing straight at the air fence. I manage to get the bike stopped before hitting the wall, and I begin put putting through the dirt and back on track. I considered coming in to see if there was anything wrong but instead I stayed out not wanting The Beast to get the better of me.

The race: It was decided I would start the race as I had the most racing experience and would be less likely to throw it at the start. We moved all of our needed items down to the hot pit where we would be doing our pit stops and exchanges. Once again we where barely ready in time as the final call for the 4 hour race to start was announced. I jumped on the bike and got to try a couple of practice starts in the hot pit before heading out for the warm up lap.

When the green flag flew I got a decent start, but oh what a hairball start it was. The 4 hour has 4 classes. FIV which is mostly 650 Twins, 600, 750, and Open so there I was running up the hill into T2 with the biggest mixed bag of bikes, and riders I've ever been with it. It looked more like bumper cars than motorcycle racing. I reminded myself I didn't need to chase the bikes, and to quickly settle into a rhythm. I wanted to chase the other SV's but I knew our bike was out classed so I just put my head down, and began to run off consistent laps, knowing it was a long day ahead. After 15 laps, or about a half an hour I got the signal from my pit to come in. OK one more lap to go, and I get to take a break. Coming out of the Carousel T6, at full lean as I was rolling on the throttle the bike made a loud crunching sound, locked up the rear wheel, and once again pitched me up into the air. I held on the bars, landed on the bike, and at first I thought it was that false neutral problem, but when I looked down, and saw the chain missing I knew what that crunching sound was. Here's where I saved the day. I knew that I need to get the bike out of the way and someplace safe. My first concern was that I didn't want to leave the bike on the hot track where other riders might run into it if they crash so I pushed it way down the the straight that connects T6, and T7, and put the bike behind a tire wall. That was a long push, and would turn out to be our saving grace. I thought this was the end of our day. I was exhausted. I had just ridden for 30 minutes, then pushed our bike up a slight hill, in 90 degree weather. I was almost relieved. The Beast was trying to kill me, and in some part of me was glad I wouldn't have to ride it again. I walked back to our pit with some dejection knowing our day was done when I found out Brian was talking to race control about us going back out there to fix it. In the mean time my teammates informed me that I had been doing 1:54's for most of my stint. That's pretty damn good considering what I was riding. After much discussion a new precedent was set. We where allowed to go back out onto the live track and repair our bike. The only reason they would let us do this is because the bike was left in a relatively safe area where we would not be a safety hazard. Yeah Me! The kicker was that we had to be wearing full racing gear when we went out there. So Me, Brian, and Chase put our leathers, boots, gloves, and helmets on, grabbed a rear stand, a new chain, and an ice chest full of tools and headed back out onto the racetrack to put a new chain on The Beast. That was a whole new exercise in patience. Bikes where flying by us on either side at 100+ mph, it was 90 something, we had out helmets on and couldn't hear each other, and the sweat would get in our eyes so we couldn't see very well, but we did it, and Chase rode the bike back into the pit.

We made some more adjustments,

and sent Chase out for his turn, almost 2 hours into the race.

Chase rode for about 8 laps then as he entered T7 he caught a false neutral and crashed. Yup. The two guys with the most racing experience where down. Chase nursed the bike back in, and now I knew we where done.

Brian however was not about to give up, and through his will alone he rallied us together, and we got the parts we needed, which included a new front master cylinder, and we sent the bike out again,

Now Steve's turn.

By this time I've met most of the AFM turn workers, race direction, and tech inspectors. I was told that the workers where all rooting for us to finish the race. We'd had a tough day, and where still fighting. Steve rode about 10 laps and brought it in for our one and only pit stop. We put Brian on the bike, and sent him out to finish the race.

Brian rode for about 45 minutes, getting faster each lap. and then just like that it was over, the checkered flag was out, and Brian brought it in.

There was much celebration at Team Cyclops.

And that was my 2008 AFM 4 Hour experience

I did my normal sprint races on Sunday. I thought I was going to do better, but I'm really struggling to get my bike to exit the Carousel under power. I need to get that figured out. I'm giving up a few tenths to half a second on that part of the track alone. I ran as high as 9th for a few laps, but I finished both races in 15, 18th position. Not where I wanted to be, but both races where dog fights, with lots of passing, and repassing. It was a good time.

There's one more race weekend left this season. It's hard to believe it's been a year already.


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