ericande
06-16-2008, 03:07 PM
Everytime I go to the track I can't imagine the sport can get anymore fun. And then it does.
The weekend started out with the Adrenaline Freaks track day. Weather was mostly dry, just a little bit of a drizzle in the middle of the day. I was determined to get into the 35s this weekend so after a couple easy sessions to warmup I started going a little harder. I was focusing on getting a better drive out of 2, 4 and 7. I felt like I was getting better in those areas so I tried putting some hot laps together and got a best time of 1:35.19. I took it easy the rest of the day, I was trying to make sure my tires held out throught the weekend.
Saturday morning started out slow, I was exhausted. Weather started out a little gray but the forecast was looking nice. I saw I was gridded in the 2nd row (much better than 10th like last race!) so I know where I was, I set my goals for the race, my 2nd as a novice. A top 10 finish and a lap or two in the 35s. I knew I could get a decent start and then it would just be a matter of holding off the fast guys on liter bikes as long as I could.
First practice went well, took it easy and kept the bike upright. I had about 5 hours to kill before my race so I stole Kevin’s pitbike and practiced wheelies for about 3 hours as this is a valuable race skill. 750SS went out and so I got suited up and got the bike ready to go. The end of the race was coming up so I threw on my helmet, flipped on the camera and waited. And waited. The news came out that the rest of the day was cancelled and several riders went to the hospital, including my teammates Kevin and Randy (although they were able to drive in their own cars there, not transported by ambulance.) Thankfully later that night we learned everyone was ok.
I woke up a little later on Sunday and was pleased to see perfect weather. Forecast was for 75 degrees and sunny. And I had two races. Awesome. Practice went pretty nicely and I was anxious for the first race. Same grid position and I had the same goals as Sunday. At 11am our race went off, took a nice easy warm-up lap and took my spot on the grid. Light went out and we were off. I got a pretty decent start and got in front of everyone on the front row except #936 and #905. I chased those for a lap until they started to gap me out of the busstop. Came into the chute when Jim (#924) passed me on the left about as close as I’ve ever been passed (stupid liter bikes ;) ) Good times. Lost a couple more spots later in the race and ended up 6th or 7th. Best time was a 1:35.4, pretty happy about that.
For race 2 I started on row 2 again. I got pretty much the same start as last time except I let Darren (revhard) get in front of me for most of turn 2. I was determined to keep up with Paul and Ryan(?) in the front and was having a blast for the first two laps. Then on lap 3 I got on the gas out of 7, my back tire spun up and the bike slid a ways. Immediately I thought “Oh no, I’m pulling a Jared!” but my bike loves me more and got back in line. But I had to back off the pace, my tires were just finished. I lost a few more spots as the race went on, I was pretty pissed I couldn’t get on the gas but it’s my own fault for not flipping my tire or something. Lesson learned. I think I finished 6th or 7th again, I checked my lap times after the race and my best lap was a 1:34.2! My goal for the year was to get into 34s so it’s time revise that!
Video and pics up soon.
The weekend started out with the Adrenaline Freaks track day. Weather was mostly dry, just a little bit of a drizzle in the middle of the day. I was determined to get into the 35s this weekend so after a couple easy sessions to warmup I started going a little harder. I was focusing on getting a better drive out of 2, 4 and 7. I felt like I was getting better in those areas so I tried putting some hot laps together and got a best time of 1:35.19. I took it easy the rest of the day, I was trying to make sure my tires held out throught the weekend.
Saturday morning started out slow, I was exhausted. Weather started out a little gray but the forecast was looking nice. I saw I was gridded in the 2nd row (much better than 10th like last race!) so I know where I was, I set my goals for the race, my 2nd as a novice. A top 10 finish and a lap or two in the 35s. I knew I could get a decent start and then it would just be a matter of holding off the fast guys on liter bikes as long as I could.
First practice went well, took it easy and kept the bike upright. I had about 5 hours to kill before my race so I stole Kevin’s pitbike and practiced wheelies for about 3 hours as this is a valuable race skill. 750SS went out and so I got suited up and got the bike ready to go. The end of the race was coming up so I threw on my helmet, flipped on the camera and waited. And waited. The news came out that the rest of the day was cancelled and several riders went to the hospital, including my teammates Kevin and Randy (although they were able to drive in their own cars there, not transported by ambulance.) Thankfully later that night we learned everyone was ok.
I woke up a little later on Sunday and was pleased to see perfect weather. Forecast was for 75 degrees and sunny. And I had two races. Awesome. Practice went pretty nicely and I was anxious for the first race. Same grid position and I had the same goals as Sunday. At 11am our race went off, took a nice easy warm-up lap and took my spot on the grid. Light went out and we were off. I got a pretty decent start and got in front of everyone on the front row except #936 and #905. I chased those for a lap until they started to gap me out of the busstop. Came into the chute when Jim (#924) passed me on the left about as close as I’ve ever been passed (stupid liter bikes ;) ) Good times. Lost a couple more spots later in the race and ended up 6th or 7th. Best time was a 1:35.4, pretty happy about that.
For race 2 I started on row 2 again. I got pretty much the same start as last time except I let Darren (revhard) get in front of me for most of turn 2. I was determined to keep up with Paul and Ryan(?) in the front and was having a blast for the first two laps. Then on lap 3 I got on the gas out of 7, my back tire spun up and the bike slid a ways. Immediately I thought “Oh no, I’m pulling a Jared!” but my bike loves me more and got back in line. But I had to back off the pace, my tires were just finished. I lost a few more spots as the race went on, I was pretty pissed I couldn’t get on the gas but it’s my own fault for not flipping my tire or something. Lesson learned. I think I finished 6th or 7th again, I checked my lap times after the race and my best lap was a 1:34.2! My goal for the year was to get into 34s so it’s time revise that!
Video and pics up soon.