Guoseph
08-13-2001, 12:10 PM
Make sure you have a lot of free time!
The trip:
After a debacle involving a trailer hitch and difference in ball size http://www.wera.com/ubb/wink.gif with John (Duke Boy), I managed to pack up most of my junk on Wednesday using a borrowed trailer from Bobby Glover of team Razor’s Edge (Thanks Bobby!). Went to work a little early next morning so I could leave a little early on Thursday, but after gathering some more things and picking up an commercial strength fan from Target (which was much used and appreciated by Retard Row for the weekend I might add), I managed to hit rush hour traffic head on http://www.wera.com/ubb/mad.gif.
A little more than 4 and a half hours later, I arrive at Roebling Roads Raceway. Along the way I learned that the Xterra pulling a trailer guzzles gas like nobody’s business, but pulls like a little champ. I could still use the extra 40 ponies they’ve put in with the supercharged version. Power is good, more power is better, and too much power is best right? http://www.wera.com/ubb/biggrin.gif
The School:
Friday morning was spent running back and forth between Retard Row and Buzz’s Psycle to get my tires mounted. Brand new Michelin Pilots! Thanks Jason! Best investment ever as far as I’m concerned. Thanks to John again for helping me take the wheels off and putting them back on in such a short time. Funny thing is, I still didn’t get teched until after the parade laps. At tech I received the number 0 cents (as in, zero sense, I guess), which somehow fit for the weekend. J
Ed Bargy runs a great school, and is an excellent speaker in the classroom. As if he hasn’t gotten enough ringing endorsements on this site, I’m going to throw in my two cents, or 0 cents, for the school http://www.wera.com/ubb/wink.gif. Having a wide range of instructors (from conservative to more aggressive) is also a big help, since it gave students a choice as to the level they wish to ride at. I started from the very right side (slowest group) and progressively moved to the left, this gave me a high level of comfort knowing that I am not being forced to ride over my head.
The Crash:
Second session after lunch, I got right behind Tom with his cool green instructor shirt on. And proceeded to follow him around the track. We got up behind another instructor going into 2, and coming out I saw Tom tap the tail of his bike and gave my throttle a healthy (but progressive!) twist. As I came up their tail all of a sudden I realized that they were going left (turn 3) and I was not. So off I go into the grass to do some soil sampling. Although the cones were not present this day at Roebling Roads, apparently they’ve made some contacts with their hitman, the tire wall. After realizing that I wasn’t getting the bike stopped on the grass, and that an impact with the tire wall would surely be detrimental to the health of both my bike and me, not to mention the tire wall’s buddies, the trees, which stood their ground just behind him, I decided to ditch. http://www.wera.com/ubb/redface.gif
Once I realized that I wasn’t horribly mangled, I picked up the bike and began to push it out of the way. Must be all that corner worker training I’ve had http://www.wera.com/ubb/biggrin.gif. Of course the tire wall seems so far away now that I’m pushing the bike, but hey, going through the grass at 50 miles an hour screws with your perceptions a little. http://www.wera.com/ubb/tongue.gif After I took the ride of shame back to Retard Row, the damage seemed to be fairly light. Broken shift lever, bent rear set bracket, and scratched up bodywork. After 250 dollars worth of repairs and lots of help from John and Dr. Bad Iguana, I was ready for the mock race.
The Mock Race:
I was lined up in Row 4 right, and managed to get a pretty good start considering all the high horsepower bikes around me. I think I stayed on the tail end of the lead pack for a couple laps. But I went through turn 4, which is usually the first place that my knee touches down, and felt my knee catch on the pavement! All of a sudden I realized that I had loaned my pucks to John because I thought I was done for the day! Not having my pucks made me lose a bit of my confidence, there was a guy just in front of me that I could have passed on multiple occasions, but just didn’t feel comfortable doing it, especially since it was only a mock race. I think I finished 7th or 8th out of 18.
Saturday Morning practice:
Not much to write about during practice, except I felt I was going faster with each session. In fact, I finally started hitting 6th gear on the straight! My right knee puck is almost all gone now, it’s just too much fun to stick ‘em out there on the pavement. I ended up swapping my left and right knee pucks because there are only two left turns on the track.
Solo 20’s:
After watching a couple race starts, I was ready for my first race ever. Being a PN, I was gridded at the very back of the pack. Whoever the guy was in front of me decided to grid smack dab in front of where I was, which I thought I was very nice of him. He ended up re-adjusting a bit to the left, but still was pointed inward to right in front of me. Anyway, it took the guys in front of me about 2 seconds to realize that the green flag has actually waved before they were going anywhere, so I ended up swerving all the way to the left of the track to chase down Shawn (spmorgan), my fellow green shirt, down the straight. I ended up passing Shawn and another (Non shirt!) going into one and put myself in the middle of a bunch of traffic. By the second lap I was getting really antsy behind another non-shirt racer, so I got him into turn 1 of lap 3. But as soon as I passed him I saw a guy in turn 2. So I figure if the guy I just passed kept up with that guy, I must be faster than him too! So I got closer in 2, then closer in 3, and even closer in 4 (where my tires gave me a little wiggle, but I didn’t listen). Then going through 5 I thought I could get him in 6, but as luck would have it, my line through 5 isn’t quite where the track is, so I ended up in the dirt outside 5. Crash #2 for the weekend, is my middle name Caesar? http://www.wera.com/ubb/tongue.gif I picked up the bike (thanks for the waving yellow) and discovered that I had bent the left rear set bracket again (I need to start falling on my right side)! Since the bike was still running, I figured I’d limp back home, reattach the lowers, and finish the race. But on the way in, I felt the bike steer really funny, and when I finally pulled in, SpecialEd (hope you are feeling better!) told me that my rear tire was flat. Doh! Guess I’m done for the weekend.
Lessons learned:
The Good:
I’m improving a lot confidence wise http://www.wera.com/ubb/biggrin.gif
Dragging knee is fun http://www.wera.com/ubb/biggrin.gif http://www.wera.com/ubb/biggrin.gif
I am not the slowest guy out there http://www.wera.com/ubb/biggrin.gif http://www.wera.com/ubb/biggrin.gif http://www.wera.com/ubb/biggrin.gif
The Bad:
Racing is expensive http://www.wera.com/ubb/eek.gif
Crashing sucks http://www.wera.com/ubb/tongue.gif
Give Michelin Pilots a few laps to warm up http://www.wera.com/ubb/wink.gif
The Ugly:
Tom http://www.wera.com/ubb/biggrin.gif
Thank You’s:
Big thanks to Retard Row for putting up with me; John for letting me stay in his tent and helping me fix my bike; Ed Bargy and all the instructors for putting on a great school; WERA and all the corner workers (especially the corner workers, I’ve done it, it’s a lot harder than racing!); Jason at Buzz’s for letting me use my tire discount before I finished the school; Tony at the tech shed; and anyone else I might have forgotten.
If you are still reading, get back to work!
The trip:
After a debacle involving a trailer hitch and difference in ball size http://www.wera.com/ubb/wink.gif with John (Duke Boy), I managed to pack up most of my junk on Wednesday using a borrowed trailer from Bobby Glover of team Razor’s Edge (Thanks Bobby!). Went to work a little early next morning so I could leave a little early on Thursday, but after gathering some more things and picking up an commercial strength fan from Target (which was much used and appreciated by Retard Row for the weekend I might add), I managed to hit rush hour traffic head on http://www.wera.com/ubb/mad.gif.
A little more than 4 and a half hours later, I arrive at Roebling Roads Raceway. Along the way I learned that the Xterra pulling a trailer guzzles gas like nobody’s business, but pulls like a little champ. I could still use the extra 40 ponies they’ve put in with the supercharged version. Power is good, more power is better, and too much power is best right? http://www.wera.com/ubb/biggrin.gif
The School:
Friday morning was spent running back and forth between Retard Row and Buzz’s Psycle to get my tires mounted. Brand new Michelin Pilots! Thanks Jason! Best investment ever as far as I’m concerned. Thanks to John again for helping me take the wheels off and putting them back on in such a short time. Funny thing is, I still didn’t get teched until after the parade laps. At tech I received the number 0 cents (as in, zero sense, I guess), which somehow fit for the weekend. J
Ed Bargy runs a great school, and is an excellent speaker in the classroom. As if he hasn’t gotten enough ringing endorsements on this site, I’m going to throw in my two cents, or 0 cents, for the school http://www.wera.com/ubb/wink.gif. Having a wide range of instructors (from conservative to more aggressive) is also a big help, since it gave students a choice as to the level they wish to ride at. I started from the very right side (slowest group) and progressively moved to the left, this gave me a high level of comfort knowing that I am not being forced to ride over my head.
The Crash:
Second session after lunch, I got right behind Tom with his cool green instructor shirt on. And proceeded to follow him around the track. We got up behind another instructor going into 2, and coming out I saw Tom tap the tail of his bike and gave my throttle a healthy (but progressive!) twist. As I came up their tail all of a sudden I realized that they were going left (turn 3) and I was not. So off I go into the grass to do some soil sampling. Although the cones were not present this day at Roebling Roads, apparently they’ve made some contacts with their hitman, the tire wall. After realizing that I wasn’t getting the bike stopped on the grass, and that an impact with the tire wall would surely be detrimental to the health of both my bike and me, not to mention the tire wall’s buddies, the trees, which stood their ground just behind him, I decided to ditch. http://www.wera.com/ubb/redface.gif
Once I realized that I wasn’t horribly mangled, I picked up the bike and began to push it out of the way. Must be all that corner worker training I’ve had http://www.wera.com/ubb/biggrin.gif. Of course the tire wall seems so far away now that I’m pushing the bike, but hey, going through the grass at 50 miles an hour screws with your perceptions a little. http://www.wera.com/ubb/tongue.gif After I took the ride of shame back to Retard Row, the damage seemed to be fairly light. Broken shift lever, bent rear set bracket, and scratched up bodywork. After 250 dollars worth of repairs and lots of help from John and Dr. Bad Iguana, I was ready for the mock race.
The Mock Race:
I was lined up in Row 4 right, and managed to get a pretty good start considering all the high horsepower bikes around me. I think I stayed on the tail end of the lead pack for a couple laps. But I went through turn 4, which is usually the first place that my knee touches down, and felt my knee catch on the pavement! All of a sudden I realized that I had loaned my pucks to John because I thought I was done for the day! Not having my pucks made me lose a bit of my confidence, there was a guy just in front of me that I could have passed on multiple occasions, but just didn’t feel comfortable doing it, especially since it was only a mock race. I think I finished 7th or 8th out of 18.
Saturday Morning practice:
Not much to write about during practice, except I felt I was going faster with each session. In fact, I finally started hitting 6th gear on the straight! My right knee puck is almost all gone now, it’s just too much fun to stick ‘em out there on the pavement. I ended up swapping my left and right knee pucks because there are only two left turns on the track.
Solo 20’s:
After watching a couple race starts, I was ready for my first race ever. Being a PN, I was gridded at the very back of the pack. Whoever the guy was in front of me decided to grid smack dab in front of where I was, which I thought I was very nice of him. He ended up re-adjusting a bit to the left, but still was pointed inward to right in front of me. Anyway, it took the guys in front of me about 2 seconds to realize that the green flag has actually waved before they were going anywhere, so I ended up swerving all the way to the left of the track to chase down Shawn (spmorgan), my fellow green shirt, down the straight. I ended up passing Shawn and another (Non shirt!) going into one and put myself in the middle of a bunch of traffic. By the second lap I was getting really antsy behind another non-shirt racer, so I got him into turn 1 of lap 3. But as soon as I passed him I saw a guy in turn 2. So I figure if the guy I just passed kept up with that guy, I must be faster than him too! So I got closer in 2, then closer in 3, and even closer in 4 (where my tires gave me a little wiggle, but I didn’t listen). Then going through 5 I thought I could get him in 6, but as luck would have it, my line through 5 isn’t quite where the track is, so I ended up in the dirt outside 5. Crash #2 for the weekend, is my middle name Caesar? http://www.wera.com/ubb/tongue.gif I picked up the bike (thanks for the waving yellow) and discovered that I had bent the left rear set bracket again (I need to start falling on my right side)! Since the bike was still running, I figured I’d limp back home, reattach the lowers, and finish the race. But on the way in, I felt the bike steer really funny, and when I finally pulled in, SpecialEd (hope you are feeling better!) told me that my rear tire was flat. Doh! Guess I’m done for the weekend.
Lessons learned:
The Good:
I’m improving a lot confidence wise http://www.wera.com/ubb/biggrin.gif
Dragging knee is fun http://www.wera.com/ubb/biggrin.gif http://www.wera.com/ubb/biggrin.gif
I am not the slowest guy out there http://www.wera.com/ubb/biggrin.gif http://www.wera.com/ubb/biggrin.gif http://www.wera.com/ubb/biggrin.gif
The Bad:
Racing is expensive http://www.wera.com/ubb/eek.gif
Crashing sucks http://www.wera.com/ubb/tongue.gif
Give Michelin Pilots a few laps to warm up http://www.wera.com/ubb/wink.gif
The Ugly:
Tom http://www.wera.com/ubb/biggrin.gif
Thank You’s:
Big thanks to Retard Row for putting up with me; John for letting me stay in his tent and helping me fix my bike; Ed Bargy and all the instructors for putting on a great school; WERA and all the corner workers (especially the corner workers, I’ve done it, it’s a lot harder than racing!); Jason at Buzz’s for letting me use my tire discount before I finished the school; Tony at the tech shed; and anyone else I might have forgotten.
If you are still reading, get back to work!