Cycle Jam-Thanks, What I Learned, and Race Vid

It was a fantastic Cycle Jam weekend at Road Atlanta. It was my first one, and I’m so glad I was able to be a part of it. Sorry if this ends up being kind of long, it was an eventful weekend and there is so much to share.

So after what some may consider a premature bump to Expert due to my results at the GNF, I’m glad to say that my first Expert race weekend was successful, for the most part. The offseason didn’t go as planned. I hadn’t thrown a leg over the bike since last October when I showed up to RA Thursday afternoon, which made the jump more difficult than it probably should have been. I definitely should have trained/prepared better, but I am overall happy with my performance, had a GREAT time with a lot of friends and family I had not seen in a long time, met some new friends, and learned a lot in the process.

First off, I have to say thanks to those that helped put it on. WERA, the officials, corner workers, volunteers, spectators, etc. We are lucky to have such a great group of people who do all the dirty work while we go get to play. I want to specifically mention Kurt Beauchamp (r6boater) who I have known for a while and really respect. His son Draik wasn’t even racing, but he still woke up at 2 AM and made the trip from TN. Between tech inspections, managing the grid, and helping any racer that needed a hand, I don’t think he had a moment to rest all weekend. And somehow he still had the superhuman strength to break free my axle bolt after I broke a wrench trying to get it off myself.

Thanks to the fellow racers, especially the 600 cc experts I got to run with. I had a blast battling against you guys/gals all weekend. Especially my “nemesis” Robert Murillo. We were running almost identical times, and made for some good racing. I’m just glad I didn’t take us both out by attempting that bad pass in T7 (see video below). Thanks to the rest of the Marrietta Motorsports group that I had the pleasure of pitting next to and hanging with all weekend, you guys are awesome. Thanks to Huey for letting me borrow his tools and take a dip in his kiddy pool (that is not a metaphor you sick bastards). Thanks to Robert’s sponsor "El Sombrero" Mexican restaurant for covering the dinner for all of us Saturday night, the carnitas dinner was awesome! Thanks to everyone else I’m forgetting. Like someone else said, there are too many nice people in racing, I can’t remember them all.

So what did I learn in my first Expert weekend? Most of all, I need to work harder off the track so that it isn’t so much hard work on the track. A lot of people can run a couple good laps, but to be consistent and competitive in the Expert class, both you and your bike need to be top notch. Those guys on the podium are in shape, and their bikes are meticulously prepped/maintained. My preparation included drinking beer and ignoring my bike all winter and waiting until the last minute to work on it. So instead of being ready to race, I was struggling with issues all weekend and was wore out by the 3rd lap in all the races.

I know a lot of people had issues with the heat and whatnot, it was pretty brutal for me. I had serious cramping issues in my legs and arms, and had problems with my braking fingers locking up. Pretty scary at a place like RA. I was already nursing a sore neck before the weekend started, but by the Pro Superbike race on Sunday, I could barely countersteer through the chicane/esses due to the pain in my neck/shoulders. That 12 lap race was TOUGH. I’m proud to say I finished it, although to be honest I nearly pulled into the pits a half dozen times. I wasn’t able to run like I knew I could and just didn’t have the strength to pull the passes I was doing earlier that day so it was frustrating at times, maybe even a little dangerous. But every time I came around, I saw another bike drop out, giving me the incentive and strenght to carry on. I decided to to back it down a notch for safety sake, just follow my new friend Michael Sanders on his pretty 675, and brought it home in a surprising 8th place. So I learned how important it is to at least finish.

I learned that you shouldn’t wait until the last second to get your bike ready and should pay more attention to details. My bike was geared too low going into the weekend, meaning I would hit the rev limiter way before the back kink. Right before the weekend I bought a whole new sprocket/chain set up that I thought was going to be just right, but screwed up and bought the same exact ratio I already had on there. Luckily Huey had a 16t front sprocket I was able to throw on Sunday morning, but that went a little too far the other way, so it cost me some drive out of corners. And after I put it on, I didn’t check the axle/chain adjustment screws enough, so during the 600 sstk race, the left side of the axle slid all the way forward, resulting in a rear wheel cocked to the right and an extremely loose and skipping chain. Luckily I was able to finish, but I think it played a part in some of my issues during the race (see video).

I learned that I suck at starts and need to finish better. I’ll be honest, I don’t really know how to do a good race start. If I rev to high, I end up doing a wheelie and/or stalling like I did in the first pro 600 start. Or I just try to get off the line safely, but lose the guys I should have been running with lap time wise. The one line nature of the chicane/esses meant I had to wait until T5 to start moving forward. By that time, I would have a decent gap to make up and would have to push. By the time I caught up, I was spent and didn’t have the goods to finish strong.

Not finishing strong was the biggest regret of the weekend, in particular the mental side of it. I’ll blame it on the fatigue, but I wasn’t paying enough attention to the white flag and it probably cost me a couple spots over the weekend. I was waiting until the last lap to make a move, but never got the chance because I didn’t know what lap I was on. I feel like I cheated myself of an opportunity at least. Not that the actual position matters that much, if I couldn’t make a pass work then fine, but I didn’t even try. Despite a fun race, the ending was anticlicmactic for me.

So on to the good stuff. Here is a little screen shot of Joseph Blasius doing a stoppie in the esses and causing a red flag in the pro 600 race. I appreciate the opportunity to restart after a terrible launch, but that is no place to practice your tricks young man! Congrats on the great weekend btw!





Video of the 600 Superstock Expert race. I had a good battle with Robert Murillo and Matt Burdett, but ended up blowing it near the end and they were able to take me. I was a mad at myself after the race, but the race was still one of the highlights of my weekend. I think they both also had cameras going, so hope to see those POV’s as well. Thanks for the fun guys, sorry for the couple sketchy moves. And congrats to Matt on the podium later that day.



I think I know where I need to improve, but curious and happy to hear any advice, so have at it. Hope to see you guys soon. Just bought a house that needs a total renovation, so not sure when I’ll be able to get back. But I WILL be back.

 

Happy to help and it's always great to see you!

 

nice job joe. each race i started pretty strong but faded near the end. so yeah, limited room for mistakes in the expert group. lol.. off my times from last year, but happy with my results.

i think the restart in sunday's superbike race gave a lot of some issues. live and learn. see you next time.

 

I started the video thinking "damn the novices are rolling pretty good"

 

Cool write up. Spending some time getting your bike and gear in tip top shape will also give you a mental advantage, it's one less thing you have to think about while racing. Same with physical training. My god, if I had to worry about my rear wheel coming loose in every fast corner, I wouldn't make it through one lap!