So, through some scraping, skimping and selling, I managed to scrape up enough to finally squeak a trackday into my budget - just one at this point, and managed a loaded carpool and shared hotel expenses, which really cuts down on costs, and finally made it back out to Thunderhill Raceway in Willows, CA.
I haven't been to THill since I did my NRS in November, and that was the only time I had been out there since that day in August. So it was feeling like a bit of a rematch, my first time really getting out there and working on going faster at that particular piece of pavement. We drove up on Sunday night, dropped off the bikes and trailer, and then proceeding to the hotel to relax, grab some dinner and get a good night's sleep in before our trackday. I was travelling with a couple other friends, and some other folks were going to meet up with us on Monday. Sunday night I fell asleep early - guess I was just plain old tired. Slept well most of the night other than about an hour and a half of pre-trackday excitement in the middle of the night.
Monday dawned clear and sunny, so we packed our stuff, grabbed some coffee, swung into Walmart and headed out to the track. Beat the gate opening so we got to chat with a few of our soon-to-be-fellow riders of the day. Gates finally opened, so we rolled in and started setting up the pit area and going through the usual pre-day routines of registration, tech, riders meeting, getting dressed, gassed up and ready to roll.
Due to light attendance and beautiful weather, I couldn't have asked for a better day. After the first hour, they combined the A and B groups into one and gave us 30 minute sessions - so more riding time! Yay!
My first two sessions out I just wasn't feeling it - the R6 just doesn't fit me very well ergonomically, and I hadn't been on it since my last race...so it has been awhile. In the meantime, however, I've been on my ZX10R every single day, and that bike fits me way better. Those first two sessions I spent pretty much just trying to figure out how to get a purchase on the bike (I felt like my legs, ass and entire base were just sliding all over the place and I was just struggling to stay on without hanging on). Finally it started to click and I managed to get myself locked in a little better. I was also getting myself back into the THilll groove.
(For the below section, for anyone not familiar with the track, here is a map and here is a video of the track so you can have a better idea of what/where I'm talking about).
The third session went much better, and afterwards a (faster than me) friend stopped by and gave me some advice on turn 14, where I was turning in too late and hugging the inside too long. I went out to the fourth session and started working on fixing that corner up, and saw a huge difference in my exit speeds on turn 15. This meant I was coming onto the front straight a lot faster, and was ending up having to pop the bike up into 6th gear for a bit before the slow down for turn 1. So this then adjusted my shift patterns from turn 1 to 3....but also started making for faster entries into 2. I felt like I was finally getting closer to riding 2 the way a previous instructor told me it SHOULD be ridden, at least at any kind of a race pace.
I moved up brake markers for several corners as well - turn 1 I was still a little cautious with, but I felt like it was a solid ride through there. 2 I was riding much deeper and faster into, making good use of that long entry. 3 I was handling pretty much like I had been, just with far more consistency. 4 and 5 were going well, they weren't particularly troublesome previously, but again, my consistency was FAR greater. 5and 5A continued to be great corners for me to gain ground on people and make passes, 5A being a turn that the banking, room to arch out and grip make it one of my favorite corners on the track. 6 probably stayed similar to what I had been doing, but again, consistency played a part. This meant I was going a lot faster through 7 and into 8, sitting up and touching the brakes just enough to get the bike to turn in quickly for 8 before making use of the width of the track to again get back onto the throttle - significant speed difference that I started carrying through there. 9 I moved my brake marker up significantly, however, it could still stand to be moved a bit further back as I could easily carry a bit more speed into that corner with where I'm at.
Due to not having a steering damper for the day I short shifted coming over 9 to avoid lightening the front end too much, and proceeded to 10. Here's another one where I moved my brake marker WAY up, up some more, and up some more and still left the day knowing I could easily move it up even more and carry more speed through that corner overall. 11 I moved the brake marker up a bit, but that's a corner I've generally carried enough mid-corner speed through. 12 and 13 were going much quicker, which then made me again adjust my shifting - rather than grabbing another gear after 13, I was having to start grabbing another gear between 12 and 13, then another along the back straight. Going into 14 I moved my brake marker WAY up, but adjusting my line through there kept me from gaining much improvement on entry speeds. The line change, however, gave me a MUCH better line into and out of 15, bringing me onto the front straight at a significantly higher speed to begin with....and then we repeated all that again :)
Overall, it was a great day. Once I got comfortable on the bike and quit sliding all over the place, my consistency was something I am happy to see. I was relaxed, focused, and didn't suffer from any butt puckers - yet I know I trimmed my times down, sped up and felt far more solid and consistent than I ever had at this particular track. The photos from the photographer proved what I was experiencing, and showed that I was usually within a matter of a few inches of my previous lap each time. Body positioning was consistent as well. No more bumper curbs, no more "some random picture looks good," no WTF am I doing? moments. Consistency may seem elementary to some, and may come naturally to others, but for me it's a sign that for where I'm at, my references are solid, I know what I'm doing, when I'm doing and why I'm doing it, and I'm not having to guess about any of it.
I left the track feeling great about the day of riding and where I was at for the day, and mentally I felt infinitely better. I knew I needed a chance to really get out of my head - but even I didn't realize just how much I needed it till afterwards. Too much work and no play hasn't been good for that, and this put me in a much better place to take on the coming weeks.
My next track excursion is up in the air, mainly depends on finances, if I can manage to land "that" job and incidentals - but I'll continue to work hard to get back out there ASAP, even if it means eating a lot of beans and rice!
I haven't been to THill since I did my NRS in November, and that was the only time I had been out there since that day in August. So it was feeling like a bit of a rematch, my first time really getting out there and working on going faster at that particular piece of pavement. We drove up on Sunday night, dropped off the bikes and trailer, and then proceeding to the hotel to relax, grab some dinner and get a good night's sleep in before our trackday. I was travelling with a couple other friends, and some other folks were going to meet up with us on Monday. Sunday night I fell asleep early - guess I was just plain old tired. Slept well most of the night other than about an hour and a half of pre-trackday excitement in the middle of the night.
Monday dawned clear and sunny, so we packed our stuff, grabbed some coffee, swung into Walmart and headed out to the track. Beat the gate opening so we got to chat with a few of our soon-to-be-fellow riders of the day. Gates finally opened, so we rolled in and started setting up the pit area and going through the usual pre-day routines of registration, tech, riders meeting, getting dressed, gassed up and ready to roll.
Due to light attendance and beautiful weather, I couldn't have asked for a better day. After the first hour, they combined the A and B groups into one and gave us 30 minute sessions - so more riding time! Yay!
My first two sessions out I just wasn't feeling it - the R6 just doesn't fit me very well ergonomically, and I hadn't been on it since my last race...so it has been awhile. In the meantime, however, I've been on my ZX10R every single day, and that bike fits me way better. Those first two sessions I spent pretty much just trying to figure out how to get a purchase on the bike (I felt like my legs, ass and entire base were just sliding all over the place and I was just struggling to stay on without hanging on). Finally it started to click and I managed to get myself locked in a little better. I was also getting myself back into the THilll groove.
(For the below section, for anyone not familiar with the track, here is a map and here is a video of the track so you can have a better idea of what/where I'm talking about).
The third session went much better, and afterwards a (faster than me) friend stopped by and gave me some advice on turn 14, where I was turning in too late and hugging the inside too long. I went out to the fourth session and started working on fixing that corner up, and saw a huge difference in my exit speeds on turn 15. This meant I was coming onto the front straight a lot faster, and was ending up having to pop the bike up into 6th gear for a bit before the slow down for turn 1. So this then adjusted my shift patterns from turn 1 to 3....but also started making for faster entries into 2. I felt like I was finally getting closer to riding 2 the way a previous instructor told me it SHOULD be ridden, at least at any kind of a race pace.
I moved up brake markers for several corners as well - turn 1 I was still a little cautious with, but I felt like it was a solid ride through there. 2 I was riding much deeper and faster into, making good use of that long entry. 3 I was handling pretty much like I had been, just with far more consistency. 4 and 5 were going well, they weren't particularly troublesome previously, but again, my consistency was FAR greater. 5and 5A continued to be great corners for me to gain ground on people and make passes, 5A being a turn that the banking, room to arch out and grip make it one of my favorite corners on the track. 6 probably stayed similar to what I had been doing, but again, consistency played a part. This meant I was going a lot faster through 7 and into 8, sitting up and touching the brakes just enough to get the bike to turn in quickly for 8 before making use of the width of the track to again get back onto the throttle - significant speed difference that I started carrying through there. 9 I moved my brake marker up significantly, however, it could still stand to be moved a bit further back as I could easily carry a bit more speed into that corner with where I'm at.
Due to not having a steering damper for the day I short shifted coming over 9 to avoid lightening the front end too much, and proceeded to 10. Here's another one where I moved my brake marker WAY up, up some more, and up some more and still left the day knowing I could easily move it up even more and carry more speed through that corner overall. 11 I moved the brake marker up a bit, but that's a corner I've generally carried enough mid-corner speed through. 12 and 13 were going much quicker, which then made me again adjust my shifting - rather than grabbing another gear after 13, I was having to start grabbing another gear between 12 and 13, then another along the back straight. Going into 14 I moved my brake marker WAY up, but adjusting my line through there kept me from gaining much improvement on entry speeds. The line change, however, gave me a MUCH better line into and out of 15, bringing me onto the front straight at a significantly higher speed to begin with....and then we repeated all that again :)
Overall, it was a great day. Once I got comfortable on the bike and quit sliding all over the place, my consistency was something I am happy to see. I was relaxed, focused, and didn't suffer from any butt puckers - yet I know I trimmed my times down, sped up and felt far more solid and consistent than I ever had at this particular track. The photos from the photographer proved what I was experiencing, and showed that I was usually within a matter of a few inches of my previous lap each time. Body positioning was consistent as well. No more bumper curbs, no more "some random picture looks good," no WTF am I doing? moments. Consistency may seem elementary to some, and may come naturally to others, but for me it's a sign that for where I'm at, my references are solid, I know what I'm doing, when I'm doing and why I'm doing it, and I'm not having to guess about any of it.
I left the track feeling great about the day of riding and where I was at for the day, and mentally I felt infinitely better. I knew I needed a chance to really get out of my head - but even I didn't realize just how much I needed it till afterwards. Too much work and no play hasn't been good for that, and this put me in a much better place to take on the coming weeks.
My next track excursion is up in the air, mainly depends on finances, if I can manage to land "that" job and incidentals - but I'll continue to work hard to get back out there ASAP, even if it means eating a lot of beans and rice!
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