What an awesome fucking day. There is no other good way to describe it.
In the week leading up to the weekend, I wasn't even 100% sure I was going to make it. Money was tight, I had a lot going on, and it seemed like everyone wanted to plan something for this particular weekend. Finally at some point I sat and had a little chat with myself and reminded myself that THIS was what I was working my tail off for. THIS was why so many people had helped me out. So race it was.
In an effort to cut costs to a minimum, and due to the heat making it less than ideal to take the dog, I chose to head up Saturday morning, with the pet sitter scheduled to come that evening and Sunday morning. Up at the ass crack of dawn - okay, BEFORE the ass crack of dawn - to make my way to Thunderhill Raceway. I had packed the day before, so got up, grabbed my last minute items, and out the door I went.
I arrived at an okay time, finally found some parking near power (damn near in Oregon, but not too far from a big port-o-potty at least), and began setting up my pit. That went smoothly, so off to registration (really, really need to get SOME kind of pit mobility....that was one hell of a hike), back to the bike, tech (at least that wasn't too bad), rider's meeting, and back to finish prepping for the day. I decided to skip the first practice session since it would have been VERY rushed to make it out, and I didn't want to go out feeling rushed.
I went out for practice sessions 2 and 3. I was feeling comfortable, noticing a few places to adjust speed. Stopping by Catalyst Reaction Suspension Tuning we made some adjustments to the settings and tire pressures. I went out for a brief bit on the session following lunch to make sure I was still happy with the settings, and I was, but I noticed I was starting to fatigue, so pulled in and sat out the last practice to be sure I wasn't worn out come race time. I had managed to drop 4 seconds off my previous race time, so I knew there was improvement.
My race was Race 2 for the day. Headed out on the first call to get a few practice starts in the hot pits, then went out for the warm up lap. Bike was feeling good, I was feeling good, and I felt like my head was in the game. This was going to be fun :D
I lined up on grid, and finally we had a 2 board. Put the bike into gear, made sure it was in, 1 board, sideways, green flag! I fubared my start this time...popped a small wheelie then lost some time making sure I had everything under control...so not so great there, but I didn't lose a ton, either. Off we went! Around Turn 1 and onto the rest of the track. Throughout the day, Turn 2 was one I had kept on coming into a little bit deeper, with plenty of comfort. Now it was time to push that a little bit. Each lap I was feeling pretty good, wasn't getting passed as much as I had at the last race, and was still comfortable. The bike was finally starting to feel a little bit like "my" bike. I had a few specific things I was trying out: going deeper into 2; trying a slightly different line through 11/12/13; and not blowing my 14/15 lines. I seemed to be holding my spot in the group...I managed to mess those up a few times, but it was providing room for improvement.
Finally the white flag came out, and I had my sights set on the bike in front of me. I wanted to try to catch them, even though they had passed me a lap or two earlier - but they were in sight. Dug up a little of my RAWR, and pushed those little things just a tad bit more. Even found myself yelling "Grrrr - GO!" at the bike a couple times LOL! Which probably means I was actually twisting the throttle like I should be rofl. I didn't quite manage to catch the bike in front of me, but I closed that gap at least! Checkered out, and the race was over!
Whew! My second completed race down, another finish, and I felt awesome about it! I came out of it knowing I had ridden well. I was relaxed, but found a little of that long lost aggression. I was relatively consistent (still missing a few of my good drives/entries here n there), and came out of it with some very specific place/things to work on when I'm out there with the Zoom Zoom Road Rider instructors on the 23/24.
I returned to the pits tired but feeling good. By the time I had parked the bike and undressed, results were posted. 3rd place and a podium finish! Woohoo! Even more exciting, I had posted a personal best of ANY recorded laptime that I have had on any bike...in fact, it was a full 7 seconds faster than my fastest recorded time. It was a full 12 second drop off my previous time on the Triumph! I felt ecstatic about it, especially since I had some good ways to pick up even more once I make them routine.
My times had more than qualified me for the Sunday race I had registered for, but after some thinking I decided to call it a day. While there was a HUGE improvement in time for me, I wanted to work out those other kinks and take what time off I can before entering the Sunday races. Plus, the $80 (between fees and pet sitter) I would save by going home that night would be very helpful in making more tracktime or another race round happen. I was on such a high from the race that I was more than content to pack up. I had an action plan, and had an amazing day at the races - even going home with some hardware :)
I couldn't wipe the grin off my face the entire way home...my face actually started to hurt. These are the stores that we tell when we're old and grey, and it makes the day to day stresses and struggles so very worthwhile. It may not be champion speeds, but there's always next time :) Max Klein of Oxymoron Photography said he got some good shots, so hopefully one of those will be coming soon!
In the week leading up to the weekend, I wasn't even 100% sure I was going to make it. Money was tight, I had a lot going on, and it seemed like everyone wanted to plan something for this particular weekend. Finally at some point I sat and had a little chat with myself and reminded myself that THIS was what I was working my tail off for. THIS was why so many people had helped me out. So race it was.
In an effort to cut costs to a minimum, and due to the heat making it less than ideal to take the dog, I chose to head up Saturday morning, with the pet sitter scheduled to come that evening and Sunday morning. Up at the ass crack of dawn - okay, BEFORE the ass crack of dawn - to make my way to Thunderhill Raceway. I had packed the day before, so got up, grabbed my last minute items, and out the door I went.
I arrived at an okay time, finally found some parking near power (damn near in Oregon, but not too far from a big port-o-potty at least), and began setting up my pit. That went smoothly, so off to registration (really, really need to get SOME kind of pit mobility....that was one hell of a hike), back to the bike, tech (at least that wasn't too bad), rider's meeting, and back to finish prepping for the day. I decided to skip the first practice session since it would have been VERY rushed to make it out, and I didn't want to go out feeling rushed.
I went out for practice sessions 2 and 3. I was feeling comfortable, noticing a few places to adjust speed. Stopping by Catalyst Reaction Suspension Tuning we made some adjustments to the settings and tire pressures. I went out for a brief bit on the session following lunch to make sure I was still happy with the settings, and I was, but I noticed I was starting to fatigue, so pulled in and sat out the last practice to be sure I wasn't worn out come race time. I had managed to drop 4 seconds off my previous race time, so I knew there was improvement.
My race was Race 2 for the day. Headed out on the first call to get a few practice starts in the hot pits, then went out for the warm up lap. Bike was feeling good, I was feeling good, and I felt like my head was in the game. This was going to be fun :D
I lined up on grid, and finally we had a 2 board. Put the bike into gear, made sure it was in, 1 board, sideways, green flag! I fubared my start this time...popped a small wheelie then lost some time making sure I had everything under control...so not so great there, but I didn't lose a ton, either. Off we went! Around Turn 1 and onto the rest of the track. Throughout the day, Turn 2 was one I had kept on coming into a little bit deeper, with plenty of comfort. Now it was time to push that a little bit. Each lap I was feeling pretty good, wasn't getting passed as much as I had at the last race, and was still comfortable. The bike was finally starting to feel a little bit like "my" bike. I had a few specific things I was trying out: going deeper into 2; trying a slightly different line through 11/12/13; and not blowing my 14/15 lines. I seemed to be holding my spot in the group...I managed to mess those up a few times, but it was providing room for improvement.
Finally the white flag came out, and I had my sights set on the bike in front of me. I wanted to try to catch them, even though they had passed me a lap or two earlier - but they were in sight. Dug up a little of my RAWR, and pushed those little things just a tad bit more. Even found myself yelling "Grrrr - GO!" at the bike a couple times LOL! Which probably means I was actually twisting the throttle like I should be rofl. I didn't quite manage to catch the bike in front of me, but I closed that gap at least! Checkered out, and the race was over!
Whew! My second completed race down, another finish, and I felt awesome about it! I came out of it knowing I had ridden well. I was relaxed, but found a little of that long lost aggression. I was relatively consistent (still missing a few of my good drives/entries here n there), and came out of it with some very specific place/things to work on when I'm out there with the Zoom Zoom Road Rider instructors on the 23/24.
I returned to the pits tired but feeling good. By the time I had parked the bike and undressed, results were posted. 3rd place and a podium finish! Woohoo! Even more exciting, I had posted a personal best of ANY recorded laptime that I have had on any bike...in fact, it was a full 7 seconds faster than my fastest recorded time. It was a full 12 second drop off my previous time on the Triumph! I felt ecstatic about it, especially since I had some good ways to pick up even more once I make them routine.
My times had more than qualified me for the Sunday race I had registered for, but after some thinking I decided to call it a day. While there was a HUGE improvement in time for me, I wanted to work out those other kinks and take what time off I can before entering the Sunday races. Plus, the $80 (between fees and pet sitter) I would save by going home that night would be very helpful in making more tracktime or another race round happen. I was on such a high from the race that I was more than content to pack up. I had an action plan, and had an amazing day at the races - even going home with some hardware :)
"Never trade the thrills of living for the security of existence."
This is amazing, way to go, AJ!!!
ReplyDeleteLoving every minute of it :) Check out the next blog post ;)
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