AFM Round 7 2015 and Year End Wrap Up

Every good story needs a good ending, and this was a great story.

It was great in the sense of personal accomplishments throughout a long year, a story of perseverance, improvements, highs and lows. Many of the victories were personal, but this sport is very personal – trophies are great, but the changes that make the most effect are usually not seen on the stage. That was my year and my weekend.

I rolled in to Buttonwillow with plans to attend the Friday test day since I have only ridden the track one other time, when I came down for Round 1. It was not a track I have much time on, and I have never been down for just a track day. I had enjoyed the track the previous time though, and looked forward to riding it again. I arrived very late Thursday (technically 3:30am on Friday), unloaded what I had to and set up to get a little sleep. Needless to say I only got a couple hours in before the morning was getting started. I got the garage key and started moving in and setting up for the weekend before heading out on track. The morning sessions were taken very slowly – my mind was rather tired from lack of sleep and being a bit ill the day before, so I decided to just take it easy and work on lines and reference points, not worrying about speed at all. Thankfully as the day wore on I started to perk up a bit and got a couple faster sessions in later in the afternoon.

Saturday morning dawned slightly overcast with the sun peeking through, and I got ready to go out for my practice sessions. Due to bike issues the day before my teammate had yet to turn a full lap on the track, so I towed him and another friend around for part of the first session so they could get an idea on the track. After that they were on their own and I started to work on picking up the pace a bit and figuring out where I could make up speed. A quick tire change after lunch, a short couple practice sessions then I prepped for the Saturday race.

I headed out to the Nv AFemme grid with the usual competition, including our resident fast novice who hadn’t been able to run many of the Saturday races. Before we even started I pretty much knew the outcome of the race unless one of us were to mess up really badly. We had a fair bit of traffic to deal with since another race was gridded in front of us, but overall it was fine. We finished in the predicted order, and I walked away with my expected 3^rd place, which locked in 2^nd place in the Novice AFemme Championship. My best lap that race was a 2:09.455, only a couple tenths of a second off my previous personal best at this track. Since my Saturday races are usually a couple seconds slower than my Sunday races, I figured there would be some new records to be seen on Sunday! Getting down near my PB consistently on my Saturday race had me pretty confident about some good improvements on Sunday. I had some very clear areas where I knew I could make up time, using the coaching information I had previously received to really hone in on the important factors.

Sunday came in looking pretty overcast – no rain was on the schedule at least, but it was a dull morning. Out for a quick practice session to warm up and get ready, then I waited for my first race of the day, Race #2, Nv 750 Prod, a class I’ve been running every other round. We gridded up, and of course I’m near the back. I have a decent start, and take off through traffic. There was a bit of a cluster going through the first few corners, but I did my best to hold my own and start battling for my position. There were a few riders who I was battling with throughout the race, and I finally finished in 13^th place with a new personal best time of 2:04.763, taking a pretty good hunk off my previous times! Despite only running this every other round, I finished the season 27^th out of 40. In the 600 Prod class (which I’ve had to alternate with this one) I finished 34^th out of 50.

I only had a couple races to rest before my Nv Legacy Middle race. We did our warm up lap, gridded up, did a lap and then got a red flag – back into the pits we went, rushed to throw warmers back on, and then rushed back out when things were cleared. We had another warm up lap and gridded up. I had an okay start – not a bad one, but not a particularly good one for me, either. I was duking it out with a couple riders here and there, but my lack of physical fitness was catching up with me and I was getting gassed during the race. I was just tired, and ended up with a best lap time of 2:07.645, significantly slower than my previous race, finishing 7^th in the race and 9^th out of 18 overall in the Championship.

Since I knew physical fatigue had been a major issue in that race I made a point to relax and recoup as much as possible before my last race of the day which was Nv Formula 1. As the year has gone on this has become one of my favorite races, probably partially due to the fact that a lot of my friends also race it. It’s also one of the races I’ve done every round. I took full advantage of my rest time and felt good when it was time to start getting ready to head out. I had a game plan in mind, I knew exactly where I could gain some time, so focused on those areas. The grid was full, and I knew a good start would be very helpful. I got a little lucky with a grid spot that gave me a couple of good launch options, and I knew the riders in front of me so I knew I could pretty much plan on them being predictable. We launched, and I had a massive start! Even by my standards that start was amazing, making up several rows of traffic, putting myself behind those who were at the front of the novice grid and in front of a bunch of the slower experts as well.

This was great as it gave me good traffic to work in – rather than trying to work around riders slightly slower than me, I got to chase down riders faster than me. Eventually a couple of the groups would get around and begin to walk away, but I still had someone to chase down. There were a few riders I was fighting it out with towards the end, with one in particular who I went back and forth with a couple times. It was a great race, and I finished in 13^th place with a personal best of 2:02.885, with other lap times right near there, and a much smaller gap in speed between the front and myself. I finished 23^rd out of 49 in the overall Championship.

There was another little victory for me in this last race as well – all year I’ve been riding with another gal who got started at our Sonoma round. She got quick very quickly, and while I’ve been improving all year, so has she. All year I’ve hoped to beat her at some point, but she kept sneaking in a few seconds (or more) faster than me every time. This final race – the very last race of the year for me, and I finally beat her. My start had launched me well in front of her and she hadn’t been able to make it up since I had chopped my lap times down to what I did in that race.

I loved ended my season on that last race. Bringing my times down to that level, consistently taking nearly 7 seconds off my previous personal best made for a great feeling. My times are such that looking at next year, with some access to some great coaching, I am excited to see what it will bring. Financial help from RiderzLaw has been huge in making each round happen, in addition to getting some much needed parts. Thanks to a ton of help from Jim and Nikki at Catalyst Reaction Suspension tuning, the bike is finally pretty well set up, which has been HUGE for getting my confidence up to where it should be. I’ve adapted to my Dunlop Race Tires and have grown to love them and the support from the Dunlop team. The support of my other sponsors has been irreplaceable as well, MotoGuild and Cycle Gear have helped with maintenances items, Woodcraft with parts and replacements, Skratch Labs for keeping me hydrated, Shoei for keeping my head safe, Chicken Hawk for keeping my Dunlops warm and sticky,  MotoSport for parts, Pacific Track Time for access to track time and some amazing coaches, Driven Racing for chain and sprockets, and last but not least Speed Mob, AXO, Erich StieglerInsurance, and City Bike for all those other items that make a weekend happen!

I can’t thank my sponsors, friends, teammate, and competition enough for making a very memorable year! Next year is sure to be just as exciting, and I think I’m already going through withdrawals just thinking about long it will be until we’re all out there for Round 1 again! There have been some immense gains for me over this year, the biggest one being my confidence in my bike and myself. I feel like I’ve changed a lot as a rider over the course of this year, and everyone involved has played huge parts in all of that. I finally feel like I have my RAWR back that had been damped from an incident several years ago. Now it has returned, with me being a much better rider because of it. 2016 ought to be awesome as well, but right now I’m still smiling about what an amazing year 2015 was for me as a racer!

See everyone at the AFM Banquet in January!