As we near the end of 2019, I wanted to take a few minutes
to reflect on some of the things I experienced, learned, and dealt with over
the past year.
2019 was a year of major changes for me. At the end of the
previous season I had finally started to sort out the issues with my bike, and
I was finally getting used to riding with/around my leg, and I was excited for
the coming 2019 season. After a great first round in March at Buttonwillow
Raceway, I was stoked to head to round two, which was also going to be my last
planned races in California with the AFM for the time being due to work
relocating to Texas.
Round two, rather than going well, actually ended up with a
rather epic highside during practice that pretty much ended the weekend for me –
while I was able to get back on the bike, my pain levels kept me from really
seeing any pace so I called it a weekend. Went out with a bang, but not the way
I intended (be sure to word your wishes carefully).
I then headed off to Texas with my job. I didn’t see Texas
as being a permanent move, but it was going to be a great opportunity to get on
tracks I had never seen, which presented a few opportunities I could not have
experienced in California.
First off, I wanted to see if my theories about the
transition from middle weight to heavy weight were correct. While bike set up
(and working properly) was a factor, I also was under the firm impression that
part of my issue was mental “timing.” My brain was used to having ‘x’ amount of
time between points A and B, and especially on the longer sections, I was
positive this was holding me back. That theory proved to be at least partially
true.
Secondly, I wanted to see how quickly I could learn a track
and get up to “race pace,” an important bit of information for my future
goals/plans. I learned that, with some minimal guidance, I could learn a track over
a weekend, but I did best when I had two days to learn it – day three always
saw massive improvements from days 1 and 2.
Due to the move, outside of racing, I saw very little track
time. Track days in Texas are not like they were in California, and in order to
get a reasonable amount of track time at various tracks, you either need to be independently
wealthy (which I am not) or have a large circle of friends who’ve bought
memberships (which, being a transplant, I don’t really have those, either).
Money after the move (and crash repairs) was also tight, so that was a factor
as well.
I did align with 3:16 Trackdays, a great teaching/schooling
organization towards the end of the summer and look forward to the continued
relationship into 2020.
Thirdly, I finally started to really get the bike working
for me. I’ve had some great people by my side and supporting me, and this year I
got to see that some of the notions I had when I got this bike were entirely
false. We finally started to get along, I started to overcome my fears of the
bike (despite our little incident in April), and near the end of the year I
felt like I was finally in a position to start pushing myself again. I knew I
could get my bike to do what I wanted, and I was happy to finally have the six
inches between my ears coming back to where I left off in 2016.
There are a few minor changes for next year with the bike,
primarily related to ergonomics. Investing in a custom seat is going to be one
of the big ones for me, as that was a major hang up this past summer once I started
to use that twisty thing on the right.
I’m excited to head into 2020 – while I’ve tried to drum up
excitement the past 3 years, a lot of it was just sticking to my guns and not giving
up. The passion is there, and I just needed the rest of me to catch back up. I
feel like it’s almost there, and I’m putting the tools into place to ensure
that 2020 takes me on the next step in this fantastic journey.
For all my sponsors who’ve stuck with me through the past
few years, a huge thank you! This sport is tough in this country, and your
support has been priceless.
Family and friends who’ve helped out, supported me, offered advice,
and generally just “been there” – thank you for all of that. Passing it forward
as I can.
To my racing compatriots, thank you for sharing the grid and
showing up, and giving me a reason to keep eating lots of Top Ramen (just
kidding, I actually can’t stand that stuff….).
Here’s to the upcoming adventures in 2020!
Comments
Post a Comment