Reno-Fernley
Raceway. Let’s see: porta-potties, wild horses (dodge the horse apples on the
track), bunnies and tumbleweeds. Oh, ya, and a racetrack with a ton of corners,
elevation changes, rough pavement that feels like your bike made love to a
jackhammer and the first track where a fair number of my reference points ended
up being tar snakes.
I trailer pooled up
with another one of my Curve Unit sisters, and we met up with our Prez in Sacramento and drove the
rest of the way in a mini caravan. Around 7pm Friday night we rolled into RFR
and I got my first glimpse of this rustic track. Dropped the trailers, and then
got a pre-trackday Suburban tour of the track courtesy of Shawn and Kathy
Reilly. My biggest impression? There’s a lot of freaking track to try to
remember. After our little ride we headed into town for some (surprisingly
rather good) all-you-can-eat sushi at Sushi Moto before heading to our hotel to
crash for the night.
Saturday dawned
bright and early, if not a bit on the cool side. After a nice continental
breakfast, off to RFR we went. Unloaded, and pitted up with the wind already
picking up, we ended up forgoing the pop-up shade since they would have turned
into nothing but big kites even with cement buckets attached. I had signed up
for C group for the day since it was my first day at that track, and I was
(appropriately as it turns out) worried about getting “lost” on track. Rider’s
meeting went normally, and we headed out to get ready for our first session,
the lead follow. Yup, this track was gonna be tough.
Second session of
the day rolls around and I head out. In part of the back area of the track I
did indeed get lost. I had to slow and pop my head up to try and figure out
where the hell I was and where the track was going. I had no idea where I was
lol! One instructor follows me around a bit, mostly at this point I’m just
trying to figure out where the heck I’m going.
As the day wears on
and we move to 30 minute sessions (A and B groups got combined) I started to
figure out where I was going and at one point ended up working with two
instructors in on session. Shawn Reilly and Dan Sewell both kinda ended up
tag-teaming me, each focusing on some different aspects. Returning to the pits,
they made it a point to get with me and go into a very candid and clear
discussion about some things I was doing very wrong – primarily, adding
throttle while adding lean angle, and jamming that throttle down in the
process. Ooops. I was a crash waiting to happen. Some body positioning things
also were mentioned, big one being that I was crossing up and kinda diving with
my (left especially) shoulder rather than turning my shoulder into the
direction of travel properly.
Next session out I
really tried to implement their suggestions – of course, this meant slowing
down quite significantly, but I had to break bad (and dangerous) habits. I roll back into the pits after a slightly
more correct but rather rough round, and David Ben-Jamin comes over and has a
little discussion about what I had been doing. He made me sit there and
articulate what I was doing out there (or what I should be doing) and although
I hated it at the time (felt like a pop quiz and I hadn’t bothered reading the
material yet) but it was good. I definitely see the benefit of it; I’m just not
that great at being put on the spot.
Final session of
the day and I’m still working on implementing all these things. My brain has
enough to keep me busy, so slow was the name of the game. I was looking forward
to being able to sleep on this and process – of course, AFTER the Saturday
night double-header party which started up shortly after the day shut down.
Good food, good friends, good times and a little more feedback and eventually
we crawled off to bed. Ah the memories ;)
Day 2 dawned and we
packed up our hotel room and headed off to the track after some breakfast.
Nursing a minor headache and plenty of body aches from the day (and night)
before there was plenty of moaning and groaning getting on the bikes, but I was
ready to get out there. My brain had finally had the chance to organize
everything, and I wanted to put it into practice. I was signed up for B group
for the day, and was looking forward to being with more predictable riders. Amy
Snyder and I got to play around a little, and I found that I was able to start
working through the kinks from the day before. Each session out I got a little
smoother, a little faster, and more consistent. I found some better lines
through certain corners, and when they combined the A and B groups at the 11
o’clock hour I got to see some of the fast guys and how they handled things
compared to myself. Picked up some better lines, and just kept working on
things.
One session I sat
out, but other than that I made it out there for at least part of all of them.
In one I had decided to pull out but a buddy was filming and suggested we go
out to get some video – eh, not a good idea. Made a few stupid mistakes, and
after 2 laps I pulled off before I made anymore. Unfortunately we didn’t hook
up again the rest of the day when I had some really nice sessions. Bummer.
At the end of the
day and while packing up I get a chance to chat with a couple of the
instructors. They said I was running a fast B pace, and should seriously
“consider” moving up into A group, even if I’m the slowest person out there, at
least if I want to race. I can totally understand their reasoning – when you’re
riding with the fast boys (and girls) it pushes you a little bit more. You also
can see different ways of handling things, where to make up time, and pick up
on a few tricks that you simply can’t get in the slower groups. Since I’m
really, really hoping to squeak in at least one more (if not two more)
trackday(s) between now and my next scheduled one (mostly dependant on
finances) I will probably sign up for B and squeeze into A in the afternoon
sessions. Give it a try that way before I go and sign up for A only to realize
I’m just a rolling road block lol!
Overall, it was one
hell of a weekend, and not one I will soon forget. I’m looking forward to going
and watching the AFM races this coming weekend at Sear’s Point Raceway…maybe
I’ll get some good tips, heck, may even go help out some new friends if they’re
racing. The exposure would be good, just to get some first hand experience
before I’m trying to do it myself.
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