Races were coming quickly and furiously. With only two
weekends between rounds, finances, time, and mental stability were all getting
stretched. After Round 4 I had decided I needed to upgrade to the Race Kit ECU
and harness, in order to eliminate problems and have the ability to adjust things on the
bike that needed adjusting. I came across a screaming deal on one, and it
showed up on Thursday. I installed it that night, the bike ran, so I
headed up to the track early Friday to avoid traffic. I still had to work, and
money was tight, so there was no riding to be done, but I took the bike around
the parking lot to be sure it shifted and such. It seemed fine, so I looked
forward to spending Saturday getting used to the new mapping and power and
making any needed adjustments.
Going into the weekend, I knew there was a chance things
wouldn’t work and I may end up scratching the weekend. Coming into it with that
mental outset probably kept me from freaking out all day Saturday as things
immediately plunged off a cliff.
I headed out for my first session of the day, and before
turn 1, I knew I had a major issue. The bike wouldn’t get above 9-10K RPM, and
twisting the throttle did nothing. Went around and pulled off the track. We
started to take things apart, and I saw a fuel line looked bent, so we
straightened that, and reassembled. I headed back out thinking that was the
likely culprit – nope, same exact issue. Then we started trying to use a couple
of the different maps – nope, same problem. Tore the bike down again to look
for loose connectors – couldn’t find anything. Connected the computer to the
ECU – couldn’t find anything. Had a pro (Fuzzy) take a look at the ECU settings
– couldn’t find anything. Finally it was the last practice session and we still
hadn’t solved the issue, so I went in and cancelled my races, planning to take
Sunday to try to go through the bike and just help out with my pit mates' races.
As I was coming back from cancelling, Fuzzy was leaving the
pits having dropped off a new fuel line – he thought there was a chance it was
still kinked underneath the rubber cover. We pulled the tank up again, and
pulled off the old fuel line – sure as shit, there was still a kink when we
pulled back the rubber cover. We installed the new fuel line, my teammate ran
back to registration and had my cancellation cancelled, and I went out on the
warm up lap of Race 1 to see if the bike would GO – we zoomed all the way to
turn 1, and went around the track with a normal throttle response.
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| Photo by 4theriders.com |
Typical motorcycle - chase problems all day for something stupidly simple.
I headed out for my AFemme race (Race 3), having yet to
complete a full lap on the new electronics and maps. Valentine and Shelina had
great starts, and while I wanted to chase them down, I was still feeling out
the “new” bike. Some of the responses, especially in downshifting, were very
different than what I was used to. Despite everything, I still managed to get
down to what was around my best times the previous weekend, and I was feeling
pretty good for the rest of the weekend, thinking there was a pretty solid
chance of reaching my first goal on this bike, and finally dipping below the 2 minute mark.
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| Photo by 4theriders.com |
That evening was an enjoyable time as I savored some
delicious tacos made by a fellow racer, watched the rather amusing slow races,
and hung out with my friends, eventually tootling off to bed looking forward to
what Sunday had in store.
Sunday dawned warm and bright, promising a toasty day ahead.
I went out for a few laps of the morning practice session, then got ready to
head out for Race 2, Open Superbike which has been my worst race all year, even
simply comparing myself to myself. I had no expectations for this race, but
knew I needed to see how I was feeling about some of the settings on the bike
and keep figuring it out. I also decided to try the launch control on the
start. Well, the launch control didn’t work too well for me, and my start was
horrible. I decided to fight back anyways, and ended up coming in to find I was
matching my times from the night before and my better times from the previous
round. Awesome, as there was a ton of time to be made up in several places that
I could see, and I was pretty stoked to head out for our following races.
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| Photo by Oxymoron Photography |
Unfortunately, there was a crash in the race before ours,
and the race got red flagged. The delay went on, and we could all tell
something wasn’t right. As it turns out, it was all very bad, as word started
to reach us that it seemed the rider had passed away as a result of injuries
from the crash. Eventually the track was cleared, and our race was called, but
all of us were wondering if the rumors were true. This was in the back of our
minds as we gridded up.
I tried the launch control again, but again, it did me no
favors whatsoever. My start sucked, and I was elbowing around for a spot. As we
started to head through Turn 1 towards Turn 2 early in the race, there was a
yellow flag out, and it smelled like a bike may have blown a motor. I had it in
my head that if that was the case there were two things: 1) Watch out for oil
on the track, there’s a good chance there might be some, and 2) that the bike
was probably going to be on the outside of the track, so hold a tighter line.
Even though I saw the bike in the middle of the track, it just wasn’t
registering with me that was the blown up bike – and about the time I got all
of that processed (all the while watching for oil) I realize my front wheel is
pointed at a big oil spill and there’s no avoiding it. I was on the front
brake, too, so I just tried to stand the bike up as best I could, very carefully control my brake
pressure, and manage the slide that was almost immediate. My bike slid around,
and I ended up shimmying to the outside of the track praying that anyone over
there was paying attention and able to give me someplace to go. Thankfully
Jeremy King was able to do just that, and I was able to control the slides and
managed not to crash. By the time we were through the corner, the red flag was
out and I cautiously went through a few more corners in case of any remaining
oil on my tires.
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| Photo by Oxymoron Photography |
The track got shut down again while they put the (engulfed
in flames) bike out and then cleaned up the oil, and during this they called
the lunch break since they knew we would be down awhile. A special riders
meeting was called just as we were coming in, and I headed over as soon as I
could. The rider’s meeting was to make an official announcement about the
earlier incident and to confirm everyone’s worst fears – the rider had, indeed,
passed away. It was discussed a bit, and one of the racers offered up a prayer.
We then had a little down time before the afternoon was to commence, and needless
to say, it was a somber lunch as we all pondered the morning.
A number of riders decided to scratch the afternoon, and
while I considered that for a bit, I also felt like going back out there was
the right thing to do, so when they finally called our restart, I decided to
get back on that horse and focus on riding. We headed out, and gridded up. One
last time I tried the launch control, thinking I was maybe beginning to “get”
it, and my start still sucked. The first couple laps I just wasn’t feeling it,
and just decided to ride my own ride, but then a couple other riders came by
who’s pace wasn’t that far off of mine, and I started to get my fight back a
little bit, making the last half of the race feel more like a race. I was still
a second or so off my earlier pace, and I still wasn’t willing to push myself
beyond what I was very comfortable with, but I was at least getting back into
race mode a little bit.
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| Photo by Oxymoron Photography |
I got back on that horse and decided to finish out the day.
Open Superstock eventually rolled around, and I thought I
was feeling pretty good. When we gridded up I decided to say the heck with the
launch control and just do my normal start, and it was quite good. I was
comfortable and ready to go, but the track was feeling a bit greasy, and everything
from earlier in the day plus a long day of being in the heat was quickly taking
its toll. By the end of the second lap my legs were already tiring, and my arms
were trying to pick up the slack, and then I started to get arm pump in my
right arm. I tried to focus on forcing my legs to do their job, but it was a
struggle all the way around. Rather than finding any pace, I just managed to
keep doing what I had been.
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| Photo by Oxymoron Photography |
I finished the race, and that’s about all the good I could
say. It was a long, rough day for most of the paddock, and I’m pretty sure
everyone is feeling the sting of losing a fellow racer, whether we knew him
well or not. We’re a family, and losing anyone is always a painful experience.
Between that and my little oil excitement, and the fact that I’m still having
some issues with the bike, I didn’t consider the weekend a loss, but far from a
win, too. I kept the rubber side down, kept my head in the game (despite a LOT
to push it out), but I didn’t gain anything, either. I can probably thank my coach, Tyler O'Hara for giving me the tools to make sure my head stayed screwed on straight.
Thankfully, we have a bit of break until the next race
round. I want to take a look at my bike’s transmission and see if that is
messed up (my gut keeps telling me there’s an issue there, and I’ve tried
enough changes with electronics and still have the same issues, so that feeling
just keeps getting stronger and stronger). I’m happy to have the kit ECU in
there, and want some seat time to tweak a couple of the settings that aren’t
quite working for me.
I really feel like all the puzzle pieces are falling into
place, and I’m not far from making a noticeable (in latptime) breakthrough.
Teetering on that edge, where it’s right around the corner. I’ve been building
into it slowly, with some breakthroughs along the way, some small, some huge,
and I can just tell it’s not far off now.
My condolences to the family and close friends of #780, may
you ride on in peace.
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