Road Atlanta rapidly became my favorite track on the east coast thus far. Even though I've only been there a few times, I was excited to head out there on a race weekend and see if racing lit more of a fire under my tail.
This track has tons of elevation, is extremely fast, and has a nice variety of corners with opportunities to catch a breath or two in between. All things I love after "growing up" on the northern California tracks.
Coming in to the weekend I was excited, but also a bit nervous. I have never raced here, none the less at Cycle Jam which brings in a ton of riders and overflows the entire paddock, shelf, and beyond. I knew my times here were still slow, but if I found a little time I wouldn't be dead last - there are some fast people around here, but figured another couple seconds would at least give me some good battles.
Coming in, I had some specific goals outside of just have fun - I wanted to work on some of the feedback I had gotten at the end of the last trackday there (turn in a bit sooner and slower), try to hold it open a little bit further on the back straight, and just pick up some pace in general. My personal stretch goal was to click off a 1:38.xxx - which would be nearly 4 seconds off my trackday times. A stretch, but not impossible. Still slow compared to the fast riders, but a big jump for this rider.
This is Georgia though, and Saturday we got a wild card with a big storm rolling in right towards the end of practices. This caused track delays due to lightening in the area, and since Formula 1 was the first full race up, 25 minutes before I made the call to swap out the tires as it was still going to be a rather wet race. That was the right call as it was still drizzling and soaked. Some rushing around, but big thanks to a friend, Jon, who jumped in to help me get everything swapped out and make it to my grid.
So here I was, my first race at Road Atlanta, and my very first actual rain race. Oh boy. My goal was just to not crash. I had ridden here in the rain once before on a trackday, so I at least had an idea on what traction might be like, but had never ridden on the Dunlop rains nor tried to race in the rain.
We only had 4 laps, and a light grid, but even with a bike hitting the paint and going down slinging into my bike (which resulted in a little off track excursion) I kept it up and finished - in 3rd place! Didn't beat a bunch of people, but it wasn't just a participation trophy either lol.
Things started to dry out after that, and it was swapping wheels back out to the slicks for A Superstock. Between all the rushing around, storm, and the little incident in the previous race, I was not feeling very "racey" and while I beat my old trackday times, it wasn't by much.
Took some time to breath and remind myself that I was there to race before my last race of the day, Senior Superbike. Felt a little better and picked up the pace a little more, having a couple other riders to chase down.
That wrapped up Saturday, and Sunday was looking much better weather wise, so got a good night's sleep and enjoyed sleeping in. Chose to skip the one practice session since it was also a qualifying session and I knew all the Superbike guys would be out there trying to qualify, meanwhile, I'd just be getting row 10 or 11 versus row 12.
First up was Formula 1 again, and I had some fun little battles. Pace was a bit off, and the heat kicked my booty big time - not that it was that hot, but just not used to it and still pretty out of shape, it was a fight just to not drop time.
Came in from that and worked to prep for my next two races and be sure I had my body primed to go. I was getting closer to my goal, but it was still a stretch at this point, and I stubbornly wanted to hit it.
A Superstock I had some fun battles with a couple other riders - made some passes, got passed, but overall had a fun race. Dropped more time, and clicked off a S/F to S/F of 1:39.02.
My last race of the day was again the Senior Superbike, and due to class size, I was on row 2. I was eyeballing that gap in front of me, knowing my starts are one thing I'm actually pretty darn good at, and got it in my head I was going for that gap. We launched, and my start was on point! I had a hole shot that I carried through 1 and up the hill, screaming in my helmet to hold it as long as I could - I knew it wouldn't last (there's some fast "old farts" out there) but can't lie, it was kind of fun to have that for a little bit at least!
Finished up the day safe and sound, with a smile on my face. Pulled up my data and took a look to see what I was doing and how I had done against my goals for the weekend.
I had definitely improved a bit on holding the bike open a little bit further, and pretty sure I went faster (mph) than I ever have in my life - still not as fast as that bike can go, but was stoked to see I broke over 165 a couple times.
The whole turn in thing made a lot more sense with just a couple more seconds off my times, and with a little more practice can help me keep on shaving a few more seconds everywhere I go.
Finally, looking at the data, while it wasn't a S/F to S/F lap, I had clicked off a rolling lap of 1:38.775, hitting my final goal for the weekend!
There's a lot more to go, but the bike was great - some tweaks needed with the time drop, but it wasn't doing dumb things or scaring me, and my confidence definitely went up another notch after the last many years of fighting through things.
Sleeping on it and I feel even better about the weekend overall, and mostly I'm just stoked at how much better I'm feeling on this bike and seeing myself improve without scaring myself into it.
Looking forward to the next one, couple months until the next races, but will probably hit up some track days in between.
Huge shout out to my amazing sponsors this year who are helping me get out here and prove to myself that I can do it!
- Velocity Consulting Services, LLC
- Dunlop Motorcycle Tires - for the sticky round things keeping us grounded
- MCTech - for all the help getting this bike to work for me - and just being in my corner
- Epic Superbike Designs - for the killer graphics that get tons of compliments
- Vinny's Speed Shop - for all the parts and advice both on the track and in the mountains
- Bison - for covering my own hide with great protection
- Chef Eatz - for fueling my body with a healthy, tasty alternative to other packaged meals
- Amour Bodies - for great bodywork that lasts
And of course to friends who are out there with me, helping out, supporting, and being a part of it all. Extra shout out to Jon for all the help in the pits, made my weekend so much better! Tony for all the mental support and cheerleading even when he can't be there physically. The Precision family and friends for making racing a heck of a lot more fun with some friendly and helpful faces to smack talk and hang out with all weekend.
Next up for racing is Barber the end of July!
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