AFMBud
New member
I can't ride this bike, it's too new ! What in the world was Pat Blackburn thinking. He's going to let this old geezer race his brand new Duc ? I know, I think he's crazy too but that's why I love the guy. Now how am I to approach this pasta pot ? What if I crash this beauty, oh that would be a very bad thing. I got the 05 999s from Pat about a week before the races. It was partially disassembled for race prep but then it sat around at Pat's place that way for over a month before I got it so, I needed to put it back together, get race bodywork, paint it and prep it for tech. After many late nights I got it all back together in time for Saturday AFM practice. 1st session out the bike felt like it had a lot more power than my RC51 but it handled like poop. I was a moving chicane for the other riders in group 5 practice so I came in early to start some changes. Thankfully Dan Kyle and Michael Earnest made some suggestions. Dan made a shock spring change and I'm ready for session 2. It's a bit better but it wobbles bad going up into turn 7 and going through 8 & 8a. The power is fantastic. The slipper clutch is weird to my old fashioned riding style but I can learn it. So I'm in early again for some head scratching. This went on the entire day until the last session of the day when we got the bike almost raceable. Sunday morning practice is here and I want to give it a real push and, push it did the bike went wide in 1,2, and 5. The front tire would not hold it's line at faster speeds. I'm thinking I can make up for lost corner time with the acceleration and drive out. I'm also wondering if this was a mistake to ride a new bike since I'm 1 point out of second place behind Craig Mclean for the championship. Should I get back on my old RC ? I just can't do that to Pat. After the expense and effort he's made to get me on this Ducati, I've got to give it my best shot. My first race is Open Twins after lunch so in the meantime, Michael spent some time with Pat and me and he came up with 2 changes that made the bike much better as I found out in my race.
Race Number 6, Open Twins, is on the grid. I'm in my normal spot in the middle of the front row. 2 board, 1 board, Sidewaaaaaaays. Oh no, it stalled. My hand is up like right fricken now ! The bike fired the rolled forward about 3 feet. Oh this is just a day at the beach eh Bud ? Calm down. I get the front tire back in the 3 box real fast. 2 seconds later the green flap drops and I get about the ugliest start humanly possible. Probably 3 wheelies before I get to turn two. Nice job Bud, as my eyes roll back in my head. Have you ever tried this racing thing before ya fathead ? So after that cluster I'm back in about 7th or 8th I'm guessing. Well there goes the points as I watch Eric, Craig, Pat, Schwannie and another rider rolling away from me. Settle down and ride. The bike feels the best so far. Thanks again Michael and Dan Kyle ! I'm now able to think about how I need to ride this thing rather than to keep from crashing it. The black 999s is pretty damn fast. The brakes work awesome. I'm starting to like this Ducati stuff. I was able to get by one rider and close on Schwannie a bit. His Aprilia will just smoke my RC in a straight line. Not the Ducati, I'm able to stay right with him from the carousel to turn 7. Boy howdy, that's a nice change ! I got a treat and was able to race a bit with Lance Williams. I've never raced with him before but, I've admired his skills for a couple of years now since I first watched him at the AMA national at Laguna around 2002. A nicer guy you can never meet. Anyway he passed me then I got close to him again when we got into lappers. Unfortunately for Lance, he had a slight brush with the lapper which allowed me to get back by him. I'm pretty sure he had me covered though so my 5th place finish really belonged to him. Nice ride Lance ! I finally got by Schwannie and thought I'd be able to finish 4th until a goofy sounding bmw passed me. BMW ? What the... Oh it's Brian Parriott. Well that's ok. He'd pass me if he was riding a scooter too. So 5th it is for my first outing on the Duc. Lap times ? Lap times ? Did I get close to my RC times ? I told myself if I could get into the low 1:45's this weekend would be a success. My best ever on My RC51 is a 1:42.1 after racing that barge for 5 seasons so it would be unrealistic to expect anywhere near that time. So the word is... 1:43.6 I'll take it ! I gave up some points but I kind of expected that anyway.
Next Up, Formula 40, nothing but a fun race so I can relax and get some more seat time on the Duc. Another really poor start and I'm in 10th or 12th heading towards turn 3. The nice thing about this bike is that it's got enough power to keep the gixxers at least in the same county so I don't have to work as hard to get by in the turns. By the time the checkered flag came out I made it to 4th spot and got my best lap time of the weekend. A 1:43.03. Now that was a surprise. Within a second of my best ever time, on my second race. Now that says a lot for this machine. If I can learn how to ride it I should be able to do better yet. We'll see if Pat will trust me with this awesome bike again otherwise, I'll get back on old faithful and give it hell.
There is a list of names at the bottom of this message and I've got to tell you in all honesty, if it were not for their incredible generosity and coaching I would not be able to experience the time of my life racing in the AFM. Thank you all very, very much !
Race Number 6, Open Twins, is on the grid. I'm in my normal spot in the middle of the front row. 2 board, 1 board, Sidewaaaaaaays. Oh no, it stalled. My hand is up like right fricken now ! The bike fired the rolled forward about 3 feet. Oh this is just a day at the beach eh Bud ? Calm down. I get the front tire back in the 3 box real fast. 2 seconds later the green flap drops and I get about the ugliest start humanly possible. Probably 3 wheelies before I get to turn two. Nice job Bud, as my eyes roll back in my head. Have you ever tried this racing thing before ya fathead ? So after that cluster I'm back in about 7th or 8th I'm guessing. Well there goes the points as I watch Eric, Craig, Pat, Schwannie and another rider rolling away from me. Settle down and ride. The bike feels the best so far. Thanks again Michael and Dan Kyle ! I'm now able to think about how I need to ride this thing rather than to keep from crashing it. The black 999s is pretty damn fast. The brakes work awesome. I'm starting to like this Ducati stuff. I was able to get by one rider and close on Schwannie a bit. His Aprilia will just smoke my RC in a straight line. Not the Ducati, I'm able to stay right with him from the carousel to turn 7. Boy howdy, that's a nice change ! I got a treat and was able to race a bit with Lance Williams. I've never raced with him before but, I've admired his skills for a couple of years now since I first watched him at the AMA national at Laguna around 2002. A nicer guy you can never meet. Anyway he passed me then I got close to him again when we got into lappers. Unfortunately for Lance, he had a slight brush with the lapper which allowed me to get back by him. I'm pretty sure he had me covered though so my 5th place finish really belonged to him. Nice ride Lance ! I finally got by Schwannie and thought I'd be able to finish 4th until a goofy sounding bmw passed me. BMW ? What the... Oh it's Brian Parriott. Well that's ok. He'd pass me if he was riding a scooter too. So 5th it is for my first outing on the Duc. Lap times ? Lap times ? Did I get close to my RC times ? I told myself if I could get into the low 1:45's this weekend would be a success. My best ever on My RC51 is a 1:42.1 after racing that barge for 5 seasons so it would be unrealistic to expect anywhere near that time. So the word is... 1:43.6 I'll take it ! I gave up some points but I kind of expected that anyway.
Next Up, Formula 40, nothing but a fun race so I can relax and get some more seat time on the Duc. Another really poor start and I'm in 10th or 12th heading towards turn 3. The nice thing about this bike is that it's got enough power to keep the gixxers at least in the same county so I don't have to work as hard to get by in the turns. By the time the checkered flag came out I made it to 4th spot and got my best lap time of the weekend. A 1:43.03. Now that was a surprise. Within a second of my best ever time, on my second race. Now that says a lot for this machine. If I can learn how to ride it I should be able to do better yet. We'll see if Pat will trust me with this awesome bike again otherwise, I'll get back on old faithful and give it hell.
There is a list of names at the bottom of this message and I've got to tell you in all honesty, if it were not for their incredible generosity and coaching I would not be able to experience the time of my life racing in the AFM. Thank you all very, very much !
