machete
black out
I have to start off by thanking several riders for the immediate and unsolicited help I received on Sunday morning. After a minor lowside in 3b (tucked the front) while out in my practice session, I was allowed to move the bike between pactice sessions to the bottom of the hill, and rode her back to my pits. Stupid move, didn't get enough time in the hot pits, and then went out, rushed, thinking I was taking it easy (gps seemed to corroborate that), but still, sliped the front and down I went.
After getting the bike back to the pits, no injuries, the guys jumped on it, and began to tear off the Right front clip on, the tank came up, I started on the rear sets...as a couple other sv guys came walking by, offering help and going to their pits to bring over parts. Absolutely stellar, and amazing to see such comraderie out in the pits. Regardless of the drama and bullshit that has seemed to permeate our club for a while now, this always brings me back to what it is to be a club racer. and again, I must applaud my friends and strangers who stepped up.
I was scheduled for Race 1, and with 3 practice sessions to go, plus mandatory riders meeting before 1st call...it was going to be close.
We ended up switching the right handle bar, the brake lever, the frayed throttle cables, and I put together a hodge podge of rear set parts and got a functioning right rear set and rear brake. cleaned her up, removed all dirt...thanks to the Pirelli guys for lending the air hose....rushed over to tech....cleared it, and then the riders meeting AND made my first race of the day. Many thanks to Stan(750), Conan (849), Bill (517), Brian (791), Bryan (369), Chris (897), Marcus (413), Dimitry (Russian) for all the help in the pits, spare parts, and wrenching. I had all but resigned to not making Race 1, but they made it happen.
(I'll second Siglin's sentiment towards the unsolicited help offered by other racers, simply awesome)
Race 1 (Formula 4)
After having tucked it in practice, I had very little confidence in the tires...and I felt like I was pussy footing around the track the entire race. Weird, because I dropped another second off my lap times. The throttle felt stiff and wasn't rolling on like before, but the rush to get out there, had me dealing with the problems as they were. I figured, just finish the race and see how I do.
and I can get to tweaking the bike to how I like it, before the 2nd race. Finished decent enough for not feeling it at all.
I ended up with the rest of the day to regroup and get ready for Race 9. One thing I like a lot about the 650 class, is having so many friends racing in it, and even though we may be mid pack, there is always fun to be had on the track.
Lesson learned:
I gridded up for Race 9 (650 T) on the inside, not my favorite spot....got in the zone, watched the board turn sideways, green flag, then launched, got a good drive, and decided to keep the throttle turned regardless, keeping to the left side....as everyone bottlenecked, I managed a few spots by being where I was. Settled into a groove, and started to make my way around the track. I felt good but was still having issues with the throttle tube feeling really stiff and having to muscle it and really reach over the bars to get it to turn to wide open. the suck, as I wouldn't get my throttle drive out of corners as fast as I was used to.
Again, I felt I was going slow. then I saw Marcus...and I felt better...surely, I must not be doing too bad if he's here with us. 
Battled it out with Jen on several corners, and just when I thought I'd make a move, here comes Marcus on the inside to T7. 
back to the drawing board....managed an inside pass on the exit of T11 on Jen, just before the final lap, only to lose that spot in T11 as well, on the final push to the checkered flag. No more excuses, great race, good finish, lesson learned. 
I'll have to clean up my lines and hope to be better in my problem corners.
I'll have the video to watch and see where I need improvement...dropped another second off my times, though, so not a total loss.
Have set my goals for this year, and am feeling good, as I prep for THill. Some minor repair work, and parts purchasing, and I can get all the borrowed parts back to the varying people.
Again, many thanks to everyone that helped out.
After getting the bike back to the pits, no injuries, the guys jumped on it, and began to tear off the Right front clip on, the tank came up, I started on the rear sets...as a couple other sv guys came walking by, offering help and going to their pits to bring over parts. Absolutely stellar, and amazing to see such comraderie out in the pits. Regardless of the drama and bullshit that has seemed to permeate our club for a while now, this always brings me back to what it is to be a club racer. and again, I must applaud my friends and strangers who stepped up.
I was scheduled for Race 1, and with 3 practice sessions to go, plus mandatory riders meeting before 1st call...it was going to be close.
We ended up switching the right handle bar, the brake lever, the frayed throttle cables, and I put together a hodge podge of rear set parts and got a functioning right rear set and rear brake. cleaned her up, removed all dirt...thanks to the Pirelli guys for lending the air hose....rushed over to tech....cleared it, and then the riders meeting AND made my first race of the day. Many thanks to Stan(750), Conan (849), Bill (517), Brian (791), Bryan (369), Chris (897), Marcus (413), Dimitry (Russian) for all the help in the pits, spare parts, and wrenching. I had all but resigned to not making Race 1, but they made it happen.
(I'll second Siglin's sentiment towards the unsolicited help offered by other racers, simply awesome)Race 1 (Formula 4)
After having tucked it in practice, I had very little confidence in the tires...and I felt like I was pussy footing around the track the entire race. Weird, because I dropped another second off my lap times. The throttle felt stiff and wasn't rolling on like before, but the rush to get out there, had me dealing with the problems as they were. I figured, just finish the race and see how I do.
and I can get to tweaking the bike to how I like it, before the 2nd race. Finished decent enough for not feeling it at all.
I ended up with the rest of the day to regroup and get ready for Race 9. One thing I like a lot about the 650 class, is having so many friends racing in it, and even though we may be mid pack, there is always fun to be had on the track.
Lesson learned:
I gridded up for Race 9 (650 T) on the inside, not my favorite spot....got in the zone, watched the board turn sideways, green flag, then launched, got a good drive, and decided to keep the throttle turned regardless, keeping to the left side....as everyone bottlenecked, I managed a few spots by being where I was. Settled into a groove, and started to make my way around the track. I felt good but was still having issues with the throttle tube feeling really stiff and having to muscle it and really reach over the bars to get it to turn to wide open. the suck, as I wouldn't get my throttle drive out of corners as fast as I was used to.
Again, I felt I was going slow. then I saw Marcus...and I felt better...surely, I must not be doing too bad if he's here with us.
Battled it out with Jen on several corners, and just when I thought I'd make a move, here comes Marcus on the inside to T7. back to the drawing board....managed an inside pass on the exit of T11 on Jen, just before the final lap, only to lose that spot in T11 as well, on the final push to the checkered flag. No more excuses, great race, good finish, lesson learned. I'll have to clean up my lines and hope to be better in my problem corners.I'll have the video to watch and see where I need improvement...dropped another second off my times, though, so not a total loss.
Have set my goals for this year, and am feeling good, as I prep for THill. Some minor repair work, and parts purchasing, and I can get all the borrowed parts back to the varying people.
Again, many thanks to everyone that helped out.
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