September 08, 2008 20:49

"Feeling Fine..."
Its a line from The Simpsons episode when they Parody "The Shining" by Stephen King...Right before Homer goes crazy.. "Dont Mind if I doooo!!!" Its been nuts. Work has kicked my butt and its been a hard summer with the loss of 2 friends. I've since then crammed 3 months of fun into 3 weeks. I've raced twice since and hired a coach to video tape everything I've been doing wrong on the track. It wasnt that humbling, seems Im doing everything great except for accelerating, braking and turning! Other than that Im great! Hahah. I hired Mark at VanMar racing to video tape me from his own bike, and the camera taught me a few things. I've been around this game for a while, and I need to fine tune some things I do on the track. It was cool to get up at 5 am to beat Mark to the track by eight. He had his Moto-cam on and then followed me a bit. Now, mind you, he's a 2 time class champ and can pass me at will, but he stayed behind and filmed at a good pace. He then showed me the tape in the comfort of the VanMar race Trailer, complete with big screen and AC. Humbling indeed. Best money ever spent, cuz I gained confidence back and knocked four seconds off my time. Problem is, that crash screwed me up so bad I need to knock four more seconds off! I still start dead last in my races(no points)..but at least I dont get lapped by my friends. A small victory in itself. ..So why am I bitchin? I'm not, I'm actually very happy with myself. I'm living two of my dreams in Boulder, CO. Between biking and Moto Roadracing, I cant honestly pick a favorite. This stuff takes lots of time and ALL my dinero, and Im doing Ok and still having fun. The minute it stops being fun, Im out.
I actually took a break from racing this month to Downhill Mountain bike, and crammed 3 months of riding into 2 weeks. A few of my Moto friends were impressed. That felt good. I LOVE DOWNHILL, AND I KNOW I'M BETTER AT IT. So why race moto? I've never been outta the top 6 racing downhill, so I bought a new bike for next year. I know I can get results and not drain the bank. I also ate sh%t 3 times coming up short on the biggest gap jumps Ive ever attempted, and Im not a paraplegic. Just a good war wound or two to show my buddies at the dealership. It is a big decision, but Im going for both passions next year, and I'm not going to be too serious that its win or nothing. That way I may pick up a surprise result along the way. That way,I'll come away very happy with racing. Ones a little healthier than the other, too. Dont ask me which one gets more girls 'cuz I dont know! As long as Im happy with what I do I'm fine being the dateless wonder!

..and I dont have permission to do it again.It was a hi-side crash, one were you get tossed off the bike when traction suddenly grips again and spits you of the bike violently.It was about45-50 mph...in a turn I thought i knew the limits in; it bit me. I was always expecting it, just not on lap 2 of a practice warm up!
My friends Douggie Bobbie and Dale showed up with me to do a 3 man endurance event, and I messed it all up and stunk up turn 2 by crashing during the practice Qualifying. Cold tires dont stick, and I rushed to get up to speed. Stupid. ..
Ten minutes before I was scrambling to get tires on from Michelin, and the rear axle went in quickly and as smooth as butter. As I was relishing in the triumph of a 5 minute rear tire change, I thought to myself: Ahhh its gonna be a good day!. If I would have not rushed ( and skipped Practice)...all would have been fine. Instead I came in on the crash truck.I would have had plenty of time during the race to get up to speed!
Each riding partner goes out for a 30 minute stint, and thats doouble what Im used to. Our team qualified the fastest, and they started us 10 minutes behind! We had no idea they were going to penalize the faster teams by doing that. Dale and Douggie-Bobbie duked it out for fourth, with Doug staying out an hour ( my stint had to be taken over after my stupid crash). Too bad I had to watch from the sidelines, but Im relieved I wasnt hurt in the tumble. Mongo Crash good!

The Bike is fine now,, but it sure hurt my pocket book. Im relieved to get it out of the way, I've truly got a dedicated race bike sprinkled with used Ebay Parts!

(/user_files/0011/3250/expman.jpg) ..Its been about 3-4 weeks and I managed to get the bike back together for racing. I did a an open track day at IMI raceway to see if the bike went straight. No surprises, just rustiness rears its ugly head. Aparrantly the crash messed with my head! Im just not getting on the gas hard, or on the gas early. Each feels like it spells a recipe for disaster. It was my fault, not the tires, but I just dont trust them. Time for a new set of sticky buns to be put on the Kawi. So bloody expensive. In my defense, I've only been on the track 3 times this year, and I know which way the damn thing goes, right? Practice makes perfect, and everyone else has been practicing at night its seems! My fitness is awesome, so I can stay out for some hot laps around Pueblo when its 95 degrees. I just cant get off work to race on Saturday(they have novices racing on Saturday, my busiest day at the dealer). I paid my fees and officially raced on June 29, and I had to run the faster amatuer classes, starting at the back, as No points in that class starts you at the rear.Its only fair, I'm so damn scared to be with all the fast guys! I barely passed tech inspection and spent the rest of the day in the sun hydrating under my EZ up..waiting for third call of Amatuer under 750 cc. I got lapped ! My times were obviously down..WAY DOWN!I wasnt passing, I wasnt confident in the turns..blah blah. Still spooked. Its great on the last lap to have your buddies come AROUND you on the outside, as I was chasing down another rider . At least I got lapped by good people like Douggie - Bobby. Last race of the day was just track time. No big heroics, just get smooth and fast. I'll race the novice races in August..and probably do Ok..Amatuer was humbling! I'm not being too hard on myself, but I'm hiring a coach. Mark, my coach and Tire vendor, said: "you know WHY you crashed, its not like you went down and you were clueless as why you went down..just get back up to speed and go out on fresh tires." Every one else says it was traumatic and just take your time. I want to go fast now! Thats why Im hiring a coach. The last crash was so hard on the checkbook, I dont wanna do it again! Coaching is money well spent, I'll be back to having fun in no time.

Add A ReplyMessage