Triumphrat

Finally! And boy am I sore! Yesterday was the on-track training session for novice racers, so I am a licensed nOOb now. It sure feels good to have a small card that says I am a hopeless neophyte. Now, when I do something dumb, I can pull out the novice race license and show why.

More seriously, it was a complete blast. I felt rusty all day, especially in the morning. I had never ridden the bike before, except once around the block, so I kept missing shifts, finding neutral, and generally being a putz. My ears are calibrated to a Triumph triple, and a Suzuki four's sounds had me all messed up. It was speaking to me, but I need to learn a new language. I had never used DOT race tires before, hadn't been on Bridgestones for about four years, and never used tire warmers before. Topping it all off, the training session included all kinds of very valuable information, but in a quantity I couldn't absorb completely. Each lap was different, as I tried to incorporate everything everyone told me. It turns out my body positioning was all messed up, as were my lines in most of the parts of the track. The day's revelation was a part of the track I have always struggled with. Turns 5/6/7 at Pacific are a combination I have struggled with ever since I set a wheel out there. Yesterday, thanks to the instructors, it started making a whole lot more sense. I was able to time the corners a lot better, place the bike in a very different way, carry a lot more speed and get a great drive up the hill out of 7. Turn two, always one of my favorite turns, proves to be more challenging than I gave it credit for. It is a double apex sweeper, and I just don't have it down yet.

The morning was in the mid to upper 30s, so my joints didn't work too well, and I couldn't see through the fog on my visor about half the time. So, I didn't dive bomb the concrete wall in turn one like I usually do, and I was a bit timid going into turn two as well. Once we got into some free time on the track, I found a couple other guys to dice with, and had a blast. Then I started dive bombing the wall and braking as late as usual. One of my new friends was on a 1098, and I had a great time going back and forth with him. He boxed me in behind a slower rider and got around, then I got him in a turn, then he got me coming out, then I got him on the brakes. We didn't throw any elbows at speed, but it was that close, and it was a great time. I can see why people do this for years, in spite of the expense, likelihood of injury and everything else. I can't think of much else like it.

Standing starts turned out to be my worst area. Drag racing never interested me in the least, so I have never tried getting a holeshot. Ever! Now I have to learn how to do it with a four cylinder Japanese 600. It isn't forgiving. I killed the motor once, and got a couple other very slow starts. It just means carving through traffic, but I enjoy riding in traffic anyway.

One of the lessons of the day was target fixation. We got a demonstration during the "simulated" race. Simulated in that it wasn't official, but race because, hey, we were going for it. Some of us, anyway. I got my usual terrible start, and my new friend did a huge wheelie on his 1098, so we were at the back of the pack. We started carving through the pack, with me trying to figure out how to get in front of him before the main straight, since he has me on the gas. Going into turn five, he was right behind another rider, with me right on his tail. The other rider did something funny and washed out his front end. I am not sure what he did or how he did it, but he ended up cartwheeling through the inside part of the turn. I didn't know where the crasher or the 1098 were going to go. The 1098 did a great job of avoiding the crash, and I was able to see daylight and aim for it. We both got through, but I didn't pass him. Then the red flag came out, so we got to restart again. It was good to have some practice, but I got an awful start again and don't remember seeing the 1098. I think he got a good start, and I never caught back up.

During the last session, I got on the track after everyone else had gone out, and I ended up chasing a few riders down, but not too many. I passed an R6, who passed me back as the last lap flag came out. Because it was the end of the day, I decided to pull in instead of pressing my luck. My brain was fading pretty badly, and I could tell because my muscles were getting badly fatigued from poor riding position, brought on by mental fatigue. If it had been a real race, chances are I would have tried to pass him again during the last lap with unknown results.

This is going to be even more fun than trackdays. I am looking forward to the first real races of the season with a combination of dread and great anticipation, just as I looked forward to the first trackday I ever did.

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Will
It's a squid thing. You wouldn't understand.
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Go soothingly on the grease mud, as there lurks the skid demon.