So, so sore.... Track Day at Gateway!
Posted: Mon May 18, 2009 9:46 am
It's like a lot of sports where you know the pain is there, but you live with it until the fun is over. Well, it was well worth the pain I feel today.
We had an excellent turnout yesterday. I think they said 90 riders were out there. Of course, having a beautiful day possible helps an enormous amount. The high was 66 degrees which was perfect since full leathers were the clothes call of the day. It was a little chilly in the morning, but that wasn't even that noticeable.
I rode in the Novice/Street class which is what I rode at the last Track Day. Before they made the 1st call, I was ready to go. I shut down the bike near the paddock area, just outside of the staging area. Once they made the 'official' call, I was front and center. I wanted to be the first out. The Control Rider asked me and the other rider in the front row if we've ridden in a track Day before and I said yes, and the other rider said he did the "Test the Track" last time out.
Two laps of reduced speeds were the agenda for each class, except expert. So I did my best to warm up the tires by weaving back and forth - back and forth. Then after the Control Rider saw me on his back tire itching to get going, he waved me on and away I went. I didn't look back. All I saw in another lap and a half was traffic from the tail of the group. They became targets. They say to pass only on the outside of riders in the Novice/Street class, but they run so wide in the corners, I had to take the inside - so I did. After I came in the pits, pit boy stated that he saw me “passing everyone”. “Thanks, pit boy”, I said with a smile. “Dad has his game face on today”, I further noted.
After 2 group sessions in the "Novice" class, I decided to step up my game to the "Intermediate" group. This was perfect. Then again, I thought that they "Novice" group was perfect last time. These riders were more my speed. With the intermediate group, you have people coming out of the Novice class and people who are ready to go into the Expert class, so you have a good mix of riders. For some crazy reason, the slowest people in the "Intermediate" group were the riders in the “Racing Clinic”, which is odd when an old fart like me slices past them with ease. The first of these racers was on a GSXR 1000 – easy pass to the inside and I was gone for the duration.
It was amazing to see how many people do not know how to hold a line, but rather rely on horsepower to do their dirty work. I was tight on a guy’s tail after he passed me on the straight. I was nearly rubbing his back tire through every corner, passing him at one point. Then I lost the lead again in the straights, but not by much. I thought maybe my shifting was off. Nope – it was his additional 400cc’s (Yamaha R1) that helped propel him passed me. I had to grin at the point. I just knew that if we were on equal bikes, I’d be smoking him.
I kept pushing the bike harder and harder through the day. My left knee slider, which has about 1 more Track Day left on it, was being put through the asphalt grinder, especially turn 7 – the hair pin and turn 1 the ramp to the inside motorcycle track from the Busch Series start/finish straightaway. Suddenly, from nowhere, on the outside of the decreasing radius Turn 6 came a guy on a motard – yeah, one of those modified dirt bike things with street tires on it. He cranked the throttle and was picking up speed, actually too much speed for the hair pin turn 7. He went wide and I took the inside lane. We were swapping positions for the entire session. Course, I had him in the straights by a tad, but he’d pick it back up in the corners. I simply had no idea what a capable rider on one of those could do – now I am very aware. When we came in the pits, he followed. We exchanged “thumbs ups”, “shoulder pats” and spoke a bit. He said he had a great time and that we both were a great match for each other. I couldn’t have agreed more. When I noticed that it was a 250cc bike, my jaw dropped. The 2-stroke, which I’m certain as a slight weight advantage was set-up to do wonders on this track.
Unfortunately, I didn’t see him on the next session. I lined up in the pack further than he did and he didn’t make it through the riders up to me – too bad. However, this turned out to be my worst session. I was fatigued, both physically and mentally, pushing too hard and as a result I made this my last session of the day. I hit a curb, went wide on several corners, and was losing the leaders quickly. However; I knew that in 3 more weeks, I will have my chance for Track Day revenge. You can call me “hooked”.
GET OUT ON A TRACK IF YOU HAVEN’T ALREADY! The excitement is something that is not easy to put into words.
Sorry, no video this time. I don’t have a good way to mount a camera and I’m not doing the tank thing – way to dangerous. Hopefully, one of the many photogs that were there that day will have some decent pics for me to share. I do have one with me and my FZROnline.com shirt on though. That will have to wait since I am traveling for the next couple of days.
We had an excellent turnout yesterday. I think they said 90 riders were out there. Of course, having a beautiful day possible helps an enormous amount. The high was 66 degrees which was perfect since full leathers were the clothes call of the day. It was a little chilly in the morning, but that wasn't even that noticeable.
I rode in the Novice/Street class which is what I rode at the last Track Day. Before they made the 1st call, I was ready to go. I shut down the bike near the paddock area, just outside of the staging area. Once they made the 'official' call, I was front and center. I wanted to be the first out. The Control Rider asked me and the other rider in the front row if we've ridden in a track Day before and I said yes, and the other rider said he did the "Test the Track" last time out.
Two laps of reduced speeds were the agenda for each class, except expert. So I did my best to warm up the tires by weaving back and forth - back and forth. Then after the Control Rider saw me on his back tire itching to get going, he waved me on and away I went. I didn't look back. All I saw in another lap and a half was traffic from the tail of the group. They became targets. They say to pass only on the outside of riders in the Novice/Street class, but they run so wide in the corners, I had to take the inside - so I did. After I came in the pits, pit boy stated that he saw me “passing everyone”. “Thanks, pit boy”, I said with a smile. “Dad has his game face on today”, I further noted.
After 2 group sessions in the "Novice" class, I decided to step up my game to the "Intermediate" group. This was perfect. Then again, I thought that they "Novice" group was perfect last time. These riders were more my speed. With the intermediate group, you have people coming out of the Novice class and people who are ready to go into the Expert class, so you have a good mix of riders. For some crazy reason, the slowest people in the "Intermediate" group were the riders in the “Racing Clinic”, which is odd when an old fart like me slices past them with ease. The first of these racers was on a GSXR 1000 – easy pass to the inside and I was gone for the duration.
It was amazing to see how many people do not know how to hold a line, but rather rely on horsepower to do their dirty work. I was tight on a guy’s tail after he passed me on the straight. I was nearly rubbing his back tire through every corner, passing him at one point. Then I lost the lead again in the straights, but not by much. I thought maybe my shifting was off. Nope – it was his additional 400cc’s (Yamaha R1) that helped propel him passed me. I had to grin at the point. I just knew that if we were on equal bikes, I’d be smoking him.
I kept pushing the bike harder and harder through the day. My left knee slider, which has about 1 more Track Day left on it, was being put through the asphalt grinder, especially turn 7 – the hair pin and turn 1 the ramp to the inside motorcycle track from the Busch Series start/finish straightaway. Suddenly, from nowhere, on the outside of the decreasing radius Turn 6 came a guy on a motard – yeah, one of those modified dirt bike things with street tires on it. He cranked the throttle and was picking up speed, actually too much speed for the hair pin turn 7. He went wide and I took the inside lane. We were swapping positions for the entire session. Course, I had him in the straights by a tad, but he’d pick it back up in the corners. I simply had no idea what a capable rider on one of those could do – now I am very aware. When we came in the pits, he followed. We exchanged “thumbs ups”, “shoulder pats” and spoke a bit. He said he had a great time and that we both were a great match for each other. I couldn’t have agreed more. When I noticed that it was a 250cc bike, my jaw dropped. The 2-stroke, which I’m certain as a slight weight advantage was set-up to do wonders on this track.
Unfortunately, I didn’t see him on the next session. I lined up in the pack further than he did and he didn’t make it through the riders up to me – too bad. However, this turned out to be my worst session. I was fatigued, both physically and mentally, pushing too hard and as a result I made this my last session of the day. I hit a curb, went wide on several corners, and was losing the leaders quickly. However; I knew that in 3 more weeks, I will have my chance for Track Day revenge. You can call me “hooked”.
GET OUT ON A TRACK IF YOU HAVEN’T ALREADY! The excitement is something that is not easy to put into words.
Sorry, no video this time. I don’t have a good way to mount a camera and I’m not doing the tank thing – way to dangerous. Hopefully, one of the many photogs that were there that day will have some decent pics for me to share. I do have one with me and my FZROnline.com shirt on though. That will have to wait since I am traveling for the next couple of days.
You need to show them how it's done.
