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7K views 29 replies 13 participants last post by  Honey Badger 
#1 ·
I didn't find a thread like this, so decided to start one up where the racers on this forum can share their racing stories in a collected environment, and I'm sure questions and such will come up from time to time.

Basically, an ongoing thread for the forum members who are actively racing to keep track of each other and share their updates!

Start out with a quick introduction, who you are, what you race, and what series and classes you race. Racing goals and accomplishments. Then, as your season moves along, post up your race reports for all of us to enjoy and share!

We had something similar on another forum I was on, it was fun to have a thread dedicated to the active racers so figured I'd get one rolling here.
 
#2 ·
I'll get things started :smile2:

I started racing with the AFM part way through 2014, only doing the girl's-only (AFemme) class my first few weekends because I was so slow. The last weekend of 2014 I did a couple Sunday races, and 2015 was my first full season. That year, I started out as the clear back marker in most of my classes, and by the end of the year was at the back end of the mid-pack novices.

2016 I started investing a lot more in myself, along with getting some great support from people along the way, especially Ken Hill who helped transform my riding. I started the year right where I had left off the year before, with no improvements at our first round (which was very disappointing to me at the time). That prompted making some changes to my mentality, and things changed rapidly through the year. I went from leading the back pack in my races to being consistent top 5 in one of the fastest novice groups the AFM has seen, and in my Legacy class I was regularly on the podium including my first win of my racing career. I finished up 3rd in that championship, and dropped an average of 5 seconds a lap off previous lap times at all 3 tracks we race.

That blew my goals for that bike (prod legal 07 675) out of the water, so in Dec 2016 I picked up the bike I've wanted to race all along, a 2017 ZX10R which I'm currently building.

For the 2017 season (once I'm over the broken leg) I'm moving up to Expert and on the bigger bike. Should be an interesting learning curve! Thankfully have some great people in my court, so hoping to do their support justice and continue growing as a rider. Faster and safer!

This year I plan to race in Open Production, Open GP, Open Superbike, AFemme, and assuming I qualify, Formula Pacific.

I'm really hoping I can gain some confidence in my bike with the new one - that Daytona taught me a lot about how to ride a motorcycle, and I got a lot more confident in my skills, but I never did get confident in the bike - there was just always something about trying to ride that bike hard that did not inspire confidence for me.

Eventually (once I qualify for the license) my goal is to be ready to wild card the local MotoAmerica rounds - and if that goes well, and finances allow, I may shoot for doing the full season down the road - but there's a LOT of work for me between now and then, so taking it one step at a time with my eyes on that eventual goal.

The link in my sig has my past race reports and updates if you're bored and want something to read LOL!
 
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#3 ·
My name is Scott, I raced a few races last year on my 2016 ZX10R..This year I'm going to race full time in CCS On my 2017 ZX10RR I have on order due to come in this month, all parts are already sitting in my basement waiting on my bike. I race the east coast in the United states, Thunderbolt in NJ is my favorite race track. We also run .Summit, VIR and CMP ..I will keep updated on my results are the season gets underway starting in April.
 
#4 ·
Ken Hill is great !!...I took a full day 1 on 1 with him at Miller ( big track ! ) a few years back.

Can't go wrong with the ZX-10, best liter bike around for a couple of years now, from WSBK to club racing...

Best of luck for this new season !
 
#5 ·
Scott, will be looking forward to hearing your reports and seeing some pics of that RR in action!



Yes, Ken's teaching is great, and the way he describes things is exactly how I need to hear it. Plus he breaks it down into little pieces that are easy to work on - you don't work on "braking" you work on something more specific like brake pressure at turn in.

He's returning to YCRS and expanding his dirt schools, in addition to his other coaching, so lots of opportunities for folks to work with him!

I loved my '05 I had as a street bike (and my first couple track days) - the new one feels like it has everything I loved about the 05 while fixing the things that made it the "widow maker."
 
#6 ·
Nick here, last year was my first full season racing. I spent the first half of the year on a 2013 ZX10R that I bought used. Was fun! Set new PB's at every track I went to. (PBIR, HMS, JGP & RRR)

I raced in 2 series last year, FMRRA and CCS-FL. Won both FMRRA championships and finished 2nd in both CCS championships, came down to the last race. Finished the year competing in 32 races and got 28 podiums.
10 - 1st
10 - 2nd
8 - 3rd

Half way through the year I moved to a 2016. I've been about a second slower on this bike at each track so far. This year I hope to change that and set new PB's at each. My first race of the year will be this coming weekend at Homestead Speedway. It's gonna be crazy going from podiums every weekend (in AM) to fighting for top 10's (in EX)! lol We have some FAST club guys down here. It's gonna be fun!

Supposed to pick up my fairings today (repainted) and take them to get number plates put on.

Good luck everyone!

 
#7 ·
Hi my name is Derrick and I'm a race-aholic. Lol which is how everyone's post sounds like so far.

Got my race liscence in 2012, was bumped to amature sbk as 1000's aren't allowed in novice and I wasn't selling my bike to start over. Podiumed my first two races and blew it up in the third/final round.

Raced my first full season in 2013 finishing second overall in am 600/sbk on a borrowed 600 but it was kind of by default as we didn't have many regulars to show up each weekend.

Bought my zx10 winter of 2013/14 and built it knowing I wanted to compete in nationals. Finished 4th in the two I competed in

2015 won the national am sbk title

2016 turned pro and finished 8th overall.

Looking to battle with the top 5 guys for 2017 on the new build.
 
#8 ·
Hi, I'm David and I'm addicted to racing...

I started in 2014 as a Novice with AFM, racing my 2011 zx-10r. I podiumed and won enough races to get 2nd in Open Production and got bumped to Expert for 2015. 2015 I raced the zx-10, plus a 2005 GSXR600/450. Running 6/7 races on Sundays did wonders for my endurance, and switching between bikes was great for learning how to carry corner speed on a 65hp bike, and then how late I could brake coming from the zx-10.
2016 I bought a 2012 zx-10 that had more upgrades and only raced the 4 open classes. I was getting fast enough to where I needed to start having more dedicated suspension support and someone to help out in the pits, and then I moved to LA for a new job and racing took a back seat.

I've done 2 full Rickdiculous days, and 2 more ride only days. The coaching from Cam Gish and Ken Hill helped me drop from 1:56's at THill to 1:53's, and I stopped crashing. I'm looking forward to getting back into either WERA or CVMA down south, and running the Buttonwillow rounds with AFM.
 
#10 ·
Much like AJ and David, I am also an AFM racer. I started out in 2010 on my 2006 GSX-R750 and got my expert status in 2012 on a 2008 GSX-R600. Took a break to get my university degree out of the way and re-joined AFM ranks in 2015 as a part time racer on my 2011 zx10r. Development of the bike has been documented in my build thread below. I have been very fortunate to have support of Ken Hill and Mike Canfield all along. I also instruct for Keigwins at the Track. Looking forward to this season :)
 
#11 ·
Well there is a SLIGHT chance I may be at the first AFM round of the year - it'll be tight, and I'll probably be slow as fuck since my leg will still be "fresh" but there's a chance still at this point. I'll know more in 3 weeks, but my ortho seemed pretty confident there's a good chance I could be sent home walking (or attempting to LOL) after my next follow up on the 1st...
 
#12 ·
Names Alex, race a 2011 ZX10R

First race weekend was back in October at the last round of the 2016 FMRRA series at PBIR, won both superbike and superstock 1000 amateur races and repeated the double last weekend at the second round of the 2017 season. The bug bit me back when I attended a few track days in Loudon, NH back in 2011 when I was still riding street on my 05 636. Ever since that first lap I knew I wanted to race, but knew I couldn't afford to until I grew up and stopped being a broke ass college student lol. Fast forward to 2015, living in FL and no longer broke, dying to start riding track again I bought a used 2011 and started race prepping it. Finally got the bike finished early 2016 and did a few Jennings GP and PBIR trackdays, waited until October to finally dip my toes into the racing scene (I refuse to ride June-September down here lol).

My goals are to drop a second or two in lap times so I can mix it up with some of the front running experts in my classes for atleast a lap or two. Along with that I need to work on my consistency, very rarely am I able to make a near perfect lap. Other things I want to accomplish are learning the art of setting up a bike, I've yet to touch a clicker or preload adjustment since I received the bike from my suspension tuner. He only attends CCS races so I don't get any trackside support at the FMRRA rounds.

 
#14 · (Edited)
Hey, Some/Most might know me since Ive been a member since 2004.

Name is Maurice.
Started riding in Fall of 2000. did my first Track day March 2005, by 2006 I was in Intermediate or Advance in the 3 to 4 Track day orgs. My bike mentor started TDs in 2002, and racing in 2003 so he finally got about 3 of us to do our first race March 2006. VIR during the Meat Grinder days (600 super stock) grids were 45-65 4 plus wave on a regular lol. In 2007 my mentor/best friend got the wild idea about us doing a 6 hour endurance race with WERA. I was scared shitless, but in the end it was fun and I ended up switching to GP shift and have not look back. The last WERA endurance Race I did in my region was 2012 and we pulled off a few 3rd place in that time. Met some Pro AMA racers on the track practicing. At one point I was averaging 35 track days a year and 10 race weekends.
12 years, numerous crashes and 15 operations I'm still in the track days and racing game.

I've always been a Kawasaki Guy and on average buy 2 of the latest models.

My first track bike was the 2004 ZX10R, I ran it in 2005, but I did not like it much. Wheelie monster. I then picked up a 2005 636 later that fall. When I started Racing in 2006 I raced my 2005 636, then in early fall I got the 2006 ZX10R and did about 5 races on it.
Had bad crash in 2006 and in 2007 I was racing both bikes in 600 class and 1000 class races.
By 2008 - 2014 I only raced and tracked my ZX10s. I picked up the R6 in 2015 and only did track days with it so far. I am slow rolling prepping it for race life.

The bike list.

starting in 2000.

1995 EX500
1991 ZX6 D1
2001 ZX6R

Track Years.
2004 ZX10R street
2004 ZX10R Race

2005 ZX636 Race Bike

2006 ZX10R street
2006 ZX10R Race

2008 ZX10R street
2008 ZX10R Race

2011 ZX10R Street
2011 ZX10R Race

2016 ZX10R Street

Other bikes since then...

2005 R1 street
2008 CBR 1000RR street

2011 R6 Race Bike and Street Bike.

(About 5 Dirt bikes)

Currently I have:
2016 ZX10R for the street
2011 ZX10R for Racing and Track days
2011 R6 for Racing, track days and Street (have race endurance bodywork with head lights)
2009 WR250F

I am looking at some 2016 ZX10R i may get to make a Race Bike, but my 2011 is dialed in so perfect, but the way my 2016 feel.....sigh...its a tad bit smoother.
I might just treat the 2011 to a Refit/Refresh and get some 2016 bodywork and update my paint sceme.

Ive been painting my bikes and others since the beginging, but its harder to do now with my neighbors bitching. So ill prob send out.
I want to get a set for $350.


















2008










2006









636

 
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#15 ·
Hey, Some/Most might know me since Ive been a member since 2004.

Name is Maurice.
Started riding in Fall of 2000. did my first Track day March 2005, by 2006 I was in Intermediate or Advance in the 3 to 4 Track day orgs. My bike mentor started TDs in 2002, and racing in 2003 so he finally got about 3 of us to do our first race March 2006. VIR during the Meat Grinder days (600 super stock) grids were 45-65 4 plus wave on a regular lol. In 2007 my mentor/best friend got the wild idea about us doing a 6 hour endurance race with WERA. I was scared shitless, but in the end it was fun and I ended up switching to GP shift and have not look back. The last WERA endurance Race I did in my region was 2012 and we pulled off a few 3rd place in that time. Met some Pro AMA racers on the track practicing. At one point I was averaging 35 track days a year and 10 race weekends.
12 years, numerous crashes and 15 operations I'm still in the track days and racing game.

I've always been a Kawasaki Guy and on average buy 2 of the latest models.

The bike list.

starting in 2000.

1995 EX500
1991 ZX6 D1
2001 ZX6R

Track Years.
2004 ZX10R street
2004 ZX10R Race

2005 ZX636 Race Bike

2006 ZX10R street
2006 ZX10R Race

2008 ZX10R street
2008 ZX10R Race

2011 ZX10R Street
2011 ZX10R Race

2016 ZX10R Street

Other bikes since then...

2005 R1 street
2008 CBR 1000RR street

2011 R6 Race Bike and Street Bike.

(About 5 Dirt bikes)

Currently I have:
2016 ZX10R for the street
2011 ZX10R for Racing and Track days
2011 R6 for Racing, track days and Street (have race endurance bodywork with head lights)
2009 WR250F

I am looking at some 2016 ZX10R i may get to make a Race Bike, but my 2011 is dialed in so perfect, but the way my 2016 feel.....sigh...its a tad bit smoother.
I might just treat the 2011 to a Refit/Refresh and get some 2016 bodywork and update my paint sceme.

Ive been painting my bikes and others since the beginging, but its harder to do now with my neighbors bitching. So ill prob send out.
I want to get a set for $350.
Bad ass story Von/Maurice, lots of nice bikes you have there as well. :notworthy:

That sure look like a lot of fun- well, aside form the crashing/healing part.:wink:

Thanks for sharing bud! :ayyy:
 
#16 ·
Hey Von, good to hear from you.

I got my old profile back, after the nuclear attack.

Not racing, or riding anymore, no budget.

Good luck this new season if you're planning to race.
 
#18 ·
So anyone from here who will be at the first AFM round this weekend? I'll be there, but as a spectator only since I just got released for weight bearing on my leg as of yesterday, and after nearly 4 months of non-use, I have ZERO strength in that leg. Silver lining is I'll have a month of rehab plus several trackdays to get some seat time on the new beast before I try to race it at Round 2. Still bummed I can't at least do AFemme, but at least I'll only miss the one round.
 
#26 ·
Ok, I'll play. Most people know me as Tornado Bait Racing. At the peak of my career I ran select rounds of Daytona Sportbike with the AMA 2012-2014. I'm an old fart and retired from pro racing so I just do regional stuff, mostly with CMRA. Bought a new ZX10 at the beginning of the season and joined the forum to hopefully glean some good info.

Motorcycle Road Racing: AMA, CMRA, CCS with Tornado Bait Racing
 
#27 ·
So how's everyone's season coming along? Mine got a late start due to the leg, and a pathetically slow start at that, but at least it's started! Race report below:

AFM Round 2, 2017 Sonoma Raceway - My Not-So-Triumphant Return

As many know, my saga with this broken leg over the winter has been an ongoing thing. Recovery was longer than I had originally hoped (although still quick for what it was apparently), and things seemed to be going well until two weeks before I was scheduled to be at Sonoma Raceway. Some excess inflammation and pain over the tibia plate turned out to be an infection getting started, and surgery was scheduled for the next day once I managed to see my ortho. This was Thursday, a week and 2 days before I was supposed to be racing.

Doc was able to leave the hardware in for the time being, however, so my plan was to keep moving forward toward showing up to the races – if nothing else, be there, turn some laps and get to know my bike in that kind of environment. I was on crutches and cane for the better part of a week post op, but was managing to get back on the street bike the last couple weekdays before the races, so figured I could muddle through racing, even if I was slow.

I arrived Friday night and met my friends and garage mates and got my pit area and camp set up. DareDevil Motorsports would be arriving the next morning with the bike and pit help for the day. We hung out for awhile on Friday, then headed off to bed to get some sleep for Saturday.

The weather was looking amazing, and I was excited to get on the bike, but also knew I had my work cut out for me. I had basically only ever ridden the bike once, and that was at Thunderhill, and this was my first time back racing since breaking my leg. I hadn’t ridden this bike on a dry day at Sonoma – heck, I had only ever ridden a liter bike there twice – one of those being my second track day ever. There was a lot for me to process, so I decided to just take it easy and focus on fundamentals and being confident in what I was doing.

There was a huge learning curve. The bike is a completely different beast – absolutely amazing, but totally different. My brain was a bit overwhelmed with all of it. My leg was adding another level of complications by making downshifting really problematic – which was also causing a lot of corner entry issues as what should have been a short process was getting drug out into multiple steps. Autoblip helped, but I couldn’t make as good of a use of it since the leg wasn’t allowing me to use it like it could be.

We made it through practice with pretty sad times, getting into the 2:01s – pretty pathetic for Sonoma. I had one race on Saturday, Formula AFemme. Under normal circumstances I was pretty sure I’d have a good shot at winning, but with the way the day was going, I didn’t figure I’d be there – which proved to be the case. I had a decent start (at least I didn’t lose that skill), but within a few corners Jennifer and Daniela both managed to take off, leaving me to try to unsuccessfully reel them back in. While I found a couple more seconds, it was still almost 10 seconds a lap slower than I had been doing on my Daytona last year. I got a 3rd place by default since there was no one else in the class – my participation trophy LOL.



I knew Sunday was still in front of me, and that would be racing with the other liter bikes…my lap times were pathetic, but I hoped a night of sleep would help me process everything. Saturday evening was enjoyable, if a bit quiet, and I headed to bed at a decent time finding myself pretty tired.

The morning dawned bright and sunny, and we headed out for morning practice followed by the rider’s meeting. My first race would be race 5, Open GP gridded with the Super Dino bikes. I knew some of the novices in the front of their grid were putting down way better lap times than I was this weekend, so figured that’s who I’d be seeing passing me since I was at the back of the Expert grid. Sure enough, within time, a few of them started to come through. The race was over halfway done, and I was mostly racing my own race, with 2 experts still behind me – my goal was not last, and that was still within grasp.

I was heading down into turn 9, taking the line I was finding I liked on the bike. Due to the leg, however, I had to start the slow down process earlier than I would like, but I knew I could still carry the corner/roll speed and use my trail braking skills to scrub the last speed going into it – in fact, other than where I had to start my braking, this was a corner I felt like I was getting into pretty darn well, really using that awesome suspension the ZX10R has to maximize that turn-in braking. My line was a little wider out, and then I would dive in heavy on the brakes – unfortunately, there was a another rider coming up who thought he had me on the brakes – unfortunately he misjudged what my entry speed would be. I went for my apex, and just as I’m about to hit my mark I see the bike out of the corner of my eye. He hit my exhaust and the end of my tail, moving my rear end quite a ways. I was lucky and managed to keep the bike upright, ran over the dirt through the corner and nearly off the other side of the track before I had good control again but I stayed upright at least. He was not so lucky and ended up crashing. The race ended up getting red flagged, and it was called. I had found a few more seconds down into the 1:56s, but still was about 6 seconds slower than I had been on the 675 – but I wasn’t last, there were a couple other experts still behind me.



I had one more race that day, race 11, Open Superstock. I knew this race would be interesting as it was the Open SS and Open Twins – all big bikes – which meant that the fast guys would have less traffic to work through. My times were bad enough that there was a chance I’d get lapped. When I headed out I knew I was getting fatigued – the winter and spring spent recovering had taken a toll on my fitness, so I just wanted to, again, focus on being smooth and confident in the things I was doing. The fatigue issues were giving me problems with downshifting, and I was regularly missing downshifts. Other than that, though, this race was pretty drama free, I was mostly alone other than some faster riders getting through, and finally towards the end I got lapped by the front of the Open SS who were going about 18 seconds a lap faster than I was. We all snuggled through the turn 9 area, and off they went. Oh well, at least I was out there, and again, I wasn’t dead last – almost, but not quite lol.



Overall, the weekend was generally a success in the sense that I was out there, I got a feel for the bike, and I got it around what is probably the most difficult track in North America. My times were pathetic, but I was consistent and gained some more confidence in the new bike. I started to get really confident in the front end on the brakes, which, with a little more seat time, will translate to some significant improvements. As the leg heals and improves its range of motion, downshifting won’t be the issue it was this weekend, and I will be able to really utilize the features of this bike. I also got a little braver on the throttle, but there is a LOT of improvement in that department to make – I was still twisting it pretty gingerly, and I definitely need to get used to that bike’s massive acceleration, learn to have fun with the wheelies it wants to do, and just the “scoot” it has. I have a couple trackdays between now and the next race, and the next race is at my strongest track (Thunderhill), so I will focus on continuing to improve, making use of the seat time I have, and work on getting my lost fitness back as best I can in the time I have.

Huge shout outs to my sponsors this year, and thanks for hanging in there as I recover! I know there’s still a lot of good stuff in store, and I’m looking forward to where I’ll be come the end of the year. All of these companies have products and services I truly believe in!

• DareDevil Motorsports
• Roseville Kawasaki
• RiderzLaw
• Kawasaki USA
• Dunlop Race Tires
• BARF Racing
• Pacific Track Time
• Ace Custom Graphics
• Ken Hill Coaching
• Motion Pro
• Woodcraft/Amour Bodies
• Skratch Labs
• PUSH Smart Guage

 
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#28 ·
I wanted to edit your first sentence in the last paragraph. "Overall, the weekend WAS a success"! You did great! Are you kidding!? You have a leg that you just had surgery on and your out there racing with it, AND on a new bike that hasn't even been fully sorted...that's EPIC girl!! :notworthy: Great report. You just keep doing the next right thing and your going to be faster than EVER in no time! :thumbsup:
 
#29 ·
Going into this round, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I knew my leg was feeling better overall, but it was still weak and stiff, and I was also dealing with this PICC line and the antibiotics schedule that was throwing a major wrench into my day to day life. Despite all of that, I was looking forward to getting out to my favorite track and putting down some laps.



I arrived Thursday evening to set up and claim some space, and prep for the trackday on Friday. I only had a few sessions on this bike on this track, so I knew I needed some serious seat time. Friday dawned cool and nice, and I headed out early on to utilize the time I had.


Throughout the day, things were going okay, but as I was riding it was becoming obvious some changes were needed. I kept thinking “this line worked great on the Daytona, but it does NOT work on this bike!” The biggest issue, however, is I wasn’t sure what I needed to change/fix….while I had previously been given some very general information (“square off the corners more”) I’m a bit thick sometimes and need more detailed information to actually implement.


Thankfully, Ken Hill had talked to one of his instructors, Pat Farrand, who was there working with another racer for the day. Pat ended up with a free session the end of the day and offered it up to me – which I gladly jumped on. This was invaluable – while it was the very last session of the day, he pinpointed my issue(s) and I had an action plan for Saturday on things I could work on implementing.


Friday Trackday, photo by gotbluemilk.com

Saturday looked to be another great day, and I headed out for early practices knowing I’d be missing most of the afternoon due to tire changes and med schedules. Implementing the changes definitely required that I back off my pace a bit, but it seemed to be helping out. I was having to rethink the track and change how I saw it, so there were some major mental changes, and some physical inputs I had to change up as well. It was a lot to take in, and while my pace suffered, I felt like I was starting to “get” it towards the end of the day.


I had one race on Saturday, and while my times were still sad, I knew that the AFemme class was my best chance at a trophy. If I kept myself together, I may even be able to pull a win out of it. We headed out for our warm up lap and then gridded up. I was going to be racing against Valentine Welch, who’s racing MotoAmerica, on her GSXR600, and Jennifer Lauritzen on her ZX10R. I knew neither of them would be willing to “give away” anything as they are both fierce competitors.


We launched and Valentine got the hole shot. I was able to keep up with her, and followed her the first couple laps, noticing a few places where I could out power her and realizing I could keep her behind me in the areas where the 600 would be a bit stronger. On our 3rd lap I passed her going up the hill into turn 9, and from there it was a battle to be sure she and Jen both stayed behind me. We were also hitting lap traffic about this time, so slicing and dicing through the 250’s became a factor. The closing speeds on this bike vs my Daytona were proving to be interesting as I would accelerate a lot faster now. I managed to keep the other two behind and crossed the finish line in the lead.


Photo by Oxymoron Photography


My laptimes weren’t great, but my best of the weekend and similar to what I was doing at this time last year – not great, but not terrible all things considered. I also saw a lot of places where I could make up a lot of time as I get dialed into the bike. This marked my first win as an expert in the AFemme class, and it was well earned with the other gals not handing it to me!


Saturday night was fairly laid back, and I eventually wandered off to bed after my evening meds (seriously this is a royal PITA). Sunday came upon us a bit warmer and promising to cause some interesting things in terms of playing games with temperatures and tire pressures. I had two races, race 4 and race 6. For some reason, however, I just couldn’t get my head in the game and “go-mode” just couldn’t be drummed up. Later on I realized I was WAY more exhausted – both physically and mentally – than I realized. Knowing I wasn’t in go-mode, I decided to take my time and focus on continuing to hit my marks and making sure I was on the right line, implementing the changes from Friday’s session with Pat.


Photo by Oxymoron Photography


Both races had a pretty similar outcome. In Open Superstock I completely botched my start – maybe my worst race start to date. This put me in the back of the pack and a few faster novices were with me before turn 1. I still couldn’t turn on the fight-mode, so I just focused on my fundamentals. My times reflected this as I wasn’t breaking any records for me or the weekend, but at least I felt like I was accomplishing my goal of hitting most of my marks more often than not. Jennifer was right with me in both races, but managed to pass me on the last lap in both of them, getting her revenge for the previous day LOL.


Photo by Oxymoron Photography


Once I was done racing I started puttering around with packing up, although I planned to stay through the end of my teammates races to ensure everyone could make it home safe n sound. As the afternoon waned on, I was packed up, and upon the completion of their races and some goodbyes, I headed home to unload and try to relax. The exhaustion started to hit pretty hard, and I was glad I was heading out and looked forward to a good night’s sleep.


Overall, the weekend was productive. Of course, I still hoped for more out of myself, but that being said, all things considered, it was still useful and I feel like what I learned will pay off in dividends as the summer progresses. I now know how I need to “see” the track for the bigger bike vs the smaller bike, and I also have a better idea of what I need to do physically to make that happen. Still bummed I’m having to go through this process now rather than back in Jan/Feb/Mar, but it is what it is, so dealing with the cards I’ve been dealt.


Nicky Hayden Memorial Lap: Photo by Oxymoron Photography



Next round is in late July back at Thunderhill. I’ll have a couple trackdays on the east course before then, so hopefully I can be pretty well prepared. My fitness loss is a definite issue and something I need to be making a priority despite the leg and med schedules. Looking forward to getting back on the beasty and continuing the process of getting used to it and figuring out how to ride it!
 
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#30 ·
Hope everyone's season is going well. I've updated my blog with my most recent race report - this season has been a mixed bag and continues that trend. I had much higher expectations of myself than I seem to be producing, and I waver between just being glad that I'm out there to spending hours trying to convince my brain and body to do what I want them to - and, admittingly, beating myself up over not even coming close to my (what I thought were reasonable) expectations.

Gained a lot of confidence in the bike, unfortunately, that did not translate to laptimes :|
 

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