Still disappointed sitting here at the PC on Monday, looking back at the past weekend. A real case of what could have been, but unfortunately things didn't turn out the way I expected. The overview will be quite short!
Racer Practice was nonexistent -- we had several trackday riders, and a large group signed up for the novice school. However a torrential downpour Saturday morning spooked quite a few riders. Regardless, I headed out on slicks with 2 students and a fellow instructor, and teetered around until the rain stopped and the track started to dry. I ended up missing the first racer practice for school duties, and the second was also a wash; I was just heading out when another rider dropped oil on the track. The end result was a long delay; while the track itself continued to dry, the many hardworking volunteers hit the oil slick with oil dry; it was present all through turn one, the fastest turn on the track, so it would make for some dodgy conditions later.
I snuck out on the trackday advanced group to try to get some speed up. Unfortunately I played accordion with riders on bigger bikes, so at the end I slowed up, let the go ahead, and tried to get one decent lap in before my race. I did get a 1:08 in and then pitted because my first race was scheduled to start right after.
I was shoving my mouthguard in when the referee indicated that there would be a lunch break immediately following the session -- so I didn't need to come in when I did, and could have stayed out longer. Damn!
Race 1 was the longer, 15-lap GP race. Doug and Wilson were at the Indy GP, so my hope was to fight for podium positions; frankly these should have been a guarantee, as with a full grid I've been on the 2nd and 3rd step of the box. I got a horrible start, and was shuffled back to 5th from 2nd on the grid. Over the course of a few laps, I made my way up to 2nd, making some good passes in the infield, including a pass going into corner 6 -- a high speed kink that I've often checked up at rather than finish the move. Once in 2nd I was able to keep Jason in sight on his SV -- he has found some additional speed lately and he began to inch away. Jeff came by on his TZ250, and each lap I could have sworn I was hearing an SV on my tail, either Mert or Glenn...so I took my usualy defensive tight line in turn 5 on lap 8 and... lowsided. I remembered "turtle-ing" up as I slid, worried I would get nailed by the mystery bike on my tail. Turns out I already had a considerable gap to the next rider, and I had already gotten up and started to pick up my bike before they came by. Bugger!
As the adrenalin wore off I quickly started to ache -- the wait for the crash cart brought to light a sore left shoulder, stiff neck, and a tender hip -- on the opposite side I crashed, so there was obviously some tumbling going on! Thankfully I didn't hit my head, so there was no risk for concussion. The bike wasn't too bad, the pegs and case covers getting most of the damage. I took the ride of shame back to the pits on the back of the cart.
I soon realized that while I didn't have serious injury, I wasn't riding anymore on Saturday. I packed up the bike and took it to my uncle's place (where I was staying that weekend). The idea was if I began to feel better, I would patch up the bike and head the 30 mins back to the track on Sunday. No dice -- the ambulance attendants thought I might have a mild sprain in the shoulder, and I felt no better Sunday morning... turns out I didn't have the right parts to fix the bike, and the front rim appeared damaged. Nil points!
The drive home Sunday was especially frustrating -- blue sky, no wind, mid 20s -- perfect weather to race. What a downer.
In retrospect, I seemed snakebit from the get-go. The rain Saturday flooded my pit area -- I nearly electrocuted myself with my tire warmers. Even today, in the garage going over the bike, I had a slip and took a considerable chunk of skin out of my heel. I bled all over the garage but stubbornly stayed out. Kate was none too impressed.
The drive home did allow me to reflect on a few positives... the oil cooler worked as it should -- no leaks, and the temps are right where they should be. That's a positive I can keep in mind. After getting the rear end sorted on the bike (I am no longer eating up tires every weekend), I need to do some work on the front -- the telltale zip tie on the fork leg was bottomed out again on the slider. Like the supermono, I think I am loading the front end going into turns that I run out of travel and go down -- I don't leave myself any margin for suspension recovery. I might need to change my style somewhat and not load the front, but my two crashes this year came so quick with no warning... and each cost me a podium!
Wow -- the least amount of race info to post and its the longest entry in ages... final race of the season is in a few weeks. It has to get better than this!
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