Should I go for it?

For a while I have been flirting with the idea of buying a 250cc after having so much fun riding an Aprilia 250 and a Yamaha TZ 250 in Pocono Raceway, last year. As a kid I owened a Laverda LZ 125cc and as everybody else in Italy I grew up riding two stroke bikes but never in a circuit. The combination of the size and the power delivery with the total absence of engine brake makes riding a 250cc similar to blasting my road race bicycle down the twisty roads of a mountain: you have to let her go as much as you can …
Our friend Luciano, owner of a gorgeous yellow Yahama TZ 250, has sent me this video to keep tempting my fantasies.

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Would you have flipped that coin?

In joining the Team Green, that in my broken English I often refer to as the green tea-m, has Hopper tossed a coin in the air or not? From the money perspective I am sure that it was a no brain, but on the track, do you think that Hopkins is going to have a brighter future with Kawasaki versus what he could have achieved with Suzuki? If we looked at the time sheet at the end of the second day of testing in Sepang, he was damn right: 2’02”200, very close to Pedrosa’s pole position of 2’01”877 and ahead of his ex-teammate Vermeulen with the best lap time of 2’02”344. Now my question is: has he left Suzuki because he thought that the bike had reached the full potential? Was he afraid of missing the possibility to fight for the World Title with the baby blue Rizla Suzuki? But if he was concerned with the Suzuki potential, at the time he signed up the contract did he know that next season Kawasaki would use the 2007 model? The bike has certainly improved in the last two years but the marginal improvements of an “old” project are going to guarantee the level of performance needed to win? I am confused and at the same time intrigued to discover what has guided the MotoGp riders during the “Silly Season” as our friend Jimmy calls it in his Armchairbikefan blog

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Stoner and Ducati greeted by the Italian President

Stoner and DUCATI are still celebrating the magical experience of winning the World Title with a formal visit to Quirinale, the official residence of the Italian Head of State, Giorgio Napolitano. On November 15, Casey and his wife Adriana were received by the Italian President after “parking” two bikes in the precious gardens that surround the building. One the two was a red Desmosedici GP7 missile used by the Aussie to rule the 2007 season.







Photographs by our friend Aldo Fabrizi

My strategy for Rossi in 2008: garlic and red chile peppers.

Do you believe in bad luck? Are you superstitious? A lot of people for religious reasons or just to prove, at least to themselves, that they can make their own destiny, will consider the concept as an ignorant or irrational mindset. On the other end, if I rephrase the question as “do you believe in luck?” the same people would probably admit that they have directly or indirectly experienced it. Beside the obvious luck in gambling we could list numerous type of situations or fields where a successful outcome is normally labeled as lucky: career, family, health, investing, business and many more. The common denominator of all the lucky stories it’s always the action or risk taken by the person, the chance to loose some or everything he or she has at stake. Anyhow we shouldn’t forget other situations where luck is synonymous of case, fate or being blessed: typical example is the survivor of an airplane crash! So if luck (or what else you want to call it) or no luck exist, everybody should agree on the existence of bad luck too, at least as other side of the coin. In Italy, where we were pagans before becoming Christians there is a clear sense of awareness about the topic but what differs it’s how we deal with that.
Rossi’s pre-race procedure of “praying” while kneeling on his bike, adjusting his underwear leaving the pit out lane and then again on the grid has become famous because he has won 7 World Championships. All the MotoGp riders have their own steps with which they reach their mental focus and physical prowess while keeping at bay the negative energy. Negative energy …? But where does it come from? Well if we want to keep talking about MotoGp racers, it could come from an objective issue like a mechanical problem as well as the mounting pressure received by whoever is around them. Have you ever experienced the situation where you suddenly perceive that within your circle of people, family, friends or co-workers the atmosphere has changed? Now you start feeling the criticism and the pressure deriving from any of your actions: some people would love them while others hate them! Some are supporting you, others hope in your endeavors failure. For a famous actor or sport star the phenomenon assumes giant dimension because of the number of people that make “his or her circle”. Jealousy and enviousness are dangerous forces capable of bending the strongest minds, fold the best careers and reversing the best stories. Until a couple of year ago Valentino seemed to be immune from this peril but in coincidence with the peak of his popularity, and by default enviousness, he started experiencing some unusual difficulties or issues that in his long career he had already encountered but successfully solved in a short time. In 2006 I can easily recall the long straggle with the chattering, the faulty Michelin tires and at least one engine failure while leading the race. And what about that second place behind Elias by a couple of inches? After mysteriously low-siding on the last race, those five vital points meant losing the World Championship! At that time, he was greatly criticized for driving the F1 Ferrari during the pre-season months hence held responsible for failing to win the World MotoGp Title. In the 2007 season Valentino was not distracted by any particular lure (if we discard the friendship with the gorgeous Elisabetta Canali), indeed he gave 110% to compensate the substantial lack of power/speed at the beginning of the season and then for the miserable performance of the Michelin tires. In the last race in Valencia, in perfect compliance with the Murphy’s Law according to which “whatever can go wrong will go wrong, at the worst possible time and the worst possible way” Rossi lost the second place in the World Championship because of the M1 engine. The ice on the cake it was that the mechanical failure happened while he was courageously riding and defending his position with a wrist fractured in the free practice! And what about that blow received during the summer when he was notified of a multimillion-pound tax evasion on undeclared revenues between 2000 and 2004? He is responsible from a legal point of view but we know who “put” the young and inexperienced Italian fellow in such a predicament whose outcome revealed itself only after three years went by …

On the other end we have Stoner that after crashing bikes for most of his career until 12 months ago, on Ducati from day one was able to keep upright the bike each and every race! Mechanically he has never suffered any problem but one race when his slipper clutch was not consistent in the feeling. Also, during the season the young Aussie time after time enjoyed an edge on the competitors before with a 20kmh faster bike and then with winning-proof Bridgestone tires. That’s the beauty of life: anything can change at any moment, and sometimes magically or, let me say … luckily for the better!

Now given the circumstances if I were a consultant for Rossi I would remind him the old saying “there is never two without three …”. We cannot lose another championship in this manner, so besides dropping Michelin for Bridgestone, blustering the Yamaha engineers for a better bike and fire is friend and manager Gibo Badioli, I would recommend the old wives’ tale to hang garlic and peppers on your 2008 M1 to keep away negative energy and bad luck!

MotoGp Poll: Gran Premio de la Comunitat Valenciana

The championship has already been assigned to Stoner, the true revelation of the season but, last year, we had the fingers crossed until the last race with Rossi and Hayden fighting head to head, single point to single point until the end, until Valencia where the Doctor low-sided serving the championship to Hayden on a silver plate. That race was majestically won by Bayliss in front a strong Capirossi, someone who was supposed to guarantee the results for the Ducati Team in 2007 while letting the young Stoner to acclimate himself to the rude Italian horse. Well, all of us know how things have gone …
Sunday race doesn’t have any particular importance if not for the racing numbers well listed by Motogp.com. Among the different records, I would point out that another win by the Aussie, the eleventh one, it would elevate him at the level of Rossi and Agostini, and right behind Mick Doohan’s 12 victories.
Have said that let’s pick the second rider on the podium out of the first seven in the MotoGp World Championship! My pick is Stoner behind Rossi: I hope for an epical battle between the Italian and the Aussie and not their tires or bikes, just the two men.

Norick Abe: another victim of the U-Turn killer

How many riders have lost their lives because of a vehicle making the ominous U-Turn? I know too many but nobody as famous as Norick Abe. Yes, it’s another champion that lives us in a tragic and unexpected way, far from the circuits where he used to challenge destiny and physics of the fields along with his competitors. He died in the far-west of today’s city roads where driving is everything else except a technical discipline. The truck driver who took away Abe's life claimed that he made the U-turn after realizing that he was going in the wrong direction … Another time it was the view of a parking spot available on the other side of the avenue or because the driver wanted to drop the kids in front the school, or because the cub driver was looking for the building with even #s, those on the other side of the street. How many explanation or justifications have we heard over the years? I drive cars, ride motorcycles and road bicycles and you cannot imagine how many U-Turns I count every day in Brooklyn, but in all these year I have never seen a cop to give a ticket for someone making a U-Turn. Here in NYC it’s common if not well accepted: even the old and big American cars had incredible power steering, something that it allowed everybody to make a U-Turn spinning a finger against one of the bars of the steering wheel. Incredibly no one legislator in this country has proposed a tougher stance again the ominous maneuver, but then I am not surprised because with the exception of Arnold Schwarzenegger who was caught riding an Harley Davidson (and crashing without driver license), nobody else rides motorcycles when they can seat in their huge and black SUV s.
I know … I am raging while now it’s time to pray.

Rest In Peace Abe


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MotoGp Poll: A-Style Grand Prix of Japan

Second place to? After Estoril and the resurgence of Rossi, Pedrosa and Hayden along with their much improved bikes, I don't really know! Today Rossi has openly admitted that the recent victory has improved the his team morale and he is planning to fight until the end of the championship: there are 100 points left with Stoner leading with a 76 points difference over Valentino. Last year Rossi was able to keep the cold mathematic at bay until the last race. The M1 got faster and Michelin tires are equal if not better than Bridgestone, as long as it doesn't rain. The goddess Fortune is always represented with a wheel to remind everybody that luck comes and go and it is about time for the Italian champ to enjoy a bit of luck after going up-hill for almost two years.
Now the statistics are totally against the Fiat Yamaha team with Bridgestone winning the race in the last three seasons. Also we shouldn't forget that last year Capirossi and his Ducati won the Motegi race with a 5 seconds gap on Rossi while the new phenomenon Stoner had crashed out. I am looking at last year classification with Melandri in third and I get even more confused .....
Ok, I made my mind and I pick Pedrosa again behind Rossi but do not ask me the third rider because in my heart I would like the show to go on until the last event

Grande Premio de Portugal: Welcome back MotoGp

Welcome back MotoGp! This is the type of show for which we are paying seasonal subscription with MotoGp.com or Tivo. Often we have to get up early in the morning or in the middle of the night to watch our heroes racing. Over the years, even during the Robert, Rainey, Doohan and Rossi kingdoms we have always had good battles for the podiums, something that unfortunately have lacked this year. But last Sunday in Portugal it was show time with four different riders (if we count Hayden who had the pole) leading the race at some point. Once Pedrosa got the fugitive Stoner, the typical “time trial race” of the last few months became a real MotoGp race with everybody fighting on the brakes, holding stubbornly the outside lines when they were stuffed on the inside. Great show offered by Rossi and Pedrosa in the front but even in the back thank to Hayden, Melandri and Elias who did whatever they could to hold their positions against the faster guys. Sunday the commentators didn’t talk for one hour about Bridgestone and Michelin because too focused with the actual race. So many new things happen in Portugal! The Italian red missile has lost power over the summer …or better Honda has opened itself to some doping issues, but who cares because MotoGp is not Tour de France. The M1 too seemed improved but unfortunately my impression is supported only by Rossi and not by his teammate Edwards.
Pedrosa is still very petit but he has improved dramatically his …. determination on the brakes! He was able to fend several Rossi’s attacks without closing the door. He did it so many times that when Rossi overtook him going into that left turn with a couple of laps to go Danny had to pick up twice his left foot on the peg while going to the apex of the corner. At this point Rossi was able to create a little gap that he carried to the end, but still the little Spaniard did a hell of a race.
Stoner race was a bit strange: after the first third of the race everybody thought that his Bridgestone had started to deteriorate. As matter of the fact, after the race Rossi admitted that Sunday Michelin had an edge over the competitors. In reality later one the Australian explained that he had suffered a problem with a slipper clutch eliminating any engine brake. I believe Stoner, but somehow I do not understand it because Rossi and Pedrosa were not much faster than him on the brakes. What was clear it is that he didn’t have the usual extra speed on the straights and at the exit of turns: on the gas, out of the corners, his rear was very nervous, almost too quick in unloading the compression … but again he is Stoner and I am only a motorbike lover. Talking about bike set ups, even Hayden’s Honda seemed too nervous on the quick changes of direction and when he got really aggressive on the brakes it became difficult for him to keep a tight line in the corners.
What happened to the Suzuki? I have not been able to do my reading in the last few days but at this point my mind is already focused on nest Sunday, let’s just hope for another great show!

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Lombardi School, Lev 2: Pocono Raceway 9/4

As I have posted in the Absolute Cycle Forum:


I believe that last Tuesday the launch of the Lev 2 course was a success. I had 3 riders that at the beginning of the day displayed substantial differences in speed and technical skills, but still they looked compatible as group to me. Unfortunately one of them, Rich, had to leave the track after the second session to follow his friend to the hospital, because he had suffered a slight concussion in a crash. With only two students, Tom and Bob, Steven Lombardi and I had the opportunity to put together an extremely intense course. Both, Tom and Bob are motorbike veterans so it was like to teach " new tricks to old dogs". It's definitely easier to instruct someone totally new to bikes than someone with decades of riding under his or her belt. Regardless, I honestly believe that I was able to discover and correct hidden attitudes and frames of mind that were affecting their overall performance. Also, Tuesday I chose to adopt a teaching style where I was explaining: the concept, why it is supposed to be done in such a way and what we try to achieve from a technical point of view. A very intense approach to learn the art of riding that requires physical and mental concentration all through the day by the instructors as well the students. Both riders, Bob and Tom have improved dramatically their riding. By the last session Bob became much more proactive with his body and detailed in dealing with cornering while Tom almost seemed to be another person:by the end of day he was able to create calmness, smoothness and control in his riding. No more fish tailing on the brakes, no more sudden reactions of his front end during the turns, overall a new Tom, capable of being totally in charge of his riding.
Unfortunately my guys were forced to leave the truck a couple of sessions before the end of the day for different personal issues, right after having ridden their best sessions. They looked tired but extremely happy for their achievements. We were able to cover probably only half of the program that I had prepared for the event, but it was OK. The level two course is tailored exactly to the skills and the real needs of each rider so I take the person from where he or she is to escalate my instructing along with his or her improvements. For every topic I have created drills that could be used to facilitate the assimilations of concepts. Obviously every rider is different so there could be a person that can go from point 1 to point 9 of the program in one day vs another one who can only get to the point #5. Regardless, substantial improvements in lowering the lap time and in the technical skills are always guaranteed.
In our school we have always put a lot of passion and joy in instructing, and last Tuesday, even in the Lev 2 course, I feel that we laid out a new milestone for the Lombardi School. As always, you can find good instructors only with good students, so a big and honest thanks goes to Bob, Rich and Tom: you guys made my day.

Ciao,

"Another great event organized by Absolute Cycle, our boutique-style local road racing club" ..... thanks to Roy, Mark and the rest of their crew

I decided ... I wanted to go racing

From our friend Tim De Bell:

I decided I wanted to go racing. We’ll get to that, but first a little background.

I never rode a motorcycle until 4 years ago. I convinced my wife Jen that having a dirt bike to ride on the trails near our house would make my life complete. The only stipulation was that I would not get to the dealership and buy a street bike instead. “Why would I want to ride on pavement?” I replied.

Off I went and bought an XR250. It’s a good bike, fairly nimble, plenty of grunt and most importantly, sturdy. I rode that around the woods for a year or so and had the bright idea that I could save money riding the XR the 16 miles to and from work. After all, it wasn’t really a street bike, it was a dirt bike with a baja kit and DOT’s. That rationale proved to be somewhat weak, but ultimately I was commuting on my, now a bit scratched up, XR.

After learning the basic street survival skills, I started to look at street riding in a different light. With a bit more bike I could have some real fun and technically be safer. I had enough sense not to get on the highway with the XR, but, for those who haven’t ridden them, there is no such thing as good DOT knobby. I still rode dirt with it so SM wasn’t an option.

I had a picture of a Ducati Monster on my laptop desktop and managed to convince myself that the sun wouldn’t rise and set with any regularity if I didn’t have one of those in my garage. I picked up a used one, stripped it down even more and made it what I wanted.

I love that bike….it’s got curves like Sophia Loren.

The 2V Desmo is a well balanced motor and I had more than my share of grins, and a few gasps, honing my riding skills on that bike.

I was a fan of WSBK and MotoGP prior to really considering going for a track day. After all, I didn’t have a bike I wanted to chance wadding up and renting a bike takes it well out of the “recreational” budget.

Jen came home one day a said she met a guy at work who is a track instructor and I should meet him. We’ll call him Tod……because that’s his name. Little did I know that he had already been on the case explaining to her that going to the track would make me a better rider and, if you are going to go fast that’s the place to do it.

A couple of months pass and I found myself at Pocono, at the East Course, astride Tod’s SV650. After a couple sessions flailing around the track, I finally got into a little groove with the acceleration followed by heavy braking and dipping the bike much deeper than I ever had on the street. Tod explained that you can really get on the front brakes after the front end settles and that made the afternoon that much more enjoyable. I got some good laps for a first day, some passes, and felt very satisfied with the progression of skills I gained during the day.

Skip to a couple months later and I am trying to figure out a way to get back to the track. I had trouble justifying spending the money on a bike that I would ride for a matter of days per year. After many conversations with Jen and many track days missed, we decided that if I wanted to take up track days as a hobby, I needed to do it on my own bike.

I struggled with the decision of which bike to get but ultimately decided on a 600 I4 as I owned a twin and riding different bikes would round me out more as a rider. Besides, I heard they were really fast.

Alex, one of the instructors at Pocono, was selling a 2000 R6. After staring at the pictures of that bike on this very website for a couple weeks I called and he told me that, yes, the bike was for sale but he had an incident at Summit Main the week before and the right side was rashed up. I was realistic about the likelihood of watching my track bike sliding, or worse, tumbling, across the track with my backside rapidly heating up and bruising in places I didn’t even know I had, so we made the deal.

I picked up the bike at the track and rode it for the day to varying levels of success. Long story short, now the left side matched the right.

I went to a couple more track days and gradually worked on my skills. I wasn’t super fast by any particular means, but improving at a gratifying rate. Moving to the intermediate groups in a couple clubs was key in that the freedom on the track came at a good time in my riding education.

Having some friends who race with LRRS encouraged me to at least ride that track. I decided to attend the basic road racing class and stay up to ride the rookie race. I sincerely feel that earning the license is an accomplishment. In retrospect, it takes dedication, specific knowledge, and a not inconsequential set of stones.

I packed up the truck and headed to the 8/31/07 Penguin school with a good friend of mine. We arrived to nice weather, which proceeded, disappear and was replaced with 40 mph winds and heavy rain. We ate and played some cards while holding down the easy-up tent and retired when the weather finally abated. I was more excited than nervous, but wound tighter than an outhouse door spring.

Waking up early, I headed to the Penguin garage about 10 minutes early. This was a treat because I could drool all over the new Ducati’s in the paddock. The 1098 and Hypermotard are both bikes I would compromise my morals to ride. Maybe not, but I really want to ride them….

The morning class session was the standard intro to the track, pit out, pit in, flags and some discussion about body position. We were out in follow the leader sessions by 10:45 which was a pleasant surprise The follow the leader was good in that it provided plenty of time to find the line and markers along the track.

The layout of the NHIS track is challenging and amazingly fun. The elevation changes add another dimension to the riding I had done in the past. The two blind spots on the track are under full acceleration so the approach line has to be spot on.

The afternoon was open session as the track is open for Saturdays racers. The track was never crowded and you don’t sit in the grid for very long on the way out. I was feeling pretty good gradually working up to speed. I spent a couple laps following the CR’s and that really improved my speed through the middle of the circuit. Coming down off the hill through 10 and 11 looks so short as you come out to it but proved to be a sprint through the infield on the line.

We were called into the classroom a couple of times during the afternoon to discuss what the CR’s were seeing on the track. There were a few incidents at 3 and 10 and Steve N. talked about technique through that section and answered any questions we had. At 4 PM we had a scheduled class session that focused on the more procedural aspects of the race. Racer calls, pre-grid, grid and start procedure were all explained in detail as well as a review of the most common wrong answers in a quiz we had taken earlier. It was really to ensure that you didn’t sleep during the class time.

Everyone who completed the course received a card that allowed them to register for the rookie race anytime in the next year. Steve said that it would get you on the track for other club races as well and I have no reason to doubt it.

At that point folks who weren’t sticking around for the races were excused and the rookie racers stayed to review starting procedure again and some Q&A. It was obvious that they intentionally took the time to be repetitive on certain aspects of the class.

During the time we were in the classroom it started to rain again. The track quieted down but Steve talked a bit about the importance of riding in the rain. After a long day and some quality seat time I was thinking of packing it in for the day but at the end of his instruction, Steve said, “Now go ride in the rain.” and I went. This was the best decision I made all day. I was the only one out there without DOT’s (of the three that actually went) and I was acutely aware of that sitting in line, but the simple fact that I was able to feel the bike move around as a result of a wet track made it well worth it. After that, I was much more aware of the position of the bike relative to my body and more sensitive to the feedback of the bike. I am sure it improved my riding the following day.

Jen had arrived while I was in the afternoon session and the infield began to fill up with campers, trucks and tents for the weekend. As she was walking around checking things out and seeing if I was on the track, she heard someone say “Hey, look, only three numb-nuts went out in the rain!” Laughing, she walked up to the two guy’s vantage point and saw that indeed, one the numb-nuts on the track was her beloved husband.

We had an evening meeting for all riders in the rookie race at 6 pm. Other folks who had come from other clubs and previously taken the course attended and we talked about the grid and starting waves, received the forms for the morning registration and told stories for a while. Steve, having ridden and raced for 35 years, had quite a few as you would imagine.

The evening infield camping was great. The people who participate in this sport are a special breed. The sport that you are all passionate about is the one thing that brought you here, the only thing. Because of that, you already know something about everyone there. They either love motorcycle riding or love someone who does. Folks are more relaxed, gracious, and eager to share their experiences with like minded people.

I woke up at 4 and stayed in my sleeping bag until 5. It hadn’t rained overnight, but everything was still soaking form the morning condensation. I got up and started to coals for coffee, completed my paperwork and got out to registration. It was a touch like going to the DMV. Get in one line, get your number and pay some money, get in another line and pay some money. I was given my tech. form and transducer and ran over to the parts trailer for my numbers and a transducer bracket. When I got back to the truck I was completely taken back. My buddy had replaced my rear axle with the one he had to drill out while I was on the track the day before, Jen had coffee and breakfast for me and everyone was as excited as I was.

This wasn’t the first time over the weekend that I got a feeling of modesty mixed with amazement. These folks took time from home, traveled to an unfamiliar place and took care of my needs because they want to and because they wanted to see me safe and successful. I am truly fortunate to have people like this in my life.

I got to tech too late to make the first practice but I knew that would be the case the night before. There is just not time to go through the registration process and make an 8 am practice. The window doesn’t open until 7am and, as a rookie, you have a couple of extra stops to make.

While waiting for my practice call there was a 4 bike incident at the end of the front straight. Someone had blown their motor and a few folks went down into the tire walls in the south end of the oval, attributed to oil on the track. We could not see what happened from our camp but I had a pretty good idea based on the sounds. One of the riders stayed down for a while, however, we could hear him and everyone was relieved it was apparently not a head injury. We got the word later in the riders meeting that he had sustained an injury to his hip and was transported to the hospital lucid and communicating.

I made the second practice, which was red flagged after two laps. Uh-oh, I don’t have tire warmers and my race doesn’t start for 40 minutes. Well, I would have to get some good heat in them on the warm up lap. When the time came I was out to pre-grid in the 1-A spot. Easy to remember however I still wrote it on a piece of tape on my tank just in case. My adrenaline had been up since 4 am and, with so much going on around me, I didn’t want to be the guy pushing his bike around the grid because I lined up in the wrong spot. At this point, I still didn’t have my license and any bone-headed move could eliminate me. It’s a good policy and mainly there to ensure the maximum factor of safety on the track.

I went through the first race launch 100 times in my mind over the last day, but when I got to the starting line it was like nothing I had imagined. I thought a lot about my inputs to the bike to get a jump and keep it in control. What I didn’t think about was the heat, the noise, the people and the scenery of the speedway. It was surreal. The 3 card came up, spin the bike up, the 2 card came up, oh crap, my visor is up, flip the visor down, spin the bike up again…1 card…green flag!

I slipped the clutch well keeping my weight over the front. I had the jump and was leading the pack. When I went to shift into 2nd I missed it and dropped a few positions. After some creative language in my helmet I grabbed 2nd gear and got on the throttle. I managed to recover up into 5th position before leaning into turn one. As I rounded the apex there was a fall in front of me. I didn’t react to it other than consciously focusing op the track on my line.

As the raced progressed I knew I was near the front. I was passed approaching turn 3 in which I held too tight a line and didn’t carry enough speed through the turn 2. I kept my focus following the rider closely and made another mistake in turn 12. At the end of the straightway I overtook the rider ahead of me on the inside. This was the last lap and didn’t want to give up the position.

Coming out of 6 I went faster to 8 and through 9 than I had all weekend, noticeably faster. My turn through 12 and out to the straight was not great. I lost so much speed I was sure the rider following me would be by quickly. As I approached the finish line I was well on my way to 5th gear and the finish flag waved faster and faster. As I crossed the finish line I let off the gas and was passed quickly…whoahhh. He was right there. Neither if us was sure who finished first but we congratulated each other on a good race.

As I took my cool down lap it occurred to me that I had just earned my license. I buzzed around the track giving the thumbs up to the corner workers and with a smile they could probably see through my tinted visor.

When I got back to the truck friends we had made and my crew congratulated me and we talked about the race while enjoying the beautiful day it had turned out to me. I wasn’t sure what place I had come in but I had accomplished what I had come to do. Relaxation quickly turned into another cycle of race prep as I had entered the middleweight superbike race as well.

In that race I was in the 7-A grid, back of the pack. I got a good launch to the middle of the pack by turn 1. There were a lot of bikes there with me but with everyone holding their line, there was some spread by turn 2. Going up the hill into 5 there was a high-side in front of me and an immediate red flag. Restart.

I ran through the race with a good line but it felt a bit slower. 8 laps is a short race by many people’s standards, but the energy spent focusing is significant. After some passing and being passed I crossed the line at WOT and didn’t let off until the turn 1 early braking point based on my experience in the previous race.

I was done for the day and I was proud of myself. My bike performed exceptionally and the experience was beyond my expectations. Lessons I learned about riding, racing and myself won’t be forgotten.

We took a break form packing up to watch the MW Twins race. One of the new friends we made was running and ended up taking 2nd. Watching the race with Jen was tremendous as we chatted about our friend’s performance, the lines we were seeing people riding and what my next challenge will be.


As we made our way home a friend called to congratulate me on my 4th place finish. He had seen it online. That was the first time I had confirmation of my finishing place and it was an awesome feeling. In the MW Superbike I finished 21st, ahead of only 8 people, but the 3rd rookie and even better, my fastest lap times were within 2/10ths of each other for both races. That excited me more. I made mistakes in both races but pleased with my overall consistency.

Was this experience worth the time, cost and sacrifice? Absolutely!

Did it improve my riding? Without a doubt!

Will I do it again? If you have read this far you already know the answer to that!


Track map source