Track day yesterday. 106 degrees or so, that was a little brutal towards the end. but the temps kept the crowd down, 49 riders instead of the usual hundred. Mathias (runs fasttrackriders) decided to run a 2 group format instead of three. lots of people grumbled about having to ride with slower or faster traffic than they'd prefer, but shit, it was still very uncrowded and we got in about 1/3 more riding time that way. I felt pretty squirrelly & uncomfortable the first few sessions. I didn't give laptimes much thought but assumed they'd be about what they were the last time. During the lunch break I went to check them out & saw that my best time was 1:36 down from my previous best of 1:41, so that really made me happy. I think as I get a little quicker I tense up a little more, thus I feel like I'm doing worse, not better. So next time out work on comfort level and relaxing again. After seeing my times (& that I was consistently the 2nd or 3rd quickest in the slower level) I went to the video guy to inquire about following me around for a session. But he was done for the day due to the heat. fucker. Next time out I'll be in a faster group and everyone will be passing me again. Think I'm gonna pay for video showing guys flying by me, then post it up here? keep dreaming. what I really need is an action-type video camera anyhow. You'll need to right click to see the whole thing but here's the track:
So here's some pics. first from last time in the most photogenic corner, (#3, it's tight and slow with good confidence inspiring camber. the only one where my knee touches occasionally):
The new (regular apparently) photographer is sooo much better, but he chose some not so awesome spots and only took pics for half a day due to the heat. I'll keep waiting before I shell out the $$ for big non-overwritten pics. Right click again, sorry, lazy.
Turn 6, notice the airspace under my left arm. That's because I'm tense. I need to relax and loosen my grip, let my arm lay on the tank:
Turn 7, a decreasing radius:
Another problem I have you can see here is I keep my head and upper body up too much. there's not too much I can do about that due to the eye issue I got worked out a year or so ago. much better of course, but I still can't really look "up" so I have to keep my head "up" to look straight instead. Anyhow, it's very very important to be set well for turn 8 since it leads onto the front straight. You should stay outside on turn seven until the very end so you can be against the left curb to straighten 8 out and get on the throttle sooner. photographer was lined up for pics mid turn where most beginners (like I'm not, hahaha) are at max lean. I'm still outside at this point, just starting to dive in for the tightest part. My friend Joe's girlfriend filmed him (and I by default) from up in the tower at the finish line for a few laps. We'll see if I get the footage out of him or not, She got me passing him on the front straight. Happened for that very reason, I held back on turn seven in order to set up the drive out of 8. He's on a Busa, so it's extra nice that I passed him on the straight with my little pea-shooter. Funny, but he's quicker than me in some corners. 7 & 8 just make sense to me. other places I can't figure out what to do. Here's a pic of Joe from last time out with me in the background:
Oh yeah, some little bugger from the Red Bull Rookies' Cup (from OKC, wave your flag guitargeek) was out there on a 125 passing everyone in the fast group. fun to watch!
I'm off to Colorado. I'm taking Norvin AND MY PARENTS TWO CATS in their jeep. I'm towing a trailer with the zrx, it'll stay out there this summer.
So here's some pics. first from last time in the most photogenic corner, (#3, it's tight and slow with good confidence inspiring camber. the only one where my knee touches occasionally):
The new (regular apparently) photographer is sooo much better, but he chose some not so awesome spots and only took pics for half a day due to the heat. I'll keep waiting before I shell out the $$ for big non-overwritten pics. Right click again, sorry, lazy.
Turn 6, notice the airspace under my left arm. That's because I'm tense. I need to relax and loosen my grip, let my arm lay on the tank:
Turn 7, a decreasing radius:
Another problem I have you can see here is I keep my head and upper body up too much. there's not too much I can do about that due to the eye issue I got worked out a year or so ago. much better of course, but I still can't really look "up" so I have to keep my head "up" to look straight instead. Anyhow, it's very very important to be set well for turn 8 since it leads onto the front straight. You should stay outside on turn seven until the very end so you can be against the left curb to straighten 8 out and get on the throttle sooner. photographer was lined up for pics mid turn where most beginners (like I'm not, hahaha) are at max lean. I'm still outside at this point, just starting to dive in for the tightest part. My friend Joe's girlfriend filmed him (and I by default) from up in the tower at the finish line for a few laps. We'll see if I get the footage out of him or not, She got me passing him on the front straight. Happened for that very reason, I held back on turn seven in order to set up the drive out of 8. He's on a Busa, so it's extra nice that I passed him on the straight with my little pea-shooter. Funny, but he's quicker than me in some corners. 7 & 8 just make sense to me. other places I can't figure out what to do. Here's a pic of Joe from last time out with me in the background:Oh yeah, some little bugger from the Red Bull Rookies' Cup (from OKC, wave your flag guitargeek) was out there on a 125 passing everyone in the fast group. fun to watch!
I'm off to Colorado. I'm taking Norvin AND MY PARENTS TWO CATS in their jeep. I'm towing a trailer with the zrx, it'll stay out there this summer.