is it wrong

Started by Apriliapilot, August 07, 2009, 03:05:44 PM

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Apriliapilot


barb_arah

How about racing because you like it?  Making money shouldn't even enter into it. That can be a dangerous driving factor.
Never interrupt your opponent while he's making a mistake.

Super Dave

Quote from: barb_arah on August 08, 2009, 06:01:52 PM
How about racing because you like it?  Making money shouldn't even enter into it. That can be a dangerous driving factor.
Yeah, but if you make money doing what you like or love, you never work, per se.
Super Dave

Helmsman

I will be honest, i thought for awhile i had a chance and could making a living doing it.  Then my first race ended with me going head first into a tire wall, and my 2nd race saw me get lapped, at RA.  Right about then i started to realize that i would never make a living doing this.  I laugh when i think about how i used to think about racing and how good i would be.

Now i race for a bunch of reasons:  To push my self to new personal bests, for fun, and for competition.  I know i will never be anything special in this sport, and i am perfectly ok with that.

Gap Junkie

Quote from: skidMARK on August 07, 2009, 06:59:00 PM

Hahahahaha...so what are you saying...you pay with your A$$?

Mark

Yes that is exactly what Cowboy is saying. Something to do with Iraqi sand!

Gino230

This is a great thread.

I never even rode a motorcycle until about 15 years ago, and it took me another 7 or 8 to start racing. Most people who know me outside of racing circles are astonished- it doesn't seem to fit with the rest of my personality or my job or however it is they define people, I guess. I am mostly quiet about my hobby to outsiders, not because I'm modest or I don't like to talk about it, but more because I have never been able to explain why it is I love it so much. Anytime I try, most people just end up writing me off as a thrill-seeker or adreanaline junkie- and we all know racing is so much more than that.

I guess I like the camraderie, the challenge, the constant drive to improve- racing is the ultimate test of your skills on a motorcycle. Even though we bitch and moan about rules, and this or that, there is very little grey area when compared to everyday life. Like the old saying goes, "the bullshit stops when the green flag drops!" It is one of the purest forms of motorsport competition, in my opinion. There is real risk, which makes the rewards even sweeter.

I know I will never be MotoGP champion, but when I started my only desire was to go fast on the track. That turned into the desire to place in a few amateur races. Once I got to the top step of the podium...alot changed. I realized I could win and then it became a drive for a championship. When I became expert alot changed too. So I hope I can keep growing in the same direction, keep improving. Maybe someday I'll even be that backmarker on TV at an AMA race- if I ever hit the lotto, that is...

I know in my heart I don't have the talent or the smarts or even the cajones of some of my fellow competitors- it is my lot in the racing world to be resigned to chipping away at the lap times, a 10th at a time, slowly creeping my way up the time sheets. It's work and can sometimes be tiring. But I also know in my heart I'll never truly give it up. It's like in Fight Club when Ed Norton says "after fight club, everything else in your life got the volume turned down" or something to that effect.

Either way, we are all a breed apart from people who do not race, whether you like to admit it or not. There is a different blood that circulates through the racer's veins, from the guy circulating around on a 10 year old bike, to the fast new guy that sweeps the weekend. There isn't one of us out there that deep down, doesn't dream of winning.
CCS / ASRA EX # 23
2012 Ducati 848 / 1100 Conversion     2005 Ducati 749RS
2006 CCS Florida Thunderbike Champion (AM)
2008 CCS LW Supersport National Champion (EX) 2nd in 2011 and now  2012....damn you Mavros!

Ducmarc

i remember the first time i rode around daytona thinking as slow as i was richard petty wouldn't do this with out a car. now i watch these jokers and think if i had the chance i could rub fenders with them no problem . i've seen what that top stripe looks  like up close

Ducmarc

i also know what loose feels like. turn 4 a couple years ago it felt like the back tire was trying to come off the ground must be that cheesee body work  cuz the 748 would not do it.

GIGOLO

#20
In the big scheme, everybody needs something to escape.  It just sux that this sport is so expensive.

Racing has a way of filtering out the people that are there for the wrong reasons.  If you are only there to impress others, well that gets old at about the $10k mark.  If you race to fulfill a personal need, you end up being absent after the first or second season.  If you race because you are mentally unstable, you are among friends. Me personally, this year has sucked, big time.  I still look forward to racing at every moment, its really hard not to think about.  I just wish I had started when I was like 12 or so.  Fast like Farrell, or Jensen, or Ortega, thats something a bit different.  Thats not only time in the seat but mostly talent that is hard to come by.  I will never be an A.M.A. champion, but its fun to pretend.

f3racer

Quote from: Super Dave on August 07, 2009, 04:31:25 PM
Free for you...only if you don't value your life or the work that others have to put in to ensure that you're paid and taken care of at part of the US military.

I'm sure you haven't forgotten.
Quote from: Cowboy 6 on August 07, 2009, 06:46:30 PM
I take it you haven't been shot at, motar'ed, rocketed, RPG'ed or IED'd yet?

It's not free.


Quote from: Gap Junkie on August 08, 2009, 11:09:51 PM
Yes that is exactly what Cowboy is saying. Something to do with Iraqi sand!


maybe i should post a picture of my 3rd id combat patch and pictures of any of my 4 deployments to iraq. dont tell me about being shot at mortared, rpg's, ied's, or iraqi sand. or maybe a picture of my purple heart or bronze star w/valor.
Will
Former CCS MW Novice #81, WERA Novice #81
AHRMA Heavyweight SBK #81, DD's Racing Endurance Team #773
2020 Tuono Factory, 2000 RC51, 1980 CB750/823

spyderchick

What I did on my summer vacation. (Many summers ago)

I got my race license at 37.
I was slooooooow.
I had a lot of fun.
I did it for a while, then I quit.
I like racing.
:thumb:
Alexa Krueger
Spyder Leatherworks
414.327.0967
www.spyderleatherworks.com
www.redflagfund.org
Do or do not, there is no "try".

jigs

#23
I am 48 years old,and prolly race for the same reason everyone else does.Track days are great,and hopefully I will be able to do them for a long time yet,but racing as you all know gets under your skin.I feel that we are all the same,just at different stages of skill,speed and expierience.Everyone that puts on their lid,goe's out and rides to his or her best.It's the whole expierience of racing that's like nothing else.
     
           I didn't even see a race track until I was 41,thinking my odds were going to catch up with me,scortching the back roads.Needless to say once I did my first track day I was hooked.I raced a little bit in 07',a couple events,did 80% of the season last year,in Yellow plate,and won a Regional Cahmpionship,a Track Championship,came in second and 2 third places in 3 other categories,and of coarse got the bump.

            I knew what I was in for in White Plate,and being realistic,decided to continue racing,just not the whole season, because of my love for the sport,and all the people in and around it.It also (a race weekend)completley disolves my hum drum tic -toc stress of the work world,very medicinal.This year,not only am I one of the slowest(and oldest) Experts,I am even in a personal slump,riding 2-3 seconds of my best pace,but I am still suiting up,and showing up.nobodys watching me,and or expectingmuch out of me,but again,it's my love for this thing we do that keeps me coming back.

             There is a man named Bod Delie,from Depere,that raced 30 years in CCS,retiring the year  before at 67,stll running 15's at BHF,that man loved this sport and did it for that reason,not to win,yes he did ride his best,and was not a danger to himself or others,but his passion the the sport and people here that kept him coming back for 30 years,that's the lesson I look at,that's who I admire.

             Sure,I would love to ride better and faster,sometimes we're up and sometimes were down,kinda like a honeymoon dick,and that's the color and flavor and texture of racing.Do it because you love it,there is no other reason in my book.As soon as I am a danger to myself or others,or I can no longer afford it, I will hang em'up and just do track days and  I will keep coming back,until then.It's OK to not be the fast rider,it's Ok to be a back marker,adversity builds character,and humility is teach-ability,I'm getting my share of both this my first Whitr plate year and loving it.