My Orange-Shirted Newbie Adventure

[tigerblade]

Okay, so it's CRA instead of CCS, but hopefully I'll be racing with you guys soon...

Friday 4/11/03:

Arrived at MAM for my first race weekend. CRA has two race weekends at MAM this year, so I decided to sign up with them so I could have as many dates as possible at a convenient track. I had been to MAM for a couple of trackdays last September, so I wouldn't have the additional challenge of being completely new to the track. Since I had completed STAR school last year, I didn't technically have to take the New Rider's school, but I thought it would make me more comfortable if I could get a little extra instruction, especially on procedural things. After going through the classroom session in the morning with Gareth Jones (man of much experience), we rode the track in the back of pickup trucks so we could ask instructors questions and receive advice. I was paired with Peter Bohlig of Nutsack Racing. I was his only student, so I got one-on-one help. He would follow me for a while, then pass and have me follow him. This really helped on one of my problem areas; braking for T1. After the sessions, he said that I seemed to be riding smoothly and was even leaving darkies coming out of some corners, so I was pretty pleased with myself. The New Rider's school mock race saw me starting on the front row (must have been gridded by bike size). I knew that I would be horrible at starts since I've never taken off full speed before. I'm not into dragracing and that's essentially what the start of the race is. Sure enough, the flag dropped and people went whizzing by like I was riding a bicycle. As soon as we got to turn one, I was fine and didn't get passed the rest of the short 5 lap "race". I picked off a few people and ended up in the top third anyway.

[tigerblade]

Saturday 4/12/03:

Now the real racing begins. Another early morning (up at 5:30 to get to the track by 7-something). Had a couple of practice sessions with the Slow group and waited for my first race to be called, which was Heavyweight Supersport. I figured that my bike was probably not ideal for the class, but it would be good experience anyway. Since I registered at the track, I started on row 14 (last row). There were two waves; the experts take off then the novices. I got another wonderful start (read dead last) but caught up to the group on braking into T1. Going into T2, I saw the dreaded pileup starting to happen. Out of the corner of my eye I saw one bike on the ground and at least one or taking the "agricultural line". Luckily I slowed enough to avoid t-boning anyone and made it through clean. By the middle of the lap, I had gotten by a few people and had settled down. The next couple of laps, I continued to feel better and started to drag knee in places I never had before. I also started to drag footpegs, which wasn't so great. I either need to hang off more or get some rearsets! The top experts did catch up to us and went flying by. I had worried that I would get startled or rattled when that happened but I felt that I held my line and was predictable, so hopefully they felt comfortable with me out there. Kevin Gordon came around on the outside of T6, painting a black line all the way. I was giggling inside my helmet. Everything was going well until the end of Lap 5. On the last corner before the main straight, I think I got too much throttle too soon (trying to get a good drive down the straight) and lowsided. I was already leaned over, so there was almost no impact. The bike just felt like it got pulled away from me and we both slid to the outside of the track. Thank goodness no one was collected with me and the guys around me got away clean. I was the third person to go down in that corner in the same race, so the cornerworkers looked at the track after the race to make sure there wasn't anything wrong. I'm sure it was my own throttle hand that caused my problem and I chalked it up to the learning curve. At the end of Lap 5, I had been ahead of 9 people (including two crashers) and was within 6 seconds of a couple others. I was unscathed in the crash and the bike only suffered a broken windscreen and a ground-down rear brake pedal. If you're going to crash, that's the type to have.

[tigerblade]

Sunday 4/13/03

Even though I had crashed Saturday, I felt pretty good. I was improving my times and knew where I needed work. I figured I would be more competitive in Supertwins, not having to battle the 750 Gixxers. Then I found out the Unlimited Superbikes were running with us. 750 Gixxers? Try Gixxer 1000's! Still, I knew the fast guys would find their way around and I would just run my race. I got yet another spectacular start (dead last) from the last row but did catch up to the pack after T1. I didn't want to push too early on cold tires but quickly decided that windscreens were a wonderful invention. The wind had really picked up Sunday and where I could normally get a good drive coming out of T3 and T4, the bike felt like the front end was floating. Coming into a strong headwind with no windscreen was sure an experience. I hit a false neutral while braking for T7 on Lap 4 and coasted through, not wanting to upset the bike with a sudden clunky shift (I thought one crash per weekend was quite enough, thank you!) so my hopes for picking off some people kind of went away. Still, I finished and that was satisfying.

I definitely found some areas for improvement. My braking is getting better, but I MUST practice my starts so I don't give away time right off the bat. My shifting needs to be more deliberate and I need to be a little more aggressive. We have video of the HWSS race and there were a couple of times where I had the line on someone but backed off instead of taking it. Lessons learned...

I got a lot of help and advice from several places this weekend. Biggest thanks go to my family who has been supporting me all along. Also thanks to my "Chief Mechanic" Eric, Cabbage, Rob W., Kevin Clark (KC124), and some other nameless racers who helped out in little ways.  Also got to see and hear the Tularis in person. What a machine!

I had an absolute blast even with the crash and poor Supertwins race. I'm definitely improving and can't wait to go again!

Results:

Heavyweight Supersport

http://www.cra-mn.org/results/2003/April/hwss.html

Unlimited Superbike/SuperTwins

http://www.cra-mn.org/results/2003/April/unlsb.html

My turtle-esque lap times:

http://www.cra-mn.org/results/2003/April/tc-191.html

[Nate R]

As far as starts, from what I've heard, a good rule of thumb is to hold revs at the torque peak, and then let the clutch out as fast as possible w/o wheeling much, if at all. Make sure you keep the revs up and don't bog it down. (shouldnt be a prob on the RC)

[MightyDuc Racing]

Sounds like you had a great time!  Glad you were ok after the fall, and at least you got it out of the way early...lol.  As far as the starts go...get or borrow a dirt bike and practice launching that.  One thing I do well is holeshot.  I went from the back row of all of my races at Homestead and was with the front row by turn one each race.  You need to practice throttle and clutch control, that's all.  I rev the piss out of it (being careful to stay under the red line...lol...which is 9000RPM's on my Duc)  and then just modulate the clutch and throttle to keep the front wheel just barely skimming the ground.  It's all feel and practice, and I got it all from dirt tracking as a kid.  I guess some things don't go away after all those years of retirement...lol.  Good luck and keep after it!  Sounds like you had some pretty big grids up there. ;D

[f1fty0n3]

TB, try NOT revvin the bike on the start, which, as Nate said, is the norm for starting.  The RC doesnt need it.  Just gas it and let the clutch out at the same time.

Matt
(Pacific AM #91)  :o

[MightyDuc Racing]

I don;t rev it on a need-to basis...and I have plenty of torque too.  I rev it so I have a feel for the motor.  If you just give it gas from low rpms, there isn;t as much feel...IMHO.

[tigerblade]

TB, try NOT revvin the bike on the start, which, as Nate said, is the norm for starting.  The RC doesnt need it.  Just gas it and let the clutch out at the same time.

Matt
(Pacific AM #91)  :o

I'll try some different techniques and see what works best for me.  I hate giving up that much ground right off the bat!  

[Litespeed]

Find your local drag strip and go out there for a test and tune night.  Make surey ou have a chain guard because you will need it though.  Keep an eye on your 60ft times because that's what will matter most.

[lbk]

Thanks for sharing those stories man. I'm planning my first race weekend May 10th I think it is, and well just hearing about your experience makes me a little more comfortable. After all I have a lot of the same reservations it sounds like you had. Glad to hear you had fun even after the crash. That's going to be my first goal for my first race, try not to be a rolling road block, and try not to crash. If I accomplish those two and finish dead last I will be a happy camper.

[tigerblade]

That's going to be my first goal for my first race, try not to be a rolling road block, and try not to crash. If I accomplish those two and finish dead last I will be a happy camper.

Just hold your line and ride your race.  The fast guys will get around you.   ;)

[tigerblade]

The crash wasn't like a crash at all.  Since I was already cranked over in the turn, there was no impact when I was on the ground.  I did a baseball-like slide, then jumped up and jogged off the track.  I didn't even get a bruise out of it!   ;D