Why do we race?

Started by lil_thorny, May 05, 2003, 10:31:14 AM

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Decreasing_Dave

I originally started 'cuz it's something I always wanted to do.  I raced motocross when I was 20-something and was getting beat by all the 16 yr. olds.  I wanted to race something that only required getting beat by other racers, not the terrain.  Roadracing is the way!!

For years I always rode better than my peers on the street.  I lived in New England where the corners were plentiful, you gained cornering experience just riding to the store and back.  I have since moved to Arizona.  Long straights, few turns, very depressing.

I still ride very well on the street, better than most of my peers.....even at 36.  I thought that I had better try to race before I got "too old".  So with family supporting me, as they have in the past, I began racing last year.  I did well in my first couple weekends, too well it seems, as now I'm hooked.

I explained to my friend, Brookester, another Arizonan, that it wasn't about the turns like I thought it would be.  It's about the mental game, where to pass, when to pass, can I pass....that's what drives me.  The greatest bonus is the people.  I know that people with the same interest...blah...blah....blah, but this is different.  I make more friends every race weekend.  It's getting to the point where I don't have enough time inbetween races to do anything but socialize.  My wife grabs my daughter and runs right over so that she can be introduced and acquire yet another friend at the racetrack.  This is a family thing for us, whether I'm first or last I wouldn't trade it for the world.

D. Dave   :)

shook1

#25
One of the pure joys of racing is knowing that your talent has eclipsed the ability of your machine to do the things that you want it to.  

I used to race motocross and I can remember distinctly the day when I knew I had reached the limits of the equipment on which I was riding.  I could actually feel the frame flexing from the huge stress it was under from a series of doubles and triples and it was then that I knew my ability had reached a point where equipment was now going to become a limiting factor in my ability to go faster.  

It took a full 5 years of racing before I reached that point, but I still remember exactly the sense of mastery that I had.  Knowing that the machine that had beaten my *ss down for a full five years was now a tamed beast.  

I know that I have not reached that point in road racing as of yet, but there are moments......
Those sweet drifts that you get in turn 7 at Road A...
Scraping bodywork on the ground and not crashing...
The long black stripes laid down drifting toward the wall going onto the banked front straight at Gateway....
The bike protesting with headshake under power at 150 between the kink and Canada corner....

Someday I'll tame the beast....that's why I keep racing.

If you've ever watched Aaron Yates ride a motorcycle, you will understand........

DRU2

Why race? Why take your next breath,why go to sleep ,why do you eat when your hungry. I race because I can! Not because Im the best or that Im the worst.I just can.Some people wont ever get it. they wont ever have the passion I myself or any of you people on this forum have. People always say that Im obsessed with racing and maybe I am,maybe Im not. but I do know that I found a place that I can go for 17 weekends out of the year were Im not the person everybody is saying that is crazy! Theres only so much that you can do on the street that wont get you killed or in trouble. on the track I can go as fast as my ability will let me. The street does not let me do that.Sometime my ability wont let me either! but thats a whole nother forum!

K3 Chris Onwiler

#27
I remember the team challenge last year at Blackhawk.  After 3 years on lightweights, this was my first time out on a 600.  With no practice time, I had to learn the bike during the race.  There were some real fast people out there, and I thought I was going to get run over my first few laps.  Talk about a vertical learning curve!  Things got better fast, and soon I was dragging hard parts on the pavement, giggling gleefully inside my helmet as I lit the tire up exiting corners.  Forty laps later, I was spent.  I knew that if I didn't stop soon, I would fall off.  Still, I was having so much fun that I didn't want to quit.  
When I finally got off the bike, I was so stoked!  Rhiannon (a racer herself and a certified hottie) was helping us in the pits, and I spent the next 20 minutes screaming at her about how much fun I had been having!  Finally calming down, I collapsed into the grass with the final comment, "Racing is the best thing I've ever done in my life."  Rhiannon asked, "Even better than sex?"  I thought about it, then replied, "Sex is as good as racing, but only for about the last ten seconds."  She gave me the strangest look.  Finally, a good half-a-minute later she said, "Yeah, you're right."
The frame was snapped, the #3 rod was dangling from a hole in the cases, and what was left had been consumed by fire.  I said, "Hey, we've got all night!"
Read HIGHSIDE! @ http://www.chrisonwiler.com

lil_thorny

well said K3
i remember when i was riding on the street, my parents(when i lived with them) would not let me own
a motorcycle so i lied and kept it at a friends house.
and got in trouble(po po)...crashed...medical attention..cops at the door..you guys know the rest I'm sure. anyway my parents came to my very first
weekend last year @ last BHF and my dad was so
stoked that i was out there "doing it". my mom,
this winter kept telling me things like" watch your
spending, you have to race"
is that cool or what?
i'm happy now.
Benji.

Pierre - Team PMR

Sorry this is so long....
My story is a little different.  I've been riding street bikes since I was 18.  I've always wanted to push my riding abilities on the streets, but have always held back.  Call me a chicken or a wimp if you will, but I have seen too many people get in trouble.  Gravel patches, oil spots, animals, drunk drivers, careless drivers, pot holes, unknown roads (not to mention cops)...the list goes on and on.  Being the responsible person I am, I have always held back....but it was really starting to build up inside.  I couldn't contain myself...and then one thing changed my life.  I bought my dream bike....'01 GSXR1000.  The bike had soo much power that I didn't have a choice.  I knew that if I kept riding fast on the streets, I would become part of what most moms fear...a road casualty.  I had to get my adrenalin rush somehow, but I didn't want to do it on the streets.  I needed a safe, controlled environment....and then it popped in my head....Duhhhh, how about the race track. WOW, what a great idea.  I looked into it and decided to join NESBA.  I was just going to do a track day with my 1k and get it out of my system, so Sept 21 of last year I went to BFR and did that track day.  I instantly fell in love with being on the track...but that wasn't enough...I wanted to get the rush of being in competitive traffic...that's where I found out about CCS.  I started looking for a track bike (didn't want to mess up my nice 1k).  I got everything ready over the winter and then started my first season at BFR on April 3....and COMPLETELY FELL IN LOVE WITH IT....and here I am today, planning to do every race for the MW region!  Am I nuts or what....YEAH BABY!!!
Pierre Montsion
Team PMR
CCS EX# 280

lil_thorny

to R6chris,
that pretty much sums it up for me too.
just a big happy family aint we?
Benji.

pmoravek

Well....it depends on how "P.C." you might be feeling when the question is asked.
One response is "You wouldn't understand."
If you want to give a slightly kinder, more gentle answer. You could tell them "Try it and you'll see."
(That's usually enough to scare 'em off.)
Then of course there is the ever popular "None of your damned business."
Life is full of choices...eh?

Xian_13

#32
Why do I race....

Why do people go to church on Sunday?
To pray to their god.

Well I am an athiest!
I go to the track on any given sunday, I build my shrine made of Bike stands and tire warmers....
and just about 8:00am I get down on my knees (one knee at a time.. mostly the right one) and I pray to my god... Speed! ;D
CCS/ASRA Midwest #140
Secondary Highway & Swift Molly's Motor Circus
facebook.com/SwiftMolly
Michelin • STT

R6Chris760

Thanks benj, now I have that old "we are family" sony stuck in my head....lol

to MasterP,
You were wise not to push too hard on the street, i was one of the idiots that always pushed pushed it until I woke up in a ditch down in Missouri.  I remember sitting up, looking back at the corner and thinking If I would have crashed any sooner in the corner and hit one of the trees that lined the corner I probably wouldn't still be here.  That was when I knew I had to get to the track or I would end up doing the same thing again later.  I do have to say until the point of the accident, I was having more fun than I ever had riding.  There's something about coming out of a corner with the throttle WFO that gives you one of the best feelings in the world.

Chris

R6Chris760

#34
BTW, the ambulance took almost an hour to just get where I was plus a 30 min ride back to the hospital, which is another good reason not to do it on the street.

tug296

Shot in the eye in a hunting accident when I was 12, bullet is in the center of brain, in the hospital for 6 months. Equilibrium returned in a year, enough to walk. Dr.'s said no more running ect. felt like I had to prove to myself  I could do something other than just vegitate.

My Brother and I talk my Dad into getting a mini bike, it started.
Then got a SL 70, raced mini motocross stuff. many bikes since then, rode out west with friends ect., over 150,000 miles on the streets of USA.
 Raced a 81 CB 900F, started with Florida Gran Prix Riders Assn, {thanks D. Williams} then went on to CCS when Roger Edmonson ran things in the 80's, my brother and I raced endurance and I raced sprints, even did Paul Revere 250 at night.  Proved to myself I could do a thing. {faster than my brother} Bike stolen, did not race for years.

Worked on Tug Boats off and on since 1977, very slow and everything heavy. Worked five years on Acosta Bridge Project  in the 90's, sit in chair, drive the boat ect. need for speed was agonizing, dreamed of the high banks and old Gravity Cavity.
Sold the Harley, almost could afforord an RC51, ended up with a new 99 Super Hawk, thats fine, it's fun, and once again out to prove to myself I could do a thing. Got my license back and started racing again.
Broke collar bone severely last year {on the street} insome unseen sand at night, had it plated, agony for months, right after Daytona in March. Then had to prove to myself I could "come back" and do a thing that I loved doing, came back at Jennings in Sept. then Daytona in Oct. with the plate still in. Had plate removed and back for first Homestead in Feb. 03.

 So I do it to prove to myself, that even with what some would call a disability, I'm able to compete on my motorcycle, do fair in my events, and when people dont show up at the track, or blow them Ducati's up, [sorry], I have a chance to attain that illusive piece of wood.

 Proud to race with CCS and all the good people that are affiliated with the organization.

Always hold my line, never look back, and always salute the corner workers.

 Love it, thats why.                  Thanks for asking!



          Henry Madsen  #296 am.     F.
 




 
Henry Madsen CCS Expert #396 
2004 Am. Super Twins Champion
Florida Region,  
Moto ST #96, Corvette #6, Patriot Guard Rider