BHF, great weekend.

[Super Dave]

How is SD doing? and did Ike make it down?

Ike's bike is way cool.  Good to have the man there.

I'm fine.  Usually am.  Don't know why I am, but that's where the Super Dave thing got started in 1987.  I fall pretty good.

Depending upon who you talk to, my bike was 10 to 30 feet in the air with me following it.

I need a few Yamaha parts.  Might have some donated bodywork coming.

Not happy about the little get off, but I can't complain with my times.  If I hadn't of made the two mistakes on the first lap, I think I would have had the race covered.  I had the fastest lap...that was really, really nice.  

[tigerblade]

It was good to see everyone (except Kwak of course).  Blackhawk turned out to be fun once they split our practice group in half and I could actually see where the track goes instead of banging elbows all the way around.

Thanks to Super Dave, KC124, MC Racing, Lithium, etc etc for help this weekend!

[Chef]

Ike, I know you still owe me one man and trust me I know you'll get me back too. LOL Really though we forget peoples names all the time so don't feel bad. Oh and thanks for the shrimp those were GOOD!


***** !!!!!!!   OHHHH BOY!!!  am I gonna repay YOU.....   ;)
(uhm, tell Karen hello...)  (your gonna think I forgot all about owing you, and then... BAM!!!   repayment  ;D


Kimmy, sorry that you had to just corner work but it was good seeing you anyway.

*****  Hi Kimmie  ;)

[Chef]

Ike was there.  He did me proud on the new RR...  Despite being out of shape, out of practice and on a stock rear-end, he was still turning low 16's...  Very impressive.  All I could think when he came around me sideways was "if you wad this bike (that I just spent 2 months building) right in front of me, I'm gonna stand it up, T-bone you and kick your butt!"

THANKS JEFF !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(cant think of anything else to go here!!!!!!!!)  YOU da man!!!  and I love you  ;D

Thanks Smoke for asking!, I didnt fall, that was the aim, the RR felt GOOD!!! didnt even realize it was sliding....  ???

Thanks Dave (I knew you guys missed that "gold" color...  ::) )

Heather, no words you guys are fye!!  (thats fire) (or top notch)  ;)


Oh yeah, and if anyones wondering...
I HAD A BLAST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

[TZDeSioux]

It was good to see everyone (except Kwak of course).

What did I do now except pass Kevin Clark Expert #125 from the second wave of the LWGP race?  :D

[Woofentino Pugrossi]

Remember Ike, I'm gonna get ya. ;D ;D That ice was COLD!!! ;D ;D

[tigerblade]

What did I do now except pass Kevin Clark Expert #125 from the second wave of the LWGP race?  :D

Whatever happens between you and YPS is your bidness.  I'm just givin' ya grief boy.   :P

[Steviebee]

It was a great weekend.  Track conditions were great Sunday and you had to be in the 11s and 12s in the middleweights to win.  Stumpy dropped down to consitant 13s so we were happy--well until he crashed, but no big deal!  Funny how that happens when you start going faster!

And to see all the people at Blackhawk was awesome--spectators and racers.  It was a good time.  

Heather

It was great,  I was psyched that i got a 1:13.45 !!!!

Did u hear me Benji 1!!!   13's  baby !!!

[OmniGLH]

After a slightly rough start... it turned out to be a great weekend!

Get to the track Friday, unload the bike, fill it with fuel... hit the key and brrrp brrp brp stall.  Spend the rest of the morning double-checking my wiring repairs and stealing parts off of DanO's bike.  Eventually tracked it down to a bad fuel pump.  Stole DanO's pump for the day, and got rolling.  Rest of the day was uneventful.

Weekend Lesson Learned #1 - don't buy electrical parts on ebay, regardless of how good a deal you get.

Saturday, borrowed a fuel pump from a buddy since his engine builder failed to get his bike together in time from their race this weekend.  

MWGP uneventful, finished 8th.  Learned how important a good start is in expert.  By the time I got ahead of the slow guys in front of me... I was riding by myself, as the fast group got away.

GTU, got a better start, tried to latch on to the front group before they got away.  2 laps into the race, I realized... "Hey, wait a minute... is that Stumpy in front of me!?"  Stifling my excitement that I had actually managed to latch on to the tail end of the "fast" group, I stalked Stumpy for the first 15-16 laps.    I managed to stay within striking distance that whole time, and I felt like I was eeeever so slightly making a little ground on him.  Then I made a little mistake in T7, causing me to run juuuuust wide enough to catch the edge of the track.  Street instincts kicked in, and I rode off the edge, slowed down, and got back on the track, without anybody getting by.  

Unfortunately, by the time I got back on - Stumpy was long gone  :(  Rode the rest of the race all alone *sniffle* and finished 9th.  Was still a GREAT race, I had a blast just keeping up with the guys in the lead group.  Thanks to Stumpy, he (unknowingly) helped me out a TON, dragging me to a best lap of a 1:14.38  ;D  

With some new found confidence, I was ready to hit the track on Sunday.  Got to the track early, got everything set up, and I decided to skip practice and save my tires for the race.  

Weekend Lesson Learned #2 - don't skip practice, making your first time on the track that day a race.

Sat around for until my first race (race 5, MWSS.)  Totally dropped the ball.  Got ready in a panic, got out on the track, didn't feel "right".  Green flag dropped, got a decent start, I think I was running 6th or 7th.  2nd lap, rail through T2, downshift into 3rd for T3 and... false neutral.  Broke my concentration for that 1/2 second, rode off the track.  I think the ENTIRE field got around me before I re-entered the track.  Now I'm upset.  I put my head down and start to really "try" to catch back up.  2 laps later, I find myself getting tired.  Now I'm REALLY upset.  Upset that I made a mistake, fell to the back, and that I'm getting tired so early.  Make another mistake, running just a tad too wide and catching the grass in T7.  Wound up finishing 22nd? with severe frustration and arm pump.

Go back to the pits, clear my head.  Something tells me the front end doesn't feel as stable as I'd like... and from my lessons learned at VIR - tires are cheap insurance.  So I decide to suck it up, buy another fresh set of tires, and take a fresh crack at it.

As I'm waiting for Lithium to finish up my tires, I get to talking to another racer (Mike Jensen #513.)  Shows me how his rear tire is DESTROYED and is having a hard time trying to get to the 15s.  I give him some ideas, sell him my old rear tire, and tell him to go talk to DanO to verify that what I'm telling him is right (I'm still learning on the whole suspension thing.)

Next race, MWSB - I get my game face on, now I am ready to roll.  Get a good start, latch on to DanO, follow him through the crowds.  Who do I find up in front of DanO?  #513.  DanO makes it around him to take over 4th.  I showed 513 a wheel a few times, but couldn't get it done.  It seems our advice helped him out... rats!  Wound up finishing 6th behind 513.  Unofficial personal best lap time of 1:14.128 according to Allison's stopwatch.  Didn't get the chance to look at the lap time sheets to see if it was official.

Weekend Lesson Learned #3 - Watch out who you give setup advice to, they just might come back and beat you with it!  (hahah ok just kidding here, was glad to help, glad it worked, and it just means I gotta go faster now!)  If you're out there, Mike, I look forward to racing with you again  :)

So, all-in-all, a good weekend.  Set some new personal bests, got my consistency down from ~16.60s to 14.50s.  Noticed that the front end still didn't feel nearly as planted as I'd like in the last race (even with fresh tires) so I have some more setup to do - but then, I think I should be able to get down into the 13s easy - maybe 12s if I get it dialed in enough.

Was great racing with everybody... and for those who won't be at Barber - see you at the next BHF in August ;D

[Protein Filled]

It was great,  I was psyched that i got a 1:13.45 !!!!

Did u hear me Benji 1!!!   13's  baby !!!

I heard a very strong rumor that Benji "destroyed" (and I mean totaled) his GSXR this weekend in Turn 2 at BIR... :-/

Hope your OK, lil Thorny!

[KBOlsen]

I heard a very strong rumor that Benji "destroyed" (and I mean totaled) his GSXR this weekend in Turn 2 at BIR... :-/

Hope your OK, lil Thorny!

I was wondering where he was!  Ouch!!!

[smoke]

THANKS JEFF !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(cant think of anything else to go here!!!!!!!!)  YOU da man!!!  and I love you  ;D

Thanks Smoke for asking!, I didnt fall, that was the aim, the RR felt GOOD!!! didnt even realize it was sliding....  ???

Thanks Dave (I knew you guys missed that "gold" color...  ::) )

Heather, no words you guys are fye!!  (thats fire) (or top notch)  ;)


Oh yeah, and if anyones wondering...
I HAD A BLAST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

All Good WIll see ya at Barber?