Stage 1 Racing

BOOM!!!

2013-05-09T17:15:00.004-07:00

To say this has been a rough start to the 2013 race season is an incredible understatement. Round 1 was a total mess and round 2 was only worse.

Going into this round, I had a ton of things going on in my personal life which deterred my focus from the race weekend. I am starting a new job, and as a result of the interview process prior, I couldn't find time to get a trackday at Sonoma. I am getting married this summer, and the wedding planning is taking some time and focus. I am preparing for taking my GMAT test in June, which is a critical and rigorous test. In addition to all of this, my Grandfather became deathly ill just before the race weekend. Because of these things I hadn't even thought about the Sonoma round until Friday night when we showed at the hotel. I told myself after my poor performance at Buttonwillow that I would be prepared for Sonoma. Clearly, I was wrong.

Saturday

The first lap of the day I felt "cold" going out for practice. I had a new brake compound I was testing from my new sponsor, EBC Brakes, and wanted to give myself enough time in the first session to get a feel for them. (The GPFA compound is amazing by the way - tons of bite and linear feel)

Coming out of the sixth turn on the first lap, the bike right in front of me lets off a huge plume of smoke as it dumps oil all over the track in front of me and on the front of my bike. I immediately back off, knowing this won't end well. As #100, Ryder Morrison, tips into turn seven at the end of the back straight, his oil-laden bike slams to the ground and lights on fire. Only a half lap into the day, and I already have oil on me and have had to return to pits from an incident.

After about 10-15 minutes, race direction allows us to return to the track now that the oil has been cleaned. It doesn't take long before the exit of turn six decides to strike again. As I open the throttle entering the back straight section, my engine exclaims in protest, " Boom, ratta tat tat!". Only one lap into my restarted first practice session, and my weekend looks to have ended.

I get the bike back to the pits and begin the tear down. I already can tell that one cylinder is not operating correctly for one reason or another. I remove the airbox, fire up the engine, and place my hand over the throttle bodies. As I turn the throttle I feel each intake duct suck my hand into the chamber, until I get to the forth and final cylinder. A twist of the throttle results in my hand being forcefully shoved away from the engine and sprayed with a fine mist of fuel. I know then that I am screwed. I pull the spark plug for good measure and note that the lateral electrode has been pressed against the central electrode and a large strike mark has been placed across the face of the plug. It was obvious a valve broke and the piston slammed the valve against the spark plug.

Results of the BOOM

My focus shifted from being competitive and scoring a lot of points at my best rack, to simply getting points and going home. After a few hours, I am able to arrange to drive out to Pacheco, CA and pick up an engine from BRG racing's shop which #115 Berto Wooldridge donated to me. I have found an engine, now I just need to do a full motor swap and make it to my practice in time to jog around the track... this is going to be a long night.

90% of my race weekend... playing mechanic

By the time 10:30 pm rolled around I had already swapped motors and was close to finishing the bike, in theory. I was so stressed and worn of the way this weekend started in addition to everything else going on, I swear I was on the verge of throwing my tools in the air and start crying like a teenage girl. Jobs that should take no time at all are taking an excessive amount of time due to the smallest little things. My brand new, fresh out of the box, drive chain had a few link pins which were not set correctly. As I sit in the dark trying to get these little tiny pins to sit exactly where they belong using a tool which requires an annoyingly tedious process to operate, I give up on being able to make practice in the morning and go back to the hotel. I simply couldn't handle it anymore.

Sunday

I arrive at the track with a different disposition. Despite waking up every 20 minutes during the night, I feel more rested and relaxed. I know my timeline to finish in order to make my races, I have come to terms with missing practice, and I now can work in daylight.

After the engine is installed and buttoned up, it fought me to get started but I got it going. It idled high and I figured it just needed to warm its old bones; it hadn't been started in many years and was a little rusty. But after a few minutes of a 4500 rpm idle, I knew I was in trouble. I had very little time left to get this working. After an inspection of vacuum hoses and intake boots, I wandered over to the BRG trailer and harassed KC for some advice. He suggested I swap the throttle bodies with the ones from the other engine, as the "new" ones are probably needing to be synced.

I ran back to my pit area and with the gracious help of former AFMer Conan Dooley and begin to tear in to the motor. My race is next and I have precious little time. Then, it happens. The sky opens up and suddenly hits us with a downpour. We quickly put up the canopy to cover us while we work. Will the races be cancelled? Will all this work be for not? Did Mr. Murphy really wait until I finished this huge job to rain out the weekend?

About 10 minutes before my first race, the rain let up and the grounds began to dry just as we were able to button up the bike, fire the engine, and watch it idle as it should. Wow! Did we really just: find a motor; drive to get the motor; do a swap in the darkness of Saturday night with only hand tools; and get it running Sunday morning just in time to make the race? Yes!

Formula 1

The call for the race came just after getting the bike back together and I had to rush to make the warm up lap. This was my first chance to check the engine and get a feel for the brakes and suspension at speed. We were unable to get any chance to set the suspension for Sonoma. Catalyst Reaction revalved the suspension over the winter, and as mentioned earlier I was unable to get any trackdays during the off-season. This left me with no basis for a setting. Dave Moss helped me get a base setting, but without being able to go run a few laps it certainly wasn't was it should be.

Finding the balance of going hard during the warm up lap to get a feel for things at speed and go slow so as to figure out if there are any critical issues is a tough balance. I almost lost the fight of that needed balance on the warm up lap when I went into the carousel. I entered at a moderate speed and began my braking as I would normally.Then next thing I knew I was in a full slapper, butt off the seat, and heading right for the mountain side at speed. I was able to wrestle the bike back with only inches to spare before ruining all my nights work in my first 30 seconds on the track.

As I approached the final turn during the warm-up lap, I realized that in all the rush and panic to make the race, we forgot to get my grid position. So when I rolled onto the grid, I pulled into the last position. Turns out this may have been the best decision of the weekend.

The green flag drops and I try to wrangle a rough running engine and a clutch for which I have not practiced starts. This clutch felt way different than my last engine. The reach was far and lacked any feedback. Considering this, I got an ok start. Despite the fact that my heart said "GO!!", my brain reminded me to GO easy and concentrate on getting points. Just as I crest turn two, I see #116 Keith Stie crash and slide in front of traffic where a collective of bikes come together. I saw one bike drive over Stie and catapult into the air. I am glad I wasn't caught in that, because I later came to find that my grid position was supposed to be on the second row just next to Stie. The race immediately went red and we were to return to the pits.

---Restart---

For the restart, I was able to start on my proper position on the grid. Now all I needed was to get a good launch and get in people's way. But when the race started, my clutch slipped like crazy and I lost any advantage I had. I ended up in the back of the grid in the blink of an eye.

I battled in that race, but it wasn't with other people. I had to battle with a incomplete suspension set-up which chattered the front like crazy during trailbraking. I had to battle with a motor filled with flat spots that made acceleration out of a turn feel like the mechanical bull at the Saddle Rack. It was an exhausting 8 laps, but I made sure to simply finish and learn the bike.

I ran 10 seconds behind my normal lap times but was still able to pull a 15th place finish out of 24 racers. I met my goals of making points toward the championship, but I was still frustrated at not being able to "race". In the end, I think it was the right decision to reduce the crash risk given the circumstances; not just for me, but for the safety of others on the track.

600 Superbike

Between the F1 and 600SB race, I was able to adjust my clutch somewhat to compensate for the old and burned plates in this engine. I was also able to make some adjustments to the suspension. But most importantly ( and most effectively ) I was able to think about how the bike was behaving and figure out how to ride given the situation.

My start was better, but this class is filled with amazing riders and I found myself being passed coming out of 2 like an old lady on the freeway going 45mph. I kept focused on the goal and my own riding, I had to keep telling myself that these "races" are actually practice sessions for me at this point.

In the end, I was able to pull my times down to only 7 seconds behind my normal times. It was better, but the bike was still rough to ride. I finished 25th out of 31 but most importantly, I scored points.

750 Superbike

A few more tweaks after the 600SB race and the bike was feeling better in regards to suspension and clutch. However, the engine was still mad at me from waking it from the long slumber on the shop floor. Every time I tried to open the throttle, it felt as though I was riding a BMX with someone jabbing a stick in the wheel spokes.

I did what I could after a fair start to get in the way and block for what positions I can salvage. I decided that if I was passed, I would not make any deep braking maneuvers or switchback passes in turn 9. I simply didn't feel confident in the bike nor myself.

I found myself running a quicker pace this race and getting less beat up form the bike. As soon as the fast boys passed me, I was seeing my girlfriend signaling me on the wall every lap that someone was on my ass. I went into block line mode and took tight lines and mid-track entries. About two laps to the end I begin seeing a wheel poke underneath me trying to get around. There was a few times where I thought for sure we were going to come together.

On the final lap I came out of the last turn and the motor began to sputter on me. I had to back off the throttle a little to maintain stability and be able to smoothly roll back on. I thought I was good to the finish line, but at the last moment I see a front wheel extend just past my left side and beat me to the line... Damn!

In the 750 race I was able to get even closer times to normal, this time only 4 seconds off pace. I ended up taking 15th place out of 24, just behind 4-time AMA champion and wild-card World Superbike rider, Eric Bostrom

I want to give a special thanks to those who made it possible for me to salvage this weekend:

Conan Dooley - Thank you for your help getting the final bit of the engine together just in time to make the race. I know I wouldn't have made in time without your help

Jovan Betton - Thank you for your helping hand dropping the motor on Saturday night. Pulling out that engine by myself would have probably caused me to break something... likely me.

Dave Wallis - I am thankful that you loaned me the special tool I needed to release the special spanner nuts holding in the engine. I have pulled a motor without it before, and it is a formula for disaster.

KC and Donna Gager - Thanks for your help in getting an engine to me and your sage advice with solving the idle issue

Berto Wooldridge - Couldn't have raced this round and may have been out for the season without your engine donation, thank you.

Dave Moss - It is hard to get a suspension setting with only two partial laps ran on the bike, but your ability kept me upright and alive.

Ed Guimaraes and Xs Jet - Your support this season made it possible to race. I wouldn't be able to have bad weekends with long stories of an engine replacement without the support; thank you!

Already!?

2013-03-10T18:36:00.002-07:00

The word "already" can mean a lot of things. It could mean as it originally derived, "all ready", meaning one is completely prepared.

Already can also convey shock: "It is race season already?"

It can be used to describe the relation between action and time: "We have already searched this area for the key to the race bike"

Another common usage is to imply disgust: "Enough already!"

This race weekend, "already" seemed to be the theme for me. I knew it to be the case pretty early in the morning on Saturday after I had an engine problem on the very first lap of practice. I came into the pits, took off the gas tank and tore into the engine. After about five minutes, my long-time rival Kyle Schirrmacher rolled up on a scooter and shockingly questioned, "Already!?"; with that one word, Kyle said a lot. All I could do was look up from the bowels of the bike, smile, and say "yup". I threw some band-aids on the engine to get through the weekend, but it wasn't running perfect to say the least.

By the time the second practice came around, I was able to throw on my leathers and finally get some track time. Everyone else came to Buttonwillow prior to the race weekend and got some practice time. I, however, haven't put a leg over the race bike since the last race of 2012. I hadn't even been riding my street bike for the last 8 months, and my lap times proved it.

I have only been to Buttonwillow twice, the last of which was two years ago during a slightly damp race weekend with a new (to me) race bike. Since then, I have gotten faster on the bike on other tracks and expected to be a little faster at Buttonwillow. But as mentioned earlier, I haven't ridden in a while and I was stuck running times 10 seconds slower than my previous lap times. I've only been at Buttonwillow for a few hours and I am already pissed at myself.

SUNDAY

The alarm clock blares as is ask myself, "6am already?". The guy next door in the hotel had been snoring so loudly all night that he kept my girlfriend awake, which in turn kept me awake. I was already riding like crap this weekend and didn't need to try and race with only 3 hours of sleep in total.

Formula 1

I had to start the F1 race from the second to last position on the grid. I saw the practice times of everyone else and decided my objective for the race was to: 1) get a good start, there is no one behind me to worry about; 2) stay upright and don't crash, what I need is point sin this class not a huge repair bill; 3) pick up the pace and get down to at least my old lap times.

When the green flag waved, I got a fairly good start, making some passes in the process. The only fellow back-row starter to get by me was #54 Robin Geenen. He muscled by me on the outside about half-way to turn one, blinding me with his bright neon orange bike. I knew I had to get my as many people as possible in the beginning and get in their way if I had any chance of holding them back on this fast and high-horsepower track.

I got on the brakes a little bit later and a little bit softer than those around me and was able to get by Robin, #696 Peter Kemling, and #116 Keith Stie putting me in 7th place. I tucked in behind my old friend, #131 Bruce 'slippy' Bleeker exiting turn one and planned on letting him pull me through turn 2. But Bruce went into turn much slower than I had expected and I had to sit up a touch and move outside to avoid hitting his rear tire at the apex. This opened up the door for Peter Kemling to squeeze in underneath me with #175 Neil Atterbury in tow.

I found myself in 9th place going into the power section of the track. This is where #172 David Glenn and #54 Robin Geenen flew by me. #111 Oscar Fernandez passed me on the outside during the hairpin (which isn't that surprising considering I suffered with that turn all weekend). As we head down the long front straight, I watch the power of the other bikes walk away from me. In one lap I went from a good start, to being relegated to 12th position.

The field quickly thinned out and I began focused on myself. I really needed to work on my markers and timing. At this point, I just wanted to improve, stay upright, and let attrition take care of the final placement of riders. Every time I came by another crashed bike, I reminded myself "he got no points, you need points".

Lap after lap, I received signals from my girlfriend at the pit-wall that someone was on my ass. I was battling #50 Tom Wilbert each lap, surprised he hadn't yet powered by me in the numerous open sections. Then on the forth lap, I come out of the final turn, throttle down the straight, click up once and look over at the wall. My girlfriend, Georgia, is viciously signalling that Tom is right with me. I go to upshift again only to miss the lever and have to re-reach with my foot. This error was small, but the fraction of a second gave Wilbert just enough of a difference in our drives to get by me on the inside just before turn 1.

I begin to chase down Wilbert, evaluating where I can get by. I am quicker mid-corner and on the brakes, I just have to get by and stay in his way. Then it happens. My arm begins to cramp up and I have no real feel from my brake lever or throttle. I am controlling the bike like a light switch at this point, all on or all off. I then think to myself, "It's only the 5th lap of the first race; arm pump already?"

When it was all said and done, I was able to work down to my old time from a few years ago, 2:01.1, and finish in 11th place. Not great, but not too bad for this bump-laden track.

600 Superbike

By the time the 600 race came around, the sky has darkened and there was an occasional raindrop here and there. The wind kicked in and was throwing people around on the track. Many people had been crashing as a result, including many red flags. Before heading out to the race, Georgia reminded me to focus on finishing and getting points; don't push it and crash out.

I started in 24th place (dead last) for the 600 race and was again able to make quite a few moves when the green flag dropped. I passed some people on the gas and a few more on the brakes. Going into turn 2, I was again greeted by the front wheel on Peter Kemling's Kawasaki on my inside at the apex. I pulled in behind him and tried to keep pace, but he was simply quicker than I.

As we came out of the high-speed banking of Riverside, I see a huge plume of dust coming over the track. Two riders had come together in a violent collision, scattering debris all over the track. I pulled in behind the group ahead and for the remainder of the race ran pace with a small cluster of racers. I worked my way down to a 2:00 before yet again having arm pump problems. On the last lap, I was far enough ahead of the rider behind me, that I backed off the pack ahead and simply maintained my position. I had no reason to try and make a pass on the pack in front of me when I could barely squeeze the brake lever any longer; it would be irresponsible to try and make a pass like that. I stayed upright and went home in 16th position.

750 Superbike

I was praying for rain at this point in the day. My arm hurt really bad, the wind was blowing over canopies in the paddock, and I just wanted to go home. I raced simply to get points.

I again was starting in last place for this race and again found myself behind Mr. Kemling exiting turn 2. Except this time he was decisively ahead of me. This race was fairly boring; I ran my slowest race laps of the weekend overall and my slowest best time of the three races. My off-season training was garbage this year, and it showed.

I finished in 11th place with a best of 2:01.9.

Next, we go to Sonoma; a track where I love to race. I have two months to get my act together and I am already training.

Until then...

I give my thanks:

I didn't think I would be able to race this year. Between money needed for schooling, time needed for studies, planning time and money needed for the upcoming wedding, and one hundred other things, I thought there was no way I could race this year. I was very fortunate this year to have a few people step up and help me out, these people are the ones who made this happen this year.

Xs Jet and Ed Guimaraes came aboard as the title sponsor this year and really made this season possible as a whole. Expect to see and hear a lot from this company in the coming months. Hopefully we can get Ed and his team to stop by and hang out in the pits one day to get a feel for what racing is truly all about. Thanks again.

All the micro-sponsors who helped get me a canopy this year after the frame on my last one snapped in two. Your donations went along way, thank you.

Viets performance and Bridgestone tires have worked with me to get me out on the track with great tires that not only last, but give superior traction along with great feel and feedback.

Dave Moss Tuning has been the genius behind getting black-magic art of suspension dialed on my bike. This weekend showed Dave's amazing ability. Even though I was running 10 seconds slower than normal in practice, he was able to get the bike perfectly set up for race pace - my tires still have another weekend in them.

Catalyst Reaction saved me this year. In my off-season slovenly behavior, I failed to do any servicing to my forks or shock. Catalyst Reaction stepped up, revalved and serviced my suspension components in time for me to be able to make this race. The turn around time is amazing.

The End...

2012-10-12T02:25:00.001-07:00

In the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years. - Abraham Lincoln

Last weekend was filled with 'ends' for all of us. Some of which we are aware before it occurs; with these we can choose to embrace or deny, but we know they are coming. Some 'ends' we are not aware until the moment they occur. But, it is usually the 'ends' which we have no idea occurred which seem to affect us the most.

I knew going into this weekend that my 2012 season would be ending. I knew it would be the last time this year I would be facing off with my foes in the four championships in which I participate. This would be the last time I had to hold off my foes from knocking me out of the top three spots in each of the aforementioned championships. I knew these 'ends' were coming, but i couldn't decide if I was happy to embrace or settling to deny their reality.

Saturday

I never felt quite right on Saturday. Mentally, I wasn't sharp - I wasn't distracted, but I wasn't all there. Physically, I was still very sore from last month's crash. My right ankle doesn't work, my back has been having problems, and I screwed up my left foot pretty well. I don't mind pain, pain I can handle. The physical inability to move is another story however. Mechanically, the bike wasn't right. I couldn't get the suspension to be quite right during practice. My normal settings were causing a bad rebound tear in the rear and my front felt disconnected, almost like I had a passenger steering for me. But as I yell out my instructions for the steering I desire, I only receive a front which chatters, clanks, and tucks at or just past the apex.

Middleweight

When the middleweight race came around i was running a coupe seconds slower than normal. I wasn't happy with it, but i was ok with it. I was ok with it because I went into this race in maintenance mode. I relinquished second place in the championship to #889 Stephen Rue when I crashed during the race last month and had a 53 point deficit. I knew how fast Stephen is at Thunderhill and knew the only way I would be able to take the position back was with some sort of mathematical anomaly such as Rue crashing out. Behind me in the championship was #861 Ramsey Junaid, trailing by 26 points. Odds are I was not going to beat Ramsey, but I didn't need to beat him. All I had to do was keep within 26 points of him and go home in third place; all I had to do was finish.

The green flag drops and we all go charging towards turn one, only to suddenly be brought o a halt by a red flag being pulled from the race director. I put my hand up and begin slowing down when just then it hits me; I am on the front row and I have about 30 guys behind me all cramming for the same piece of real estate at full throttle, some one is going to ride right up my back side, this is going to end very ugly. Fortunately, every racer keep under control and slowed to and eventual halt. It is the weird moments like that which are the most fearful in racing, not the 100 mph turns leaned over grinding your body on the ground. It is weird moments like that which leave racers paralyzed or killed. It is moments like that which me feel very lucky that everyone responded well and no one was injured

(See the red flag to the left of the picture???)

Restart

After about a 20 minute delay dealing with the injured racers who crashed in the first wave of the race, causing the red flag, we were once again on the grid ready to do battle. The two waves ahead of us take off into the distance, and our engines come alive. Howling over any memory of the incident which occurred only a short time ago. Drowning all fear, doubt, and hesitancy deep into our gut and replaced by adrenaline - the green flag waves and we are racing for the last time as a group in 2012.

I get a good start, but everyone around me gets a better one and I fall to forth place before entering turn one with Ramsey just in front of me on the inside. I duck underneath Ramsey at the apex and get a run on him going into turn two. I feel pretty good about the positioning of #644 Travis Trevethick in third place and run a wide fast line around the 180 degree turn 2. I get by Travis and can almost reach out and touch #780 Kyle Schirrmacher and Stephen Rue right in front of me. I knew Kyle had the championship locked and wasn't going to go 100% in this race. A plan was quickly devised; if I got ahead of Kyle right now, he will likely hold everyone up for long enough where I could pull a gap on the pack and scout Rue for the 600 Superbike race on Sunday (more on that later). I line up to take the tight inside line on turn 3, leaving Kyle to the outside to act as a blockade for anyone who tries to run the wide line to make an entry pass going into turn. But instead, Kyle came down tight and shut the door on me, forcing me to shut the throttle and allow Ramsey to come around the outside of both Kyle and me. I tried poking my nose around Kyle on turns 4, 5, and 5a, but instead found myself lined up in a position to go around the outside of turn 6. I pass Kyle just after the apex and crack open the throttle only to be forced to close it again as Kyle's exit leaves me having to evade my front tire from being clipped. This flung my body in the air and felt like I was about to be thrown completely off the bike.

This was the beginning of an intense race. Positions being swapped at nearly every turn, outside, inside, over the top, it didn't matter. Everyone wanted to win and no one had anything to lose. Before I knew it, I found myself behind #744 Manuel Hernandez in 8th place and losing touch with the front. At this point I just had to get moving and not let anyone else get by. Hernandez proved to be incredibly difficult to pass and we ended up going back and forth quite a few times until we finally came together in turn 6. I'll let the video speak for the race, because there is no way I could write every pass and move made during the race.

In the end, I took 7th place. As soon as I saw Ramsey had won the race, I did some quick math in my head and realized I had just been dropped from third in the championship by 6 points - the difference in points Ramsey received by moving up from 2nd to 1st place in the race. This was one of those moments where I realized my championship goals came to an end not at the end of this race, but rather when I crashed a month earlier. That crash was one of those 'ends' which I didn't know occurred until later.

Sunday

I woke up on Sunday very sore from race the day prior. This only contributed to my fatigue, as I could not sleep well Saturday night. Running on only a couple hours of sleep, I found myself napping every chance I had between races and tasks in the pits. The end of the season went from being something which I denied out of sadness to something I welcomed out of suffering.

750 Superbike

I had enough points in the 750 championship where I could have not started and would have still retained my 3rd place championship standings. I knew I would not be able to beat Travis or Ramsey to move up a position, so I raced in an effort to find some speed and to be on track and score points if Travis or Ramsey happened to receive DNF for some reason (heck, if they took each other out I would become class champ).

Instead I found myself in a battle with #607 Jeff Keohen for 4th place. I did not want to crash in this race and not be able to race in the 600 Superbike race later in the day and I knew chasing Travis, Ramsey, and #743 Jordan Edginton would likely lead to the crash. As a result, I simply fell in behind Keohen until the last lap when I made a move on the brakes going into turn two and ran mid-track lines into turns which I felt Jeff may try to pass. I finished in forth place with a best time of 1:58.8

600 Superbike

You have read a few times so far that I wanted to make sure nothing happened to me before the 600 Superbike race. If you remember from last month's race report I went into the final round of the season 2nd place in the championship, leading Stephen Rue by only 7 points. This made for a very interesting scenario: If Rue won and I took second (unlikely because Kyle is much faster than me at Thunderhill) we would be tied for second in the championship, and I believe Rue's number of wins will give him the championship position. However, if he came in second and I came in third, I would be second in the 2012 championship by a single point. If he beats me by any more than one position, I would be third in the championship.

This knowledge in addition to my third place championship position in formula 1 being locked in mathematically meant that I was going to have to wake up and haul balls in this race. Rue's position was the only thing of importance to me for this race. I instructed my girlfriend to only signal to me Rue's relative position to me and not any other rider. I had to prey for a good start and some lap traffic.

But that plan went out the window after the green flag dropped. By the time we got to turn one, I had fallen to fifth place and was focused solely on Rue's tail section. I was caught behind Jeff Keohen again and could play the waiting game like I did earlier. I wasn't going to get by in the fast sections, I knew that for sure, so i opted to use my braking abilities to ride the outside paint on the entrance to turn ten and work around Keohen. This pulled me back in the hunt of the front three, led by Rue.

Once we got to the front straight, Keohen charged by me with a vengeance. It was obvious he did not want to let me get away from him as I did in the 750 race. As we came out of turn thirteen, I see Kyle pass Rue and move into second place. I knew this would be my best shot to try an get by Rue; he was just passed and has a few racers around him. Situations like this leave riders as victims more than anything else. It looked as though Rue got a bad drive resulting from having to choke up a hair from Kyle's pass, opening the door for Jeff and me to go by him on the brakes into turn fourteen.

At this point I am in good shape, I don't really care about Jeff any longer, I just wanted to create whatever separation i could between Rue and me by getting Jeff between the two of us. I was shaking in my boots going down the front straight, just waiting for the imminent move of Rue going by me on the gas. But I didn't see him. I kept thinking to myself, "Don't crash, don't crash, it's ok if Rue goes back by you, you'll still take the championship".

When we get to turn ten I see the opportunity to put Jeff between Rue and me. We hit lap traffic and I zoomed around the outside of the lapper, moved up on the exiting curbing. Just as the lapper began to tip it in left for turn eleven, he shockingly glanced at me on his right. The shock of me squeezed in next to him made him miss his turn in and caused him to run wide. Fortunately, I was able to get on the brakes, pull underneath him and block Jeff. This gave me the run down the back straight, leaving Jeff in my memories.

I finished in 3rd place with a best time of 1:57.6 and taking 2nd in the championship.

Formula 1

Just like 750 Superbike, I came into the weekend locked into third place in the championship behind Travis and Ramsey. Odds were against me moving up in the standings, so I had a lot of pressure off my shoulders.

I got a terrible start as I dropped the clutch too quickly and got a nice "clunk" from my bike before having to pull the lever back in to save it. Once I got going, I was trying to find my way my Hernandez again. I planned on making a move in turn 10, but Hernandez took care of it for me and ran wide in turn nine, clearing #914 Ricardo Villegas out of my way too. Form here, all I really did was pace #818 Andy Marinshaw as we made our laps around the track. I was running a hair quicker than he, but we would need a lot of laps to make up the difference he pulled on me in the first couple laps of the race.

For a moment, I was on the verge of just pushing it to my absolute limit, knowing that I have no further races and can't get less than third in the championship. I finished 4th with a best time of 1:58.1 and retained my 3rd place in the championship

2012 Wrap-up

Middleweight: 4th place of 55 racers
600 Superbike: 2nd place of 35 racers
750 Superbike: 3rd place of 24 racers
Formula 1: 3rd place of of 24 racers

In the end, I met my goals laid out before the season. I got my first class win in a hard fought battle at Infineon in Formula 1. I learned a lot in both riding skills and suspension set-up. I found times where I was frustrated with my tight budget, my antiquated machine, and my inability to get any practice time outside of race weekends. The one thing I need to remember is to have fun; I have a tendency to forget that. I also got my first podium this year, and when I did I was ecstatic beyond belief. But only a few months later, I treat third as a complacent disappointment. I need to remember to keep things in perspective.

Unfortunately, this season ends with a few more 'ends'. The most frustrating part of these 'ends' is that I am not even sure of exactly what these 'ends' are, but I know they are coming. I want to come back and race in 2013, but my budget is not allowing that to occur. I will need to gather some good sponsorship money in the off-season just to afford the costs of racing, despite that fact that I am doing it at an impressively cheap budget. Financing is putting a likely (short-term) end to my racing.

I have a milestone coming up in my personal life, another 'end' of sorts, which could leave me here in the bay or living on the east coast. I have the opportunity to finish the next step in my education at some very prestigious schools. While there is nothing I love more with school than racing, the reality of being able to come back to the bay just to race seems slim. It is an 'end' I know is coming, but I currently choose to deny. But, if I am able to make the racing finances work well enough to come back for racing, I guarantee I will.

A quick thanks

Thank you to everyone who supported and sponsored me this year. Jeff with Viets performance helped me with making sure I always had the right rubber at the right time. This was my first year with Bridgestone, and I couldn't be any more impressed with the durability or feedback from the tires. I often found myself changing the tires for no other reason than I felt bad that I had them on for so long.

Thanks to Dave Moss of Feel The Track for always getting my suspension dialed in, even when I have no idea how to describe what is occurring. Dave's suspension set-ups were by far the best thing to help overcome my power deficit.

Thank you to Jim and Nickie Williams of Catalyst Reaction. They were able to take my stock forks and Elka shock and perform mechanical magic which rivaled the most expensive suspension systems one can buy.

I also want to say thank you to Arlen Ness Racing. When I rode like an idiot, The Arlen Ness leathers, boots, and gloves saved my hide. I have walked away from a few big crashes in the same set of gear and have never needed even the slightest repair work. It is as good now as the day I received it, despite sliding on the asphalt at triple-digit speeds. My mom and girlfriend are especially happy with your product.

A huge thank you to my friends and family who supported me. Thank you to my girlfriend, Georgia, for her tireless efforts trackside. Thank you for making the long drives in the middle of the night after a long day at work so I can do school work in the passenger seat. Thank you for the cooking, pit-management, and loving care when I am having a rough time. Thank you to all my friends who stop by my pits and say hi, despite the fact that I am pitted out in the middle of nowhere.

Finally, Thank you to all my friends with whom I battled this year, especially those too fast for me to beat. I hope to race with you next year in the expert class, even if I am still on my rat bike.

The End....

3 Inches

2012-09-09T16:53:00.001-07:00

3 inches...

No, it is not the start of a bad joke involving male genitalia, it is the small piece of real estate which altered my fate for the race weekend at Sonoma and ultimately the 2012 championship.

Going into this weekend I was 2nd in two championships and 3rd in two others, with a close points battle to my nearest nemeses in each class. Sonoma is by far my best opportunity to win races and score points. Being that we only visit Sonoma twice this year, it is critical I maximize points in all races to keep in the points chase. Our last visit to Sonoma resulted in some fun battles and significant points for me, meaning all I had to do was do it all over again.

I spent the week prior to the race analyzing all the mathematical statistics to the possible outcomes based on many variables. However, I failed to calculate for a few factors; personal deviations, other racers being faster than the last visit, and the three inches of space just outside the curbing on the exit of turn four.

Saturday

Saturday practice went well, I was running 1:48s without really trying. I went out to each session working on specific goals and managed to run laps within a second of my best time while just having fun and feeling like I was at a trackday rather than a race weekend. After looking at the times of my opponents on the time sheets, I felt pretty f'in good going into the middleweight race.

Middleweight (No on-board video, forgot to turn on camera)

Starting 2nd on the grid, I got an average start off the line. Stephen Rue, #889, got his typical awesome start and passed by me before even getting to the first turn. Going into turn one I saw the front wheel of Ramsey Junaid, #861, poke into the apex at the wall. I didn't want to try and squeeze down on Ramsey, but I certainly didn't want him to make a run up the hill and get in front of me. I made a quick decision to keep the throttle open and take the wide line through the turn.

I carry a lot of speed from this line and try to get beside Rue before getting to turn two so I can have a control position through the turn and being able to carry that inside advantage all the way to turn four, if needed, to secure second place. At the last possible minute I back off and fall in behind Rue, he simply wasn't entering wide enough for me to go safely underneath. I presume he was trying to do the same maneuver to Kyle Schirrmacher, #780, which is why he kept his line tight and deep on the brakes.

Going into the carousel, I see Rue make a move around Kyle and smile a little because of the thought that I can use these two battling to my advantage within the next few laps. I kept swinging at Kyle like Rocky taking on Apollo Creed in the 15th. Moves inside and out, every opportunity ended sharply with me having to close the throttle, making a mistake, or being out ran leaving the turn. The next few laps the three of us are flying around the track at record speed, dragging me into a race where I was running 1:46s and only in third. Kyle got back around Rue and I was now trying to get around someone I hadn't spent a lot of time chasing around Sonoma. Then it happened...

By the sixth lap of running faster than normal times, I was chewing up my rear tire due to my suspension being set for my normal fast times of a second slower. I decided after nearly high-siding twice in the sixth lap to back it down a little and take third place. I was far enough ahead of Rue in the championship points to be able to afford taking third to his second (Rue actually went on to win the race). I was also far enough ahead of forth place so I could back it down for two laps and take a podium finish.

Typically, I wheelie out of the exit of turn three about 30 degrees, but this lap wasn't typical. I was traveling slightly slower through the turns while accepting third place. The slower speed translates to more thrust when opening the throttle coming over the crest exiting turn thee and my bike went up MUCH higher than normal. The extra couple tenths of a second my bike was in the air caused me to miss my turn in point at the speed I desired. Once I got on the brakes I knew I wasn't going to be able to hit my apex and my focus went to simply making the turn using the wide line. I continue to brake very deep into the turn and do everything I can to get the bike turned. I begins to turn and I run all the way out to the exit curbing. Leaned all the way over, nearly parallel to the track direction, I just barely touch the dirt on the outside of the exit curbing about half-way down the exit section - slamming me to the ground, filling my helmet with sand, and ending my race; if I only had another three inches of track.

Because I forgot to turn on my camera, Kyle gave me his rear view footage to post some of the race. I was directly behind him for a fair amount of the race and you can get a new perspective of my races. If you look in the background right before the end of the video, you can see me run off in turn four.
Enjoy:

Sunday

I woke up very sore. Most muscles on my body were stiff and ached; it felt like I played a game of football the day before. But it wasn't the soreness which was the problem. The wreck on Saturday managed to screw up my right knee and ankle so that I couldn't properly walk, let alone move around on the bike. I couldn't press with my right foot because my ankle was essentially locked in place from swelling. After going out for a practice session, I was barely able to get off the bike and racing in an hour was becoming seriously doubted.

750 Superbike

My goals for the 750 race were simple: stay upright and score some points. I was third in the championship and had quite the gap on fourth. I knew my 1:46s from the day before were a fair amount faster than my two main competitors in the class (who also race in the Middleweight class): Travis Trevethick #644 and Ramsey Junaid #861.

Starting third on the grid, the green flag drops and Jeff Keohen #607 makes one of his famous starts from the second row and blew by me before the first turn, not much later I fell victim to Travis getting to turn seven before me. I found myself in fourth trying to hold-off new fast kid, Jordan Edginton #743. But the fight didn't last long as he went by me on the second lap, diving under me at the apex on turn eleven. I watched Travis, Ramsey, Jeff, and Jordan all begin to pull away from me little by little. I couldn't muster the strength to pull my 1:46s from the day before and instead meandered my way around the track at 1:49s and 1:48s. But that didn't stop everyone in front of me from running 47s and 46s.

Not only was I fighting a physical battle with myself but also a mental one; turn four never seemed so difficult and slow until that day. Eventually the torture of the race ended and I took forth place; only because Ramsey's chain broke while he was coming out of the carousel. I kept it up and scored some points, but I learned that the rest of the day would not be easy.

600 Superbike

After throwing away my championship in Middleweight, 600 Superbike was the only other class that I was not 3rd in the championship. Unfortunately, I have to face off with Kyle and Rue again. Knowing that I was riding much slower, I decided my best chance is to try and get ahead early and use as much positioning strategy as possible to stay in the fight.

But reality kicked in as soon as the race began. I was quickly shuffled back and found myself in 5th place behind #914, Ricardo Villegas. I didn't want to sit behind him for long, knowing I must just up towards the front right away, so I tuck to the inside of the exit for turn three and wheelie by Ricardo, stick the landing and wrangle in the bike to make turn four. The next step is finding a way by Digby Norris, #872. I don't find myself battling with Norris, so I had no idea of his tendencies nor where is the safest/smartest place to pass him. I certainly didn't want to try a risky maneuver with my physical state and take out the both of us, so I hung back for a lap. When coming across the start/finish line, I decided the best place to take him would be the entrance to the carousel. I was slightly hesitant because of my crash the day prior, but felt this would be safer than trying a few of the other passing areas, considering our speed differential. When we get to turn six, I go gentle on the front brakes and get to the right side of the track. the bike begins to fight me to turn as we enter the drop, but I was able shut the door and get in Digby's way enough to hold him off on the run to turn seven,

I begin to reel-in Kyle as I watch Rue take off into the sunset. The next four laps I keep a fairly even pace with Kyle as we come through traffic. On the 7th lap, Kyle over shoots the entry to turn seven and I am back in the hunt, right on his tail. It is too bad I wasn't a hair closer, because Kyle's error occurred in the best zone for passing him from an unforced error. I begin looking for areas to get by Kyle and then I see a sign from my girlfriend that someone is on my ass and looking to pass. On the final lap I start seeing the front wheel of Andy Marinshaw #818 poking his nose underneath me in almost every turn.

Kyle, Andy, and I coming railing out of turn seven and see a slew of slower riders just in the distance. Based on our speed differential in relation to these slower riders, I put a plan together to get in the inside of Kyle going into turn eleven. I won't actually pass him, but rather sit in a spot tight on the entry and apex which will force him back because of the fast line being plugged by the slower riders. We line up coming out of ten, I wait until Kyle hits the brakes and I commit to the move. Just as I make the inside move I see a yellow flag out of the corner of my eye. SHIT!!! I just passed under yellow and will be disqualified if I don't let Kyle back by. I realize I just need to take third because the accident in turn one ahead prevents any passing. I run out wide to let Kyle back underneath, the last thing I wanted was having him caught behind traffic and coming across the line after me. Just as Kyle comes back underneath me, Andy comes with him and i cross the line in forth.

Unfortunately for Andy, he did not see the yellow flag in turn eleven and was subsequently disqualified for his pass. It was sad to see because of his great run he made at the end of the race. Andy's DQ placed me in third with a best time of 1:48.6. I am in second place in the 600 championship by only seven points because of Rue's win. This means for the final race of the season if Rue wins and I take second (unlikely because Kyle is much faster than me at Thunderhill) we will be tied for second, and I believe Rue's number of wins will give him the championship position. However, if he comes in second and I come in third, I will be second in the 2012 championship by a point. If he beats me by any more than one position, I will be third in the championship. Very interesting.

Formula 1 ( No video - dead battery after leaving camera running after 600 Superbike )

By the time the third race of the day came around, the swelling in my knee and ankle rendered them fairly useless. The endorphins from the 600 race helped numb the pain, but I still couldn't exert the force needed to run as well as I did the day before. The formula 1 championship had me in third place with only 9 points to Trevethick in second and 12 to Ramsey in first. This Championship had not yet been determined, so if I can get my act together and maximize my last chance to move up the ladder, I could feasibly be first in the championship.

The race starts and I get a great launch, moving around Ramsey and into second place behind Travis. On the second lap Ramsey worked his way around me, relegating me to third place. On the following lap, Andy Marinshaw flew by me like he had something to prove. Apparently he did because he went on to win the race with a dominate performance while running 1:46 lap times.

By this point, all I could do was hang onto the bike and hope something happens in front of me. I was making errors everywhere and praying for the chequered flag. Never before have I wanted a race to be shortened, never before had I hated being in a race. My muscles were screaming, my bones ached, and everything told me to just stop. Even if I pull in and quit this race I will still be third in the championship, forth is not even close. But I couldn't give up, I just couldn't; it isn't in my nature. If the race lasted fifty laps and I was in last place by a mile, I still never would have been able to quit. I finished forth with a 1:48.0 and finally was able to call it a day.

Round 6 Conclusion:

Crashing sucks.

Losing Grip

2012-08-10T09:42:00.004-07:00

“Some people see the glass half full. Others see it half empty.

I see a glass that's twice as big as it needs to be.” - George Carlin

Pragmatic. That is how I approach my racing. I keep a realist view in order to keep a grip on the reality of my expectations, on my results, and my racing career. It gives me the ability to use goals as a point for which to aim, without being over-reaching. My pragmatism keeps me from freaking out when my practice times are 6-7 seconds slower than my race times, it reminds me of the reality that my practice times won’t meet my race times – because then, as logic dictates, I am going too slow in the races. It reminds that my tires have a limit of grip and I should ride to the limit or a little below, as opposed to letting passion over-step the limit and crash out. It reminds me to not try and brute the bike around like I would earlier in life during a football game. Being pragmatic allows me to firmly grip onto the big-picture concept of: enjoying what I am doing, doing the best of my abilities, racing my race, and letting the results fall as they may.

This last race weekend, I lost grip.

Saturday

Saturday was strange. I awoke early in the morning in my hotel room, but I wasn’t that tired. I walked out of the hotel room and to the truck without gripping onto a pile of books and my laptop. I had no stress, I had no school, I wasn’t struggling to grasp onto a schedule of how I would fit all I must accomplish outside of racing into my race weekend. This feeling was eerie.

I went out to my first practice and did my usual 3 lap warm-up. I generally have to come in after 3-4 laps because my hands are hurting from gripping the bars and levers. I am sure I am normally clenching my fists as sleep the night prior, having stress dreams and worries of my day to follow. But when I came in on Saturday, I came in out of habit and not out of soreness or the need to relax myself a little further. I felt slow, but I was moving fairly quickly. Normally my opening session I am running laps around 2:06 and fighting to push through a 2:03; but on Saturday, my first flying lap was a 2:03.4 followed by 2:01.1. I didn’t believe it when Georgia told me this in the pits; it felt like a 2:14 at best. My pragmatic voice kicked in and told me to get a grip, this is only practice and it is only a 2:01.

Second practice came and I didn’t feel rushed before heading out. I didn’t have anything to change on the bike nor to fix, this was strange. Normally on my second session, I will stay out the whole time and begin feeling out the bike for any suspension or tire pressure adjustments. But this time I came in after only three laps. It was almost like I didn’t even care about practice, I was just kind of “whatever” about it. I wasn’t upset or happy, I just was. I didn’t even remember opening my throttle to 100% one time; I simply went around checking-in with my apexes, just to pay them a visit and see how they are doing. So you could imagine my shock when Georgia yelled at me, “Good job, 1:58”. I was befuddled. What just happened? Did I really just run a 1:58? Did I really just run only .6 seconds slower than my record time? I checked my timer and confirmed it too be true. I tried to contain my excitement, but my mind started off into dreamland: “If I ran a 1:58 now, what the hell am I going to run in the races? Oh my god, I am going to kill it this weekend. I am going to beat Kyle at Thunderhill, of all places”. After only 6 laps of practice, I had begun to lose grip on keeping calm; I had begun to lose grip on reality.

Middleweight

I always get a little nervous lining up on the grid, as I should. But this time when I came around the last turn on the warm-up lap, I began feeling really nervous – almost sick, like I was going vomit in my helmet. When I got to my grid spot I was shaking like a leaf; I lost grip on my mental state.

The green flag drops and I get a pretty good start. Stephen Rue #889 gets a killer start and leaves everyone in the dust (I think Stephen used to do a little stoplight street racing before he came to the AFM). On my right I have Ramsey Junaid #861 peeking out and on my left Kyle Schirrmacher #780 is beginning to drift over from his position on the pole. He’s still drifting. Still drifting. Clack! Kyle and I have a little love tap which shifts my bike into 3^rd gear prematurely, leaving me chasing Ramsey, Kyle, and Stephen into turn 1 with my RPMs lower than ideal.

I get underneath Ramsey between turns one and two and begin to latch onto Kyle. I determined a week earlier (and protested it to Kyle’s main pit guy, Skyler) that my goals/plan for middleweight was to tag onto Kyle’s tail and hope to keep pace through the race. This would leave me way ahead of the pack and allow me to make some attempts on Kyle during the last lap.

Kyle and I worked our way through traffic of the F50 and Heavyweight race, sometimes for his benefit and sometimes for mine. I kept on Kyle until about halfway through the race when he ran a fast lap while I made a mistake in turn six, leaving Kyle to run away in the fast section. As I saw Kyle catching Stephen, I knew I still had a chance for the second half of the plan: make a move on the last lap.

After working my way up toward the two of them on the last lap, I saw traffic ahead which I would be able to use to get underneath Kyle/Stephen on the brakes. However, coming out of turn five on that lap I began to get a severe crap in my right hip flexor. I couldn’t hold back any longer and while coming out of turn nine on the run down the hill, I stood up and stretched out my hip while at full speed. As I sat back down on the bike I misjudged my braking point and missed the apex of ten. This lead me to run very wide on the exit, close the throttle, and run to the absolute very edge of the rumble strip while sliding my rear tire. I lost grip on the front runners and the chance to make a move. I finished 3^rd with a best time of 1:57.691

http://contour.com/stories/afm-round-5-thunderhill-aug-45-middleweight

Sunday

After getting a third in clubman at Thunderhill (a very hard task for my hamster-powered bike) and running a relaxed 1:58 in practice, I lost grip of my concern for my Sunday races. I thought I had it in the bag. Kyle and Stephen are only in my 600 Superbike race and my main two competitors in the 750 Superbike and Formula 1 championships, Travis Trevethick #644 and Ramsey Junaid #861, were running 1:59s. I had it in the bag.

Then I made what may have been my biggest mistake all weekend. I watched the 750 production race from the pit wall. I saw Ramsey not only running with Kyle, but beating him. I checked timing and saw they were running 1:55s! What!!?! Where the hell did they find 2 seconds? Now I was worried; how would I run 1:55? I began to lose grip on my nerves.

750 Superbike

I got a good start and fell into turn one in forth position behind #607, Jeff Keohen. I knew I couldn't let Ramsey and Travis get away in the front; if I had any chance to run 1:55 I knew I would need to be pulled along. I got around Jeff on the entry to turn nine and began to pursue. At this point, I would need to catch-up before they took off and try to simply get in their way.

After only a couple laps, I began to get severe arm pump in my right arm. I decided to back off the attempt on Travis and Ramsey. I got a signal from the wall that Jeff has fallen off the pace and I had room to simply take third. Then a short time later an unfamiliar bike came by me on the run up the hill to turn 9. Young gun #743, Jordan Edginton, managed to get by me on his 750 and we began to battle, so much for my 'go-easy' plan. I actually ran quicker laps than Jordan, but I simply could not get by him. Between my arm feeling like hell and the strong drives Jordan got out of the turns, I had to relinquish my grip on the 3^rd place trophy for 750 Superbike. I finished 4^th with a best of 1:57.8 and an arm that felt like it experienced 40 years of arthritis in a 8 minute period. Travis now joined the rest and also ran 1:55s.

http://contour.com/stories/afm-round-5-thunderhill-aug-45-750-superbike

600 Superbike

The 600 Superbike race started out just like the Middleweight race. Stephen Rue was in first, Kyle was in second, and I was tagging onto Kyle’s tail. As the race went on, I lost touch with those two as we went through traffic. Unfortunately I caught behind traffic from turns 6-10 and newcomer, Manuel Hernandez #744, took advantage and wedged his way into 3rd on the inside of the turn 10 entry. He and I battled back and forth for the remainder of the race.

The pain in my arm began to really affect my riding and I was sliding my front and rear tires in areas unusual for me. The high speed of turn seven slides was by far the most “puckering” turn of them all. Leaned over at full tilt, throttle wide open, and a tire which insists on going faster than the actual rate of travel; I had now lost grip with my tires. Rest assured, this was all caused from my own doing, the bike and tires were operating great, my right arm had become a remote-operated extension of a lifeless aperture causing havoc with my riding.

I tried my darndest on the last lap to make a run on Manuel; but just like with Jordan in the 750 race, I came across the finish line in forth – only a blink of an eye off the podium.

http://contour.com/stories/afm-round-5-thunderhill-aug-45-600-superbike

Formula 1

With Formula 1 came the final loss of grip, I could no longer even hold onto the bars; my arms had completely failed me. I ran in second place for the first half of the race behind Ramsey, until Travis came flying by me in the front straight into turn one. I kept on his tail for as long as I could. After seeing the thumbs up from my girlfriend signaling on the pit wall, I decided it was better for me to fall back and take my points for the championship rather than crashing out. At this point I couldn’t hold the bars at all, I couldn't open the throttle to 100%, and I couldn’t feel the front end of the bike. I had completely lost grip at this point. I finished the race in third with a best time of 1:58.0.

http://contour.com/stories/afm-round-5-thunderhill-aug-45-formula-1

After the Flag

I came home disappointed with my times and my finishes. I decided to run an analysis of my finishing positions and lap times since I started racing. I saw constant progression and soon realized that I had lost grip on the scope of the situation. Yes, everyone else got faster, but so did I over time. Two 4th place and two 3rd place finishes is pretty good for me at Thunderhill with my rat bike. If I wasn’t so concerned with everyone else’s times, I may have run just as fast as they did and my arm may not have been strained. I lost grip on perspective and as such I lost grip on my bars. Relax, run your race, and let the results come.

When Opportunity Meets Determination

2012-07-02T20:27:00.005-07:00

“We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.”

Charles R. Swindoll

Concern grew greater as the race weekend grew nearer. I hadn't been to Sears Point in a year and on that weekend I wrecked on my second lap of the first race, ending my weekend. In the year since I have barley ridden at all and have made changes to suspension settings, tires, and gearing. I was essentially going into this weekend with no prior data, I had to rely on calculations I was making in my head about the changes and how they would affect my riding. My "perfect shift points" will move, my drive will change, the battle to keep my front end down coming out of 3 has just become more difficult.

But Sears Point is known as a rider's track, where results are given for control and not raw horsepower. Although having extra power helps, it doesn't help nearly as much as any other track. Even the pros in the AMA acknowledge its difficulty in its raw nature. It is a track which is developed by the natural undulating hillsides of Napa valley, not from a desk and computer screen. Sears Point has attitude, anger, and acrimony and will take a rider down for the slightest form of disrespect shown through arrogant riding. My plan this weekend was to think my way through the track, leverage my strong areas, and try to maintain position during the open sections through smart vehicle placement.

Saturday

I woke up Saturday to look outside and say, "shit". The sky was caked in dark clouds, the air had a chill, the ground was covered in a light dew; not a good formula for a Sears Point race weekend. Arriving at the track only brought more concern for the weather, as a fine mist/sprinkle began during the early hours of registration and technical inspections. This was not looking good.

I decided I would spend the first session simply waking up my brain and reminding myself of my entry/apex/exit points. Last thing I want to do is me the guy who tosses his bike in the opening practice session. Leaving the hot-pits I ascend up the hill to turn two planning to merge with traffic. As I cross over a very thin painted yellow line separating the hot pit area from the live track, my rear tire losses grip and spin WAY out to the side. I was able to wrangle the bike back in at the cost of tweaking my back a little. This had set the tone for the remainder of my practices.

I ran slowly during my practices and only did a few laps; concentrating on quality laps and mental exercises rather than quantity. I saw a lot of my competition running some fast times during practice, which began to concern me a little. I still wanted to go easy, but needed to figure out what they were doing. I used what little practice time I had left to time myself with traffic so that I can see what people are doing and where, giving me an idea how to plan for the weekends races. This is not nearly as good as running a few laps at full speed while on their rear, but my gut told me that was asking for trouble.

Plus, this strategy saved my already heavily used tires, which I couldn't change because of a VERY tight budget this round (technically shouldn't have been able to make this race weekend)

Middleweight

I'll start by saying this, middleweight was one hell of a fun battle - much more so than any on-board video could ever show.

Just before the middleweight race began, the clouds began to disperse and gave way to sunshine. The wind however, had stayed behind and was blowing hard from the north. As I headed up for the warm-up lap I noted how heavily the flags around the track were waving and began to plan for alterations for this factor. Wind is a real pain because it is inconsistent and can not be seen while racing. There is no way to know if going into a turn if the wind has increased, decreased, or change direction. Because of this, a rider must gave a margin of error in either direction when entering a turn otherwise he may end up braking too early or not making the turn at all. Personally, I'll take the consistency of rain over wind any day.

The green flag waves and I get a good reaction time but dropped the clutch too quickly. I am able to get back on the gas rather well and carry a lot of speed through turn one and up the hill to the ever sketchy turn two. I find myself in third, just to the inside positioning of Stephen Rue #889 and Kyle Schirrmacher #780. I quickly analyze two options: 1) go to the inside and hope everything works out 2) back off the gas and maintain. I decide on the later because I don't want to be a bowling ball and take out the whole field in turn two. Oddly enough, Rue and Kyle both left a window I could have used, oh well.

My strategy is to keep Kyle in sight while I watch Rue for a lap. But when Rue has a little bobble exiting turn six I quickly decide I am going to try and beat him in seven as a result of his loss in drive. Sitting on the inside, I begin to tip in and I see Rue coming in right at me and the apex, forcing me to sit up for just a moment. This moment gives Sergio Sanchez-Chopitea #424 a pass on my outside while Sergio Fernandez #771 takes me on the inside. I get back on the gas hard to get back around Fernandez, only to see him power up beside me going into 9 and taking the inside back.

I am now in fifth and know I have to step on it or they are going to run away from me. I run hard out of nine and ten taking the inside away from Rue in eleven. I spend the next half a lap chipping away at the lead the leaders pulled on me as a result of my turn eleven heroics, out-braking Sanchez-Chopitea in seven and pulling beside Fernandez in the front straight. We are side-by-side playing a game of chicken while racing at full-throttle to turn one with me squeezed between the wall and Sergio's bike. The moment I see his forks compress I get on the brakes and guide the bike through turn one to begin my attack on Kyle's reign in first place.

I try an inside move in turn four and stick the pass, but executed it a moment too soon which allowed Kyle to delay his turn in and give him a counter attack on the inside of the exit. I start poking my nose into weird lines trying to set up drives and pass maneuvers while simultaneously holding back Fernandez. Then it happens...

Fernandez comes in very hot to the inside of turn nine, shooting by me and pushing out Kyle into the dirt. I set up behind Fernandez expecting to run behind him to turn eleven and try a wide pass move. But then suddenly Sergio sits up while exiting turn nine to return the position to Kyle, leaving me to have to sit up and act evasively. I get around the two of them and suddenly I am in the lead.

My strategy has suddenly changed. Normally I have a few moments to reanalyze what is going on and decide on a plan, but my brain kicked in with a simple, "GO!!! FUCKING GO!!!!". I had to get away from them, I had to break them and let their battle keep me at a distance, that lap I ran my fastest lap ever at Sears Point (Plus the fastest lap of anyone in the entire race).

The following lap I saw my girlfriend signaling me from the pit wall that I had pulled a gap on them. My brain kicked in, "ok, you made some space - don't crash. Maintain and see how they react". Being as inexperienced as I am to leading a race, my "maintenance" was a 1.4 second drop in lap time. After leading for three laps, Sergio had caught me on the inside of eleven. We came charging down the straight side-by-side, just as we had before, only this time he was to the outside.

I tried to play chicken with Sergio but with the inside position, I didn't have the safe leverage position I wanted. So I decided to back it off and file in behind, planning to use his timing for a last lap pass in nine or eleven while holding back Kyle. After a couple laps, we see slower traffic in the near distance and I begin to postulate just how I would use the traffic to my advantage.

Sooner than I had wanted, an opportunity presented itself in turn nine and I took the inside on the entry. The slower rider in front of us took a much more square line through the bus stop which forced me to make a last minute adjustment and killed some of my drive out. I get on the gas hard and suddenly feel my fairing slapping on my right foot and knee, I check to my right to see Fernandez leaded on my bike trying his best to stay on track and maintain speed. I give him the benefit of space and don't run him wide, but there was no way I backing off the throttle.

I didn't want the same problem in turn eleven as I just had in nine so I set up wide to try and get a run around these 1000cc bikes. What I failed to calculate was the speed differential that would occur when a pack of us all came almost to a stop in nine and then charged toward eleven, I had been out-run and pushed out from the inside by Kyle and both the Sergios. Crossing the line, the white flag was out, I had eleven turns to get by three people and slower traffic to win this thing - I'll admit I lost hope for the first turn or two after this happened, until I decided to claw back.

Racing down the drag-strip the four of us get by a one-liter bike from the heavyweight class, except he came back under me in the middle of turn seven and then chopping off my nose as I attempt to fly by him in the esses. I charge as hard as I can out toward nine, knowing that if I can get back to the pack by eleven I can still pull a podium at bare minimum.

I see Fernandez run wide on the entry of nine and I take a shallow line to get by him before he's able to recover. I'm set-up behind someone when suddenly Sanchez-Chopitea gets hard on the gas during the exit and looses the rear tire. I now have two people in front of me, Kyle and mystery bike. I had no idea who this bike was but didn't want to take any chances for a missed opportunity. Maybe he got by me in the turn eleven fiasco last lap and I didn't know. Maybe he is a heavyweight, but Kyle may still run wide in eleven and leave the door open. I didn't want to settle for where I was and charged through ten and eleven as hard as I can, taking second place with a best lap time of 1:47.587.

That was a very fun race and was more pleased with the battle itself than the actual results (But I won't turn away a second place)

http://contour.com/stories/afm-round-4-sears-point-june-30july-1-middleweight

Sunday

I hate morning races, always have. I could go into a lot of details why, but since you just read that whole long passage for only one race, I'll keep the remainder brief.

750 Superbike

I got a "meh" start and found myself in forth place, caught behind David LaBree #999. I thought I would get by him on the inside of two, and probably could have forced it safely, but instead sat-up as he came across my front and let #644 Travis Trevethick get around my outside. I was feeling very lazy and sloppy; did I mention I am not a morning person?

After seeing Ramsey Junaid #861 and Sergio Sanchez-Chopitea #424 begin to run away I try finding my way past David on his powerful gsx-r 750. I get stuck behind him for a lap and a half until turn seven on the second lap, when I am able to get to the inside of him on the brakes. Just as I begin to give steering input, I see Travis' front wheel on my inside. Knowing there is no way for me to take advantage here, I kept it upright until he turned in so I could jump on his tail. But he never turned in, just went flying by to the run off area. I found out later on that he had a brake failure, could have been a lot worse!
I spent the rest of the time trying to catch Ramsey and Sergio. I had taken off from David and all I had to concentrate on was playing catch-up. But every time I would make progress, I would lose it right back because of a stupid error: overshoot turn one, miss a shift, brake to hard, etc.

The torture of my pitiful riding came to an end a few laps later when the red flag came out as I was entering turn seven. I managed to scam the other riders out of a third place finish. But that is not the best part...

As I was coming to a stop in the run out area of turn seven, Ramsey begins to circle back around at traffic. Not knowing what he was doing or where he was going I begin to the right to avoid a head-on collision. Problem was, I was also braking. Suddenly I found myself a victim of the classic newbie parking lot crash. I picked up my bike and yelled to Ramsey, "I didn't expect you to turn around!"

Did I mention I hate morning races?

http://contour.com/stories/afm-round-4-sears-point-june-30july-1-750-superbike

600 Superbike

It only took a second before I found myself in the same scenario as I did in the middleweight race the day prior; going into turn two behind Kyle and Rue. I gave chase and we managed to catch slower traffic by turn eleven of the first lap. Going into turn six on the second lap I had a white-plate bike come underneath me. I had no idea how he got there, did he get pushed off track earlier in that incident in seven which I saw the riders yelling at each other? Did he have to start from pit row because he missed his call? Either way, I decided to ignore him as he diced through me, Rue, and Kyle and focus on our race.

I came through on Rue on the inside of the exit of turn seven, never to see him again; putting my nose down and trying to hunt down Kyle. As the race goes on, Kyle and I find ourselves dealing with a ton of slower riders. He eventually is able to use these moving pylons to create some separation from me. I see signals from my girlfriend that I am completely clear of any competition behind me, and decide to go conservative and take the second place rather than risking receiving zero points by making crazy moves through traffic and crashing out.

The first results posted showed me in second place but the result page was later pulled down and replaced, moving me down to third. Turns out the mystery white plate rider who passed us on the second lap was an accomplished racer who had been counted as a first place finish in our class. I never would have had a chance since he was running 1:44s.

https://contour.com/stories/afm-round-4-sears-point-june-30-july-1-600-superbike

Formula 1 (no video)

In another episode of "Dan Butler's dumb moves", I left my camera running after the 600 Superbike race and recorded another race in the background and all my lunch hour activities. Just as our race was called, I hear the camera beep that the battery has just died, D'OH!

When the green flag drops on the formula 1 race, I get shuffled back to sixth place by turn 2. I spend the first lap trying to peek in a wheel where I can. Problem is, when the guys in front are sitting three or four wide going into a turn there really isn't a safe place to make a move. Come the beginning of the second lap I do a quick calculation of the differential needed to catch-up to the leaders. I determine I must pass (and stick) at least one rider per lap and go about a second a lap faster than the leaders to have any chance to win.

On the second lap, I get a nice drive out of 8 and get a little crossed up wheelie. After bringing it down I get on the brakes, my non-slipper clutch bike chattering the rear slightly as I step the rear out. I lean in and stick a smooth pass to the inside of the two riders in front of me and get a great drive on the exit. My focus is like none other now, that pass just awoke the beast. Eyes of fire, belly of hunger, I am on the move.

I continue to move up the ladder one by one. My wrist throbbing with pain from over rotating the throttle. My worn tires gripping well but reminding me of the wear with ever-so controlled slides. As I pull into third place behind Andy Marinshaw #818 my forearm begin to experience arm-pump, lactic acid has crept into my bloodstream and still leaves me sore as I write this.

I get by Andy and stare at Sergio Fernandez in the distance, my laser guidance system locked in on target. I pull up behind Sergio to see if he is doing anything different than earlier, checking where I can get him. I think about the inside of nine but instead decide on the slingshot out of nine and through eleven. I get the drive I am looking for and pull to his left while on the brakes for eleven - does he know I am there? Sergio takes his normal line for eleven and I counter with a slow entry/fast exit move, forcing my way into the lead for turn one for the final lap.

I clinch my teeth to pull from Sergio, knowing I have to put the dagger in the heart with him or he will surely try a move on the brakes in turn seven, nine, or eleven. I find the balance of blocking lines with speed and cut a full second on my best lap of the race thus far with a 1:47.7. I come out of eleven look to my right and see Sergio just entering the turn. I blaze down the straight in full tuck with my left arm curled to my side, my hand gesturing the number one to my girlfriend who is on the pit wall losing her mind. I did it; my first win in a championship race.

2012 Championship Standings thus far:
Middleweight: 4th place, but only one point down from a tie for second place
750 Superbike: 3rd place and on the move upwards
600 Superbike: 2nd place, behind Kyle Schirrmacher
Formula 1: 2nd place, three points behind championship leader Travis Trevethick

Juxtaposition

2012-06-09T02:09:00.001-07:00

“...it ain't about how hard you hit; it's about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward. . It's how much you can take, and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done” - Sylvester Stallone

This was my first race since graduating; this was my first race weekend where I didn’t have to do school work on the drive up, at the hotel, and between races. My brain and body were very confused about what to do with the extra stress and focus usually reserved for these weekends. I decided to use this extra stress on throwing a wrench in the works by changing an important variable on the bike at the last minute; maybe I thrive on stress, maybe I am simply not familiar with anything else.

The week leading up to this race I had received some messages from friends stating that it appeared I was running my gearing to tall, killing my drive. I have run stock gearing since day one of owning the gsx-r because I wanted to focus on improving as a rider and not playing around with changing gearing all the time. I simply didn’t want to lose focus on working on the most important factor, me.

This weekend I decided to give into temptation and run the front sprocket down one tooth. I knew this would change certain behavior in the bike, but hoped the net effect was beneficial. I ran the first session with stock gearing just to wake up and shake off the cobwebs since the last race weekend. After pulling in, I immediately changed out my gearing to 15/45 and began mentally preparing for what changes would occur and how I would handle them. Years of football had taught me to visualize variable change; I had to picture and think my way through new shift points, different throttle responses, and a quicker winding rear end. What I failed to calculate for haunted me all through Saturday, increased engine compression and change in engine braking behavior.

Middleweight (no video)

Middleweight was a disaster for me. Figuring out the gearing at practice speed worked out well for me, but race speed was a whole other animal. I found myself stuck running a few seconds slower than normal and being unable to reassess the changes needed to improve. I started in forth position, but by the end of the first lap I had fallen to sixth place. This progression continued and I fell back one more spot on the following lap; by lap five I had fallen back all the way to ninth place, where I eventually finished.

When I sat down at my pit area after the race, I was incredibly distraught with my riding. The entire race I struggled with adjusting my entry speed into corners with this new gearing. I don’t have a fancy-dancy slipper clutch so my clutch control rhythm associated with corner entry was completely out of whack. Any chance I had of taking a top three in the middleweight championship has likely gone out the window with one poor performance.

Final results 9^th place out of 30, best lap of 1:59.2

Middleweight Solo Endurance (N) (no video)

The solo race is a race I looked forward to having for quite some time. Despite the fact that I had to abandon my gym routine for the last few months due to an insane school and work load in the final semester, I find that I still retain my athleticism and have really good endurance; often hitting faster times the longer I ride. the solo race would be a LeMans start race, meaning we had to start off the bike and run across the track, start the bike, and take off.

I was rather pissed after my crappy performance 40 minutes earlier and there was no way I was going to let anyone beat me to my bike in a foot race. I have many, many years of football training for the first few steps of explosion. One of these 140 lb guys may beat me in a one mile run, but I own the first 40 yards.

When the green flag drops I take off and jam to my bike, I flip my leg over the bike and hear my girlfriend (who was holding the bike) yell, “CLEAR, CLEAR, CLEAR!”. I take off like a bat out of hell, first of the yellow plates and right behind two experts. In my mind I remind myself to get up and fight; I was not going to let my crappy racing earlier bog my mind. I get around #402 Rob Brown in the first lap and put my head down. I knew that if I broke the rest of the field I could easily maintain the rest of the race while the field tires out.

As I come around the front straight, I see my girlfriend signaling from the pits that I have a substantial lead. I couldn’t believe it, for the first time ever I am leading a race! I found myself losing focus to the utter excitement of possibility, as though I was a 15 boy who brought a porn star to the prom. I focused the rest of the race on simply maintaining a distance from the pack. I could have tried to go faster, but I wanted to conserve my tires for the rest of the endurance race because I had three races on Sunday which I must also run with this same set. Furthermore, it was completely senseless to crash in a race which I held a sizable lead.

Coming around turn 15 for the final time I found myself in unfamiliar territory. I didn’t have to worry about someone flying by me in the straightaway and stealing my win. The checkered flag meant something totally different; it went from saying the race is over, to meaning I had won. This time the checkered flag was actually for me!

I rolled into the pits not believing what happened. There was no way I won, someone had to have taken off before me and I never saw them. I honestly wasn’t even sure if I had won or not. After my girlfriend had lifted the bike up on the rear stand I asked, “Did I win? I think I won”. She confirmed it with a smile, a hug, and some tears.

Despite the win, I still felt like I had only wounded my unicorn, shot him with an arrow in the distance. I knew my battle was not yet done.

750 Superbike (N)

The start of 750 Superbike left in 3^rd place going into turn one behind the redcoats, #400 Micah Larson and #861 Ramsey Junaid. I kept pace with them around the track, plotting and planning where I can possibly make a move on these two. On the first lap, I test a few lines here and there to test differentials but it looks like it will be tough to find anything, especially if they stay paced with each other.

The three of us head up the hill out of turn eight and I get one of the best drives up the hill I had ever gotten. Just then, Ramsey moves to his left and reveals a bike right in front of me on the exit area. Berto Wollridge #115 had taken a big spill in the expert wave and his bike decided to rest right on the exit are of this critical turn, giving and interesting twist to the race.

Travis Trevethick #644 comes blaring by me in the straights as usual and I am quickly shuffled down to 4^th place. I ride their tails for the next few laps, poking in my nose where I can. Inside of three, outside of nine, a near high-side exiting turn two; a jab here and a jab there but I miss the knockout punch and quickly find myself caught behind slower traffic, #971 Tom Wilbert, separating me from the fight. I end up in fourth place just missing the podium yet again, with a best time of 1:57.5.

https://contour.com/stories/afm-round-3-2012-june-3-2012-750-superbike

600 Superbike (N)

For 600 SB I am gridded in 5^th place and get an ok start, I am shuffled back to 6^th place by turn one (which strange enough had a yellow flag waving, how do you start a race with a yellow flag and not get penalized for passing?) In the opening lap I find myself caught behind #914 Ricardo Villegas and can see the lead pack begin to pull away. I try to find was around Ricardo but have to wait to make a move in turn 14 turn get by on the inside, just to find him sneaking in the inside on me in turn one after a run down the front straight. I again find myself having to get by on the inside of 14 but this time I began my turn in a little earlier for turn one and shut the door on letting him pass me on the inside. Knowing my lap ahead of me is now open, I focus on catching the front pack.

I end up battling with #771 Sergio Fernandez for the remainder of the race eventually ending in 4^th place. But after a lap or so of battling with Sergio, I begin feeling a weird vibration in my rear end. Is my tire out of balance? Is my suspension having issues? I continue fighting on but the vibration is getting worse. I then begin to hear a tick, did I spin a bearing? Is it just an exhaust leak? Is it just in my head? After crossing the finish line and slowing down I begin to hear the ticking more loudly, the engine is no longer covering the sound. I can feel the tick in my handlebars and it dawns on me that the countershaft sprocket has probably loosened form the gear change from yesterday. I cruise my way back toward the pits just to hear the noise even more pronounced as I enter turn 14. (Watch the video all the way to the end if you want to hear the noise for yourself) As I come into the pits I see my girlfriend walking back and suddenly turn around when hearing the noise. I park the bike quickly and yell, “got to fix it, I got 20 minutes!”

https://contour.com/stories/afm-round-3-2012-june-3-2012-600-superbike

Formula 1 (N)

I am now stuck with a broken bike and a race in 20 minutes. I figure I have just enough time to remove the lower fairing, pull the countershaft cover and tighten the nut (hopefully it is still there), and get the bike back together in time to make the next race. I pull open the cover to discover the sprocket is just fine and hasn’t loosened in any way. We fire up the motor and don’t hear any unusual noises.

I then spin the rear wheel to hear the screech of Freddy Krueger’s bladed glove dragging against a chalkboard and see the wheel seize in place. I begin tearing into the rear caliper and rotor area, expecting the pads to be catching, or a warped rotor, or pads which have worn down to the metal. I see nothing of the sort. What I do see is a fresh scratch mark on the inner area of the rotor, indicating something is rubbing. I grab a flathead screwdriver and pry open the rear pads, spin the rear wheel and still the wheel screeches each time that mark is within the caliper area. I don’t see any warp of the rotor visually, but taking no chances I begin to try and manipulate the rotor back into a usable shape. I use every trick in the book, but no matter what I do the terrible drag and screech remains. Looking at the pads from underneath the bike, I notice that the outside pad moves dramatically during each rotation at this exact same spot.

I hear second call for the race and know I have to fix what was wrong, there is no way I am giving up; there is no way I am giving in. I know this is my race, I know I must fight. I forgo the opportunity for a warm up lap and try to get a view of the pads from the other side, through the inside of the wheel. Just then I see that a bolt for the rear sprocket has broken off and wiggled its way out of the threading, thereby rubbing against the swingarm and mangling itself and the swingarm in the process.

I grab the tools I need and hear the ominous voice of defeat over my left shoulder, “Race 12, formula 1, this is your FINAL CALL!”. But in my head I hear the voice of Mickey from the Rocky movies yelling, “Get up, one more round. I didn’t hear no bell; get up you son of a bitch!”. I refuse to miss this race, I refuse to be told I won’t, I refuse to let one more thing keep me from my goal.

I finish getting the bike together just in time to make it out to the race. I take the grid and knowing that my tires are cold, I realize I will need to go easy in the beginning of the race. I fall back a few spots and find myself battling with #424 Sergio Sanchez-Chopitea and #607 Jeff Keohen. I wish I had the camera on for this race because I made moves like I have never before. I was making passes on lap traffic around the outside on the paint, I made passes for position on the outside of turn one while my back end was slipping around behind me, I was sliding on my excessively worn tires in every single turn (thank goodness I did that supermoto training a year ago). Once I broke free from Sergio and Jeff from a move in turn 5, I was quickly catching up to #861 Ramsey Junaid and #644 Travis Trevethick; putting them in striking distance, but the race ended too soon.

It was by far the most hard fought race in my short racing career. I didn’t run my fastest times, nor did I win, but I refused to lay down when all seemed lost. I refused to accept anything less than my best because of the tires sliding or any other excuse. It brought back memories of a college football bowl game I played in years ago, where we stopped our opponent on the one yard line four times in a row during sudden death overtime to take the win. As I crossed the checkered flag, I wasn’t sure if I had counted right. I figured someone might be in front of these two and I am actually in forth once again. But when I came in the pits and confirmed I had third, I leaned over my tank and thought, “Fuck you, Unicorn”.

Unicorn

2012-05-28T02:22:00.002-07:00

"The unicorn, through its intemperance and not knowing how to control itself, for the love it bears to fair maidens forgets its ferocity and wildness; and laying aside all fear it will go up to a seated damsel and go to sleep in her lap, and thus the hunters take it" - Leonardo da Vinci

Each of us has a wild creature which we can not capture. For some it is a beautiful women of desire, for others it is the ability to control their own vices; my unicorn stands atop the box at the podium. I have had numerous races where I have finished 4th or 5th place. With the unicorn within my grasp running down the straightway to the finish, I often fall victim to another challenger's powerful engine which is able to lure the beast away from me. Going into the first race of 2012, I knew in my heart I would be able to wrestle my unicorn to the ground and finally be able to indulge in the magical properties from its alicorn.

Heading into this race weekend I hadn't ridden a motorcycle in months, not even my street bike. I have been so busy with school with up coming finals and many projects needing to be finished, the timing of the race weekend couldn't have been worse. I won't bore you with the details but I'll put it to you this way: full-time job + full-time school + up until 5:30am finishing class projects = tired puppy. My race bike also had some engine problems which left me finishing putting it together into the wee hours of the morning the day we left for the track.

When we showed to the hotel late Friday night I was greeted at the door by Ed Chung #216. Ed informed me that he was harboring Jovan Betton# 990, a new racer whom I offered to mentor on his first race weekend. I went to my room and found Ed and Jovan to be located right across the hall from us, so I went over to meet Jovan and tell him what to expect for the next day. I was there mostly to help make Jovan aware of what was happening, where he had to be, and when he had to be there. One's first race weekend can be very overwhelming and I don't want anyone else to have to go at it alone like I had to do. Having never met Jovan before, I didn't know what to expect, but he turned out to be a great guy and looks to have the drive to be very good, very soon. Good luck, Jovan.

Saturday morning proved to be an interesting case study of forgetfulness. First thing we discovered was that I forgot my tire warmers. Without the warmers I was going to have to alter my timing of the day. This was my first weekend racing on Bridgestone tires and I wasn't sure just how long they would take to get up to temperature by just doing hot-pit practice starts. The last thing I wanted was a cold tire crash for something as stupid as forgetting to bring tire warmers. Fortunately, just before my first practice session, Dave Moss volunteered an extra set for me to use which he had in his trailer. This was a god-send but because of timing I didn't have enough time to get the tires up to temperature to set the tire pressure correctly and had to forgo my first practice session. As the day went on, I came to find that I had forgotten to : 1) charge my on-board video camera; 2) bring a few very needed tools; 3) bring my work mat; 4) bring the new brake fluid I needed for a fluid change; 5) bring batteries for my lap timer; 6) bring one of my school books I really needed to read during the weekend; 7) and a few other things that I can't remember right now, ironically.

Oh yes, I almost forgot. While talking to Jovan between practice sessions about racing lines, my canopy suddenly collapses. It was not a windy day and I have no idea how it happened but a section of the frame suddenly broke in half, rendering it useless. I had to fashion a "weld" out of duct tape and zip ties. It got us through the weekend, but ANY wind in the future will probably tear it apart.

I was moving slow at practice and was feeling very sluggish. What little of my mind was actually working was focused on school work and not racing. Before I knew it, I am getting called out for my first race of the weekend, middleweight.

Middleweight (no on-board video)

Sitting in 2nd position on the grid, I knew I was going to have a battle on my hands going into turn one. The guys nearby me are fast and even faster off the line. Even if I get a god-like start, my underpowered bike will not hold the lead all the way down to turn one in the distance. I quickly devise a plan to avoid losing as many spots as possible. I decide I am going to drive hard to the apex of one and hold a mid-track exit leading to a tight take through turn two. This will held hold off contenders and hopefully everyone will begin other battles and leave me alone. The plan worked out ok as I found myself in a wheel to wheel battle with around six talented riders.

We all went back and forth for a few laps battling for position. As the race went on, I found myself battling with an old foe, #780 Kyle Schirrmacher. Trying a variety of lines on entry and exit of nearly every turn, I found myself easily able to run with, if not quicker than, Kyle in the turns. However, the moment we came to any of the fast and long sections, Kyle would open up his r6 and was simply untouchable. This led me to having to play catch-up in every set of turns and never being able to get around him. I finished in 4th place, right behind Kyle; my unicorn had escaped me once again.

Sunday

Sunday morning I came back to he track to find out that I had been classified as DNS (did not start) in Saturday's middleweight race. Race control explained to me that to prove I had finished 4th I would need to have the 5th place finisher come to timing and scoring and vouch that I had in fact finished in 4th place, ahead of him. However, because there had been issues with timing that weekend, I was not sure if I was even in sight from the 5th place finisher as I came across the finish line. I had to ask around in the pits to gather other credible racers who watched the race and were independently aware of my 4th place finish. Fortunately, #33 Eric "GoGo" Gulbransen had come over after the race on Saturday to congratulate me, complain about my paint job, and try to convince me to get a bike/engine that has power which is on par with everyone else. His emphatic explanation of how everyone ran away from me in the back section reminded me that he watched the whole race and saw me at the line. I found Eric and asked if he would go talk to timing and scoring. It was a good thing that most people like Eric because I may have been screwed out of 4th place otherwise.

750 Superbike(N)

The green flag drops and I get the best start I have ever had. Micah Larson #400 gets his usual brilliant start, moves into first place, and beats me to turn one, but by turn two I am on his tail. I know how fast Micah is, so I was rather shocked to be right on his ass in turn two. I had no idea what was going on behind me, but knew I wouldn't have to deal with the chaos if I just kept my head down and stayed with Micah for at least a lap. Going up the hill towards turn nine, Micah is able to muscle up the hill quicker than I and gets quite the drive going down the hill to turn ten as a result. I barrel into turn ten and get right up on Micah yet again at turn eleven. I get an equal drive as he coming out of the essess of 11-12-13 but as we get half way down the back straight he begins to fade in the distance.

This rubber band effect between straights and turns kept up until turn seven of the second lap, when #696 Peter Kemling shoved his way underneath me as I was turning in and almost to the apex. This caused me to momentarily sit up and killed what little straightaway drive I had. Going up the hill to turn nine, I thought I was about to take over the lead as Peter decided to ride the paint on the far left of the straight going into turn nine and not give an inch on the exit to Micah. Fortunately for the the both of them, Micah had the state of mind to sit up, back off, and miss the apex to save them both.

As Micah and Peter begin to pull away when we hit the front straight, #644 Travis Trevethick passes me like I was standing still eating an ice cream cone. A couple laps later, these three are just out of my sight. I found myself making excuses for my poor riding, "you never are good in the first race of the day", "you're not a morning person", "you're never going to be better then forth". A few laps later, I see the white flag and a few turns later something inside me begins to awake. I tell myself to wake up, quit bitching, and give it what I got left in the tank for this race. I work my way up to about 1-1.5 seconds behind the lead group by the time I hit turn eleven. Then I see a yellow flag suddenly fly up in the corner of my eye from the flag station at turn eleven. I come over the crest of turn and see the front of #696 Peter Kemling's bike facing right at me!! Peter had wrecked, got back on his bike, and is attempting to GET BACK ON THE TRACK.

I get away from this craziness as quick as possible and quickly realize that I am now in 3rd place, my unicorn is right in front of me. I have no idea how far 4th place is back, and keep my speed at full (but under control) click and run my fastest lap of the race. I come around turn fifteen and see my girlfriend in the distance signaling someone is coming up FAST. I keep my head down and throttle open, but then at the line #861 Ramsey Junaid sneaks by and takes me at the finish by only .16 of a second. Beat at the line once again by small fractions of a second.

https://contour.com/stories/may-13-2012-afm-r2-thunderhill-750-superbike

600 Superbike(N)

I start this race on pole position, and after my start in 750 Superbike I am thinking I may be able to replicate that start again; I was dead wrong. To my right I see people begin to pass me as we run to turn one. I keep a tight line at the apex, hoping to block anyone behind, and sit in fifth place after the start. As the five of us head up the hill into turn nine, I see #696 Peter Kemling muscle by me on the inside and looking like he may overshoot the turn and take out anyone in his way, almost mirroring the line he took against Micah in the 750 race earlier. I settle in behind him and quickly realize I want to be nowhere near this guy. I decide if I can get the entry into turn ten quicker than he, I may be able to get around #424 Sergio Sanchez-Chopitea and keep Sergio as a buffer between me and Peter. But I simply couldn't get the drive down the hill to get by Peter's motor. I lucked out though when Peter took himself out of the equation my running off on the exit of turn ten, good thing I didn't get that drive on the outside after all.

I quickly catch-up to Sergio and the rest of the lead pack in turn fourteen. As we head down the straight, they get the drive on me and pull a gap, as expected. Unexpectedly however, Peter Kemling is back and at the apex of turn one on the inside of me...oh shit! I stay to the inside on the drive out of one and heading into turn two I stay tight and leave about nine different line options on the outside so we can both safely make it through the turn. But instead, Peter comes right at me, so I back off and get to stay alive. I move up behind Peter as he comes underneath Sergio going into three; and using his trademark dive in and run someone out wide move, Peter pushes out Sergio (who I then see shake his head in disdain). I try to move to the inside to take advantage of this, but was not in the position to safely do so and instead see #889 Stephen Rue move around the outside and begin his ascension up the order toward his eventual win.

At turn 14, I get my Sergio on the brakes, and on the following lap do the same to #607 Jeff Keohen; I am now back into 5th place and running with the lead pack. We come up on slower traffic and I begin trying to utilize the opportunity to get around Micah, but he shuts the door on me at every attempt and is just a hair too fast. I come out of turn fifteen and cut my exit short to avoid Peter again, who is coming out of the dirt from when he ran off exiting the turn. Then directly next to me on the right side, #771 Sergio Fernandez leans his body off to the left and almost lays his shoulder on me. I quickly realize he was coming up on me fast and was going to get pinned behind the slower traffic on the right. Pushing his body over was a much better choice than steering into me or running into the back of traffic. I get caught behind slower riders, but am quickly coming back in the hunt, when Peter makes a nice tight turn on the inside of me in turn three.

We all begin trading positions as we work our way through the slower white platers, I find myself shuffled behind Peter again. He tries his dive-bomb line in turn nine again and once realizing there is no way he won't kill Fernandez, sits it up and narrowly avoids the accident. I try to use this to my advantage and get around him before a turn but am only able to poke a wheel to his outside while running down into turn ten. I didn't even want to think about trying to be to his outside in this turn after what I saw earlier, and backed off with the intent to pass on the brakes on the inside going into turn fourteen. But, Peter took care of this issue himself and wrecked in turn eleven again, right in front of me.

I'm now in 5th, make a great run down the backside and into turn fourteen, leaving me right with the pack and almost able to touch Fernandez's back tire. Fernandez lights up his rear tire at the apex of turn fifteen, forcing me to check up, run out wide, and get a little wobble; killing my drive. I put my chin down and do my best to stay ahead, but Fernandez is quickly accelerating by me like he was trying to go back in time. I ended this interesting race in 5th place, just behind Fernandez.

https://contour.com/stories/may-13-2012-afm-r2-thunderhill-600-superbike

Formula 1(N)

By the time formula 1 rolled around, I had already begin to worry about the three presentations I had to do on Monday morning. My mind wasn't where it needed to be, I had been riding slower than normal for thunderhill, and was a little annoyed that I keep losing the podium at the very end of my races. But I said it earlier in the day and I still felt it to be true, formula 1 would be my race.

The flag drops and I find myself in 4th behind the usual suspects in turn one. At turn ten I was able to sneak in the inside on the brakes underneath #644 Travis Trevethick into 3rd place. The possibility of winning began to enter my mind; I felt as happy as a puppy with two penises at this point. I reminded myself that this was only the beginning of the race and I still had a ways to go. I gathered myself and focused on the next target, #424 Sergio Sanchez-Chopitea. We had some close racing this whole weekend, and because I was behind him more than he was me, I felt I had the advantage in the strategy department ... but then we hit the front straight. I soon began to remember exactly what was happening to me all day as Travis comes by like a bat out of hell.

I try to use every advantage I have in the turns to the best of my abilities and go around both Sergio and Travis on the outside of turn two, only to see Sergio power back getting to turn three. I chase Sergio around the track until we get to the crest of turn nine where my bike retaliates in anger for pushing it beyond its means. The handlebars violently slam from side to side and the rear bucks me right off the seat. My feet dismount from the bike and almost get sucked under the bike while I land back on the seat. I am in shock, but am thankful it wasn't worse. I try to dismiss it as quickly as possible, but it stays in my mind for a few more seconds.

In the meantime, Sergio has pulled away and I had to reel him in. I get by him on the inside of turn fourteen and do my best to find a line which is a combination of a block pass and a line for the maximum drive, just in case I need it later. This line was not too bad, I held my lead over Sergio and Travis down most of the straight, but they both still beat me at the line. I was going to need more entry speed to carry into fourteen if I am ever going to keep them at bay going into turn one or a run for the checkered flag.

We continue to battle until the very last lap, when I get the the drive of my life coming out of turn thirteen and run around the outside of Sergio, putting me in 3rd place. By the time I get to the bridge, Sergio has not yet passed me and I assume he has decided to try and beat me to the line. I hold a mid-track entry to block any pass attempts into fourteen and hope to get a drive like the one I used earlier to pass; now that I am ahead rather than behind, it should give me just enough to hold him off until the line. But I go in a hair to hot, leave the door open underneath, and Sergio runs away from me. I scream at the top of my lungs, leaving me in 4th place ... without my unicorn.

https://contour.com/stories/may-13-2012-afm-r2-thunderhill-formula-1

2012 Sponsorship Package

2012-01-18T00:56:00.000-08:00

Check out my interactive e-brochure. The pages flip just like my actual hard copy. Read through it to see details on how you can be a part of a racing team!!

Final Round 2011: Pressure

2011-10-10T01:26:00.000-07:00

“When we long for life without difficulties, remind us that oaks grow strong in contrary winds and diamonds are made under pressure” - Peter Marshall

Pressure is a funny thing. It brings out the best of the brave, and it causes the weak to cower. But from where does pressure stem? Is it something which others put upon us? Is it something which is derived simply from the behaviour and performance of others? Is it something which we create in our own minds, based solely on the perception of a given situation rather than the reality before us?

Or is it just the amount of force acting upon a given unit area?

Going into this race weekend I was under pressure from school. I strive to maintain straight A's at San Jose State and between the large work load I had in the last couple weeks, plus my compulsive nature to getting 100% on everything, I was carrying the pressure of an army on my shoulders. The black rings under my eyes and my physical weakness displayed this.

After a long late night drive to Thunderhill raceway, I awoke to a chilly Saturday morning with a large, pure red ball of fire cresting the hills in the east. It was a strange feeling, not cold but not warm. The air pressure felt like a warm summer morning, but the crispness reminded me that it was the first day of October.

Despite my mind being stuck on my school work, and my body telling me through every creak and groan to go to bed, my practice times were not that bad. Usually practice is REALLY slow for me, but I was quickly up to speed despite my totally worn out tires. During the second lap of the third practice session however, my tires were so far gone it might as well been raining. I pulled off early to get my front and rear tire changed. I did my best to make it out by the forth practice, but it wasn't happening, the timing gods weren't on my side on this day.

Before I know it, I am heading out for the warm-up lap of the first race, trying to scrub in and heat up new tires.

Clubman Middleweight

Getting onto the grid in 4th position on the outside of the front row, I recite my goals to myself, "Good start, hold position in 2 and 3, get up to speed right away, no lolly-gagging, 1:57's, 3rd place"

The starter's board goes sideways, my legs shake in anticipation .... GREEN FLAG!! GO!GO!GO!

I get a great start, arguably my best ever. I nearly have the holeshot but then my weaker engine comes into play and others begin to surround me. I turn into turn 1 and one rider tries to make a move between my left side and another rider far to the left. We all begin to lean in and he has to sit it up and run across traffic, I back off and come underneath him on the inside. I fell back a couple positions, but still a good start considering what normally happens. Giving a quick look back over my right shoulder I see what appears to be #982. "I really need to learn to start faster then him", I think to myself. I turn the throttle and make the run on the outside of turn 2 working my way up the pack in front.

The typical guys end up in front of me by the end of the first lap and I am in 5th. In lap 3 #975 Mike Carr and #933 Sergio Sanchez-Chopitea power by me, relegating me to 7th place. On the fifth lap I work my way pass the two R6 machines piloted by the Sergios, #771 and #933. I then begin to try and hunt down the R6 in front of me of Mike Carr, but we are keeping a pretty even distance from each other and I have to settle for 5th. Not bad considering just how fast this group has become. Despite running my fastest ever lap on this underpowered machine at 1:57.403, it just wasn't even to be on the podium. I ended up finishing the 2011 Championship in 5th out of 51 contenders.

Clubman Heavyweight

After coming in from the Middleweight race, I can see that my tire wear looks great and we picked the right tire pressure and suspension set up for the overcast conditions.

But about 10-15 minutes before the start of the Heavyweight race the cloud cover subsides and the sun begins to shine. There is still more very dark clouds coming in and we bank on the fact that they will give the same cover we saw in the Middleweight race. Heading out to the race though, things are not looking in our favor. I run the warm-up lap and everything feels good. I know I can run 1:57s in traffic and know I have another second or two in bag.

I line up in fifth place, the inside of the second row. Looking for the same start as in the last race, I run through my head, "Hold the inside, keep on the throttle, keep the drive from 1 to 2". 2 board - visor down, click into first gear. 1 board, lean over the front, find clutch point, raise engine speed. Sideways- prepare for war. GREEN FLAG! I let out the clutch and my front end goes pointing to the sky. I try to bring down the wheelie while keeping an even balance and keep a forward drive. I tap the rear brake, the front end comes down and begins to oscillate in protest. Side to side my bars flail treating me like a high speed rag doll. I am able to wrestle the machine into my control just before turn 1 where I turn in and find myself FAR back form the 5th position I started. I click the wrist and get on the move.

Coming down the front straight for the first time I find myself in 7th place, having worked my way pass the field and right in behind the R1 of #952 Peter Fry. I know Peter's bike has power and I will have to pass him in turn 1 or 2 or be swallowed up in the back fast section. He is a little too far ahead of me in turn one to make a safe move so I tail in behind and to the outside of him. I run up on the curbing exiting turn 1, mere inches from disaster in the dirt. He takes the single apex line in turn two and I pounce on the opportunity to swing around him on the outside in the long sweeper. I set up in the dirty area of the track, hoping Peter doesn't run wide because it would be disaster for the both of us. I crank over the bike hard and rub my elbow on the ground as I go around Peter in the middle of the turn. I keep the throttle open as long as possible to hold him off in turn three, knowing that if he doesn't show up on my right side in turn 4, I am going to be a disappearing act through 4-5-6.

I spend the next couple laps catching Kyle Schirrmacher #780, and every time I pass the start/finish line I see Georgia signalling me that someone is on my ass. I figure Peter has found some speed this weekend, but wasn't too worried. What I was worried about is the fact that my rear tire had begun to behave rather odd. I was losing traction in critical areas, but was able to keep somewhat of a drive together.

Suddenly, in the forth lap toward the end of the straightaway, I see an unfamiliar rider come by me on the gas. I tail him for the next lap looking where he is weak and I can go by. Then, in turn two I see the leaned over rear number plate, #979. "Oh, its Micah!". Micah Larson has been absent this season since his round 1 wreck, and his new leathers fooled me. Knowing he is typically a little faster than me, I planned for a last lap maneuver. So on the final lap, I poked my tire in everywhere I could, and ultimately tried to make a move in the 14-15 complex to get a run on the inside, but he proved a hair too fast for me. I finished 7th only four tenths of a second behind Micah. I was hoping for a top 5 in heavyweight but was happy that I was able to reproduce my 1:57s in traffic, proving to myself it was not a fluke. I finished off the year 6th out 36 for the heavyweight championship - not too bad for an old 600cc bike in a sea of new 1000cc power monsters.

After the race I came into the pits to see my rear tire shredded during the race. Turns out the guess I had of the clouds coming in and blocking the sun was wrong, and I ending up tearing my tires because of the wrong pressure in the rear for the conditions.

Sunday

The goal Sunday morning was simple, find the right pressure and work on hitting my track points. Practice felt good and the tire began to clean up well. We ended up running the pressure in the tires 1.5 psi higher based on what the weather looked to be for the day.

750 Superbike

You have heard it before, I hate having the first race of the day. I knew the track was cold and everyone would be slow. I just wanted to run well, and keep my tires as fresh as possible; I still have 3 races and the solo endurance race.

I get a great start and head into turn one right behind AMA racer #18 Kelly Barnett, not too bad. The remainder of the race seemed very familiar for a 750 race at thill this year. #144 Aleksander Anatiychuk goes by me on the outside of turn three and right off the bat I know I am going to tail him to turn 14 and stay inside taking away his line (we do this to each other often in this turn). But to my benefit he runs a little wide entering 14 allowing me to go inside and get in behind #934 Genki Hagata. Tucked in going down the front straight I see the expected signal form Georgia saying someone is right on me. I figured it was Aleksander, but rather #971 Tom Wilbert comes charging by me. I know this is a problem at t-hill because I am quicker in turns than he, but his power makes it very difficult to pass and usually results in slower times for me (remember I said familiar race?). I decide to retaliate right away and jump on the inside of turn 2 late on the brakes, passing Tom back. The next few laps I hold him off, until lap 5 when he goes by in the back straight on the gas. Toward the end of the race my rear begins to fade again and feeling the pressure from Aleksander, I decide to concede to Tom but hold up Aleksander.

I finish in 19th out of 29 overall, 3rd for the novices. In the 750 Superbike championship for the year I finished 23rd out of 75 overall and 3rd for the novices; not bad for a beat up 600cc bike.

600 Superbike

Before the 600 race began, I sat in the hot pit area chit-chatting with two of my friends who are quicker than me, #911 Greg Olson and #755 Ryder Morrison. When they let us out on track I let Ryder head out in front of me and was going to tail him around for the lap in order to get my mind up to speed. But during the warm-up lap he took a bail right in front of me, spooking another rider (Digby Norris I believe) and causing him to also crash. This reminded just how cold some of the sections of track could be. Yes, it is in the video below

I got another good start to this race and found myself all through lap one right behind AMA rider Jose Flores #28. I was real happy with my improvement in getting up to speed in the first lap rather than waiting a lap or two. At the end of the second lap, on the entry to turn 14 #144 Aleksander Anatiychuk came on the inside late on the brakes, blocking me out and moving in front of me (I told you we do that to each other often). I was able to square up the turn and get a great drive on him. I drafted him down the straight and passed him on the outside going into turn one. The remainder of the race I spent my time battling with Aleksander again, eventually taking him by just four tenths of a second. It was nice to see a thumbs up from him on the cool down lap, considering he was the class champion last year in middleweight, 2nd in heavyweight, and 3rd in lightweight. Beating someone you strive to keep up with the year prior is nice, but the pressure I put on myself quickly dismissed it for the fact that I still wasn't number one.

I finished 18th out of 35 overall, and 3rd for the novices with a best of 1:58.04. I finished the season 23rd in a class of 84 riders overall and 2nd of the novices. My tires looked much better this time, smooth and clean. The weather finally started to work with us.

Formula 1

Formula 1 was almost a mirror image of the 750 race. I found myself being passed in the fast sections by Wilburt and running slower as I try to find my way pass. But, in this race toward the end I found myself racing with the three guys I seemed to be magnetized to in this class at this track; Wilbert, Bregar, and Limon. The clouds had come in just before this race began and unfortunately I had set the tire pressure for sun and warmth. It worked out well for 750 and 600, but after a few laps in F1 I found my tires to be fading fast. We battled to the end, and on the last lap, Limon tried to make a move on the inside of Bregar in turn 11. But Limon couldn't make it and had to sit up, running off the track. I hoped to make the best of this distraction and get by Wilbert, but he was too strong for me in that section. I ended up once again finishing behind Wilbert, this time by only 0.6 seconds at the line.

I finished 17th of 31 overall, and 3rd for the novices with a best of 1:59.4. I finished the Formula 1 championship for the season 19th of 63 overall and 2nd for the novice racers. Looking at my tires after the race, I once again found the tires to be damaged - what a rough weekend on the tires.

Solo Middleweight Endurance

I wanted to run in the heavyweight class for this race, but the AFM would not let me bump up a class. I debated going into this race at all because of the tires' wear. I felt pressure from my competitive side though and decided to go for the podium.

I got a great start and was running well, keeping pace with the front three for quite some time. But a few laps in and I started sliding my rear in nearly every turn. A short time later I found myself catching front end slides in nearly every entry and apex. Sliding the rear when getting on the gas is one thing, catching the front slide with your knee propping up your bike and body at triple digit speeds is another. Let me illustrate (click the pics for animation):

When my rear slides, I lose some speed, but I feel like this:

Click picture to see rear slide

But when my front slides, I feel like this:

Click picture to see front slide

Finally, I slid both tires exiting 13 into the back straight, followed by a front end tank slap all the way down the back straight until turn 14 while at full speed. I decided to call it a day and pulled in, sure enough my tires were trashed. I hated quitting the race, but it was the right thing to do.

Year-end Summary

Overall, it wasn't a bad year. But one mistake/crash at Infineon ended up costing me quite a few positions in the final standings. I progressed in nearly every race, and learned a lot. Next year looks kind of bleak at this point. The down side of going faster, is that the tire budget becomes more expensive. I am going to work in the off season in trying to find some sponsorship money to help offset the expense. A little here and a little there may make me be able to race. There is a lot of changes possibly coming as well, we will have to see what happens.

I want to thank my competitors for the challenge. I get to do something unlike anything else on this planet. Thank you to my friends and family for supporting me, helping me fix the bike, and helping me get out on track. But most of all, thanks to my girlfriend, Georgia, without whom I would not be able to do any of this.

Subscribe to this blog for some off-season updates! Hope to see you all next year!

A Bag of Mixed Feelings...

2011-09-17T02:33:00.000-07:00

Mixed feelings, like mixed drinks, are a confusion to the soul. - George Carman

Stage1Racing's Homepage

The ebb and flow of life is interesting; racing is no different. Some weekends we racers face insurmountable obstacles, some weekends everything just works out effortlessly. But, just like in life outside of racing, luck rewards those who don't give up. Some weekends are ebbs, some are flows. This weekend had the ebb of disappointment and flow of pleasure similar to that of the ocean tide at a Santa Cruz beach.

I just started the fall semester recently, and the chaotic schedule of school, work, and gym left me with little sleep and a strange sleep schedule. This is not to conducive to having to get up at 6am for racing and not being tired in the middle of the afternoon races. This led to morning practice being a little ... sluggish. I came into the weekend looking to hit 1:57s and the way morning was starting out, I wasn't sure if I would have it in me. It was bad enough that I was a little dusty eyed, but I was also running on tires which I had to pull out of my scrap tire pile in my garage. They were about a year old and had no tread left. My budget wouldn't allow me to change my rear tires until right before the first race. I was definitely in an undercurrent of ebb at this point.

I needed to miss my 4th and final practice session in order to have enough time to get new tires on the bike before my first race, clubman middleweight, which is also the first race of the weekend. While my girlfriend, Georgia, and I are hanging out at the Michelin tent waiting for my tire change, Warren Williams #719 comes zipping by on his pit bike yelling at me that the strong wind had taken down my pit set-up. I quickly turn to Georgia to go take care of it because I needed to grab the wheels when they are ready so I can get everything ready in time. When I get back to my pit area I can see that my canopy had been flipped over, ripped to top, and bent the frame. Fortunately, it did not hit the bike and knock it off of its stands; with no wheels on the bike it would have created a lot of damage. A little ebb (wind destruction of pit area) and an even smaller amount of flow (canopy didn't take down canopy in its wake of carnage).

Clubman Middleweight

I take the grid for the middleweight race and a feeling of nerves come over be which I haven't felt since my first race. My gut twinged, my arms and fingers shook, my legs quivered holding back the bike from launching early. Is this a good nervousness because I am going to get the podium finish I am looking for? Or is this the feeling one gets before something tragic happens. Suddenly the green flag drops and everything I am here to do comes rushing back.

My start was ok, I fell form 5th on the grid to 7th by turn 2. I fell victim to the usual off the line talent of Genki Hagata #934 who now sits in front of me. I try to set up a line to pass him in the 3-4 complex, but Jason Smith #437 had the same idea with me and came around the outside of me at the apex of turn 3 forcing me to subside my efforts. The next few laps I keep poking my front tire into turns trying to find where I can get by Jason, who is holding me up. Finally, on the third lap I made my way by Jason and had Genki in the distance. I try to put my head down and leave Jason in the distance, running some of my fastest laps ever. Once I come up on Genki and get a good run out of 15 into the straightaway, I look over and see Georgia signaling me that someone is on my ass! Apparently, in my efforts to run away from Jason after passing him, I managed to inspire him and drag him along with me.

Our three-way battle continues until the last lap as the three of us come up on #771 Sergio Fernandez. When the white flag comes out, I see someone signing to Sergio that we are coming up fast. I quickly begin to calculate how I am going to use Sergio holding up Genki to get around the both of them while blocking Jason from doing the same to me. Then running up the hill out of turn 4 into 5 I see what Genki is planning, and know he is not going to make the pass in 5 he is hoping to make. I back off for a moment to leave a cushion, and sit to the inside to hold up Jason from passing. Genki ends up getting the door shut on him and has to sit it up, leading him into the sand off the side of the hill at turn 5. Coming down the hill, I prayed that his bike was not coming down the hill on our side and directly at the two of us - that would be messy. I used this chance to try and once again pull from Jason. By the time I reach turn 10, I have Sergio just in front of me in 4th place in striking distance. I want to make a move on him going into 11, but my plan is foiled by a yellow flag brought out for #756 George Myshlyayevnbeknownst to me at the time) Jason all the way to the right. We come across the line three abreast and I find myself int he middle of the three of us, losing the battle to the podium by .076 seconds to Sergio, and beating Jason by .049!!! I took 4th out of 22, with a best time of 1:58.583 - cutting my best on a 600 in a race at thunderhill by 2 seconds! I really wish I had bothered to hook up my camera for this one.

Clubman Heavyweight

On the cool down lap from the middleweight race my motor suddenly stops revving above 8000 rpm and is making no power! I pull back into my pit and begin pulling apart my bike to try and create a quick fix to make it out to my next race. I get the bike back together in time for the race and begin to hope it all works out, I really need this race after already having a DNS from the infineon round which I wrecked out early in the first race. I go out for my warm up lap, and after two turns, I raise my hand in dismay... I can't run this race. I am ecstatic about running a 1:58, but I am in the dumps about missing the HW race, I don't know yet know how to feel about finishing 4th/losing 3rd.

Saturday night after the races had finished, I spent some time taking apart the bike and fixing the problem. Unfortunately, the only fix I could do at the track was a fix which would not be ideal. I was able to get the bike to operate and give some power in the top-end of the rpm range, but it killed the bottom and mid-range. But it was either run and get some points, or go home and get nothing.

750 Superbike

First race Sunday was the 750 superbike race. I gridded on the outside in position 11, row 3 - not too bad. I didn't yet know how well the motor run run at speed, nor how the start would go - a dangerous proposition. I had some excitement at the start with David Ben-Jamin #706 giving a little wheelie and stubble on my front left, causing boy-wonder Cameron Gish #231 to make a move left directly in front of me in order to avoid him. Good thing Cameron is fast and wasn't going to hold me up, in fact he may part the seas for me. I found myself about 20th all said and done, just behind #144 Aleksandr Anatiychuk (last year's champion in middleweight, 2nd in heavyweight, and 3rd in lightweight). I poke my nose in on Aleksandr our first time in 14, but with #395 Mark Bregar on the outside ahead and Ben-Jamin on inside ahead of us, I didn't have a safe place to make a move. I tuck in behind Aleksandr down the straight and for the next lap we were caught behind Bregar until in turn 14 when Aleksandr makes a move on the inside of 14 and takes off, leaving me behind Bregar who simply run away from me in the straight section. Coming across the line I misread Georgia's signal and believe I have no one behind me, so I run a line to set up to pass Bregar into turn 2. But suddenly Genki Hagata #934 comes up the indie of me in turn 1.

The rest of the race consists of me working my way past Bregar in the following two laps. Then I work on catching Anatiychuk, and doing a good job. I cut down on him in every turn until on the last lap in turn 10 I decide I am going to make a move on the inside of 14. I get a good drive out of 13 and pull up beside him on the inside just before the bridge. Aleksandr hits his brakes and I quickly find myself in a chess game at triple digits. I can either brake deep and get ahead of him prior to the apex at 14, but he is likely to get a run in 15 and pass me in the straight because he can get on the gas as early as I get my him. Or, I can sit beside him and pace him into the turn, forcing him to sit on the outside giving me the inside and allowing me to stay on the fast line, forcing him to have to get off the throttle a little between 14 and 15, reducing his drive. I chose the later. It turned out to be a bad choice. Aleksandr came across my front from the outside and not only blocked me, but also got a good drive; I lose at the line by .164 seconds. I end up finishing 15th of 28 overall, and 3rd of the novices with a best time of 1:58.894. Upset at my bad decision, happy that my 1:58 wasn't a fluke. Video below, race starts at about 6:45.

http://contour.com/stories/afm-r7-thunderhill-sep1011-750-superbike--2

Formula 1

Gridded 14th on row 4. My start was good, but many around me had done better. On the first lap, I followed #935 Keith Stie and see in front of Keith guys I am quicker than pulling away from the two of us. Keith's bike has some power on me (what else is new) so I know I need to do it in a turn, and soon. Going into turn 8 I go to the inside, hang off the bike and hop that Keith sees me to the inside. Turn 8 is one of those turns which take more balls than sense. It is very fast and deceiving, with a bump at the apex. If something goes wrong it can be deadly, so I had to turn off the part of my mind which understands consequences and go for it.

After getting by Keith, the rest of the race consisted of me being caught behind #971 Tom Wilburt, who was caught behind #395 Mark Bregar. Once Wilburt got around Bregar, it left me poking and prodding at Bregar trying to find safe passage. But I end up watching Bregar light up his rear tire anytime we leave a turn, leaving me in the dust in the long runs of Thunderhill. The last lap I settled for finishing 18th overall out of 34 and pulled 2nd for the novices - plus another race in the 1:58s.

Formula 1 video, race begin at about 8:30: http://contour.com/stories/afm-r7-thunderhill-sep1011-formula-1--2

Nap Time

600 Superbike

600 Superbike was the last race of the day and I was never able to get more than a 5 minute nap all day. I decided going into the 600 Superbike race to try a change to the suspension, and the tire wear and my feel said that the suspension was holding me back from cutting another second off my times. So, we made some adjustments, and without having a chance to test them first I knew the first few laps would be slow until I got a feel for it.

Rolling up to the grid, I spaced out and rolled right passed my starting position on the 4th row (19th spot) and had to back myself up. Not a good omen going into a race. When the green flag drops, Ryder Morrison #755 gets a great start on my right but begins to head left in my direction. I immediately thought, "Oh no, not again" but luckily we didn't come together. I fall in behind the main pack and going into 3 I see #918 Alexander Azar sneak in on my outside. Knowing he is going to try and get me at the apex of 4, I begin to run a tight line early in 3 so I can get on the gas early an out run him to that point. Just as I begin to do this, the rider in front of me, Rob Brown #402, tucks his front and slides to the outside of the course, right in the way of Azar. This led to a red flag and stoppage of the race shortly thereafter. I heard after the race that they in fact did make contact, but no one was seriously injured. You can see the first part of the race in the video below, Griding begins at about the 5 minute mark:

http://contour.com/stories/afm-r7-thunderhill-sep1011-600sb-red-flag--2

600 Superbike (restart)

In the one lap I got in before the red flag, I noticed my suspension change may have been a bad move. Of course, I didn't get up to full speed on the opening lap so hopefully I was wrong.

I got about the same start as the first go around, but everyone else took advantage of the restart and took off! The remainder of the lap I fell way off pace trying to feel out the new suspension set-up. I didn't want to find out about a lnew oss of traction somewhere on the track from a wreck. End of the second lap I make a pass on Eric Sterner #839 on the brakes entering to 14 and begin to try and get on the move. On the following lap, Aleksandr Anatiychuk #144 decides to do the same to me and he and I are back to battling again.

The remainder of the race consisted of me fighting two things, Anatiychuk and my new settings. We made an adjustment in the right manner, but we simply we a little to far. I begin planning my attack on Anatiychuk and sampling certain areas of the track. I come to the conclusion that I am going to go with has worked for me today and go for it in 14. So the final turn of the weekend I go in hard into 14. But rather than being so far inside, I go in more mid track and make my apex a little wide. This gives me a little bit more speed in between 14 and 15, plus it leaves Anatiychuk nowhere to make a move on me as he did earlier (lesson learned). We yet again have a battle down the front straight, I put my chin on the tank and shift as perfect as I can. It was down to the wire and I had no idea who won until later on when packing up Dave Moss told me that at the finish they announced it to be me by .012 of a second. Overall, 16th of 32 and 2nd for the novices. Below is the video of the restarted race in full:

http://contour.com/stories/afm-r7-thunderhill-sep1011-600sb-restart (begins at about the 7 minute mark)

So, I end this round feeling both pissed off about the ebb, and cheerful about the flow. I am not sure if I want to consider it a good or bad weekend. It is the strangest thing not knowing how to feel. This mixed bag of feelings makes me feel like I am manic-depressive, never knowing quite what to think.

Next month we are back at Thunderhill for the final race of the season; I need to get my motor back to full operating set-up. My goals are to cut one second off of my time, get better starts, opening laps (aka sack up and go!), and improve on passing instead of getting held up behind others.

Learned helplessness

2011-09-07T08:41:00.000-07:00

First off, I want to give a BIG thank you to everyone who bought a raffle ticket and helped raise a few bucks for me to be able to get back out on the track for the most recent round. Without your help I would not be able to be writing this race report in the first place.

Learned helplessness: A technical term in animal psychology and related human psychology, means a condition of a human person or an animal in which it has learned to behave helplessly, even when the opportunity is restored for it to help itself by avoiding an unpleasant or harmful circumstance to which it has been subjected. Learned helplessness theory is the view that clinical depression and related mental illnesses may result from a perceived absence of control over the outcome of a situation.

It has been quite some time since a real race update, considering the last two rounds consisted of a rain-out and a crash on the second lap of the first race. As a result, going into this race felt as though it was the beginning of season. I haven't ridden in quite some time, and started the fall semester the same week as this race. With a lot of the things going on in my life, my brain seemed to run out of capacity for acknowledging a race weekend was even upon us.

Leading up to this round, I had a few things which were of concern to me. First, we are at Thunderhill. Thunderhill is a fast, wide open track that rewards those with more umph in the motor department, not to mention the willingness to go into a turn with a lot of speed (or just the ignorance of consequences). My bike is down on power even within its own class, let alone when competing up a class. My 93 horsepower doesn't fare well against 130 horsepower 600cc bikes nor the 180 horsepower 1000cc guys. I also having this nagging problem of thinking about the fact that I have a lot on the line, and a high speed wreck could really ruin my work and school progress.

Turn 1 at speed, making some passes underneath. I am the first to come into the screen from the left.

Secondly, the fixes I made to the bike after the wreck had not been tested. The bike wasn't really set up at all. I wasn't even sure if the levers were in the right spot or if the front end was twisted up. I was really going out on a limb that my visual inspection was correct, because I wasn't going to get much of a chance to get it dialed in otherwise.

Finally, the race schedule for this weekend had me racing three races in a row on Saturday in 95 degree weather, as opposed to just the two with a 20-40 separation. This meant I would be going from parade lap to grid a couple times; this was both exciting and nerve-racking. I was excited because I really enjoyed the idea of testing my endurance and always wanted to run a solo endurance race of some sort. I have always thought I would do well because I seem to get faster as the race goes on, while others begin to fade. The only difference here would be that come race 2 and 3, I am the only one doing the endurance test while everyone else is fresh. It is nerve-racking because these were critical classes to me - middleweight, formula 1, and heavyweight.

Saturday practice was typical, me going slow and bitching about everything under the sun. Nothing seemed right. I had to play around with my front end a bit because it seemed "off". But after tearing it down and making sure everything was balanced and straight, I was only now sure it was just me.

Third practice came and discovered that not only was my rear tire finished but my front had expired. I knew before the day started that it would not last until the races (certainly not through three races in a row) and would need to be changed prior. However, when I went to change my tires I came to find their was some sort of miscommunication earlier and there was none of my front tire available. So I was forced to run a tire design which I was not familiar, for which did not have the suspension/geometry set-up, and didn't particularly want to run. I was only able to get a half a practice in with a tire which was not able to get on the warmers in time. Dave Moss and I discussed what I felt and what presuppositions we have about the affected behavior would be at speed and came to a "best guess" suspension set up with the new front/rear combo.

When first call for middleweight came across the P.A. system, I was filled with butterflies and doubt. I come to the grid on the 5th spot and remind myself that I must run hard to get at least a top five. I reminded myself I must carry a lot of speed into corners and not leave the door open for the power bikes. Green flag drops and I get a Sunday driver start. I get up to speed and am fortunate to have the inside position going into turn 1. However, some other participants don't understand how physics work and believe more than one object can occupy the same space simultaneously. On the start, Nicholas Altamura pulls up to my right side as we get up to speed, pacing down the straight. Just then, some one else came in on the left of me, leaving me mere inches of room on either side. The three of us barrel down the striaght and I am simply victim to whatever fate they determine for me. Suddendly, Nicholas leans left into me and hits my brake lever, causing my front end to wobble in displeasure. This of course lead to a slowing of my bike and Nicholas swinging back around in front of me going into turn 1. After regaining control of my bike, I found myself lacking the momentum needed going into turn 2.

This incident left me far back in the field, forcing me to work my way through traffic. I had to at one point during the race take my left hand off the bar while going down the back straight at full speed and bang on my lever on the right side of the bike so I can use my brake properly again. Once I did this, I was able to start chopping away at others in the turns, just to be pulled on during the straights. When the white flag came out, I had been whittling away at the lead #934, Genki Hagata, had pulled on me at the start. Had I had two more laps I could have had him, but I had to settle for my worst finish ( besides the DNF last round ) at 8th place with a sluggish 2:00.771.

When the chequer came out on the MW race I rushed back to the hot pits to fuel up and grab a sip of water before hitting the grid for the first Formula 1 race. I was very fortunate to have Quinton Jones #415 and Brad Gyger #630 help out in the pits, as my girlfriend couldn't help me put the bike on a stand or lift the fuel jug with her broken hand.

I rushed back out to the grid, rolled up just in time and went at it again. I had another slow start and got swallowed up in the first and second turn. Fortunately, I was already in race mode and ran a quick ( for me ) opening lap. I found myself getting caught up behind others however, because I would be able to carry more speed through the turns but during the exit would lose position to the faster bikes and be stuck behind again until the next turn. After I cleared a few of the people I needed to get around, I was in open land and figured I would be able to click off a fast lap. Just then, a familiar rival, #626 Gabrial Limon, ran his Ducati 848 up the hill from turn 8 to 9 and got in front of me. The next few laps consisted of me showing him a wheel in the turns and exits, only to be outran. On the final lap I tried a move which had been working well for me all day, the entry pass on the brakes at turn 14. I went in at a speed which would enable me to pass and hold speed (hopefully enough for a run to the line) but Gabrial turned in slightly earlier than he had prior, and I had to sit up and load the brakes to just miss t-boning him my a foot or two. I was able to reel it back in and come in behind him. I am glad I didn't wreck, but I am mostly glad I didn't hit Gabrial. I finished 3rd for the novices and 16th overall.

Once again, I rushed back to the pit for fuel and fluid. This race was the heavyweights. I was having to go up against 1000cc and larger bikes who could simply turn the throttle and disappear. I felt a little worn but still in ok shape. I wasn't so much tired as I was mentally worn and frustrated with my riding. This race grid formed a lot faster than the last and I almost missed the start, literally 2 seconds more and I would have missed the race!

My start was better than my last two, but the short straight between 1 and 2 served as a catalyst for the big bikes to fly by. I found myself behind a few familiar faces, such as Charles Finch #953 on his R1 and Peter Fry #952, also on an R1. I was able to make some moves on the brakes and on the dirty areas on the outside of some turns. I quickly saw the front pack take off and knew this was going to be interesting. The thing with heavyweight versus middleweight is when I am stuck behind someone in HW which I am faster than in the turns, when the big bike opens it up on the exit they get going quick enough where they don't get in my way at the exit point. Whereas, a 750cc or 600cc bike which is more powerful than me is not as powerful as the 1000cc, and as such the difference occurs later in the exit and sometimes it can lead to me having to back off a little to prevent us coming together. However, when I go by a 1000cc, they come back in the straight with a vengeance and blow my doors off. By the end of this squabble, I was able to pull a 5th place out of the ordeal.

After coming in from this race I was surprised how well I felt after three races in a row in the hot temperature. Yes, had I gone faster I likely would be more tired, but I felt I could have ran 4 or 5 in a row. So while I was upset with my lap time performance, I was happy with my mental and physical endurance.

Sunday began with and incident which summarized the entire weekend in my mind.

600 superbike was up first. I was gridded 20th - fifth row, right next to the wall. When the green flag dropped I was happy with my start, it felt much better than my others had the day before. I kept a good pace with the bike to my left side on the grid giving no ground to the bike with the fancy paint job (I think #287 Cole Crowley). I planned on staying outside, away from the chaos, and try to keep my speed up around turns 1 and 2 to put me in a position for 3. All of a sudden from my left side a bike barreled in between Cole and myself, directly into my side breaking my clutch lever and bending the remaining bit of lever into the sky. My bike's bars slapped back and forth against the gas tank and started going right at the wall. The first thing that came to my mind was the big wreck a year ago where a fellow racer broke his back from the exact same thing. I thought for sure I was a goner.

On-board video of the 600 superbike race: http://contour.com/stories/afm-r6-thunderhill-aug2728-600-superbike (advance to 6:45 for the beginning of the race)

I fell to the back of a huge grid and for the first lap had to up shift and down shift without a clutch lever. When I finally made it to the front straight, everyone in the stands said they saw me beating on the clutch lever trying to pound it back in place. As soon as could, I cleared my mind and did what I could to salvage another bad start. I finished 5th for the novices, 26th out of 41 overall.

I came in from the race, ripped off my gear and went over to find the guy who hit me. I went by his pit and could not find him. I was furious and determined to make this guy feel his life was threatened as much as mine was. On my way back from the unsuccessful venture, my girlfriend found me and told me that the other rider had come by to apologize when I went to find him. Her telling me this made me feel a lot better, the simple action of realizing and acknowledging one's own mistakes goes a long way in my book. Later my attacker came by during social hour at my pit area and we were able to work things out. Now I just need to go faster next time and beat him.

A few races later and my second formula 1 race was being called to the grid. I was gridded against the wall again in 16th place, and the fear of that damn start against the wall quickly entered my mind. With the way things have been going, I thought for sure I was going to be hit yet again.

My actual start was good, but at the end of the straight before turn one the Sadowski brothers came flying by along with a few others whose motors flung them into turn 1 before me. I found myself behind a few familiar bikes and began to plan a few things. Going into turn 5, I noticed Sam Richards #272 was two spots in front of me. I knew that if I can get around the guy in front of me, I can use Sam to try and cut a few seconds and get back on pace; as he and I are usually in the same ballpark of speed and riding style. Just then #756 George Myshlyayev flew by on the inside of 5 which made me sit it up and back off the throttle for a second. I knew I couldn't keep up with him, so I simply hoped I can keep up for a little and he would make a move on the inside of others and the passed riders would leave the door open for me to slide under them. Basically I wanted him to part the seas for me. George is just too damn fast though and took off right away. After picking off the people I could, I worked on trying to catch up with the pack in the distance; it was rather boring. Towards the end though, #626 Gabrial Limon once again makes the run on me up the hill from 8 to 9. I proceed to chase him down the best I can, and on the last turn of the race I come in hard like before, but avoid rushing his inside (wasn't going to push my luck on that one again) and hopefully be able to make something of the run out of 15. I do just that and leaving 15 I am up on his tail catching a draft. Gabrial looks over his left shoulder just as I am pulling out of the draft to his right and simply turns his right wrist and walks away from me, his 848 too much for me in the straight. I finished 4th of the novices, and 16th of 31 overall.

Formula 1 on-board: http://contour.com/stories/afm-r6-thunderhill-aug2728-formula-1 (race starts at 7:00)

The very last race on the schedule for the day is 750 superbike. This race was frankly quite boring. I started average, got passed in the beginning by the usual suspects and for the usual reasons. Sure enough Gabrial passed me going up the hill into 9 again. Then I worked my way back into chase mode. But, for the most part I ran on my own. I scored points and went home, just a boring race to finish the day - sorry. But I did finish 4th for the novices and 15th overall.

750 Superbike on-board: http://contour.com/stories/afm-r6-thunderhill-aug2728-750-superbike--2 (race starts at 7:00)

The Sunday following this weekend of Dan riding slow, I went and did a trackday at Thunderhill. I woke up early in morning and drove up for a day of retreat. My goal for the day was to simply get my feel back. I rode all day on a tire which was so trashed that I had to flip it backwards to have some meat on the left side for the second half of the day. Funny thing was, I ran quicker than any lap I ran during the race weekend!

It made me think about what happened during the race weekend. I kept making the same mistakes all day and never seemed to be able to not make the same mistake every lap; I froze mentally. Then I realized that the difference was in my perception of things; at the trackday I was just having fun and enjoying the ride. The races have started to feel like work and not play. When I first started racing, I simply went out, had fun and did my best. Now I seem to eliminate the feeling of fun the moment something doesn't go to plan. Yes, I am a competitive person and strive to do my best, but I must remember why I am doing this in the first place. I work around motorcycles all day, I need to remember that when i am racing I am not at the shop. I need to remember to smile and enjoy that I am doing something which only a small fraction of people can say they have done even once in their life. I need to realize plateaus and bad days happen, but not to let one bad day create another. The simple perception of racing as work has given me a case of learned helplessness. It is time to re-learn and bring the fun back.

50/50 Raffle Update

2011-07-15T20:48:00.000-07:00

---For those of you who came to read the most recent race report, scroll down after reading the update---

Stage 1 Racing now has a webpage!!

I have been working with a few people and sponsors on a side project for the last few months to help new racers and prospective racers get help in the beginning of their racing career. help in terms of sponsorships, guidance, and benefits of having a crew in the pits. I was planning on releasing it in the off-season, but the large interest in the 50/50 raffle made me decide to publish the site this week, and continue to add to it as things finalize. I have never made a page before, so it is a little rough - but not too bad.

Check it out: www.stage1racing.com

For those of you who were asking about the 50/50 raffle, click on the merchandise tab for info and purchase options.

---For those of you who came to read the most recent race report, scroll down after reading the update---

Thanks again

A kink

2011-07-11T14:27:00.000-07:00

Round 4/Round 5

Round 4 was to be held at Thunderhill in June. However, this year we have received record rain and our winter lasted into the summer (local ski resorts had good skiing on July 4th!!). This extended winter made round 4 nonexistent. I spent the money on gas, hotel, food and not going to work (yes, that is a cost); however the bike never left the trailer. I spent two days sitting in a cold rainy paddock waiting for the weather to give us even a glimpse of hope. It was definitely a kink in the plan to make the struggles of getting there worth it.

A little fly-by at Thunderhill

Round 5 came a month later, back at Infineon.
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One more lap ...

2011-05-14T00:32:00.000-07:00

My mom is always full of stories about the stuff I used to do when I was growing up. How once when she was coming to pick me up from daycare when I was around 5 years old, I declared aloud that I was superman and tried to fly away from the top of the slide. Needless to say, it was more of a 'jump' ... well, being that I was 5 I am willing to bet it was much more of a face first plummet to earth. Apparently, from what my cousin has told me, I repeated this when I was 23 and in Vegas on a spiked wall outside of the MGM; but that is a story for another time and another place. The race weekend reminded me more of the story she used to tell me about the sandbox.

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Round 2 - Disappointment

2011-04-30T02:50:00.000-07:00

To disappoint in the eyes of another is pain, to disappoint in the eyes of one's self is to suffer.

Going into anything I do, especially competitive activities, I always give myself goals. I set my goals reasonably, never so far out of reach that they are preposterous, but not so shallow that they don't make me strive for a little more. Normally I am good about meeting them, at least a majority of them, at least the major ones; this weekend I met none.

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Round 1 - Buttonwillow

2011-03-21T15:37:00.000-07:00

Going into the first race of the season, I was totally unprepared. My lack of preparation for this race began a year ago. Last year I got my bike only a short time before the first round of the season, also Buttonwillow, and had yet to learn the bike and set it up. This was a new track and bike to me and my performance showed it. After the race last year, I said I would go back a couple times during the summer to get better at the track for next season.

Fast forward to the night before leaving for the season opener in 2011. I had yet to be back to buttonwillow since last year, my bike was torn apart, I have no brake system installed, I have to load the trailer. It was 4:30 am when I finally went to bed, only to wake up shortly thereafter to go to work, leave from work and get an incomplete bike to the track in order to race. I have been so busy with work and being a full time student, I have not even ridden my bike at full click since last September at a thunderhill trackday

- A complete and total lack of preparation -

With a little help from my friends...

2011-03-01T10:51:00.000-08:00

Lennon and McCartney finished writing the song With a little help from my friends in mid-March 1967, written specifically as Starr's track for the album. It was briefly called Bad Finger Boogie, supposedly because Lennon composed the melody on a piano using his middle finger after having hurt his forefinger; but in his 1980 Playboy interview Lennon said: "This is Paul, with a little help from me."

Now, while I personally like the Joe Cocker version better than the Beatles' version, the point of the story is that success in music is much like success in racing; it can not happen without some help from others.

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Bowling for Bikes

2011-02-24T21:34:00.000-08:00

Lean out of the turn - Elbows up - Foot out - Sit Forward - Basically do everything backwards from what I learned road racing, that was the lesson of the day for me.

Showing up Monday morning at Stockton Motorplex I was tired, nervous and excited all at the same time. I sat outside the gates asking, "What am I getting myself into?" The gates opened and I wondered my way into the parking lot, finding Brok's van and parked aside him. Brok and I took the opportunity of a desolate track to do a walk around. While walking around checking out the layout and surface conditions, Brok and I were able to talk about what we will be doing, and goals for the day. My goals for the day were simple, have fun and get comfortable sliding.

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Backing it in

2011-02-20T17:03:00.000-08:00

Getting ready for the upcoming season and still haven't ridden since September 2010 :( I have a trackday coming up, but it is likely to rain. What should I do?!?!!??

Go to SuperMoto school of course !!!

I have always preached in my kart racing schools, and moto coaching alike, "Speed is a by-product of control, control does not come from speed - anyone can open the throttle"

I figure the slipping and sliding on a supermoto bike will help me gain greater levels of control for my road racing. Plus, as my girlfriend likes to point out, I will probably end up racing supermoto down the line too, because I have a competition addiction.

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In the beginning there was moto...

2011-01-01T13:42:00.000-08:00

After watching the final MotoGP race of 2008, I lean over to my girlfriend and say, "I am going to race before my 30th birthday". Eight months later, on my 29th birthday, I am sitting on the starting grid of my first race.