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Freelance Superhero
First and foremost, I want to extend a huge thank you to Alan Cunningham for loaning me a bike to race on Saturday. The rock star treatment was fantastic!
Without getting into details, my year could have been better in a lot of ways. I hadn't even rolled a wheel onto the track in over a year and while I was having a good time calling the races, it's not the same. I had a couple of opportunities to ride throughout the year and just didn't take advantage of them. I finally decided that I should stop feeling sorry for myself and jump back in this last weekend.
I signed up for a half day practice and took out Alan's 500. I had gotten very used to standard shift after I bought an old Ken Hill bike. Standard shift made it a lot easier for me to hit multiple downshifts quickly. With the GP shift, I kept saying "GP" in my helmet, but I found myself going up a gear instead of down a few times in turn 11. I felt slow, probably because I was; however, I was getting used to the bike which was extremely well planted.
F40 LT:
The race was delayed again and again. Race 1 was big. I mean MASSIVE. It was like five years ago out there and it was really nice to see a full grid like that. Once I heard second call for my race, I jumped on the bike and headed to the hot pit.
I can not describe how great it felt to pull up next to people in the hot pits, have them try to figure out who's saying hi and then getting a genuine smile when they recognized me. Bikes were released to the track and I took my warm up lap.
I took my grid spot, somewhere near turn 14. It was a looong way off to Phil in the Start/Finish tower and I could feel the butterflies building as first Wave 1 left, then Wave 2. The board went sideways, the green flag flew and I got a great launch. I though I might be able to take the row in front of me and then I was quickly reminded I was on a 500 most other people were on 650s. I went through the gears as fast as I could as the novices behind me started to pass me on the front straight before I got to one.
I spent the first few laps like practice. I was turning laps and being nice. Somewhere around lap 4 I remembered that this was a race, I was here to race and the bikes in front of me belonged behind me. I targeted one bike, then another and another. Along the way, Billy Catching decided he didn't like the idea of me passing me, so he retook the position when I got held up by traffic entering 11. The 500 was not the right bike for a straight up drag race, but there was no giving up. Going into 14, I saw he was braking too late and I kept to my marks and passed him as he went wide, carrying what I could muster onto the front straight and taking the checkered flag.
I wasn't a factor for a win. I wasn't even in the same league, but when my brain clicked that this was a race, all my problems melted away. I even put out of my mind the fact that I was on a borrowed bike and I just rode. Damn, it felt good.
I was told when I got off the track that my eyes were smiling. All I know is I needed that.
Huge thanks to Berto and the Board for decided to wave the late fees for last minute sign ups. This was a factor in me deciding to race. I'm also very impressed with all the positive changes this year that have brought in so many new members.
Additionally, I loved that I could sign up for next year's license right then and there. How convenient is that?
Once again, thanks to Alan for trusting me with his beloved 500 for some much needed race therapy.
Without getting into details, my year could have been better in a lot of ways. I hadn't even rolled a wheel onto the track in over a year and while I was having a good time calling the races, it's not the same. I had a couple of opportunities to ride throughout the year and just didn't take advantage of them. I finally decided that I should stop feeling sorry for myself and jump back in this last weekend.
I signed up for a half day practice and took out Alan's 500. I had gotten very used to standard shift after I bought an old Ken Hill bike. Standard shift made it a lot easier for me to hit multiple downshifts quickly. With the GP shift, I kept saying "GP" in my helmet, but I found myself going up a gear instead of down a few times in turn 11. I felt slow, probably because I was; however, I was getting used to the bike which was extremely well planted.
F40 LT:
The race was delayed again and again. Race 1 was big. I mean MASSIVE. It was like five years ago out there and it was really nice to see a full grid like that. Once I heard second call for my race, I jumped on the bike and headed to the hot pit.
I can not describe how great it felt to pull up next to people in the hot pits, have them try to figure out who's saying hi and then getting a genuine smile when they recognized me. Bikes were released to the track and I took my warm up lap.
I took my grid spot, somewhere near turn 14. It was a looong way off to Phil in the Start/Finish tower and I could feel the butterflies building as first Wave 1 left, then Wave 2. The board went sideways, the green flag flew and I got a great launch. I though I might be able to take the row in front of me and then I was quickly reminded I was on a 500 most other people were on 650s. I went through the gears as fast as I could as the novices behind me started to pass me on the front straight before I got to one.
I spent the first few laps like practice. I was turning laps and being nice. Somewhere around lap 4 I remembered that this was a race, I was here to race and the bikes in front of me belonged behind me. I targeted one bike, then another and another. Along the way, Billy Catching decided he didn't like the idea of me passing me, so he retook the position when I got held up by traffic entering 11. The 500 was not the right bike for a straight up drag race, but there was no giving up. Going into 14, I saw he was braking too late and I kept to my marks and passed him as he went wide, carrying what I could muster onto the front straight and taking the checkered flag.
I wasn't a factor for a win. I wasn't even in the same league, but when my brain clicked that this was a race, all my problems melted away. I even put out of my mind the fact that I was on a borrowed bike and I just rode. Damn, it felt good.
I was told when I got off the track that my eyes were smiling. All I know is I needed that.
Huge thanks to Berto and the Board for decided to wave the late fees for last minute sign ups. This was a factor in me deciding to race. I'm also very impressed with all the positive changes this year that have brought in so many new members.
Additionally, I loved that I could sign up for next year's license right then and there. How convenient is that?
Once again, thanks to Alan for trusting me with his beloved 500 for some much needed race therapy.
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