ThinkFast
Live Long
At the end of the 2009 AFM season, I hung up my leathers and sold my SV. I'd had several years of racing and tons of great memories to savor.
Then last fall something about turning 60 made me start feeling like I wanted to give it another go - get out on the track and see if I could still have fun turning laps at Sonoma.
So I signed up for the Carter's trackday at Sonoma held last Monday, rented a Ninja 400 from Feel Like A Pro, and dug out all my racing gear - boots, gloves, leathers, cool shirt. Stuff that literally had not seen the light of day since I put them in the closet 11 years ago.
I was a little nervous that morning as I walked around the paddock, taking in the sights and sounds of riders prepping themselves and their bikes in the cool early morning stillness.
Ryan and the FLAP team did a great job of welcoming me and the other FLAP riders for the day. Coffee, cold drinks and snacks were all at the ready for us on tables under the brightly colored EZ ups, along with places for each of us to put our gear and get ourselves ready to ride. And then there were the immaculately race-prepped Kawasaki Ninja 400 bikes. All lined up on their rear stands and waiting for their assigned riders to throw a leg over.
Then the paddock loudspeaker system crackles to life and the announcer comes on to give us a heads up - time for the riders' meeting in 15 minutes followed by the first session of the day: the B- group preceded by three sighting laps that riders from all the groups are welcome to take.
As I suited up I could feel a bit of hesitation growing. What had I gotten myself into, I wondered, getting on a bike I'd never ridden before, and signing up for the B+ (middle) group and going out for a day of lapping at Sonoma? Sighting laps? Heck yeah!
I don't quite remember getting on the bike for the first time that morning, but suddenly there was a FLAP staffer asking me if I was ready to roll, and then lifting the bike off the rear stand, giving me a quick pat on the back, and I was off.
Small and nimble were the first things I noticed about the little Ninja. Compared to my SV this bike felt really small. Still, my initial impression was it had plenty enough giddyup for me - at least it seemed like it on those first few sighting laps.
As I came in after the third lap I got to thinking about the folly of signing up for the middle run group. Maybe they'd let me downgrade from B+ to B- after the first session. Yeah, that's the ticket. Good plan.
Meantime, in order to survive my first session I came up with a plan. I could just wait off at the side of the lineup in the hot pit until everyone else rolled out, and then tag in to the back of the pack and see if I could hang with those guys and not get lapped and run over by the faster guys.
So off we went. "GP shift - down down down!" I had to keep reminding myself as I moved through the gears. New tires, cool morning, strange (to me) bike. Take it easy.
Huh - they're not leaving me for dead. Probably taking it easy like I was until their tires come up to temp. Then they'll all be long gone...
Nope. We were a couple laps in and the tires were warmed up and I started feeling them grip. Suprisingly I found it easy to stay on the tail of the others at the back of the group. And even the ones in front of them weren't checking out.
So there we were coming into Turn 4 when all of a sudden the rider in front of me threw on the anchors so hard I thought he was going to stop before turning into Turn 4.
"Screw that," I thought to myself, and got on gas hard on the exit and upshifted into 6th through T5 as we headed up the hill sided by side. The Anchor Man and a rider in front of him both braked harder than I thought was necessary before they got to T6. This time I was ready for them, and blew right by them both before they started their turn-in.
As the session ended I felt a wave of euphoria - I did it! And after 11 years, I still felt good out there - comfortable even. Old racecraft neurons were being reactivated, making me smile.
The next couple of sessions saw me starting a little farther up in the pack on the out lap, and suprisingly to me not getting passed much by the ones who started behind me. Unbelievable.
And so it went the rest of the day. Seven 20 minute sessions, 50 laps, and plenty of passing that required setting up the bigger bikes and figuring out where to get by them so they couldn't blow by me on the long straights. What a blast.
Will I do it again? Dunno. On the one hand, the lapping is fun, and a chance to re-engage a bunch of skills that don't get much use in street riding. OTOH, track days are not the same as racing, any more than deer hunting is the same as combat.
For me racing was chess at 100 mph - an epic battle of wits with whoever happened to be nearby. That just doesn't happen as much at a trackday, which means if I decided to go out and pick up a track bike and sign up for a bunch of days during the year, I'd probably start to get a little bored after two or three of them.
I think a better plan for me is to stick with FLAP and treat myself to a trackday or two a season. I guess there's always AHRMA...:ride
Thanks to Ryan and crew at feellikeapro.com
Thanks to Carters At The Track for putting on a GREAT track day! (And instructor Eli Maddock for giving me a tow around in an early session - really helpful!). https://www.cartersatthetrack.com/
And thanks to Dito for the great on-track photos from 2007 (#280) and 2020 (#100) - gotbluemilk.com
Then last fall something about turning 60 made me start feeling like I wanted to give it another go - get out on the track and see if I could still have fun turning laps at Sonoma.
So I signed up for the Carter's trackday at Sonoma held last Monday, rented a Ninja 400 from Feel Like A Pro, and dug out all my racing gear - boots, gloves, leathers, cool shirt. Stuff that literally had not seen the light of day since I put them in the closet 11 years ago.
I was a little nervous that morning as I walked around the paddock, taking in the sights and sounds of riders prepping themselves and their bikes in the cool early morning stillness.
Ryan and the FLAP team did a great job of welcoming me and the other FLAP riders for the day. Coffee, cold drinks and snacks were all at the ready for us on tables under the brightly colored EZ ups, along with places for each of us to put our gear and get ourselves ready to ride. And then there were the immaculately race-prepped Kawasaki Ninja 400 bikes. All lined up on their rear stands and waiting for their assigned riders to throw a leg over.
Then the paddock loudspeaker system crackles to life and the announcer comes on to give us a heads up - time for the riders' meeting in 15 minutes followed by the first session of the day: the B- group preceded by three sighting laps that riders from all the groups are welcome to take.
As I suited up I could feel a bit of hesitation growing. What had I gotten myself into, I wondered, getting on a bike I'd never ridden before, and signing up for the B+ (middle) group and going out for a day of lapping at Sonoma? Sighting laps? Heck yeah!
I don't quite remember getting on the bike for the first time that morning, but suddenly there was a FLAP staffer asking me if I was ready to roll, and then lifting the bike off the rear stand, giving me a quick pat on the back, and I was off.
Small and nimble were the first things I noticed about the little Ninja. Compared to my SV this bike felt really small. Still, my initial impression was it had plenty enough giddyup for me - at least it seemed like it on those first few sighting laps.
As I came in after the third lap I got to thinking about the folly of signing up for the middle run group. Maybe they'd let me downgrade from B+ to B- after the first session. Yeah, that's the ticket. Good plan.
Meantime, in order to survive my first session I came up with a plan. I could just wait off at the side of the lineup in the hot pit until everyone else rolled out, and then tag in to the back of the pack and see if I could hang with those guys and not get lapped and run over by the faster guys.
So off we went. "GP shift - down down down!" I had to keep reminding myself as I moved through the gears. New tires, cool morning, strange (to me) bike. Take it easy.
Huh - they're not leaving me for dead. Probably taking it easy like I was until their tires come up to temp. Then they'll all be long gone...
Nope. We were a couple laps in and the tires were warmed up and I started feeling them grip. Suprisingly I found it easy to stay on the tail of the others at the back of the group. And even the ones in front of them weren't checking out.
So there we were coming into Turn 4 when all of a sudden the rider in front of me threw on the anchors so hard I thought he was going to stop before turning into Turn 4.
"Screw that," I thought to myself, and got on gas hard on the exit and upshifted into 6th through T5 as we headed up the hill sided by side. The Anchor Man and a rider in front of him both braked harder than I thought was necessary before they got to T6. This time I was ready for them, and blew right by them both before they started their turn-in.
As the session ended I felt a wave of euphoria - I did it! And after 11 years, I still felt good out there - comfortable even. Old racecraft neurons were being reactivated, making me smile.
The next couple of sessions saw me starting a little farther up in the pack on the out lap, and suprisingly to me not getting passed much by the ones who started behind me. Unbelievable.
And so it went the rest of the day. Seven 20 minute sessions, 50 laps, and plenty of passing that required setting up the bigger bikes and figuring out where to get by them so they couldn't blow by me on the long straights. What a blast.
Will I do it again? Dunno. On the one hand, the lapping is fun, and a chance to re-engage a bunch of skills that don't get much use in street riding. OTOH, track days are not the same as racing, any more than deer hunting is the same as combat.
For me racing was chess at 100 mph - an epic battle of wits with whoever happened to be nearby. That just doesn't happen as much at a trackday, which means if I decided to go out and pick up a track bike and sign up for a bunch of days during the year, I'd probably start to get a little bored after two or three of them.
I think a better plan for me is to stick with FLAP and treat myself to a trackday or two a season. I guess there's always AHRMA...:ride
Thanks to Ryan and crew at feellikeapro.com
Thanks to Carters At The Track for putting on a GREAT track day! (And instructor Eli Maddock for giving me a tow around in an early session - really helpful!). https://www.cartersatthetrack.com/
And thanks to Dito for the great on-track photos from 2007 (#280) and 2020 (#100) - gotbluemilk.com
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