I wanna race!

[tlsmikey]

Oliver, you've been an inspiration to a lot of us. I've always wanted to go racing and after watching you chronicle your effor this year I was inspired to buy a race bike to go racing next year. I doubt i'll do nearly as well as you have, but know that you have inspired a lot of us to go racing.

PS - What's that red tube on the rear swingarm? Is that just a link holding the pin on?

 

[mike23w]

I've been following this thread from the beginning when barfers were on your case to the end when you were getting nothing but (well deserved) congratulations on a great season. Oliver, I enjoy your thoughtful and entertaining writing style. This has been my favorite barf thread. It's too bad you won't be updating this thread next season but I'm sure you'll be doing something equally rewarding. Congratulations and Good luck!

 

[dsapsis]

Oliver, congratulations on earning Top Novice Overall. First ever Top Novice on an SV (I think?) !

-David

Nope. Fillipe "The Screwdriver" Cabezas, 2003.

Great work Oliver. I gotta get faster so I can at least see the front
--dave

 

[Deadtired]

Well done.

First Year.
Top Novice

Went from slow(ish) to fast.

Got offer from top rider to be sponsored....

Quitting? Wha?

You pregnant?

 

[dbenj]

Nope. Fillipe "The Screwdriver" Cabezas, 2003.

Great work Oliver. I gotta get faster so I can at least see the front
--dave

Oops. Sorry I missed that. I checked each year at afmracing.org but didn't make the connection I guess. Thanks for correcting.

--David

 

[Kensaku]

Hey Oliver - congrats on starting and finishing your season.

 

[Moike]

Moike, you actually made me laugh out loud. Yeah I guess one or three wheels are next. You are NUTS though; I don't think you could pay me enough money to hang on for dear life to one of those sleds you ride.

Who said anything about hang on sir? You're not a passenger... you're a driver. :teeth We'll find you an experienced passenger.

 

[NoCompromise]

Oliver, I have read your thread in its entirety over the last few days. The whole thing was hugely entertaining. Thanks for taking the time to do such a thorough writeup of your progress at each step. I'm among the many riders who have read your thread and wished they could go racing, but can't (or choose not to) for a variety of reasons. Gigantic kudos to you for believing in yourself and representing yourself well in the face of criticism.

Hindsight is always 20/20, but you have obviously proved the naysayers wrong and exceeded anyone's expectations (except, perhaps, your own). I don't think anyone could have guessed that someone with comparatively little riding experience could make such amazing progress so quickly. Your 4 wheel racing background obviously taught you everything you need to know about racing, but I think you have wayyyyy more than your fair share of 'go-fast' genes. As someone else pointed out, natural talent will shine through regardless of the type of racing. The thing that impressed me the most was that you made consistent significant improvements almost every time out there. :thumbup

Thanks again for the thread and good luck in your future endeavors! I know I am disappointed that you won't be continuing your 2 wheel racing career and documenting your progress here.

 

[oliver]

I must say that each time I check in to this thread, I am a little humbled by the responses from you guys. Hearing things like "inspirational", "thanks for taking the time to talk", and "best thread on BARF" is honestly pretty fantastic.

What this little journey illustrates is that we are inherently good at what we love. If you spend your nights and weekends just thinking about something, you're going to excel. In my case for as long as I can remember, that has been racing. I've set my mind to a few other things as well over the years though, and found that if I poured just as much dedication into them as I do racing, then I do just as well. When I don't, I don't. That's all it takes...for me, you, or anyone else.

In the end though, as I said in the beginning, I am just a normal guy with a job and a bunch of bills to pay...and an interest in going fast. Most of us here share that interest, to varying degrees, and those who do aren't that different than I am...

 

[Dove]

I have followed your story all year, congratulations Oliver.

You earned every last bit of it and inspirational doesn't begin to cover it. :applause

 

[Brown81]

LOL!! When you started this thread I thought to myself:
"Well, this dude must be high on pot or something. He is going to get a rude awakening"!!

Along the way I was pleased to be wrong, shocked, and impressed as hell. I have lived a racing dream through you and I appreciate the time and effort it took to take us barfers along for the ride.

You are the man bro!! :thumbup

 

[jupiejupe]

are you really telling me that you sold all that stuff to get into racing. sent all that time preping and learning? and now your done. have you figured that you have spent all of your up front cost of getting it the game and now it's just playing keep up, with your finishes your could sure get a few sponsors to cut costs, like for your tires. besides if you quit, i mean retire from racing then your not going to post about your weekend and then i'll have one less thing to look forward to reading. so how dare you inconvenience me. well congrats anyway you play it.

if you put together a support team to help with backend stuff giving shout.

 

[sihondalove]

wow oliver!!! im not a frequent visitor to this site, but i just found this thread and im gonna race for the first time next year and i have to say that this thread rocks and obviously your first/last year rocked...tight bro' i hope i can have the same or even close to the same experience as you!!

 

[oliver]

wow oliver!!! im not a frequent visitor to this site, but i just found this thread and im gonna race for the first time next year and i have to say that this thread rocks and obviously your first/last year rocked...tight bro' i hope i can have the same or even close to the same experience as you!!

Hi All!

To tell you the truth...I ALMOST made a liar out of myself and decided to race the Moto ST race in Daytona in 3 weeks, but just couldn't swing the logistics of getting to Florida and back in a reasonable amount of time.

sihondalove, I wish you the best of luck in 2008. Try not to ride faster than you're comfortable with, and before you know it, a pace that once seemed out-of-control will seem so mild and relaxed that you'll wonder how you ever thought otherwise. Have fun!

 

[jrace]

To tell you the truth...I ALMOST made a liar out of myself and decided to race the Moto ST race in Daytona in 3 weeks, but just couldn't swing the logistics of getting to Florida and back in a reasonable amount of time.

Oliver.... If it will help, you might want to give the team at San Jose BMW a call and see if they can help transport your bike down and back. Pester Zoran to be your teammate and you guys might give Nixon and Springsteen a run for their money!

http://www.sjbmwracing.com/

-jim

edit: never mind, looks like they're "just" running AMA FX this year. Still, there have to be some NoCal teams that could assist.....

 

[TWF]

is there really point of me racing guys older than me?

 

[oliver]

is there really point of me racing guys older than me?

There ARE older guys than you??? Haha, couldn't resist. Did you get that rebuild kit?

jrace, the problem was not related to getting my bike to the track; it was actually sold about a month ago. I had an offer to race someone else's bike (one of the M4 / Avteq bikes that finished 2nd at the 8-hour Daytona Moto ST race last October), but it was just the wrong time for me to take off for 6 days in a row. Getting to Florida from the Bay Area is a biiiaatch -- no direct flights from any of the local airports, so I would have had to most likely return Monday morning...just too much

 

[Holeshot]

SFO to MCO? There's plenty of direct stuff to there...

 

[oliver]

SFO to MCO? There's plenty of direct stuff to there...

Look again!

I thought I was going crazy because I swear to God I've done it....but nothin's there.

 

[oliver]

Err...now that I look again, I've found 2, but they leave MCO at 8am Sunday, which is before the race. Maybe there are a few more, but I was not able to find any that worked with the race schedule (leaving Sunday after 8:30pm)