morbidelli17
Sun 3/18/07, 5:21PM
With work and all the other madness going on, getting to the track wasn't even an option until Saturday afternoon. And we hit pit lane like a whirlwind, throwing the bike off the truck and into the middle of the garage, whipping off the wheels and tossing them into the baby buggy. Thankfully, Dennis and the Dunlop crew said they'd stay a bit late to mount up some new stuff - thankfully, because I was the first practice session on Sunday. Sometimes begging actually works. We got the rear flipped. But they were out of the bargain fronts, so we had to pop for the English-made versions. Talk about fresh - the tire had been flown into LAX four days prior. And Andy and Chris at West Coast GP Cycles had gotten my fuel order mixed up, so things looked a bit unsettled on Saturday night. I was looking at Sunday on an unfamiliar front and not sure what fuel I was using. At least the hot tub at the Devonshire was working well.
Sunday morning things were looking better. Chris had charged back to Santa Monica to get my can of fuel (and his girlfriend; I suspect a motive other than superior customer service, but whatever works) so I had the go-juice I craved. We got everything handled at the office, got lectured at tech for missing a bolt (hey, they did the right thing, thank God someone's looking out for me) and hit the track for the first practice session. I got in one lap before someone parked their motorcycle in the middle of Turn One. It's unnerving to be hauling ass down the front straight and see the guy at the start-finish line suddenly turn around and charge for the flags. So that was a wash.
Second session, I made a small suspension change. Seriously. It was one click on the rear shock. I followed around a guy on an SV650 for a while, then at the end of the session, I really pushed in One and Two, stuffed him going into Three, and wound up with a personal-best lap time - 1:35.5.
At this point, the day is a success, but it just gets better.
Storm back to the garage; pull the rear wheel, head for the Dunlop tent, put the new rear tire on, charge back to the garage, bolt everything together, slap the warmers on. Then I notice garagemate Amy looking at her front tire with a very disturbed look; it's brand new and leaking air. She starts to pull the wheel, I run to Bridgestone and tell them she's coming. We're both rushing - we're Race One. Amy teaches ZenSandy how to safety-wire and heads for the riders meeting. And I'm thinking, "Man, I didn't think I could love ZenSandy more, but now she knows how to safety-wire!"
Not having ridden 500 Mod Prod this year, I have zero points and I'm at the back of the grid. And I get a crap start and head into Turn One last. Great. I pick off two people in Turns Two and Three. I get Monsterdood heading into Turn Eight. And after that, it's clear track, and I put my head down and try to practice.
1:35.1. Seven-tenths better than I've ever done. Excellent. But Pete Ellis has thrown down a 1:33 on his SV500. I've gotta pick it up by Race Four.
At least in BOTT Light, I'm gridded on the front row and get a decent start. Pete takes off, and I'm third behind Ed on the Ducati. He's not as quick in Turn Two, so I go around him on the outside of Two, but he comes back around me on the outside of Three on some odd trajectory that accomplishes little except giving Pete some breathing room on both of us. I follow him down the back straight, through Eight and Nine, and pass going into Turn One, I think. Pete is a spot on the horizon.
But I notice that he's not getting any further away. He's run into a turbulent wall of Vintage Heavyweight bikes that is slowing him down. And I start thinking, maybe I can catch him.
I actually get pretty close. But it's really hard to get past those big, sliding bikes, especially when they're going side-by-side through the turns and then hauling serious ass down the straight. I get past one of them, but Pete gets past both, and the race is run.
Second wasn't bad. But the real payoff came when I went for my lap times. My best: a 1:34.4. It would have been a new class record, except that Pete did a 1:34.3.
And I've still got areas left for improvement - I'm thinking ...
Sunday morning things were looking better. Chris had charged back to Santa Monica to get my can of fuel (and his girlfriend; I suspect a motive other than superior customer service, but whatever works) so I had the go-juice I craved. We got everything handled at the office, got lectured at tech for missing a bolt (hey, they did the right thing, thank God someone's looking out for me) and hit the track for the first practice session. I got in one lap before someone parked their motorcycle in the middle of Turn One. It's unnerving to be hauling ass down the front straight and see the guy at the start-finish line suddenly turn around and charge for the flags. So that was a wash.
Second session, I made a small suspension change. Seriously. It was one click on the rear shock. I followed around a guy on an SV650 for a while, then at the end of the session, I really pushed in One and Two, stuffed him going into Three, and wound up with a personal-best lap time - 1:35.5.
At this point, the day is a success, but it just gets better.
Storm back to the garage; pull the rear wheel, head for the Dunlop tent, put the new rear tire on, charge back to the garage, bolt everything together, slap the warmers on. Then I notice garagemate Amy looking at her front tire with a very disturbed look; it's brand new and leaking air. She starts to pull the wheel, I run to Bridgestone and tell them she's coming. We're both rushing - we're Race One. Amy teaches ZenSandy how to safety-wire and heads for the riders meeting. And I'm thinking, "Man, I didn't think I could love ZenSandy more, but now she knows how to safety-wire!"
Not having ridden 500 Mod Prod this year, I have zero points and I'm at the back of the grid. And I get a crap start and head into Turn One last. Great. I pick off two people in Turns Two and Three. I get Monsterdood heading into Turn Eight. And after that, it's clear track, and I put my head down and try to practice.
1:35.1. Seven-tenths better than I've ever done. Excellent. But Pete Ellis has thrown down a 1:33 on his SV500. I've gotta pick it up by Race Four.
At least in BOTT Light, I'm gridded on the front row and get a decent start. Pete takes off, and I'm third behind Ed on the Ducati. He's not as quick in Turn Two, so I go around him on the outside of Two, but he comes back around me on the outside of Three on some odd trajectory that accomplishes little except giving Pete some breathing room on both of us. I follow him down the back straight, through Eight and Nine, and pass going into Turn One, I think. Pete is a spot on the horizon.
But I notice that he's not getting any further away. He's run into a turbulent wall of Vintage Heavyweight bikes that is slowing him down. And I start thinking, maybe I can catch him.
I actually get pretty close. But it's really hard to get past those big, sliding bikes, especially when they're going side-by-side through the turns and then hauling serious ass down the straight. I get past one of them, but Pete gets past both, and the race is run.
Second wasn't bad. But the real payoff came when I went for my lap times. My best: a 1:34.4. It would have been a new class record, except that Pete did a 1:34.3.
And I've still got areas left for improvement - I'm thinking ...