Category: Race Events

HOT, HOT, HEAT!

I knew that it got hot in Alabama, but I was completely unprepared for ambient temperatures above my own body’s operating temperature.  I couldn’t drink enough water to stay hydrated, and at some point I decided that I hated the taste of all liquids we’d brought with us and wandered around drinking lemonade from a vendor stand.  Expensive lemonade, I might add.  And I walked into a shower fully clothed to try and cool off.  That’s how hot I got.

Complaints about the heat and its effects aside, I had an AMAZING time at Barber.  I’d never ridden this track before and had heard the nickname “Alabama Roller Coaster” before, but now I know it lives up to the name!

I… did not do well at this racetrack.  It’s flat as a pancake in the Chicagoland area, it takes me a while to get used to blind turns and massive elevation change!

More updates to come after the pictures arrive…

 

Gingermannnnnnn I missed you

It was so nice to get back on a racetrack that I’m familiar with.  Tecnicomoto found the time to change the gearing back to stock while we were still at Road America since these two consecutive-weekend races would leave us with little time during the week.  I honestly hadn’t realized what a difference the gearing would make until it was done- but I’m glad I did it for Road America.  And I’m equally as glad to be back to stock for Gingerman.

Some highlights of the weekend: I dropped 5 seconds at race pace, and 4 seconds at practice-pace.  I’m averaging a 1:54 lap time now, but I’m still a few seconds off the pace of the race leaders.

Things I need to work on:

• apexing T3, T6, and 8 properly.
• Work on more speed entering turns.  (I can see fellow KTM riders pulling away from me in those spots and it’s so frustrating!)  I think my exit is decent, but I find myself having to pick up more speed while leaned over, which means that my entry was too slow.
• possibly change the line between 8 and 9 to spend less time leaned over and more time on power.

Another issue I have is that when I blip the throttle while braking to rev match, I end up pulsing the brake.  I tend to do it more when I’m braking heavily, but I know this upsets the bike’s stability.  Thinking that a quickshifter + slipper clutch for Gunther might be on the horizon next year.

Ok, maybe I don’t hate Road America anymore.  It’s a fun place to battle.  I still don’t love it, though.

But I had a battle!!

Racer #863, Brad Carlisle, was lapping similar times to me in race practice.  We were gridded next to each other, and for race day 1, he beat me.  By race day 2, I’d learned that he was better on the brakes in some areas of the track, and that I’d need to either brake later or have a more aggressive corner exit.  Since I’m still a big baby about T5 after my crash there, Brad would pass me on the brakes into there and hold the lead all the way through turn 14 where I’d pass him on the exit and use my properly-geared bike to motor past him.  For a few laps, I could pass him in the carousel, but he wised up and blocked me at every turn after that.

Our last lap was a drag race to the finish line, and I’m pretty sure I only won because the gearing on Gunther was changed to fit a high-speed track.  Brad’s wasn’t.

Things that changed since my last visit to Road America:

• new gearing (16/42) just for RA
• unrashed leathers
• unrashed bike/new stars

Things I should do better:

• T1 is very very fast.  Don’t brake much for it, there’s lots of runoff.
• Brake later for T5!! Figure out where to look for a proper exit, stop looking at the damn gravel.
• T6 is a blind turn, going uphill.  Stop braking as much before the top of the hill, it’s not like the track is suddenly going to change direction.
• Figure out which gears have the most power for the corner- since Road America’s so big, you get less laps per practice session.  I need more seat time to get better. :-/

Things I did well:

• no crash!
• I like T13 now, it’s pretty fun.  The Carousel is still my favorite, though.

Best Lap

Race Day 1, Sound of Singles 3 : 3:13:395

Race Day 1, Sound of Singles 2: 3:20:132

Race Day 2, Sound of Singles 3: 3:12:728

Race Day 2, Sound of Singles 2: lazy, didn’t race

FIRST RACE OF THE YEAR!!

Things that have changed between this year and last year:

• new race leathers
• new helmet
• new (used) generator
• tire warmers
• back to stock gearing

OMG  SO MUCH BETTER.  Combined, all of these things have made riding Gunther so much easier and more fun.  You know how getting your first suspension setup makes a night and day difference in your riding and confidence level?  I had another of those moments with tire warmers.

Planted.  Secure.

Words that sound a little strange, but definitely describe how I feel on Gunther now.

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Battle with Gabriel #425 passed him on the inside of the last turn of the last lap.

 

Race Day 1, Sound of Singles 2: 1:48:324

Race Day 1, Sound of Singles 3: 1:48:881

Race Day 2, Sound of Singles 2:  1:47:185

Race Day 2, Sound of Singles 3: 1:47:008

 

Did you know that fire ants are in Alabama? I’d been there before as a race spectator and had somehow blocked out that unpleasant memory, which came back (literally) to bite me in the ankles. So that’s first thing I did in Talladega: step in a fire ant nest. Not auspicious.

I’d never ridden this track before. Learning new tracks is exciting, but also frustrating as all hell. With Talladega, there’s a whole “OMG is this a banked turn that’s so cool, these are all left turns this is nice, WHOA there’s a right-hand turn coming up? WHAT DO I DO I FORGOT HOW TO TURN RIGHT” thing going on.

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This time, I thought about what I’d missed at previous races and tried to plan ahead for it.
* I’d have a track map! And I’d use it to write notes on- racetrack features that would help me remember where to turn in, brake markers, a good race line, all that cool stuff. I should do this at every track I go to now. And print multiple copies, because it seemed helpful for other people as well since they kept taking it.
* I’d drink fluids this time! Early-September heat in Alabama is no joke. My first visit at Talladega for one of Tecnicomoto’s races was when the daily temperature highs were 95*, which was miserable. This time they were in the 85* range- a little better, but still grueling when you’re encased in black leather with the heat of thousands of combustion explosions going on around you.

My friend Kandy (left) got a KTM 390 also. She got her race license in New Jersey, raced there, raced at Utah, then raced at Alabama. This is our third race ever! For someone with no previous track riding experience whatsoever, I think she’s doing really well. And I like having another 390 racer-lady on the grid!

Kandy and I went out on the track for the first time together. I followed her for a lap or two, then decided I was more comfortable at a different pace. I’ll have to do some actual math later, but I seem to be averaging 1:16 lap times. Fast riders at this track are running the whole circuit in just under a minute. How the hell do they do that?! (I know the answer to this; they don’t brake. Also, maybe they have no fear/aren’t human?)

The people to beat were the same as last time- Bill (56) and Ed (55c) primarily. They’ve both been at this track before, knows where they can comfortably pass people, and trust their bikes. I have never ridden the track, don’t really trust my ability to pass people, and am using race practice as a shakedown after the engine rebuild. I am going into this race a little sketchy, at best.

I started the race in 3rd position on the grid- theoretically, a good place to be.

The race itself was not pretty. I went out for my warmup lap, noticed Ed ahead of me and gridded up next to him. Then I notice that Ed was looking around, and then finally noticed that nobody was next to either Ed or myself: we’d gridded up a whole row too far, and were at the tail end of the first wave. Ed turned around and made a big circle on the race track, coming up next to Bill in 1st position. I got off the bike and pushed my it to the right place on the grid. (At least not many people were watching the start of race 7? I’ll just keep telling myself that.)
* First wave leaves… *
* Second wave starts… *
Ed wheelied off the line. I over-revved Gunther in 1st through 3rd gear, getting swamped and arriving at turn one behind the second row riders. I overtook Kandy through the turn, but had lost pretty much everyone else in my class by then. That anger at myself fueled a couple good passes, but then I got stuck behind a larger bike about halfway through the race and couldn’t figure out how to pass safely for nearly a full lap. My own inability to pass left the door open for so many others to pass me and the rider I was following. 🙁

Here’s some pit pics that I took, as Talladega didn’t have a pro photographer on site.

Stats:
5th of 6 in race.
Best lap time in practice: 1:15.5
Best lap time in race: 1:16.4
What the F. You’re supposed to go faster in races than in practice! I really need to learn how to get around other riders. Here’s why:

There’s a FOUR second difference between by best lap and my worst lap!! On a track that’s only 1.3 miles long, that’s an eternity.
More experienced racers keep telling me things like “go where they aren’t” and “don’t follow too closely behind them”, but in the heat of the race itself, I don’t follow that cool-headed advice very well. That’s probably going to be my biggest issue for further races as well- a known issue I need to work on in order to suck less.

Also, little puffs of smoke on every shift and at startup. Gotta fix that. Apparently the piston rings didn’t get seated.

This is probably my last race of 2017.

Sigh.

Yayyy! A track I’ve been to before! After my terrible finish and inability to get a knee down at Carolina Motorsports Park in March, I was nearly convinced that I’d made a huge mistake. I’ve been to Gingerman before, and while I still have no reference as to what my lap times are, I at least know what turns are coming up.

This race will be the third time I’ve ridden Gunther, after a track day at BlackHawk Farms Raceway in May. That track time was necessary- not only did it help me get more comfortable on Gunther and learn some idiosyncrasies of the bike, but for my own confidence in my riding skill. I didn’t suddenly start to suck, I needed some adjustment time. 😀

My race at the end of the day was called after 3 laps and not restarted due to red flags/ambulance. It was rather anticlimactic- a huge buildup to only get a few minutes of track time. On the bright side, I did pass another KTM (I think it was a mechanical failure, actually) and learned that a ‘lil TZ250 can haul ass in a corner as Lorraine Crussel passed me like I was standing still.

On the bright side, now I know what lap times to aim for. I should really work on getting a lap timer so I have some data to base performance on.

Best lap time:
in practice: 1:58.017
Sound of Singles 3, Race 1: 1:57.030

 

Each of these guys has years (sometimes decades) of racing experience… so I’m significantly outmatched. Their lap times are what I’m aiming for, now.

Remember that feeling of bewilderment when you went to the first day of school? You didn’t know where anything was, were afraid to walk into the wrong classroom, and were generally uncomfortable for a while? That’s a little what getting my race license felt like.

Maybe it was a bad idea to take the bike I’ve never ridden to a track I’ve never been to before.

MAYBE.

Now that I think of it, I was wearing new leathers also. All shiny new stuff for the race class!!

With AHRMA, the race class is a full day and license is conditional after your performance over the weekend. Basically, don’t crash or cause someone else to crash, and you’ve got a license to race. It took the whole day, but I believe that it was also related to having to fit in track time amongst the race practice going on. It probably could have been a half day if the instructors had an open track to work with.
Race class, condensed:

• learn about flags
• learn about race lines
• go on track and follow the instructor
• learn about body positioning and starting procedure
• go on track and follow the instructor
• mock race against the classmates

I have a decent idea about race lines from having been on tracks before, and learning more about how to read corners will come with time/experience. It was actually really helpful to learn the lines at the track by following an experienced instructor-racer who considers it their home track. I’m pretty comfortable with flags as well. Body position is an ongoing issue for me, and it’s painfully obvious when I’m uncomfortable in a corner just by looking at my awkward riding style. Starting procedure is (theoretically) simple, but multiple-wave starts are confusing. Every time you go out on track, you have to wear a bright safety-orange vest so that your fellow riders know you’re new and can make fun of you be aware of your potentially erratic behavior
Here’s me getting ready to go out and follow the leader and learn some lines:

Those new race leathers were a pain in the ass. I’d forgotten how stiff they feel when they’re new! Additionally, I’m pretty sure I purchased the wrong size. I could barely move, and it felt like I was being choked even when I was in a full tuck on the bike. They were the same size and brand as my older leathers, but the model was different- I didn’t realize that sizing could vary so much within a brand, but I guess it’s that way with all clothing.
Mock Race
At least, since there were only six people, there weren’t all that many people on the grid. I was placed in the 3rd position- on the front row, to the outside edge of turn one.
YAYYYY I didn’t get last! Ok, so third out of six people isn’t great, it’s exactly middle. I probably shouldn’t have been worried about my finishing position when it’s just a mock race for a class, but my pride/ego didn’t want to be last. Once I completed the mock race, the next time I’d be on track was for morning race practice and my afternoon race.
First Race
I really should have paid more attention to where the guy with the number boards was going to be in a multi-wave start. My race class, SOS3, also grids up with the Thruxton Cup Challenge in front of us. I was staring at the wrong person/overall wrong area when my race started. I had a horrible start! During the mock race, I hadn’t had to deal with larger bikes being in front of me- I started getting more and more frustrated after my terrible start, which means I was missing apexes all over the place and not concentrating on being smooth. Smooth is fast. I wasn’t smooth at all. :/
I didn’t do all that well. I was lapped!

At least I finished the race?
Next time, more preparation. The next race is Gingerman, which I’ve been to before. I hope I do better.