Does this bike make my butt look fast?
Race Results
Jan 4, WERA West, Fontana, CA
Coming off the highside in October, I'd been hitting the gym regularly despite the injury. Now down at about 225 lbs (I did my best to avoid food and drink in the holiday season with good results - I only gained four pounds that I'll have to spend weeks sweating off...), I'm pleased to report I can race in my new size-46 leathers, comfortably.
The shoulder pops - it's not the bones leaving the socket, it's the bursa, a pocket of fat and the muscle that is the top of the forward part of the biceps rolling over the end of the collarbone which stands above where it used to. That's a fancy way of saying it drags then slips. It was a bit disconcerting at first, turning left and feeling the 'pop', 'pop', but it doesn't hurt long-term, and it largely stopped (probably due to scarring or swelling, I'm sure).
Saturday practice was kind of fun, even though it was dark and damp, the temperatures weren't too bad and there was no wind. Tons of snow up on Mount Baldy, but not any rain on the track. I didn't go real fast, on old tires (the ones I highsided on), being more interested in sorting out the bike. A few adjustments here and there for things I didn't notice in the garage at home (the clip on position, the muffler hanger).
I'd gone to the track with my friends Ti (racing), and Phil and Evan (who make their living in the racing scene), and Saturday we went out with friends of Evan's, to a brewery-restaurant, where I ate like a pig. When in Rome...
Sunday morning, it's cold, clear, and windy, and it only got windier. I felt good in my first practice session, and skipped my second after a red flag ended the session in my first lap. On fresh tires, I was feeling good, kind of aggressive, like I'd go well in racing. And then...
The first big-bike race after the Mini (kids' race) was C-Superstock Novice, a huge grid (lots of racers). It's really competitive, and since I don't race the C (or Novice) classes, I watched from the stands above start-finish. An hour-and-a-half long red flag in this race was bad news, and I think we all knew it. We were called in for a rider's meeting, and told the medical personnel had all left with the ambulance, but were now returning. A few insensitive (or dull) racers demanded why there weren't more medical personnel on the way from the ambulance company, but I think the rest of us pretty much understood what had happened. RIP Joe Lopez, I didn't know you, but I wish your family the best.
After the major damper on the day, I didn't feel much like racing, and the cold had gotten into my bones. Wrapped up in my leathers and a hoodie jacket, I waited forever until my race, now shortened to four laps to fit in the daylight remaining. I wasn't feeling fast at all as I went into T3 last. I started to put some power down, and ran off the track in T11, the back of the bike dancing all over the place (it's not safe to turn the bike in when the back is randomly aligned...). It happened again in T3, and T5 and T11 on the next lap, and I just gave up on the idea of late-braking, figuring I was losing more time running off than braking sooner.
I got off the track and was just disappointed, but cheerful, knowing I'd survived the race and that my shoulder wasn't going to give out. It's a weird combination - disappointment and satisfaction. Evan asked me what was wrong, and I told him that despite losing 75-odd pounds, and taking a bunch of adjustment out of the suspension, the bike was still too twitchy for me to brake late (it's great everywhere else). He suggested losing some rear preload, and I took a millimeter out - but felt no difference in the next race. There was no time to do more between races, so I went back out to take the rest of my medicine...
Last in T3 again, as the sun was sinking, the shadows grew elongated quickly as I went around T5, making me think there were bikes closer behind than there actually was... weird. I concentrated on staying upright, thinking that I wanted only to get back home in one peice now (and writing off the expense of the weekend's entry fees...). I didn't come in DFL, I think.
I stayed out for the next race, Senior Superbike. In Lap 2, under heavy shadow, I hit the curbing in T1, at about 120-ish MPH (maybe more? Fifth gear, WOT). Scared the daylights out of me, and the impact and wobble (controlled by the steering damper very quickly) pushed the brake pistons back into the calipers. I threw up a hand, and rode up the banking to pump the front brake madly (glad I checked the brakes before T3), then rejoined the race way back. I rode like an angry SOB, to reclaim a position in the race, and took the checkers in dark gloom under the banking grandstands.
I was done for the day, and unhappy with my first Expert weekend. On the other hand, I was glad to have remained upright, and even more glad to know that I can still ride the bike despite the injury to the shoulder. And, now Evan and I will work on the suspension, and see if we can dial out that rear-wheel hop (we'll drop the rear spring rate a bit, and refresh the forks). I'll also try a different tire brand this year, in the off-season.
Next races, March, at ASMA. I'll be ready.
2008 - Season Results
ASMA and WERA promoted me to Expert. I won the Heavyweight Senior Superbike championship with WERA West, and have a top-5 finish in A-SuperStock. No class championships with ASMA - crashing and missing the last two rounds will do that. I still finished with over 650 points overall - not too bad, a season of podium finishes. Thanks to all in both organizations, I had a blast. See you next year!
Oct 13, ASMA, Deming, NM
End of a season. I highsided on cold tires about halfway through my outlap in morning practice. I separated my shoulder, a permanent injury. We'll see how well it heals, what I've lost when it heals as much as it can.
Sept 6-7, ASMA, Deming, NM
Argh. I threw away the clinching (assuming I finish the series) race for ULSB. I passed Jim Wolkens into the Carusel, but the back of the bike was dancing - I've lost enough weight I need to take preload and rear ride height out of the rear shock. The bike was too nose-heavy and I bottomed the forks trying to outbrake Jim, causing the rear to dance - and me to run off the track. Either Second or Third place in all my races this weekend. Jeff Smith crashed in F-40, so second in that class, thirds in all the rest.
August 1-3, WERA, Autoclub Speedway, Fontana, CA
A nice, cool weekend. I split the fuel costs, but the facility is very expensive to rent, and that cost is passed on to the riders in practice/trackday fees, so I skipped it. No practice until Sunday morning.
All the weight I'd lost paid off, as I very quickly dropped my laptimes into pretty good territory.
Finishes: A-Superbike, fourth. A-Superstock, third. HW Sr Superbike, first. On the podium twice, for not having practice... a great weekend, and better still, I am the WERA West HW Sr Superbike Class Champion. I like the sound of that... I can expect my letter promoting me to Expert in November. Thanks, WERA, this was fun.
June 29-30, WERA, Las Vegas Classic Course, LVMS
HOT. I hoped to do better than I actually did, here, drop more time off what I had last done at this track three seasons prior, but I really didn't. I'd hoped the big, fast RH sweeper would be tamed by my experience with Buttonwillow's Riverside corner - uh uh. No way. Still have to check the brakes EVERY time I go in there. Yep, they work... and there goes the guy behind me, now in front of me...
Finishes: A-Superstock, ninth. HW Sr Superbike, first. A-Superbike, fourth. Not stellar, and a long drive home. Perhaps practice time would have helped... but I made the trip solo, so the cost of fuel ate my practice budget.
June 13-14, ASMA, Arroyo Seco Raceway
Hot. I've been in the gym a lot lately, doing my cardio, and it shows. When other racers wilted in the heat, I was going strong - losing 0.5 sec/lap over the last time I ran this configuration in April.
Finishes: Unlimited Superstock: Fourth. Adam Rogers snuck a wheel under me when I pushed the front (slid the tire on the track) in the last corner last lap, and he stole third place. I'll have to get even with him next Sept... Formula-40 (over-40-years-old racers), second place. I made a good run at Jeff Smith in the first two laps, outdriving him in the carusel corner, but he had a better line through one corner and a lot more speed into a second one (translated: greater levels of testicular fortitude), and pulled a gap on me that I couldn't overcome. I settled for second. Unlimited GP (a purse-paying, 12-lap class): Third place. 12 laps of parade-in-order, no position changes after turn three. Rob Richie faded badly in the heat - hit the gym, Rob. Unlimited Superbike: Third place. No lead changes.
May 9-11, WERA, Buttonwillow Raceway Park
What can I say? In my second trip to Buttonwillow, I could not find a faster way around the track than a 2:02.9. I busted bunny-butt trying, but I think I fundamentally failed to rail on the 'sweeper' turn as fast as other folks can do it. I got passed a few times in the Riverside corner in practice, but I'd really started putting power down in that corner, and I stopped getting passed there - but practice stopped, too. Someplace between the Cotton Corners downslope and the Club Corner, I think I lost a lot of time, but for the life of me, I don't know how... I was on the gas hard in fourth gear there. Regardless, I think I took that busstop corner faster than anyone else in the novice class (that I was behind, anyway).
First race, A-Superstock, my launch was only fair, and I was in the back of the pack into turn three. I managed to pass into Cotton Corners, and then chased two guys for the next five laps - closing on them dramatically in the bus stop, only to be gapped leaving the sweeper turn (they were faster in that corner). I finally passed on the last lap when an Expert-class backmarker came into play, taking the inside line into the Cotton Corners (really the only place I passed well all weekend). Ninth, and I worked for it. These guys are fast.
Second race, HW Senior Superbike, a mixed-class. I launched well, and got into the Experts in the first corner, passing all kinds of people into the 'off-ramp' turn, but, unfortunately, not one other guy in my class. I never saw him in the race, but he finished about 12 seconds or so ahead of me. Second place.
Third race, A-Superbike. The guy in front of me tried to start the race in Neutral. After I chose to go around him in the dirt, I went into the first corner Dead Effing Last (DFL, it's a technical term). I spent the rest of the race catching and putting behind me a Provisional Novice. Not really a great accomplishment.
Expensive weekend. Fast guys in California abound. I'm not one of them, and the expense involved has me wondering if I want to race in Cali again soon. Still, I'm disappointed in myself for not getting faster every practice or even in a race than I did after my second practice. Life's like that, sometimes.
May 3/4, ASMA, Arroyo Seco Raceway
I got faster in the CCW direction than I'd ever been before, but my low 1:14's weren't enough to compete with Adam Rogers and Rob Richie, who dipped into the 12's. Jim Wolkens stepped it up, too, and the best finishes I managed were two 3rd place finishes, a fourth and a fifth when Dirk Schneider banzai'ed into the Horseshoe. I tried to chase him for a lap, and made a really good run at him on the brakes into the carusel, but he held it. I quit chasing him after a big step-out (the back spun up and tried to swap ends with the front), and I decided playing with a tire that was losing grip wasn't conducive to staying upright. Good pass, Dirk.
The best moment of the day was in the Formula 40 race when Mickey Rupe tried to pass on my outside in the carusel, and I simply added a little power and watched him fade from my peripheral vision... Next month I think Mickey will be back with a beam in his eye.
April 12/13, ASMA, Arroyo Seco Raceway
Well, it’s funny. I no longer really have a sensation of speed on a motorcycle. I didn’t crash or suffer a head or ear injury or anything like that. I’m just really used to it, I think, and am looking for, straining to feel secondary things – how much is the front fork loaded, how much grip is the back tire offering me, where’s my foot on the peg?
It’s as if I have enough time now to sense all these things, and the confidence to make the minor corrections, unrushed, unhurried, while a part of me works on the bigger problem, how to get the bike around the guy in front of me. The main part of my attention’s on the small stuff, and there’s all the time in the world to make decisions about managing the race.
How did I suddenly get here?
I worked on my forks between March and April, replacing the oil. The manual said about 470ml a leg… I got 480 from both, together. Increased oil height in the fork tube acts like a rising-rate spring, as the tube compresses under braking, it squishes the air remaining in the leg. As it gets close to bottoming, the air acts like a spring, becoming quickly stiffer to resist the bottoming, but not really being a factor before that point. With my too-low level, I would expect the forks to bottom quickly under heavy braking. This is exactly what I experienced!
With the forks compressed under hard braking, every bump and ripple on the track surface is transmitted to the frame, without a cushion to absorb it. This translates into the rear wheel hopping and skipping, side-to-side. Not exactly the way you want the bike to be before tipping into a corner!
Since the bike wouldn’t be composed under braking, I had to brake earlier and lighter to compensate, and that led to being passed, or not closing close enough to pass in tight technical sections of whatever track I was on. Very frustrating… and my laptimes seemed mired in a plateau.
So, I did something about it, and replaced the fork fluid. I also set the oil height correctly, and replaced one of my fork springs, raising the spring rate slightly to help combat the bottoming issue.
What else happened? I’ve lost a few pounds, on a diet. I’m on a crusade to be size 34 waist by Christmas. To do this, I’ve had to commit to a 1400-cal-a-day diet (basal rate is about 3900 cal). That deficit should equate to about .22 lb/day weight loss.
It means I can’t drink alcohol and meet the goal. So, no drinking on Saturday night after race practice, which in turn, means a really restful night’s sleep. Who’da thunk it?
Saturday, in practice, the bike felt great. Composed, solid, planted, all good steady words. Predictable, and confidence-inspiring would be good words, too.
But I wasn’t using all the fork travel. I was turning the same times I’d ever turned in races, but in practice – which is usually good for being a second slower than your race laps. I had a lot of confidence in the coming races… still, I wasn’t using all the fork travel. I took a mm of preload out, and the bike felt even better a little lower on its nose.
Too much oil height? Naw… if the bike is behaving, try braking later. And harder.
Wow. The concept had me giddy, but it was time to change out the tires for new rubber, and there was no time on Saturday to experiment further.
Sunday dawned, finally. I woke up, really excited to get to the track, but it was a strange excitement – I was eager, but in no hurry. I mean it. Scuba Dave even mentioned something about it later, on the ride home: we had all the time in the world Sunday morning, and we were completely unstressed after breakfast. We arrived at the track in great time and in great style.
The first practice session arrived, and I took a click of compression damping from the front end. That’s the total adjustment I’ve made now – one turn of preload out, and one click (one quarter turn) of compression out. I ran quickly – but there was no beacon out, so I have no idea what laptimes I ran. But it felt great, even in the morning coolness.
My first race was ULSS (Unlimited displacement super-stock). The flag goes up, and I’m fifth into the hole (turn one). A good launch, but I can make it better… and I quickly motor around 4th place in the carusel turn, and get behind third place.
The four of us in the lead quickly pulled away from the rest of the field. I’m giddy because I’m in the lead pack and no one is getting away… I tried like heck to pass Ken Skripkar, but he’s not having any… he gets by Jim Wolkens, and I’m on the exact same machinery as Wolkens, and can’t quite find a way around him. For that race, I’m in fourth. I wasn’t quite frustrated yet…
After the race, I see I’ve run 1:15.4, and I’m not thrilled. I really thought I’d do better as good as the bike was feeling. In Timing and Scoring, Jim and Adam Rogers see me there – Adam won the race, with a 1:13.9 fastest lap somewhere during the race, and Adam tells me not to worry, I’ll hit 13’s soon.
Prophetic words.
The second race is Formula-40 (old-geezers, only requirement is you’re over 40 at time of entry). Last month, this race had a bad crash that took Tom Savoca’s leg and laid it open like a sharkbite. (Tom’s fine, but mad he’s missing races while he heals.) Yecch… This time, I get a clean launch, and I’m fourth into turn one, behind Tom McFarland and Jeff Smith, and Greg Talbot. Talbot, last month, was showing off and passed me sideways, the back wheel locked up, on my old bike (my old 636). This month, I just let go the brake handle and passed him into turn 3 off the back straight, and never saw him again in the race.
McFarland had some difficulty with the kink (turn 1) in the third lap and runs off, and then tries to reenter the course as I’m coming around the carusel at 97 MPH. Tom missed me, but barely, and the race is redflagged as they clean up the mess (gravel) that ensued when Greg and Ken Skripgar bail off the racetrack to avoid McFarland.
On the restart, I’m second behind Jeff Smith, and I am working to keep him in sight – but the race ends with him about ½ the racetrack ahead of me.
As I pull my helmet off, Troy Gammill tells me I’ve run 13.9’s in that race and finished second.
It hasn’t sunk in yet, after lunchtime. I’m full of energy (Monster energy drink…) and ready to go. The next race is Formula Arroyo, ULGP (Grand Prix, a purse-paying class).
The flag goes up, and I get a good launch. I’m chasing Jim Wolkens again, and Adam Rogers outbrakes me into T3, but flubs the corner. I get by Wolkens a moment or two later, leaving the carusel, and a redflag is thrown for a crash (Rob Richie) in the busstop.
On the restart, I grab another good launch, and am again following Wolkens when the race is stopped again, for another crash in the bus stop.
Once more, we restart, and the same thing – me, Adam, Jim, and the race is stopped for a crash in the horseshoe turn. On the restart, Jim had forgotten he turned the bike off in second gear – and I stole the holeshot – the race goes to the ready. Adam is a few seconds behind me, and I’m feeling really good, but a little out of synch in the esses. For some reason I target fixate on the edge of the track leaving the 111 turn, and let Adam by as I’m trying to get back on… giving Adam the lead and first place, plus $30 difference in tire money and $50 in the payout for the class.
I’m such an idiot.
I got back on the track, and lay down some scorching 13.4’s to get back in sight of Adam, but no dice. Finished second.
Last race. ULSB. I get a great launch, but Jim Wolkens’ is better. I show him a wheel into turn 3, and then follow him for another lap. Jim’s been braking early for the kink (turn 1) and I get up inside him and show him a wheel there. I keep the pressure on him, drafting him on the straight, and getting inside him on T3 again, and again on the busstop. I let him open up a little in the Yucca turn so I can then set up to drive into the horseshoe, and show him a wheel AGAIN in that corner. I back off for the kink this time, planning to drive by him on the outlet of the carusel, but Jim runs off the track in the kink, and JUST LIKE MCFARLAND, throws his bike at me trying to get back on the track.
Jim’s aim is better. This was way closer. I made it through the gravel and dust, ducking Jim’s helmet, and, no surprise, meet a red flag at the 111 turn.
On the restart I launch well, and lead the rest of the race for my first Arroyo Seco victory. It was really nice that my friends in the corner stations knew I was winning my first race here and clapped for me as I went by. The starter congratulated me personally, and honestly, it was a really nice moment.
I gotta say, I’ve seldom ever felt so in control, so at ease on a motorcycle as I did last weekend. Seldom have I felt that good off a motorcycle, either.
At the awards ceremony, I was a bit choked up, but it felt good, too. I told everyone I was going to keep eating salad until Christmastime if losing weight helped that much in a race.
March 8-9, ASMA, Arroyo Seco Raceway
Unusual for me, my first race of the day was my best, and even more unusual, the first race of the ASMA season, after not having been on the track for a long time (November 11 last year), was a good and fast one. Even though it's not my favorite direction, anti-clockwise was good to me this time.
I ran 1:15's in the first race, Unlimited Superstock (ULSS), which made me pretty happy. I don't remember Ken S getting by me, but he did, and so I took fourth (thought I'd passed Jim W for third). That was a great pass... I'm smiling as I type this. On the brakes, tucked under the inside of the Yucca corner, I let go of the brake sooner than he did, and on the gas faster, and bye-bye Jim.
Second race was star-crossed. Formula 40 (unlimited displacement, unlimited mods, racers aged 40 and older) should be a pretty sedate race, really, clean, lots of experience and wisdom triumphing over aggression. I was 3rd in the grid, slot 1C, and held the position in the launch. Tom Savoca passed me as we got close to Turn 1, and I was just slotting in behind him and Jeff Smith when I felt my back tire give a lurch. Immediately, I knew what had happened (a racer hit my tire with his front tire), and looked to my outside for an escape, but saw another racer's head and upper torso sliding past me there. Look inside (to the left), and watched a bike, spinning on it's side, careen five feet past me and take out Savoca like a bowling ball. With nowhere to go, I rode straight off the track, into the desert, safely. I turned around, and immediately signaled for the redflag, as I could see inside Tom's thigh... Tom's one hell of a tough dude, but I could see he'd need a bunch of medical attention. The race was restarted after they flew him to El Paso (he'll be fine, it was mostly soft-tissue/fatty damage, not muscle). In the now-shortened (7 laps was too many to fit all the other races remaining into the remaining daylight, so we did 5) race, I got passed on the last lap by Greg T, who wanted to show off, since he was riding my old ZX-6R. I think he clenched a little seat-leather with his sphincter on that pass, as he entered the corner sideways... Finished 4th.
Third race was F-Am (Unlimited Gran Prix/ULGP). This is usually a long race, but today was 8 laps, I think... we didn't make all of them. The weather had changed to be a lot colder, and rain was falling around us, rendering track and tires cold. My bike didn't like the cold... it would miss randomly between 10,000 and 10,700 RPM, and I kept moving backwards on the straights (giving up ground). We think it's the kickstand safety interlock, and I'll be yanking the part out of my bike tonight. Nonetheless, I got passed by three riders driving out of one corner, and mercifully for me (but not for the rider involved), Stacy S (a guy) broke his collarbone, ending the race. I only finished four laps in this race, and got, maybe, 5 points in the class.
Don't get the idea that there's tons of crashes in a raceday. This was really unusual.
My last race was Unlimited Superbike (ULSB), and I gave it heck. Okay, maybe I gave it a mild curse. It was cold, I was tired, and I ran only well enough (with the bike misfiring) for fifth place.
Not a stellar weekend, but not a bad start.
Jan 12-13, WERA West, California Speedway
A good "scrub the rust off" weekend. This was the first time I'd been on the track since November '07. This race typically draws a lot of top club-racers and semi-pros, and one or two genuine pros. Most of the semi-pros are here to get noticed, and try to get a ride for the new season.
The track is moderately technical, very safe, and tons of speed. There's a couple of sections with some nasty pavement, and there is literally no place on the track to rest and catch your breath - even the banking is work. The ZX-10R is a lot stronger at the lower elevation than I expected, and at one point when I got tired, instead of short-shifting to fourth, I left it in third, and hit this rough pavement on the 10/11 kink - and promptly wheelied, wind at my back, at ~120 MPH. Right off the track... getting back on, the cones left a hell of a bruise on my knee, and I gave up two places in the race.
A Superstock was okay, I think I finished 13th.
A Superbike was a little more okay, I finished 9th.
SR HW Superbike, "Formula Old Guy", I happened to have the first fully-operational motorcycle to cross the finish line. A win is a win.