Summit Point, Sportbike TrackTime, 6/13 - Printable Version +- Madison Motorsports (https://forum.mmsports.org) +-- Forum: Madison Motorsports (https://forum.mmsports.org/forumdisplay.php?fid=3) +--- Forum: Motorcycles (https://forum.mmsports.org/forumdisplay.php?fid=10) +--- Thread: Summit Point, Sportbike TrackTime, 6/13 (/showthread.php?tid=2412)

Summit Point, Sportbike TrackTime, 6/13 - Ginger - 06-20-2005 This is copy pasted from a report I wrote my my motorcycle forum, so don't mind not knowing who the people are. --------------------------------------- Before I get my report underway I really want to thank Ed and Rob. I rode to the track so I didn't have any nice amenities with me - they shared their shade, drinks, advice, and gas without hesitation (and I owe you big!). So a big thanks to you two, my day was about ten times better than it would have been without your help. I also want to say thanks Lizzie (Sharon?) for letting me use her spare straps and to kneedragger (Doug) for the lift home. You guys rock! So, on to the day. As a bunch of you already know, I was worried as all hell about passing tech inspection. And you'll all be as relieved as I was, I'm sure, to find out that I passed with only one or two strange looks. That was test one - and a bunch of weight off of my shoulders. This was my first track day ever - and it was amazing. STT put on a good show. Before we were let out on track we got a little bit of classroom instruction in a large group, and then an extra bit as novice riders. It was what I would call "the usual stuff." The Black Flag is bad, this is what yellow means, and all that. When we finally (and it DEFINITELY felt like it took forever) got on track I felt like I was riding a motorcycle for the first time all over again. I got in a couple spots behind the novice instructor and watched him for the entire first session - swapping my eyes between his bike and my track out zones most of the time. I was almost bored the first coulpe of laps. When the pace picked up a little, though, it was like everything operated on the bike differently than I was used to. The throttle seemed like it was much more sensitive than usual and the steering almost seemed darty. My brakes were so strong that I could have sworn somebody swapped Brembos on to the bike before the session.... that might also have been thanks to the flushing of the mud-style brake fluid. I decided that my next session would be run in one gear, just to remove one thing to think about (thanks to a SuperMoto guy in our group the instructor kept straight-line speed way down during the introdcutory sessions, making a one-gear lap a reasonable option). After a short classroom review in a very, very awesome air conditioned room we were being called out for session #2 and what would prove to be my day's big scare. I was behind Mr. SuperMoto again who had a top speed of about 84mph in a full tuck (this gets important in just a little bit). On lap 2 after coming off the front straight he leaned it over and got on the throttle with a bit too much vigor and spun up the rear tire. I expected him to buy the farm so I went farther to the inside to put as much space between us as possible. Go figure - he saved it and came right back on line. A wee bit later that same lap we were moto'ing down the 'back' straight behind the instructor (still under his supervision) and Mr. Supermoto bombs by me, nailing his brakes up and tucking in just behind our leader. I'm more than a little frustrated with the guy at this point as our pace is picking up and he's doing a lot of holding-up. Since we were in the novice group, though, and passing was discouraged I let it go. Good thing, too. I ground out a peg and almost low sided coming through the same turn that he lost it on the next lap (Turn 1). After that session the peg-feelers came off and I was set. Oh, and boy was the third session a charm. This was the last session before lunch and our last limited behind the Control Rider. We set out on our first lap and our pace was set noticeably higher than before - "this is going to be fun!" I thought to myself. Yeah... right up until that 84mph-top-speed guy passed me at half throttle down the back straight. Again. Those of you familiar with Summit Point know that the back straight puts you into turn 10 pretty quickly and sets you up for a good drive on to the main straight. Not wanting to be a football field away from the CR this time I opened the throttle as the SuperMoto rider went around me and left him way behind. Everything really came together for the rest of the session. My knee clicked down through turn 6 and I wasn't having the control issues that plauged me during the first go round. It was getting damn hot out, though, and lunch was a very welcome break. Post-food we were let out without having to stay behind our instructors and to really have some fun. I'm not sure about how everybody else felt, but I really hacked that session together and I'm surprised I didn't bin it.... the weather took a lot more out of me than I expected. When I pulled in I realized I'd put too much pressure on myself to keep-up the progress before lunch. Relaxing and having fun would be the order of the day for the final session. Rob joked with me about having done well enough to get my knee down through a bunch of the right handers but to try and do it through 5 - a very strange, and technical left hander: definitely the hardest of the track for me. As fate would have it I just concentrated on getting through that turn as best I could and *whack* my puck landed down almost every lap through that turn from then on. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't giddy after that. In that same session I ended up trading places with a fellow on a new ZX-10R... and that was really the most fun I had all day. He really helped me to pick up my pace and become more comfortable carrying speed. I thought the best part was having a 30mph slower main-straight speed and still reeling him in on the brakes (but that would be bragging, and I don't do that Wink) All in all, I had a blast and I can't wait to do it again. My tires are totally fried and I'm looking frantically for a camera to get some pictures of them. I'm exhausted, my head hurts, and I probably smell worse than my socks - but I've got a HUGE grin on my face. I'll definitely be doing this again. And seriously, Rob, Ed, Lizzie, Doug - thanks a ton! --------------------------- - - - - - JohnC - 06-20-2005 I hate you. Don't post shit like this - Ginger - 06-20-2005 Pictures fixed (now you HAVE to look at them, John!) - .RJ - 06-20-2005 stop it! - CaptainHenreh - 06-21-2005 Andrew, you have such a sweet-ass bike. A true forgotten classic. I love it. - ScottyB - 06-21-2005 awesome dude.