Track Report: Jefferson Circuit, 7-9-2006

[Ginger]

Somewhere just after 3am: We finish loading the truck.



Poor preparation? Maybe, no big deal. G's bike prep took a lot longer than we figured. It's alright, though, we'd both slept a lot all week and can pull off a good day on a few hours shuteye.

5:50am: Something makes a very loud noise. It's annoying.

5:56am: Beej's twin brother is the first thing I see when I open my eyes. The noise is my alarm clock.

Oops.

5:57am: The alarm is off. I am awake.

5:58am: I am asleep.

6:10am: G comes upstairs, I am awake again. I think we're supposed to be leaving.

6:30am: We're leaving. The drive is long and I am tired.



7:30am: We're still driving.

8:00am: Quick stop for a McBreakfast.

8:25am, or something like that: Arrival and check in. We didn't miss the all hands meeting, thank goodness.



8:28am: Unpack the truck. Kind of.



8:30am: All Hands Meeting. Summary: We are only running two groups - intermediate and advanced. Intermediate riders don't suck. Advanced riders suck less. Sessions will be 30 minutes. Intermediate riders will ride on the hour, advanced on the half. This is cool. We will ride pit left, clockwise. Don't be a jackass.

8:31am: I ponder the jackass comment. Was this aimed at me? The guys running this thing haven't met me. Did RJ talk to them before hand? I'll kill him.

8:38am: Unpack some more. Roll the bikes to tech.

8:45am: We both pass tech. I can relax.

I worry a lot. Things that could end my day quickly make me really worry. I brought over half the tools I own, there are a lot of tools in our paddock. We don't have to use them this early in the day - again, thank goodness. Since tech is over I can relax, what I saw as the biggest hurdle is completed.

8:50am: Are we going to actually run the first sesson at 9? Shit. Our paddock resembles a jigsaw puzzle. I am puzzled. Where's my helmet?

8:55am: The bikes are warming up. I'm warming up - it's hot in leather. Gerald and I wait for the grid to fill because this will be the first day in Intermediate for both of us: on a track we've never ridden.

9:00am: Grid.

9:06am: still gridded. Still warm, and now sweating.

9:07am: And we're off. I ended up gridding into the first column on track, this places me squarely mid-pack, I am disappointed but there's nothing I can do. Gerald gridded in the second column and is one of the last men to enter the track.

9:07:36am: D A M N. This is slippery. My mind is racing. I vaugely remember thinking not to being the guy that crashes on the sighting lap.

9:08:03am: Somebody becomes "that guy" and waving yellows are followed by a standing red. The control rider is past the pits already so we continue at parade pace around the rest of the track.

I hope not to see Gerald on the ground.

9:08:59am: I see Gerald on the ground.

9:09:22am: I feel sick. We grid again. Gerald was standing, I recall. I think of 100 different possible outcomes for this situation, this makes me dizzy.

9:09:29am: I feel sick and dizzy.

The crash truck goes out to retrieve Gerald and his motorcycle. A few minutes later it reappears, leather-suit clad rider atop. The ambulance is parked. Gerald is OK, I don't feel sick anymore.

9:15am: Back on track. And not half bad. Jefferson is a very technical circuit and it will obviously be very physically demanding. The whole group really pussyfooted through the remaining 15 minutes of the session as everybody got their bearings straight and heads cleared.

My head is clear and I am focused.



9:28am: Pit In.

9:30am: Advanced goes out and I start looking at Gerald's bike. (He can tell his own story.. I've ruined a lot of it already). RJ showed up while I was out on track - it's nice to see another familiar face.



10:00am: Back on track and it's go time.



10:05am: I am not Valentino Rossi. What the fuck?

10:10am: I've blown nearly every apex on nearly every lap and I've missed almost all my downshits. This sucks.

10:15am: I pull in early.

10:16am: I consider going home.

10:17am: Aaron shows up. THe MM support train is in full swing and it's great to have everybody around. I'm ready to put on quite a show, too. I briefly consider what buying the farm would look like to them from the paddock. This is probably not good thinking.

I don't remember what time Channing came over. Kaan came shortly after. So did Matt. It might have been 11:15... they came, though, and it was awesome. Matt even took the time to hunt down a Dremel for us - MM really is the greatest club out there.

10:40am: I find and instructor and ask for advice. Dave, if I remember his name correctly, is my own personal jesus christ for the day. I feel sorry for him. He asks where I'm having trouble and I turn red. "Everywhere." He asks if I have any other problems. I wonder if "completely sucking" is an appropriate answer. I decide it isn't and stammer on about my shifting.

The verdict pronouned upon my left foot is that my left hand is the problem. Proper braking will no longer involve the clutch. The new sequence will be:

Go really fast, brake really hard, stomp on the shifter. It will shift. He says.

I am skeptic.

As time for the next intermediate session approaches and I need to re-suit my instructor tells me he will find me during the next session.

11:00am: Excitement gets the better of me and I forget to find the instructor before grid.

A minute into the session and a highway traffic safety vest catches my eye, it's Dave tailing me. I am nervous and my lines begin to stray from wrong to "spaghetti." After a few laps of this most certainly comedic display he passes me and turns into T3, an uphill right. He looks back to make sure I caught his wheel and we bank right for the first apex of Bus Stop.



*pause*

Night and day. Things are already starting to connect in my head.

*resume*



Dave walks me through a great many laps and I really feel like I've been handed a giant bottle of GoFast. The track made sense. The lactic acid building up in my right knee made itself known, too.

11:31am: Back in the pits I remember that I had shifting problems.

Wow.

Funny how the guy with lots of experience was right! I hunt Dave down and tell him that he saved my day. I picked up huge amounts of speed everywhere and my shifting problem was completely gone. I'm releived to finally be able to concentrate on my form and consistency like I had come to do.

Next session would be lunch so I made my way over to the Main paddock. WOW - our presence is huge! I see guys I know at a lot of the flag stations and come to find out we're all over the paddock! This is great!

I head back to Jefferson to get ready for post lunch riding. I'm a little worried that I'll have to re-achieve my pre-lunch progress. My fears, though, are quickly hushed, and most of the afternoon saw me calling sessions quits after 20 minutes, steadily progressing with every outing. I could probably handle 30 minutes at a time on Summit Main, or something else larger where you can get a break on the straights, but not Jefferson. After turn 3 there is a short uphill straight followed by a 2 apex right hander - I wouldn't even get back on the seat... to just leave everything strung off on the right was easier.

After the 2nd post lunch session I was able to reel in my first target, a rider on an '06 R6 who had been quicker than me in a straight line all day. He would bottleneck me through the turn 3 and bus stop, but get a much better drive out of the final left hander onto the front straight. I would bring him in on the brakes to turn 1 where I was getting strong and stronger all afternoon... only to have him pull away on the Turn 2 chink left. I made a smooth pass on his inside during track out of 3 and that was the last time I had to worry.

During the third after lunch session I managed to pull in the 2 guys who were giving me the most trouble all day - a first gen R1 pilot and his buddy on a yellow 600RR. They were both very tough to catch but once I had made it by my ability seemed to take a giant leap foreward. To say my day was going was well an understatement.



Red Mist eventually took over and I was determined to go very, very fast. And I was. I felt very strong and I was consistent enough that I was able to abjust my shift points and judge my progress by track-out RPM. Turn 1 was hero-zone I dragged just about everything you can drag short of the exhaust pipe through that turn... toes, knee, peg, fairing. It forced good form just to keep things off the ground.



To cut to the chase, though, during my self-goverened last session I laid the bike down halfway through third gear. The track was practically empty, with everybody exhausted, and I was really enjoying the free space. Careful, though, not to overcook things, as I remembered from my previous session that I was starting to make small mistakes which saw the bike sliding around a little bit. Any sign of fatigue and I was coming right in.

*black flag*

"WTF?" I thought. Riders had been down all day, not a single black flag. I was one of the few guys out there at all, I couldn't have done something dangerous to another rider. What was this all about? I look to my left and see that I haven't passed the pits yet. Strong on the front binder and I start to push left to hopefully pit in for this mystery catastrophe.

*BANG*

"Whatever is sparking down there is going to cost a lot to fix.... fix, I hope my health care is fixed. Fuck."

*flip to stomach*

"So how much longer does this last?" I slide to s top, and run off track, hands in the air, thumbs up. I am OK. Somebody in a vest starts to run towards me. It's my Dad.

Hi Dad! Every parents worst nightmare to roll up to the track to see their son sliding to a stop from three digit speeds? Probably. But at least he can't talk too much


Great. Wonderful timing. He shows up to see my crash. He starts to run across grid and I yell at him - loudly. The track is still hot and all I can remember is the 5 or 6 guys that all got hit trying to help a downed rider at Dayton early in the year.

When I pushed the bike left I was still 100% on the front brake - there was almost no rear tire contact, so it just came around on me. Really bad decision on my part, I know. I was about halfway through my progression to 4th gear, so I estimate I was doing about 110-115mph. My whole body works, though, and the damage amounted to slightly uglier plastics and a clutch lever (which I had a spare for). My leathers are all still great, save for my blingy gloves, which did their job to perfection. No holes at all. This is amazing - they were planted on the ground trying to slow me down the entire time. I know this not because I recall it, but because I have a mild burn on my left palm from all the heat.

(post crash)


All is well that ends well, though. I called my day over then since it was close to go-home time, anyways and my Dad, Gerald, RJ, and I all went over to the Main carousel to watch Evan slap around the SM's.

All in all this was a TERRIFIC day for me and I don't regret going one single bit. I don't think I would take back the crash because it taught me a lot of valuable lessons: don't do anything urgently - do it decisively and quickly, but planned. I should have raised my hand and taken a slow lap around. Live and learn, though, and I hope to see more MM^2 at the next event


Brian showed up to say Hi on his new RSV Mille - it sound amazing.



A HUGE thanks to Gerald for trucking us there and sticking it out with me all day. I was really glad for the company and support (and the pictures)! We'll do it again and get it right.

Also thank you to everybody that stopped by - it was great to see everybody and know that we weren't forgotton over on the little track. It's good to hear that everybody had an outstanding time at Hypefest, too!

Here's to the next one!
Cheers!

[Evan]

nicely written!
I didnt know you went down, sucks, but it sounds like you learned something from it and didnt hurt the bike or yourself too bad.

[Maengelito]

He asks where I'm having trouble and I turn red.

you were red well before you started tracking your bike

[Sijray21]

awesome write-up!

i'd definitely like to come out and watch you guys sometime. Still unsure about tracking the bike, but i would definitely like to come and watch.

[.paul]

niec write up.

jefferson IMHO is an awseome track to get your feet wet. it is really slick in the morning, but once after the first few sessions, its a great lil track to work on everything.

glad you two are okay after the spill, crashing is never fun. at least both your bikes are okay, and you didn't crash your helmet like I did. that's just an annoying replacement.

You all should sign up August 13th through nesba, so we can roll down deep

deffly keep me posted on your next track day, im there for sure.

[Dragon]

(post crash)

You sure you crashed, cause the bike looks just as banged up as it did before. J/K man.

Sounds like you had an awesome time. I'm still debating whether to do my first one in August or September, the finances will have final say.

[ScottyB]

that was a great read. glad you guys had a good time and not too much carnage went down 8)

[Sijray21]

just curious, why do you cover the brake light?

[Apoc]

Somewhere just after 3am: We finish loading the truck.

Poor preparation? Maybe, no big deal. G's bike prep took a lot longer than we figured. It's alright, though, we'd both slept a lot all week and can pull off a good day on a few hours shuteye.

...and you both went down, coincidence?

I didn't nearly enough sleep at BeaveRun a month ago and you can most definitely see a difference in my Saturday and Sunday lap times. Don't underestimate sleep.

Good to hear things weren't as bad as they could have been.

P.S. - Where's my honorable mention fucker?

[Feersty]

Good write up mang. Sorry about going down fellas.

[.RJ]

Don't underestimate sleep.

Dont underestimate Gerald's complete lack of preparation.

[Apoc]

Don't underestimate sleep.

Dont underestimate Gerald's complete lack of preparation.

I don't think that's possible.

[Kaan]

Look how long he's been prepping the GSR... come on guys... he takes his time so he can do it right!

[.RJ]

I don't think that's possible.

Well, I realized a long time ago that wrenching on the car at 3am when you should be at the track in a tent sleeping is not worth it at all.

My car was finished and the truck loaded on tuesday before this weekend and all I had to do friday morning was get in my truck and drive there.

[PDenbigh]

Nice writeup Andrew! Sorry to hear you went down but it does come with the territory. Just makes you a better rider!

Godo writeup and narration though, fun to read. Sorry I didn't make it over to see you guys. I really wanted to show my support but my car and it's demands had other ideas...

Pete

[Ginger]

I heard about your day, Pete, and it sure sounds a little stressful! When I came over to Main you were busy like a man posessed, no need to apologize for that!

Here's your honorable mention, Chris: Chris came over and was really nice! It was kind of frightening. No sister jokes, no lookng like a fag comments, just really nice and supportive to see us out there. Thanks!

All that said, I'm not sure if my sleep contributed to my crash or not. My first mistake was knowing what was behind me - the track organizers explicitly ask you to pull your mirrorss and NOT look behind you, it decreases your focus and it's not your job to let the guy behind you pull off a clean pass. I knew the track was empty behind me, which encouraged me to make mistake #2. Going for the pits right away - you shouldn't make super quick reactions to flaggers because, in addition to what happened to me, you could upset the riders that could be behind you. I got scolded for both problems but I'm glad I did. I didn't even think about those things when I was on track, I competlely forgot... you can sure bet I won't forget again. I was starting to make little mistakes late in each session, the kind that could pile up and make really bad things happen at the speeds I was carrying and I was well aware that I wasn't prepared to deal with them at my sleep and fatigue levels. so, I would consistently pull in when I'd run a curb, blow an apex, or something of that nature.

I'll be as NESBA in August. My bike will need a front fender for them, so I'll have to locate one, and I'd like to get my static sag set before then. Maybe I'll wax the bike?

Matt, I'm not sure when you'll be ready to track your bike. I think that's completely up to you and your comfort level. I was about 9 months into my riding during my first track day last year. If you do decide to run NESBA with us, though, I'll give you a hand coming up to speed.

That's all! Stick a fork in me, I'm done! The ride home from Gerald's house was downright boring on Sunday night. I have this kind of disgusting craving to go back out on track now.... moto-rot has set in.

Oh, and the tape on the brake light. I could have put clear tape over it so it would still light up, but I read somewhere that it's more polite to cover it up to let other riders find their own braking points... so on the tape went.

[BLINGMW]

haha you guys both suck :lol: Glad no-one was hurt, looks like there's plenty to learn! :wink:

[SameeRR]

awesomest. write-up. ever.

I just talked to gerald on the phone. His ass wants to ride to work tomorrow.

[Ginger]

Wow - Speaking of Gerald, I'm sure he's got something to say.

[Evan]

Wow - Speaking of Gerald, I'm sure he's got something to say.

its a secret!