2 Wheels Craziness

Trackdays

I decided since I had an almost-brand-new, race-ready RR, I needed to do some serious track time, and spent $1000+ on different tracks and courses.


The first trackday was a disaster, in the sense of extremely bad weather, many forgotten items (including racing boots), and no saddle time at all. Thanks to the bad weather and so many other riders crashing, I didn´t feel too bad about not riding, but it´s no fun to flush 250 euro down the toilet.


The next trackday started lousy. Wet weather, little confidence, and a low-sider to top it off. After the failed brake test and this latest lowsider, I decided I didn´t trust the tires anymore and mounted BT-002´s. The rider next to our booth laughed about it: "you crash, and as a result you mount racing rubber. Now that's the spirit"!

The rest of the weekend went terrific. I gradually got to know the track layout, gained confidence and speed. By the last run of the first day, my knee was skraping again. That was such a relief! Next day was a lot more relaxed, and we got oodles of tracktime because of the relatively low number of riders. I was faster than some guys (and gals), but slower than most, even in the rookie group. But I was having fun in the fast sections, and at least I didn't pucker up in the slow sections. At the end of the day, an instructor followed me on his bike, with my camera strapped on his tank.

The weekend hadn't been as good to my ex-colleague and friend, who's battery decided to die on Sunday, but I went home tired and satisfied.

posted by bahuman @ 5:32 AM 0 comments

Catch-up

The entire winter was a matter of trying to get used to the bike, and wondering why it didn´t go as smoothly as I wanted. Slowly, though, I was gaining a little confidence. Enough confidence to try some slow-speed manoevring on an empty parking lot, and -why not- do a brake test. Of course, I had to try and brake harder and harder, until finally ... the front tire gave way. Doh! Nothing major, except my hard-won confidence was all down the drain again.

So the bike had to go to the repair shop anyway (even if I continued to ride it for a while, because there was nothing really seriously wrong with it), and I asked the mechanic to also check out the geometry of the bike. Hey, if I can blame something other than myself for my lack of confidence, I won´t pass the chance!



Next day I plan to quickly ride my bike home, store it, and start on all my other plans for the day (responsible things like cleaning, shopping, polite visits, ...) but on the ride home, the bike felt absolutely fabulous and I was enjoying myself so much, I immediately ditched all other plans and I have been riding for the entire afternoon. It feels like I got a completely new bike for the small cost of a suspension setup! Woohoo!

Since my vest was torn up after this minor crash, I also had to buy myself some new gear. I started with a new vest to zip onto my pants, but they didn't fit as snugly as I would've liked (especially on the track). Fortunately, I've found this wonderful 1 piece perforated leather suit on eBay! And to top it all off, I also got myself a new helmet with a color scheme to match my bike: red and black. Gotta look fast AND good! :-)

posted by bahuman @ 5:23 AM 0 comments