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Marc goes racing... (long)



...if you call what I did racing...

After five years of getting hassled by Scott Fabbro, who races and
announces at Willow Springs, I decided this summer to go racing.

I took two Ascots (one running) and started working to build a racebike out
of them with the intent of getting at least one or two races in during the
2000 season; of course they're nowhere near ready.

But a co-worker, Steve Morrison, had a spare racebike he's been trying to
sell ('97 GSXR600, race prepped with extras, asking $4500, email me for
more info) and in return for putting a "For Sale" sign on it in the pits,
loaned it to me. A _bit_ different than the Ascot, or the Sprint, for that
matter...

So off I go on Friday to finally use the Fastrack certificate I bought two
years ago. I dawdle around the track, figuring out how to ride the bike (no
torque, weird ergonomics...the tank is incredibly wide and the pegs are
really high, so the ways I move around on the Speed Triple or ST flat don't
work...and, really fast) and where the turns are.

I spend most of the day getting lost in Turn Eight (for those who don't now
Willow...long sweeper at the end of a straight that bends left, opens
slightly, bends again, then at Turn Nine gets tight quickly. Not many
landmarks, so if you're lost, you're never sure when the tight part is
coming...).

A pat on the head from Tom Sera (runs Fastrack) and I'm off to New Racer
School on Saturday.

My major problem is that I'm still riding like I'm on the street. I assume
I need to be able to move the bike around at the corner exit (i.e. change
lines substantially) and so am keeping my cornering speeds 5 - 10% below
where they need to be. I struggled all weekend with this mindset issue.

New racer school is more of the same. I'm learning my way around the track
(except for 8 - 9) pretty well ,and starting to more more quickly (the bike
that go by me no longer make a "woosh" sound), but I'm still definitely in
the slow group.

Danny Farnsworth takes six of us aside and explains that we're all over two
minutes per lap, and that we need to get under to pass (reference: hot
racers turn times under 1:30). I started at 2:12 in the first session, got
down to 2:02 in the second. 

I look at him and ask (seriously) "So I should get into sixth on the back
straight then?" I haven't had a look of such total dismay in some time...he
just turned and walked away.

I used sixth in the next session (more street habits...why bother going
fast on the straight parts?) and got down to 1:52, hence getting my
license.

The clutch on the bike is slipping (yes, it needs a clutch), so I skip the
starting practice....I ride in L.A., traffic, and moving quickly off the
line isn't something I need to practice...

At this point, the issues I have are all mindset problems; I have such a
strong set of rules built into my riding to ride safely on the street that
it's hard for me to defeat them and ride at a race pace.

This weekend was my 14-yo son's (Luc's) birthday, and he had asked to take
three friends to Magic Mountain...which is kind of near Willow...so we made
plans for Grace and my brother Greg to come up with them, spend the day
Saturday at the amusement park, then we'd all hang out Saturday night.
Grace would come watch me race, Greg would take the boys back.

Memo to self: never get a hotel room next to one occupied by four 14 year
old boys the night before you race.

By the time they fell asleep at about 3:00 (ask me how I knew...) I managed
to nod off quickly, then up early and off to the track.

Tech at 7:30; skip the first practice session (track, brain, bike all
cold), eat something, suit up for the second practice session.

I'd pitted with Tim, another new racer from Scotts Valley (near Santa
Cruz), who was notably faster than me with his aged FZR600 (in my defense,
he'd just gone to Freddie Spencer and had a history of racing at home in
Alaska (!!)). Really nice guy...

...we go out for the practice session, and I'm starting to feel pretty
good. I actually stick to someone's tailsection through 3, 4 and 5; I don't
get lost in 8 and 9 (half the time, anyway), then they throw an ambulance
flag and a waving yellow...and as I exit 8, I see Tim standing over his
bike. 

He's standing, right? How bad can it be?

After the session, I pull in, drop my leathers, and go out to meet the
crash truck.

It's bad. He's fine (helmet dinged, seams on his AGV leathers blown), but
the bike is a total...the whole front end is gone, rear subframe bent, etc.
etc. etc.

As he explained it, he got lost in the turn, came up to 9 faster than he
was comfy, touched the front brake, and started playing amateur geologist.

Memo to self: don't touch the front brake in 9.

Grace and Cowboy show up; I see Steve and Gayathri as well as the other
racing Steve (Stevey Racer); Russ and Jane appear; Victoria and Rebecca
show up, and we hang out watch the fun races. 

I've already put gas and oil in the bike and adjusted the clutch. What else
do I need to do??

Racetime approaches, and I set four goals:

1. Finish
2. Don't chop the throttle (or worse, hit the brakes) going into 2 -- a
hard one for me
3. Do 8 and 9 right
4. Do 5 right

I spend a few minutes, mostly visualizing 8 and 9, and it's racetime.

Grace and the crew have driven up to Turn 4, so I suit up, get the bike off
the stand, and think. "DId I check the tire pressures??"

So I pull into the Dunlop stand and ask the guy to set the tires for me. He
does, I check the pressures that he'd set up (30 and 28) and off to
pregrid.

We do a warmup lap, and everything feels fine, grid up, and ... we're off.

And as I start turning the bike into 1, it goes incredibly wide...my only
"hmmm" moment of the day. I was convinced that I was headed off-track, and
just yanked the bike over and then back across for 2, and I'm chasing the
group up the hill.

Memo to self: don't change critical settings (like tire pressure) right
before a race.

Around we go, and as I come back, they throw a red flag and stop the race.

I stop, then look around and realize that I'm in the impact zone on 2 and
move forward about 100 yards to the exit and stop there.

They advance us under red and yellow, and I take my place at the grid
again.

Then get told to go to the back because I'd broken the red.

I start to ask why, and realize this isn't the time to discuss this. Paddle
to the back of the grid..which means I'm going off with the second group,
who is starting behind my group. Oh, well...

Then someone comes up and tells me to go back up to my place on the grid.
Back up I go.

Then they tell me to go to the back of the first group, so back I go. At
this point I'm totally confused, raise my shield, and start yelling "First
or Second Group?? First or Second Group??" I'm looking at the starter, who
has started the start procedure, and hold up and then two fingers and then
shrug. He points at me and holds up one finger, and then throws the flag
and we're off.

I start chasing people and immediately run into my own comfort limitation.
One guy slowly passes me in 2 and I start to go after him (yes, I know
that's what you're supposed to do in racing) but think better of it and
back off. One interesting point is that I kept myself riding at a level
where I got to make those kind of conscious decisions...on one hand, smart,
on the other, not going to get me fast very quickly. Hmmm. I'll take
smart...

So I ride around, past the other three crashers, and finish.

My very first race!!

Big fun, and some interesting lessons.

One question to folks with racetrack experience...I find that I have an
interesting interior (and often yelled inside the helmet) dialog going on
the whole time. One lap sounds like this:

(going into Turn One)
Downshift One...
Downshift Two!!
INSIDE INSIDE INSIDE
Throttle

(into Turn Two)
HAND OFF THE DAMN BRAKE
turn turn turn
just hanging around here, waiting for the corner exit

(into Turn Three)
Downshift One
THROW IT OVER
DON'T HIT THE RUMBLE STRIP YOU MORON
Straighten up

(into Turn Four)
Not Yet
Not Yet
NOW
I DON'T CARE IF YOU CAN'T SEE THE PAVEMENT, IT'S THERE!!
Upshift One

(into Turn Five)
Straighten up
BRAKE BRAKE BRAKE
Turn a little
NOT TOO MUCH NOT TOO MUCH
NOW LOTS
Upshift One

(into Turn Six)

Upshift One (yes...I am in sixth gear!!)
Whew!!

Head down, think small thoughts

(Into Turn Eight)

YOU DON'T HAVE TO SLOW DOWN YET
NOT YET
There's the first flag
One
Two
Three
Four
There's the Toyota Building
Where's the edge of the track?
WHERE'S THE EDGE OF THE TRACK?
OK, _there's_ the edge of the track.

(into turn Nine)
STAY OUT HERE, DON'T GO IN YET
NOT YET
NOT YET, DAMMIT
OK, Now!!
Downshift One
GO LEFT!!
MORE LEFT!! MORE!!
Whew!!
Upshift One...


and so on...

Mega thanks to Steve Morrison for the loan of the bike (did I mention that
it's for sale??); to Grace and the kids and my brother for putting up with
all the logistics; to Joe, Victoria, Rebecca, Steve M, Gayathri, and
SteveyRacer and all the other LABikers ... Fabbro made nice comments about
us over the PA (although he roasted my butt...). Learned a lot...


MarcD



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