My VIR report
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I'd like to start off by giving a HUGE thanks to Derek for organizing this event, great job!!
Also a big thanks to Derek again and Gordon for sharing some of the driving to and from VIR!!
Another thanks to Derek, Gordon and Bryan for the good company and many laughs on the long trip to and from VIR...Yet another big thanks to you three for paying for all the gas, you guys didn't have to do that!!
I spent most of the day Saturday cleaning my truck and getting my bike ready to go. Last minute change of plans on my part had me leaving the R1 at home and taking the YZ450 motard. I was VERY happy I had that bike after a few laps around VIR...
Gordon was the first to arrive Saturday evening to load up and be ready to leave early Sunday morning. We got all his stuff loaded in short order and went in for get some sleep before the trip.
The convoy was leaving from my house early Sunday morning and all we had to do was load up Dereks and Bryans bikes and gear into the trailer. We were on our way within an hour or so after they arrived, we had 3 vehicles leaving, 9 people and towing 2 trailers.
There were no shortage of fuel stops, food stops and pee stops so it took us close to 14 hours to make the trip.
Everyone was pretty beat by the time we got to the hotel, checked in and got settle in. The plan was to go out and grab something to eat but we all decided pizza and beer would be best. We all thought someone was stalking the bikes that evening as there were a couple kids driving around slow and writing something down, turns out it was the pizza delivery car... haha
We wake up the next morning to the sounds of thunder and heavy rain. One look outside confirms it was pouring!!! After watching the weather forecast for the day, it "looked" like it was going to rain like hell all day so we were slow to get started.
The track was about 25 minutes away and it was pouring the whole way there, still raining hard when we got to the track as well. After hearing the calls for tech inspection and them confirming it was going to be a rainy day, we decided it was time to unload the bikes and gear. After being out in the rain unloading for about 5 minutes, the rain let up and shortly after you could see spots of blue sky in the distance. By the time everyone was done with tech and the riders meeting the sun had started to come out and dry things up. At that point we were starting to get a little more excited, and other than a few sprinkles during the day, that was the last of the rain for the daylight hours.
My first session the track was still wet with no dry line yet. The instructors kept the group in tune for a little follow the leader session. After a few laps the pace picked up a bit and the fun really started. The track was smooth as glass and little to no transitions (compared to Loudon) with some tight sections, elevation changes and some high speed sections...
We had a pretty much dry track for the rest of the day except for a wet area under the bridge and that area in 17a where the water was bubbling up a little.
I was pretty impressed with how well my motard was on this track. I was worried about the top speed and maybe being a hazard to faster bikes on the front straight but it was never an issue. I'm guessing the top speed was about 115 or so.
By the third or forth session I started to take advantage of the time I was there because I was just having to much fun. I started doing double sessions.. opps... When my session was over I would come in, gas up and go back out in the next session with a 4 or 5 minute break. That probably explains why I used 5 gallons of race fuel in a motard that day... haha
I had some fun with the instructor on the DRZ motard, he followed me around for a couple laps, then I followed him for a couple. I probably learned the most at this time seeing his lines on a similar bike. Seeing how much more speed I could carry and how much later I could brake was pretty cool and helpful.
I was exhausted by the end of the day and I thought I had totally abused the bike in every way it wasn't designed to be run. Every time down the straight, I was just waiting for the thing to blow up but it held up. What a great day though, everyone was smiling and laughing at the end of the day and a fun time was had by everyone by the looks of things.
By the time we got back to the hotel and got ready to go grab a bite to eat, it was close to 8pm. A good size group of us went out to eat at a steak house just up the road from the hotel. A lot of laughs and stories from the day were told while we all enjoyed our food and a few drinks. Highsider picked up the tab for the whole table and I'd like to offer a huge thanks for that, totally uncalled for but a very nice thing to do...
It rained again overnight and the track was again damp to start. It didn't take to long to get a fully dry track though and by the second session, it was pretty dry.
I figured I'd do one session to warm things up, then come in to give my bike a badly needed oil change. I ended up helping Highsider fix the EXUP valve on his R1 and had to skip the oil change until the next session. The servo motor on the EXUP wasn't working properly so the valve wasn't opening and closing when it was supposed to, all I did was remove the cables from the servo and the valve and safety wired the valve open.. seemed to work good judging by the smile on his face after he rode it.
Yeah, I ended up changing the oil in my bike, it was only one day old but looked like it had been in there for an entire race season. I probably took a lot of time off the life of that poor motor revving that high RPMs for such a long time but oh well...
I did a little more group switching on Tuesday but was pretty burnt out from having so much fun on Monday, I didn't have the energy to do double sessions again. I switched bikes for a session with Highsider so I could see what it was like riding a big bike around that track. I think he had much more fun than I did for sure, I thought I was going to have to fight to get my bike back.. haha The R1 felt great and it was nice having a bit (quite a bit) more power but at that point after riding a 220 lb bike for both days, I sure felt the extra 200+ lbs that bike has over mine...
I skipped my last session and started to pack up a bit early. I had had enough and wanted to save some energy for the ride home. The plan was to leave the track and head home...
Here's a little detail of how I made my way around VIR without being held up, I'm sure not the fastest way but it sure put a smile on my face..
http://www.virclub.com/track_info/images/track_map.jpg
Getting on the track on pit lane and full throttle and top gear (4th) by the number 6 board in turn 1. Downshift to 2nd around 1 and into 2, full throttle and grab 3rd heading into 3. Let off and a quick hit of the brakes and a downshift back to second going into. Full throttle out of 3 heading to 4 staying in 2nd gear, let off and hit the brakes going into 4 staying in 2nd gear. Just a quick hit of the throttle going into 5 before letting off a little bit to make the corner. Back on the gas and grab 3rd going into 5a at about half throttle. Full throttle and grab 4th from 6 all the way to the bridge. I was on the brakes just after the bridge and dropped back down to 3rd to go up the hill into 7. From that point on I stayed in 3rd gear all the way until 17a and varied from half to full throttle the whole way except for a little braking going into the roller coaster at 14a. From turn 7 all the way to 17a was the funnest part of the track for me, all the turns seemed to flow very nice and the elevation changes were awesome.. Once I got to 17a I was full throttle in 3rd and got 4th just as I came up on pit entry. I was wide open and at top speed way before the dogleg at the start/finnish line, I was waiting lap after lap for the motor to blow up for revving so high for so long but it never did...
We all packed up our stuff and we were on the road for home about 6:30-7. What a great trip it was and I can't even begin to say how much fun I had. 12 hours later we were back at my house unloading bikes and sending everyone on their way.
Total miles: 1,439.4
Gallons of gas used: 135.5
Trip MPG: 10.6
Average speed: 54mph
Gotta love these onboard computers...
It was great to see everyone down there, putting some faces with names and seeing the same old ugly mugs again. I really liked the way these 2 days were run and Corner Speed sure has their shit together with organization of the events, keeping stuff on time, and most importantly keeping everyone safe. It was great to see the instructors out there helping riders around the track and signaling slower riders to let the faster people by.
I'm really looking forward to it next year.
Thanks again to Derek for getting this together and to everyone that went for making it such a good time
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The motard definitely rocked - I NEED one.
I'll post mine up later this afternoon.
