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Today I celebrated my 10th track day by performing a spectacular high-side.
It was a rainy day so the track was wet. Luckily (maybe not so luckily), when I bought my track bike last year, the owner threw in a set of rims with brand new rain tires on it.
So, here was my chance to try out the rain race rubber.
I ran in the fast group, and the first session was a bit sketchy due to the mold sealant, but once it scrubbed off, I started to gain a lot of confidence.
By the second session, I was doing a pretty good pace, and even passed a few people. I never felt the tires slip even once and could help but think how amazing these rain tires were.
In the 3rd session, I started getting my knee down in the wet in turns 2, 6, 9, and 12. Still, not a sign of slippage - and I'm going 80-85% of my dry pace here. "Amazing!" I thought "I'm dragging knee in the rain, how effin cool! These rain tires are fucking amazing!"
By the 4th session I started to feel like I was Valentino fucking Rozzi, as I was leaving everyone in the dust.... the tires just seemed to grip relentlessly and I'm now giving it about 90% of what I'd do in dry conditions... and then it happened.
I was exiting turn 2, 3rd gear, the throttle was probably about 75% open. Then, all of a sudden my rear end starts swinging around. Before I know it, I'm staring into the infield as my bike is now cocked a good 90 degrees to the left and I'm essentially sliding sideways perpendicular to the track. At that instant, I remember thinking "Hmmm, this isn't going to end well..." Then the tires caught some traction and BOING. I saw a bright light for a microsecond and though "Hm, that's odd..." then my pupils quickly re-adjusted and I realized that everything was so bright because apparently I was looking at the sky. After "hovering" for what seemed like a lot longer than a fraction of a second, I landed on my back and watched my bike sliding down the tarmac next to me. When the action stopped, I got up, and noted the sharp pain in my left foot. I decided not to deal with the bike and hopped off the track... eventually they red-flagged the session courtesy me and the ambulance gave me a ride back to the pit area.
In the aftermath, thankfully my foot wasn't broken, but is badly sprained. (pic attached) I'm on crutches for a few days, but at least I got a prescription for some oxys.
The bike faired much better than I did. Just bent one of the footpegs and ground off a bit of the sliders, rashed some of the already rashed plastics, and ripped the throttle grip a bit. Probably $100 of damage.
Definitely a lot of first for me today:
1st time doing a track day in the rain.
1st time dragging knee in the rain.
1st time crashing at the track.
1st time injuring myself during a crash.
Main lesson learned: Overconfidence hurts... when you try to push the limits, eventually the limits will push back.