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Thanks again to all the NESR guys who helped out last weekend. Pitting next to you has been great and it would have been another unsuccesful Penguin school without you guys. Here is my report on Penguin school that I sent to my family, cut and pasted directly into this thread.
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First of all - no crashes!
Second - no race yet - since the weather turned to rain I completed the school and went home Friday night. I will do my first race in May, weather permitting. I was not as anxious as Jay and Gary to notch out my rookie race.
Here are details.
Step 1 - Get the new tires on the bike:
Ashley and I went to the track Thursday afternoon after stopping at Bill's for help putting new tires on the bike. Experienced some challenges as Bill and Jim (Jim showed up when we were about 1/3 of the way through the process) attempted and debated various methods of breaking and setting beads. The whole process took two hours, including re-assembling the wheels to account for parts left over, like bushings, brake pads and guide brackets. It seemed like every time we put the wheel back on the bike we found a different extra part lying on the floor. The three things most important in this process were, good air pressure, big levers and an extra set of hands (or feet or knees).
Step 2 - Camping at the track:
Ashley and I got to the track before dark to set up the tent. Nothing eventful, but it was cold! I did not want to bring my backpacking tent since it is very small and I was concerned it might get damaged. I went to Sports Authority and bought a fairly large tent for $70.00. This turned out to be good and bad. It was inexpensive, large and easy to set up. We found out it was designed for summer camping so it was designed with great ventilation - not good for 32 degrees and windy infield of the track. We survived, but I slept with two thick layers of fleece and a hat.
Step 3- Penguin race school: (Penguins get around, but they don't fly!)
Morning:
Ashley and I went to breakfast at 6:15 am. We got back, did the registration and I went to get my bike tech inspected before the class started at 8:30. Tech told me I had no rear brake (see step 1 above - leftover parts) and said I could not go out on the track until I had it working. The inspector did not find it amusing when I explained that it was not important because I never used the rear brake anyway. I took the bike back to the NESR pit where Derek and Gerard volunteered to work on the back brake while I was in the classroom from 8:30 until 10:30. When I was done with class I went back to the pit and Derek & Gerard had the rear brake working again. At 10:45 I rolled onto the track with the class of 35 students in the first of what was supposed to be many "follow the leader sessions" around the track. This is a very slow paced session where we are shown the racing line. I could not keep up with this very slow pace, so I returned again to the pit to try to find out what was wrong with the bike. The bike was running on one cylinder with smoke coming from the exhaust. With Derek's help, off came the body work and off came the tank. There was spark to the bad right cylinder, so the first thing was to pull the plug and see if it was fouled. Guessing that it was fouled, Derek went to Street & Comp (the trackside parts supplier) to get new plugs. I could not get the spark plug out because it required a 18mm deep well socket, something none of us had in any of our tool boxes, and neither did the guys in the pits on either side of us. The spark plugs were also blocked by the California emissions control caps, so I also had to remove them from the engine. I used a 19mm socket, being careful not to damage anything, swapped the plug, then the bike started right up with both cylinders. The bike was now belching oily smoke in massive amounts. I ran it for quite a while to burn off the oil so I would not be banned from the track. I returned to the class in time for lunch, after missing the first two riding sessions and the mandatory classroom session. I took the written test (very basic and everyone passes) and then left for lunch after getting approval to continue in spite of missing the track time and the second classroom session.
Afternoon:
At 1:15 I get out on the track for the first time in a follow the leader session. The bike ran fine and everything was uneventful, except that I was going so slow, and this time it was not the bikes fault. I was deliberately forcing myself to go slow, I put the bike in fourth gear and did not shift or brake. This was the first time I had ridden the new bike, it had new tires, this was only the second time riding any bike since my crash last August, and here I was back at the same place as I crashed. The bike ran well and the suspension held up my weight at the key points on the track, these are where you cross the NASCAR oval in turn three, the dip in the "back bowl" and where you re-enter the NASCAR oval between turns 9 & 10. I completed the two class track sessions and was done. To actually finish the school you need to complete two "open practice" sessions. After the first open practice one of the instructors came over, lectured my about going so slow and told me it was because I was riding my bike like a street bike. I was able to extract some advice on how to get where I needed to be and when I went out for the final practice session I had more fun on the motorcycle then I have had in a long time.
Evening:
Ashley broke down our camp and loaded the truck while I went to the school for the final wrap up and to pick up my completion card. I can now use the track for testing and I am looking forward my "rookie race" and first real race weekend. We went to dinner with the NESR guys, it was Ashley and 9 guys. She complained because she said we all smelled. When I said it was to be expected that we would smell like oil, exhaust and other engine type stuff, she explained that that was not the issue - it was our B.O. that was so bad. She put up with it well.
Final problem:
We are driving down I-93 back home at around 9:45. I look in the rearview mirror and one of the bikes on the trailer is on it's side, hanging out into traffic, but still on the trailer. We pull over to the side of the freeway. Everything is still connected and the bike is secure. Strange. The spare bike has stock handlebars, and the tension from the tie-down straps bent it enough that the bike fell over. No damage to the bike, so we stand it up, use different tie-down points and we are back on our way, finally pulling into the driveway at 11:05 pm.
Before ending this note, I want to give a special thanks to Bill and Jim for help with the tires and bike prep, Derek, Gerard and the rest of the NESR guys for their help in the pits, support before and during the race day, and all the shared experience, and finally a really big thanks to Ashley. This is the only the start of the endeavor, but it is awesome how many people have already had a part in helping me.
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