1
Did Penguin Friday, after not riding a motorcycle for 2 years. Spent the day working out the cob webs...haven't ridden for a while, new bike, haven't seen Loudon for 9 years. By the end of the day was starting to put the pieces back together.
Saturday
Morning practice was good, kept looking for new ref points, working on lines...the basics. After having issues with my clutch intermittently not disengaging and really unpredictable, realized the master was failing. No time or parts to fix it, just had to adapt. I have a slipper, so I just needed to not stall on the starts.
Race 1 Rookie. F the Dash, Rookie Race is where its at. lol Got on the grid, felt where the clutch was grabbing, which happened to be at the bar , so just held the bike back. Lights off, gas on, and we went. Got to 1 in 2nd or 3rd, managing to beat a bunch of middle weights to 1 on my CRF, so that was fun. Didn't push too hard, showed a couple wheels, basically practiced and kept the bike on 2. Took down a 3rd, but only ran 1:37's.
Race 10 Nov Formula 4. Still had the messed up clutch, but managed to get to 1 in 2nd. Was starting to find a better groove and more markers on the track so pushed a little harder. Felt strong apex 6-9, on the brakes in 3, but could definitely brake less before turn in. Weakest points were entry of turns 1, 3, and 6. I slow down too much before turn in. Might have to try to dolla bill method and close my eyes. T1 entry is where 2nd turned into 3rd. Id get 2nd back in 6-8 or out of 12, but lose it at 1. Took down another 3rd, time dropped to 33.
Overall not a terrible start, spent most of the weekend following the "go slow to go fast" mantra. There are a few spots where I know there is time to be had and I used to be a lot faster, just a matter of practice. I'm also being fairly timid on passes, taking the easy ones, but no stuffing into the apex or anything like that...yet My goal next weekend is to get to the bump threshold. 6 seconds is a lot of time to drop, but I know where it all can be had...just have to not be a biotch. Thanks to everyone around C15, especially Kurlon for the support all weekend and Brian Faucher for giving me some awesome go faster tips- wouldn't have dropped 4 seconds between races without them! Good to see a lot of familiar faces again and some new ones! See you all at the classic. That SUMO race is gonna be fun, dirt on slicks always is!