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Double header weekend at Boxshop for me and my trusty TT-R125LE, 'Bonnie'.
There were two competitions occurring at the same time this weekend: The racing on the track and the race to stay hydrated and cool. The sun was a bit relentless this weekend, I'm fairly certain I look like a boiled lobster at the moment... I drank a solid 2+ gallons of water and Powerade each day and likely sweat off twice as much. I skipped dirt practice on Sunday just to save some energy for the races.
Racing was awesome once again. Had a few regulars who couldn't make the first round show up to add to the mix, and my current rivals stepped their games up. On pavement I'm lacking motor but am starting to clean my lines up in some areas to help make up for it. I've go to figure out what's different about my machine vs the full on motards that's allowing them to carry so much more speed through the back section and sweeper... I've got motor left but I'm pushing the front and rear enough that I can't stay tight on the final long left. I dunno if it's suspension, rim setup causing my tires to be too pinched or what, but if I can figure it out I'll drop a ton of time. Pulled a 2nd overall in my class after two days of racing.
In the dirt, I figured a few things out. At least, in my head I'm doing things better... what people are actually seeing is likely still a horror show. I'm getting better about pushing the bike down into the berms so I can carry more speed through them although the last one is PITA... I also found coming over the last jump before the berms still in 3rd lugging slightly and THEN banging a downshift works better to pivot the bike around than taking the jump in 2nd and trying to slide via the rear brake. I overrode my abilities a bit too which led to some bobbles but also showed I can go faster in some parts. I'm fairly certain if I can man up I can clear the opening tabletop, and possibly the exit double... Somehow, I managed to take 1st overall in the dirt for my class?!
The next round is in Canada, as much as I'd love to take the trip north I don't have a passport yet and I don't think I can get the time AND take time off for LRRS. Plus, there's the whole budget thing...
That said, when it comes to 'cheap' racing, so far this is it. Take one bone stock TTR, slap street tires on it, bang bars till you drop, repeat. I'm really seeing where the popularity of stock XR100 classes comes from now.