7
A fun weekend getting back into it after a few years off, with plenty of work to do to get used to the new machine. But most importantly good times.
Saturday
First thing in the morning, cold as hell, but knew I should at least putt around and make sure the bike ran ok. The bike had been in a non-heated garage for a while and the tires were solid as a rock. So I knew I should switch em out. So I get tires from Dunlop and am trying to get them on quickly... he does the rear first, I mount it, throw on the warmer, then the front is ready, I mount it, throw on the warmer, gear up, and head out. I'm literally tiptoeing around and the front tucks in 10. Whoops. Turns out I probably only had the front warmer on for 20 minutes, which clearly wasn't enough. Replace a footpeg and brake lever and get back out there for second practice. It's still cold but I start riding it a little bit, dropping a few seconds a lap, and click off a 30. Alright, we're in the ballpark for this weather.
GTL - Gridded last, killer start, pick up about 10 places and go into turn 1 in 4th or 5th. Lose a couple spots and get tired, but the bike feels OK. Click off some 26s, which for this weather feels good. Had some fun racing with Roland who took advantage of my major issues with turn 3 by coming up the inside of turn 4. I then outpower him and brake for 6 and he comes around the outside and slams the door at the apex... welcome back to racing, CEO! I actually giggled in my helmet because I missed that so much. Finish 7th, should have been 6th, but because the experts lapped a few of us at the end of the lap and brought out the checkers, Faucher gets 4th instead of last or near-last since he was the first one to finish the same number of laps, even though he didn't finish his extra/final lap due to a crash. Seems silly rule-wise to me, but oh well. Just have to go faster. Anyways, 7th out of 15.
LWGP - Gridded last again, I get another good start and grab about 8 places into T1. It feels colder now, so I'm a little more hesitant. There is a group of us all kind of being pansyish and I settle into it instead of being aggressive. We're all going pretty slow but it was fun. I should have done better. Finish 9th out of 14.
Hang out and have fun with my friends, the best part of racing. I hope to hang out in the infield more in the next rounds and meet more people, but this time it was just too cold, so we went to Friday's. haha.
Sunday
LWSB - Get a pretty good start but then there's the hangup in T1/1a and several bikes go down. We head back in and they call it for lunch due to ambulances. After lunch we restart. I get another good launch and go from 16th to 4th or so. Lose a couple places but am trying a little harder. A couple laps in I grab my brakes and they aren't really there... just pull with index and middle like I usually do and it goes right into my other two fingers. Sketchy!!! So I start using 4 fingers instead of two for the rest of the race so there's more room to the bar to pull it. There's a lot of sponge in there and there goes my braking confidence. Finish out in 7th out of 16.
Unfortunately I didn't have enough time to bleed brakes between these short 6 lap races so I just have to run what I brung for now, and go with the four finger braking so I have the extra room to pull the lever back. It feels weird but I'll make do for now.
LWSS - This is a fun race. I get another good launch and go from 9th to 3rd into T1. A couple laps in JC gets me in T1 since I'm still braking like a pansy. I chase him a bit and later in the race he and a novice lapper get tangled up in 6, so I'm riding a pretty lonely 3rd at this point. I don't really think anyone's close to me but I haven't been looking back. I have to make a couple passes on lappers which go smoothly, but the cold temps make me nervous about passing since I don't want them taking me out. On the white flag lap I come upon a couple novices on the entrance to 9 and I could go around the outside but I hesitate a little bit and check up to set a hard drive out of 10 instead... 666 Sam flies by on the outside and goes around the outside of all three of us in 9 and snags the podium from me. It was a great racing move and reminded me of the race mentality I need to get back into. Finish 4th out of 9.
So overall I got very good starts from the back of the grid and made my finishes in mid pack... Happy with that for now, the better grid position next time will allow me to chase the front pack in warmer weather and with good brakes and shorter throw throttle, more cornerspeed and lean angle / front tire confidence. On top of that just getting my mind back into race mode and being more aggressive is on the list as well. A couple things with the bike to make it more comfortable and I should be good to go.
Most importantly, I had fun with all my friends. Huge thanks to Chris and Rick and the whole Plaistow crew for bringing me in and helping me out, to all my buddies in the north garages for the good times and laughs, the Pigott ranch for the hospitality, and the corner workers and officials for keeping us safe.
I have my graduation from part-time MBA program on the saturday of round 2, but thinking I will shoot up in the morning on sunday to at least do my two races then.
It feels good to be back.