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I finally get to post one of these!!! I'll try to keep it short, but I'm still riding a high so bear with me!
My weekend started Thursday afternoon when I packed all my gear and blew out of Maine towards NH. I had been putting in some major hours and dealing with a lot of issues at work, so I was a ball of nerves going into the weekend. I hadn't been sleeping well either, but none the less, once on the interstate, that seemed to take a back seat to the growing excitement as I got closer to Loudon. I arrived at the track around 8pm and started setting up in T11, courtesy of Joel Allen and his teammate Pete Ross. I finally got to bed around midnight, but that proved useless since all the excitement turned into anxiety. I'm sure those who have done the race thing can sympathize! I don't think I've ever been this nervous for anything! Anyway, restless night #1 down.
Friday
Penguin Basic School
I woke up waaaaay too early and started getting ready for the day. Race school went well and I soaked in more info than I thought I would, paying extra attention to flags and race procedures, rather than track lines and racecraft (Tony and his crew had done well preparing me with that from the past TD's I'd done!) Penguin really seemed to have streamlined their operation. Between the classroom and track sessions, everything ran more fluidly than I remember back two years ago when I did it. Anyway, towards the afternoon we get to go out for open session track riding. I hadn't been at NHMS since mid-October so it was time to dust off the cobwebs more than anything else. My track sessions were a disappointment. Felt like I had forgotten everything since last fall. Oh well, I was here. Sink or swim. Thankfully, Joel had arrived at the track and helped me get my head right and pretty much coached me through the rest of the day. Registration would have been an overwhelming nightmare without his help. If anyone is planning to go racing, DEFINITELY have a mentor or "coach" as offered by either Tony, Penguin, or whoever. You'll be glad you did. The rest of the day I just tried to get some R&R and relax.
Saturday
With sleepless night #2 out of the way, I managed to miss the first practice. It was my fault all the way, just not paying attention to the calls and dragging my heals getting new tires put on. I didn't worry too much since I was all nerved up anyway. I spent the next while trying to relax and get calm before second practice. Finally I went out and did some laps. It felt good. I think my best lap was in the 25's. I know I was off my pace from last fall, but I had new tires and new suspension so I didn't really want to go banzai and get my self in trouble. Overall the bike felt good, and I loosened up a little.
TIME TO RACE!!!
ROOKIE RACE
We grid up for the rookie race and I got pole, so that made my life easier by not having to get through anyone if by some miracle I managed a great start. I didn't. I bogged the launch, left my face shield up, and forgot to shift out of first. shit. The rider next to me took off like a cannonball. I followed him around the track as best I could, but the dude was bookin and he left me after a few laps. I managed 2nd place nevertheless....and I survived!!!! My best lap was 1:23.87, so I had improved over practice, but it wasn't consistent. Time to go back to the pit, and evaluate things and think about what I needed to focus on to improve on the track. Joel was a huge help and offered pointers on the start and driving out of corners.
RACE 1: Novice Formula 1
I'm sitting in my pit just relaxing, and there it was, third and final call!! DAMMIT! I scramble to get out there and miss most of the warm up lap. Great, there goes my calm. I grid up on the first row again (I can't remember which spot, it was all a blur) and get ready to race! Face shield down, revs up, green flag! I get an awesome start but puss out on the dive into 1, and there goes the same dude from race one (#183) around the outside and off he goes. I tag along for a bit and see the yellow flag come out. As I crest T5, I see a rider out in the gravel of T6. Nobody likes to see that, but I kept on and saw the ambulance roll out. No red flag, so it's race on until the finish. I get back to the pits and realize I had won the race!!! The downed rider was the guy that I was chasing, so it automatically put me in P1. It was not the way I would have preferred to have won, but it is what it is. Fortunately, rider 183 (Josh) was OK, and his bike was largely undamaged aside from cosmetics. My best lap was a 1:22 flat. I'm pumped!! That was my personal best ever! Still not consistent though. Time to go relax for the night and do work!
Sunday
I finally got a great night sleep, probably due to that trophy sitting in the trailer! I hit the ground running and had a couple great practice sessions. With Joel's help fine tuning the suspension, I finally felt like I could put the big gix anywhere, and clocked a 1:21.3.
RACE 2: Novice Starter 1
No nerves, no stress. Just roll out for a good warm up lap and grid up. I'm on Row 4A so it puts me on the inside line of the second wave behind Bill Cool and others. I wait for the flag, nail the start and get the holeshot!! I'm ecstatic! It only lasts until turn two where I go wide and Josh passes me on the inside. It's OK because I'm right on his tail every lap until we run into traffic. He gets past them in 9 and they close the door on me going into 10. I try to drive past in 11, but I get shut out one more time and go over the curb and into the grass. I recover and get on it to chase down Josh, but all I managed to do was get back up to the amateurs and pass one the inside of 11 on the way to the flag. I place 2nd and post a best lap of 1:19.5! I'm a bit pissed that I left the door open in 2 which probably cost me the race, but I'm extremely happy to have posted a few consistent laps in the 20's. For me that's a victory since I started the weekend running 1:26's.
All in all, it was an awesome weekend and I can't wait to get back out there. I'm anxious to knock more time off my laps and progress in the series!! I can't say thanks enough to Pete and Joel especially for taking the time during the busy weekend to help me out. Their knowledge and guidance is the reason I saw any results at all!!!
Also I have to say the RSP Crew were absolutely awesome! It was really cool to see you guys on the front wall cheering when I gridded for my races. It helped A LOT!