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Kind of a bitter-sweet weekend for me w/some things going the way I wanted while others, not so much... I knew I had to work on my entrance to t1, so that was a big priority for me this weekend, and I feel like I succeeded for the most part.
SAT. Race 5 Nov. MWGP:
I got a good start, got into the lead and just put my head down. I was feeling good about my improved entrance to t1, so even though I was leading the race, I decided to try and work on some other corners... . I mean, after reading the "trophy" thread on here I was pondering what it really means to be a novice this year, and I decided that dropping lap times is more important than winning so I took some chances instead of being conservative... I don't know where I got the idea that I needed to go into 3 any faster than I was, but regardless, on lap 3 I stormed in a little too fast and had to brake really hard. I fixated on the tires, just watching them get too close too fast, did a stoppie over the bumps and bottomed my fork, which kind of got me out of control and over into the dirt where I proceeded to crash out of the lead. I most likely could have just turned the goddamn bike, but like that saying goes... just ran out of raw talent. I picked up the bike because by time I crashed I was slowed down enough that it wasn't a bad crash, but the thing wouldn't start. I wasted about 2 minutes trying to start my bike while the corner worker pushed me to the side and finally said, "turn the key on and off"... wish I knew that, but I never crashed the thing before so this was kind of a milestone for me. I got the bike started and tried to get back into it. I managed to catch up and get by 2 riders for a 10th place finish. The good is that I did my fastest lap yet, w/a 1:24.6. 2.2 secs. faster than last weekend.
Sun. Race 5 Nov. GTU:
On fri. I searched around for some good used rains in case the weather was bad for today's race, and found a set. Turns out that the front had a hole in it, so about 45 mins. before the race I realized I was screwed. Apparently the hole couldn't be plugged or anything, and I didn't have the cash for a fresh set, so the only thing I had on hand was my old street tires or Dot race tires. I picked the street tires, and knew that there was no way I would keep up w/the guys w/rains, so I just went out to go slow and check out the areas of the track that I needed to work on. It was probably the most boring race ever, but I really did get to see things that I normally wouldn't focus on in a race.
So for next time I'm gonna do t3 the way I know works for me and work on some other areas where I realized time can be saved. I'm confident I can do better than 24's if I work on these sections one at a time and not try to get too far ahead of myself. I think on Sat. I just tried to do too much all on the same day. I left the track feeling kind of weird about the results vs. the times I did on Sat, but I guess things could've been far worse as far as the crash went, and it does feel good to have gotten my first crash out of the way, but I just wish it didn't happen the weekend my wife came to watch!
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