[OreoGitorio]

Well, here it is, Thursday morning & I'm lying in bed all tired & sore (Hey, it's hard work riding slow! ) and I find myself reflecting upon yet another great 2-day Tony's Track Days event.

Once again, the majority of the riders in Red Group proved to be some of the most eager to learn & most improved riders up at the track. The first open session of each day was pretty rough, but everyone (somehow ) managed to keep it upright in the morning. By mid afternoon I saw dramatic improvements & by the end of each day it was like riding with different people! The transformation in the majority of the group was simply amazing.

Those that came back for the second half of the 2-day event continued to improve throughout the day & those that were new the second day had the others to follow, using each other as guides & benefiting greatly. I saw a lot of that on day 2.

Sure, we had a few incidents... A low-side here, a low-side there, an "oops, I just ran wide & now I'm lying in a nice soft bed of fluffy grass" here... but luckily just about everyone was able to walk or limp away from the scene of the "crime" and learn something from it immediately. I don't think I heard a single "Man, I don't know what happened!" from anyone in any group after a crash over the two days, so that's usually a good thing.

As for my own riding, I kept it mellow as usual, only getting on it when I needed to catch up to someone ahead that I wanted to ride with. Although in the very last session of of the whole 2-day event I found myself on very sparsely populated NHMS with riders that were really able to keep themselves "policed". I could tell that most everyone was really piecing everything together and using it as a "wrap-it-up/cool-down" session before making their trip home & back to reality. Thus... I was able to REALLY have some fun and ride my Tuono like it was meant to be ridden.

Up until that session I was never really willing/able to flog my T since I purchased it last fall. Either I didn't have tires I was confident in, was too busy working with other riders, or I just didn't feel like pushing my limits on a bike I REALLY want to keep for a LONG time to come and risk doing the unthinkable. I'd never even dragged a knee on it (despite being able to stay right on the rear tire of everyone else w/ their knees buried in pavement). But yesterdays 4 o'clock session the "GO!" switch finally got flipped.

Turn 9 has always been one of my strongest corners in terms of mid-corner speed and as expected, that was where I finally felt that puck touch down for the first time on the T. After that the game was on as soon as I crossed the start/finish.... I laid down a solid 15 minutes worth of smooth, consistent, fast laps and the bike felt great. Knee down in just about every corner, just like the old days on my ZX. I even found my front tire floating down the backside of turn 5 more than a few times before dipping into a big bowl of "g-out" goodness Definitely the most fun I've had on my bike and that's saying a LOT!!!



Anyway, I really wanna thank the riders in Red Group for making it so rewarding to be a part of Tony's and Ken's instructor staff. You guys are what make instructing fun. Passing on the things I've learned from the more seasoned TTD staff is my way of thanking them for helping me as much as they did back when I was in Red Group just 4 years ago. Hopefully the cycle will continue and maybe in a few years some of YOU guys will be wearing the shoes I'm wearing now.


See ya at the next TTD!

[brendanp]

Good to hear that you liked how things went. Good positive feedback. Yup, I get my puck down in 9 too, but my right puck is still a Virgin! I've said before and I'll say it again. Tony and the whole crew (unfortunately including you too Pete) do a great job!!

[trickphoto]

Originally Posted by OreoGitorio

Well, here it is, Thursday morning & I'm lying in bed all tired & sore ...

Originally Posted by OreoGitorio

Hopefully the cycle will continue and maybe in a few years some of YOU guys will be wearing the shoes I'm wearing now.

You're in bed with shoes on?
Weird.

[Origin]

OK...im getting extremely jealous that I have yet to experience a TTD...

[Jaynnus]

Wow Pete...that was deep.

Almost brought a tear to my eye....

[Crash Dummy Denno]

Originally Posted by Jaynnus

Wow Pete...that was deep.

Almost brought a tear to my eye....

the kid loves his work...

[OreoGitorio]

Originally Posted by Jaynnus

Wow Pete...that was deep.

Almost brought a tear to my eye....

Were your eyes the only thing that got moist?






























































I mean, the last two days were pretty toasty, I know I was sweaty

[imkindafkedup]

the reason why your last session was so great because you had a little chocolate man standing over your gauges, he was the only thing the tuono was missing.

[l3uddha]

bemused.

[OreoGitorio]

Ha, yeah... I was wondering where the hell that little guy came from. Finally I asked Nick & he told me you put it on there.

Of course the FIRST session I took him for a ride I had to pick up a bike... I almost took it off fearing it was a bad luck charm

I've yet to decide if he's gonna be a permanent passenger or not, but so far he hasn't slowed me down at all

[bigred875]

Originally Posted by imkindafkedup

the reason why your last session was so great because you had a little chocolate man standing over your gauges, he was the only thing the tuono was missing.

racist

[ff36buell]

little chocolate man haha there were little men on guages everywhere

[imkindafkedup]

Originally Posted by ff36buell

little chocolate man haha there were little men on guages everywhere

nobody is supposed to know

[Crash Dummy Denno]

yeah wtf i had one too! haha

me thinks it was CBR steve... haha

[Ken C]

That little man was placed in a very prominent location. I took Pete's T out for a rip and he kept taunting me; faster, Faster, FASTER!

BTW, I got a lot of compliments regarding Pete. He has become a great asset to TTD in a very short time.

[garath]

Originally Posted by Ken C

That little man was placed in a very prominent location. I took Pete's T out for a rip and he kept taunting me; faster, Faster, FASTER!

BTW, I got a lot of compliments regarding Pete. He has become a great asset to TTD in a very short time.

+1 compliment for Pete.

[OreoGitorio]

Originally Posted by Ken C

BTW, I got a lot of compliments regarding Pete.

Oh good, glad to hear they held up their end of the bargain & didn't just pocket the money I gave them to say that

[brendanp]

Originally Posted by Ken C

That little man was placed in a very prominent location. I took Pete's T out for a rip and he kept taunting me; faster, Faster, FASTER!

BTW, I got a lot of compliments regarding Pete. He has become a great asset to TTD in a very short time.

Ken, I think you are an awesome instructor. Very knowledgable. very humble...

[imkindafkedup]

Originally Posted by Crash Dummy Denno

yeah wtf i had one too! haha

me thinks it was CBR steve... haha

the world may never know

[ReeseSD]

Hey Pete, It's Greg the one on the gray R1 that you helped so much! I can not thank you enough. It seems that you and everyone continue to help long after the day has ended. From what I am seeing here in the forums, it really should be called "Tony's Track Experience"

[OreoGitorio]

Oh Greg, The "Most Improved Rider of the Day" nominee! What's up, dude? Welcome to the forum.

To be perfectly honest, I had my doubts about ya at first, but you progressed a lot! Keep it up. If/when you come again, try & get in on a two-day, I think you'll settle down a lot more, find your rhythm & improve 10 fold!

[ReeseSD]

Yes! thank you for that nomination I had doubts too but I knew It was just a matter of relaxing. I hope I was not the first person you had doubts about!

I can not wait to get out there again. A 2 day is probable the way to go. I just need to find the right 2 days. I have the feeling that it will be soon.

Thanks again for the help man.

[OreoGitorio]

Naw dude, not at all. You weren't the first person we've had doubts about & you certainly won't be the last. I'd say almost every event we have at least one person that needs a little extra help getting up to speed, both figuratively and literally. It's something we're always prepared to work with

The first day of the August 2-day (11th and 12th) is sold out, but there's still room in the second and if you look for them, you can usually find "last minute" spots for the first of the two days.

The next 2-day event is Mon Sept 29th and Tues the 30th. Plenty of room left for those & if you wanna get in on the "early bird special" you can sign up for those now.

After that, the only event left for 2008 is Monday October 13th down in New Jersey.

[Origin]

Originally Posted by OreoGitorio

Naw dude, not at all. You weren't the first person we've had doubts about & you certainly won't be the last. I'd say almost every event we have at least one person that needs a little extra help getting up to speed, both figuratively and literally. It's something we're always prepared to work with

The first day of the August 2-day (11th and 12th) is sold out, but there's still room in the second and if you look for them, you can usually find "last minute" spots for the first of the two days.

The next 2-day event is Mon Sept 29th and Tues the 30th. Plenty of room left for those & if you wanna get in on the "early bird special" you can sign up for those now.

After that, the only event left for 2008 is Monday October 13th down in New Jersey.

is the jersey event the same instructing staff?

[ff36buell]

nah greg you weren't the first, he ALWAYS has doubts about me