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boring intro:
Even after giving myself a month after the rookie race to prep, I was up until 2:30am Saturday finishing the belly pan and safety wire. Got up at 5am, fabbed up the last bracket, packed up, rode away, arrived at the track in a daze at 7:30.
I took a lap around the outfield, didn't see anyone I recognized...oh hey Brett, want some company? He promptly unfolded a chair for me, nice! In no time I had a pile of saddlebags/tailbag, tools, and extra clothes marking my spot in the rocks.
My Inspector Gadget one piece tailight/blinker/plate assembly was off in 30 seconds with 2 Dzus fasteners, front blinkers and mirrors are quick, but I'd never had the headlight or sidestand off so those took another 45 minutes to remove and tidy up the wires. After registration, multiple visits to Street & Comp for numbers and tire mounting (Bergs doesn't live far from me and brought my spare rims and rear stand,thanks!). Then finally tech. I was beat already and missed both practices. I sat in my new chair and had a sammich.
getting closer to race time:
I did bump into Doug from my Penguin class, his son Ty, and Roland at the riders meeting, but hadn't seen many others I recognized. Then I went to T3 to watch the experts kick it off. Every time I watch an expert race I get scared, it looks crazy, I wonder why I ever thought I could ride competently on track. Today? Yup, WTF was I thinking?
My first ever, and only race Saturday is race 9 NV LWGP, so I spend the next 8 hours it seems sitting nervously, eating, wandering the pits/outfield, and socializing minimally. I also see Chris Aho, fresh from Penguin on Friday and in my race, but gridded somehow in UL wave 2.
We finally start getting calls for our race. I suit up, start up, and things start feeling right as I get on the bike.
the good! 2nd place LWGP:
I line up on pre-grid in 2B, am finally happy and excited, and have a good aggressive warm-up lap. The start goes well enough, I gain a spot into T1, pass the next guy ahead of me within a lap or 2?, and have only Bill Coolahan (Mustang) ahead of me, but in sight. This is way too much fun!
Some laps I gain a little on Bill, then I make a mistake in T3 and he gains it back, but he's usually tipping into T6 as I'm cresting the hill. I finish in 2nd, with a best lap of 1:28.3 which turns out to be the fastest lap of the race, so some consolation. Wow that was so worth the wait!
I look at times on the results sheet and see that 2 SV's gridded in the ULGP (second wave of our race) actually beat our times, including my buddy Chris. Now I'm feeling a little bad for them, but we do all know it's Novice and it's just good to be racing. I stumble upon the trophy ceremony, meet Bill for the first time, and am chatting excitedly with Chris and Roland when I actually heard my name called. Huh? Someone waved a certificate and I realized I should get up there. Yup, it's only Novice, it was only a piece of paper, and it still felt really cool to stand there like a geek.
Packed up, rode home, fell asleep at 7:30. Bed never felt so good.
Sunday, the rain:
My alarm was set for 5:00, so I wake up at 4am and lie there for an hour. Coffee, pack up, have an uneventful and not too wet ride back to the track. I find a garage to squat in with some sympathetic NESRians, get the bike back to race trim, and go outside. The rain has let up and the track is only damp, so I go out for some laps on my street tires to feel things out, don't need to burn up the rains.
By the race time the Biblical downpours had begun, so I got the spare wheels with rains on the bike (thanks for the help, advice, and torque wrench, John). Started getting suited up at first call, and still almost missed the warm-up lap for...
the bad! race 3 NV GTL, the take down:
Rode what I thought was a fairly aggressive warm-up lap, my first laps ever on (used) rains, but they felt good of course.
I gridded up in 1B, launched like it was dry and got a good start. I felt relaxed and fast heading towards T1, but still saw Bill (Mustang) come up the inside beside me. No problem, plenty of room, I'm looking up ahead and we're tipping in nicely until all of a sudden he's straight up across my bow and heading to Nascar T1. My front gets hung up on his rear tire as I'm still leaned over and down I go through the cones. I have a nice slide, barely holed my rain gear. No bumps, bruises, or soreness. The bike breaks the clutch lever and tach housing, pretzels the shifter and rod, bends the rear set, and gets a minor scar on the tail. FACK! A 20 minute race and I don't even get around T1? And how come he didn't go down? He could have at least lost the race. I'll admit I was pissed, but I got over it. He tried to find me later, but who wants to walk around in the pouring rain not knowing where to look. He caught up with me online with a heartfelt apology, and it's all good.
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I had a long slosh back with the SV from T1 to the North garages (that pond off the end of pre-grid is deep), but the "grid guy" pushed for awhile and saved me from a heart attack. I forget your name, but a huge thanks for that.
With help from everyone around me (and a borrowed hammer from the "motard crew" further down the garage) I got everything straightened or replaced in plenty of time for...
the dummy! race 9 NV LW SB:
I run a very tentative warm-up lap and grid up in what I thought was my assigned 2A. As the 1 board turns I notice the same guy that saved my ass pushing back to the garages is staring at me and holding me for the second wave. WTF? his eyes say WTF yourself stupid rookie! and I realize I gridded in 3A...WTF me!
I take off in the second wave, lousy start, lousy laps, but the rain tires swim well through Oceans 10 and 11. Then my shifter starts feeling weird (you all know what's coming now, don't you?). Into the T3 chute on the 3rd? lap there's nothing to downshift with, so I wave big and pull into the 3/10 split. Shifter rod is gone, I never tightened the jam nuts after double-checking everything but then readjusting the shifter height. The corner workers were entertaining, very helpful, and tried to convince me to finish the race in one gear, but at that point I decided it was a friendly place to finish the day.
I put the street stuff back on, packed up, and had an uneventful ride home (less than an hour BTW). Thanks to Ted Temple for the shifter rod to get me home using all the gears!
thanks to:
Bergs and his trailer, Brett, Chipper, Pigman, John the expert SV guy across the bench, Ted Temple, Continental Tires
It was great meeting everyone else I had time for, and see you at the Classic!
PS: every LRRS staff member and corner worker I dealt with was awesome, you guys were helpful and kicked ass!
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Re: NV# 122 rookie weekend (brady) - the good, the bad & the dummy
Originally Posted by mzdagrl
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