First Flat track race

My first flat track race went well. I had two goals: not to crash and not get lapped. In the first heat I did ok, I didn't crash or get lapped, but I finished 5th out of six riders. Between the races, I talked to one of my competitors. I thought I was racing 15-16 year olds, but no, these kids are more like 12. But they have been doing this sort of racing since they were about 7, so they have 5 years of experience on me, and they are fast. In the final main race, I finished 4th, only because two other riders crashed, but that's part of racing. I did however get lapped by two riders. It was lots of fun and I have much to learn. Bike and tires worked great, so things are looking good for the future. Next race weekend is Dec. 13th, so I'll hope to do better then. Cody is really starting to get the hang of it and was even "backing it in" at the corners. Some day, he may very well be one of these fast kids I'm racing against.

Going Flat Track Racing!

It's been awhile since my last installment, but I now have something to report. At the beginning of October, my friend Jason was wondering what type of racing he could get his kid into. Cody is 6, so I told Jason that I had heard there was flat track racing over in Puyallup, about 10 miles away. So we went and checked it out, thought it would be fun for Cody and went about getting him set up. He rides a KTM Pro Jr., a liquid cooled 50cc dirt bike, that we put some Pirelli scooter tires on, and he was ready to go.

He was doing so well, and it looked like so much fun, that I decided to spend some money and try and give this a shot. There aren't too many dirt bikes that I can touch the ground on, and seeing as I have no idea what I am doing, I decided to find a used CRF150R and race with some very fast 15-16 year olds. Ok, not everyone in this class is a teenager, but 90% are. I found the bike on craiglist in Portland while my friend Matt was in town from Fairbanks. I asked him if he was up for a road trip and he was game. We drove down there, bought the bike and returned.

But it still wasn't ready, as knobbie tires don't work well on the clay track. Plus, I also want to use this bike for some supermoto next summer, so I needed new rims and tires. I couldn't find any deals on Ebay, so I just decided to get some new rims. I did, however find a great deal on some tires on Ebay, so that helped the budget. I also bought a tire changing stand from Harbor Freight tools that works great, and Matt helped out with a race stand, thanks again Matt. Today was spent getting the new tires mounted on the new rims and then onto the bike. It all went well and turned out pretty good.

Tomorrow will be the first day on the track. Ok, not the very first time, as for fun a few weeks back I took my little TTR90 out there, but that was for fun. I did learn on the TTR90 that this is not as easy as some of the people out there make it look. Tomorrow, we'll get to see how I do. I'm not expecting much, as the "kids" I'm racing against have been doing this since they were, well, kids. And they are very good. I'm hoping to not get lapped by them too many times, but it should be fun. The bike itself is a fun, fast little bike and I'm hoping one of the young guns out there will take pity on me and give me some pointers, but I won't hold my breath. See you at the races.

08/08/08 Track day

Friday was another good day at the track. The weather wasn't great, but it didn't rain, mostly overcast until the afternoon when the sun finally came out. I met Will and we got everything set up and ready for the day.

All in all, things went pretty well for me. I was finally able to run consistent lap times that were quick for me, consistent 1:44's. Usually running a 1:44 made me feel out of control, but today I felt like I was always in control and not pushing to my limit. It might be the fact that the new steering stabilizer is on the bike, which helps out with some of the high speed wobbles I use to get in certain sections of the track. I was happy with the day, and the Michelin tires worked well.

Will had two bikes with him, the GSXR600 and the new to him, SV650. He ran the GSXR in the morning, then switched to the SV. Unfortunately, he also had a bad mishap going into turn two on the SV. It was a high speed crash, but luckily he didn't get hurt bad, maybe a bruised finger. The bike did not fair as well, but the damage is replaceable with no major issues, except maybe the tank which seems to have a hole in it.

And even though Will wasn't sure exactly what happened, he was still in pretty good spirits at the end of the day.

I only had one problem with the Honda. I lost two screws off the front fender, and as I was going out for another session, I heard a banging noise. I couldn't figure out where it was coming from, then I noticed the fender kind of hanging off to one side. I was able to pull back into the pits before going out and put two more screws in it with some extras I had just in case, and only lost out on maybe two laps. Not sure when the next track day will be, as the funds for this hobby are getting a bit thin, but I do hope to get at least one more day in, maybe down in Portland.

Portland Track day 6/30/08

Kyle and I headed down to Portland on Sunday night. We loaded up the truck and trailer and were ready to go. Upon loading, the bikes didn't fit all that great, but with a few more hooks drilled into the floor of the trailer, next time it will work much better.

We were hoping to be able to camp inside the grounds, and we got lucky, the gate was open. So we used my saying that has worked before...."It's easier to beg forgiveness, than it is to ask permission." The woman who lives on the grounds finally found us and talked our ears off, but let us stay inside, telling us we'd be locked in. Fine with us, we weren't going anywhere.

Before we called it a night for some sleep, we got to watch and hear a nice thunder and lightning storm, but only a few drops of rain fell. We hoped that the next day would be dry, and the sky was telling us we'd be ok.

Woke up and got things packed up to move to the pit area, just in time to not get doused by the sprinklers. Unloaded everything in the pits and we were ready to go, after a quick trip to get coffee. But more surprises were in store. Portland area resident and a guy most motorcycle enthusiasts know, Michael Czysz, who is creating a from scratch racing motorcycle, was on hand.

He didn't have his bike, C1, on hand, but was riding a Ducati on the track. You can check out his motorcycle project here: http://www.motoczysz.com/main.php?area=home And the track was awesome. They repaved it this year and it is smooth and fast, not one bump anywhere. Kyle was doing some great laps, and I improved my lap times from last year. It was hot, 85 degrees, but wiping some sweat off our faces with towels still didn't wipe the smiles off. We had a blast and Kyle will be back on the Portland track next week. I'll have to wait a bit, but I for sure want to ride this track again, as there is no track around here that has a racing surface like Portland, it's the best. And all the modifications I made to the bike worked perfectly with not one problem.

Changes for the track bike

I know it's been a long time since I've posted anything, but I now have something new.

Yes, it's the same old '04 CBR, but with new race bodywork and new paint. Figured I'd better go with some sort of color that would stand out while I was running mid-pack with a bunch of other bikes, since I doubt I'll ever be the leader. A steering damper and a few other items are on the list to be installed next.

Flat black and orange doesn't look too bad. See you on the track!

Portland Track day

Sunday night about 5pm I started packing up all the stuff for my drive down to Portland, for a Monday track day at Portland International Raceway. I got down there about 8:30pm and slept in the truck, mostly so I didn't have to do that drive in the morning, as I had to have my bike unloaded and ready for tech inspection at about 7am.

So when you first arrive at the track, you unload all your stuff, and then with the company I usually ride with, NESBA, you have to take your bike through tech inspection. Basically, they make sure things are in proper order with the bike and your gear. If you've been through one before, you can pretty much do all these checks yourself before you get there. After passing tech, you wait around until there is riders meeting. At this meeting they go over many of safety precautions. It's usually the same speech, but always good to have in your head.

So this was my first time ever on the Portland track, and I was happy that another rider I knew from up at Pacific Raceways in Kent, WA would be joining me. Will rides a Triumph 675, and he brought along another 675 rider, Eric. They came down in Will's van.

We all passed the tech and got everything set up and were ready to ride. The weather was suppose to get better as the day progressed, but we just hoped for no rain. It was cloudy and humid and the sun tried to peak out, but we never really did see the sun. Our first session went ok, seeing as none of us have ever been on the track. We were mostly trying to figure out the corners, find the right gear and learn the track. With NESBA, they have control riders, local racers who know the track very well, and after each session you can talk to them about anything you need help with. Here, Will and Eric are asking questions to a control rider.

At first, I was having trouble figuring out which gears to be in through certain corners, but by the second session, I'd found the right gears. We were very lucky also, in the fact that there weren't that many people there for the track day. Our group had maybe 15 people in it, which means lots of track time. Each session is 20 minutes, which doesn't seem long, but when your out there sometimes it seems too long. After the sessions, we "retire" to our pit area.

At first our times weren't that great, but we were pretty much sticking together. Portland is a pretty fast track, and all right hand corners, compared to the all left hand corners at Pacific. The track also has way better paving with only a few bumps and lots more run off area if you crash. The only thing I didn't like about it was the raised corners in some of the turns. They are kind of like flat curbs, but it's really just something to get use to. After our morning sessions we were really starting to pick up the pace. With only 15 riders out on the track, we would hang back and let everyone take off and wait for open track space, then go out. Until, we started to get even faster and were catching those other riders. A lot of that had to do with the "Red Bull" energy drink that Will and Eric were drinking, giving them wings. It made them faster, for sure, and pulled me right along. And Will was even looking for a faster pace by loading his bike with a different map for more power. Ahh, technology!

I think after the lunch break, we decided to just get out there first and try to run in the open track at the beginning. It proved to be a smart choice, as we ran 1, 2, 3 for almost the rest of the sessions, not getting passed. The control riders basically just let us go, and we felt fast as ever, until one of the control riders would pass us in a corner to show us how slow we really were, back to reality. But it was great, because we were all three pretty equal and putting down some good lap times by the end. We were no where near a race pace, but our times were very respectable. We started out running 1:58, then 1:50, for pretty much the whole morning sessions. Somewhere along the way, we found speed and upped the pace to into the 1:28's. By the end we were running almost consistently in the low to mid 1:20's with my best time 1:22:47. No where near what the racers can do at the track, which they said was somehwere near the 1:11 mark. But we are not racers, we are just out there having some fun.

And Will and I had some great fun at Eric's expense. I had come back to the pit area and so did Will, but no Eric. The I heard someone crashed, and with Eric not being back, I thought it was him and was worried. Will didn't think it was him, because he said he saw him pull off the track. Will thought his engine had blown or something. Nope, Eric ran out of gas. Unlucky for me, but lucky for him, I wasn't able to get to my camera quick enough to catch him pushing his bike back to the pit area.

The last session of the day had some very menacing clouds come in. I saw a few little drops on my faceshield, but not enough to slow us down, well, Will and Eric at least. I slowed down a bit after both tires slid a bit on me in turn three, one of the only left handers. It wasn't anything bad, but knowing it's the last session I took it a bit easier. Never a good idea to wad your bike on the last session. We got back to the pit area, and sure enough, down came the rain minutes after our last session. No big deal though, as nothing could dampen our spirits, we had an awesome day. Packed up the rigs, saw traffic was bad and decided a beer and food was a better option than sitting in traffic, plus, now we could talk about the day even more.

Another track day for me next Monday at Pacific Raceways, yep, I'm an addict. And for sure, I'll be making the treck down to Portland again. Better check the NESBA schedule and see if I can make another one this summer in Portland.

Where have I been?

I know, I haven't put anything on here in a long time, and it's not just laziness. I've been having some fun at what I call, "My Favorite Resort." I have some really great friends who let me go over to their house in Rock Island, WA for fun and relaxation. Cathy and Carey are the best hosts ever, when it comes to those two things. Plus, they allow me to park my jet skis on the water, making it a much more fun "ride" over, rather than driving the truck. Two weekends back, my sister Brenda, Jim and the kids - plus Jr., all went over and had a blast, even Riley who isn't real keen of the water. Jr. had some play buddies that ran him ragged, and he even got into the water, up to his chest, no swimming for that dog. And last weekend, I was back over there enjoying the sun, friends, and jet skis. The photo is looking down from their house to what awaits. So if you need some relaxation time, let me know, I might be able to make you some reservations. Thanks Cathy, Carey, Cami, Coulee, Chili, Cloud and Cinnamin for all the fun.