Sunday was hopefull. I helped Jay and Lisa out by taking them to go rent a car to get home and they thanked me with a steak dinner and drinks. its always nice when a second drink is ordered before you have a chance to even consider the possibility. so with a good nights sleep on a full stomach i was finally rid of the evils of Wild Turkey and ready for a full day of riding.

i re-registered but got to skip tech so i was back at my pit just relaxing when my neightbors offered me breakfast. eggs and bacon wa much better than the honey bun and banana i just wolfed down. The day was going to be a good day.

i rechecked my tire pressure and had it set at 33f/35r and i was off. this first session was a little faster than yesterdays as i was already familiar with the track and the conditions were favorable. i still had tire issues. they felt fine until about half way through the session and then they would start to slip a little. not really slide, but i could feel that they were on the edge of traction. not a problem though as i didnt really want to push myself.

Other than my tire issues my riding wasnt up to par. i had trouble getting comfortable on the bike and loose on teh bars. luckily Jennings is not a bumpy track and i had no head shake issues even with my deathgrip. i tried a few different modifications to my riding style to lessen my grip on teh bars with some success. first off, although i was putting my knee out while hanging off, i wasnt rotating my foot to point my heel up and into the bike. when i started doing that, my knee was out farther (im not sure if i liked that) but i was able to grip the bike easier with my outside leg instead of placing all of my weight on the inside foot peg. when in dounbt, practice the basics.

i also tried an "elbows out" riding style in the corners. it enabled me to keep my arms loose but took little getting used to. maybe if my body positioning was better (upper body lower, ass more off the seat) elbows out wouldnt be neccessary. but it is at least a technique for my bag of goodies.

coupled with my tire issues and poor riding riding technique, my lap times were not what i had expected. my best for the weekend was 2 secionds slower than my lap record at JEnnings. semi consistent 1:28 is nothing to sulk about, but i still would have liked to see an improvment from my last time. i think the feel of my tires had something to do with my hihger lap times. a few times i managed to push the front and almost tucked it once. rear slides were almost common place. i even spun up the rear through a good portion of turn 1. that really made me feel good. the spinning was very smooth, the rear didnt really step out and i was comfortable enough with it to at least think that i had some control over the rear of the bike with the throttle. although it certainly wouldnt add to my lap times, i did produce a smile.

On Saturday, there was little or no traffic in the Advanced group. I didnt pass many people and the people who passed me did so quickly and efficiently and were soon out of sight. However, it seems that a few from Saturdays intermeidate group were bumped to advanced as there were more riders in the advanced group on Sunday and there was even traffic! Even though i wasnt too confident on the bike i was still able to pass because they were parking it in the corners like intermediate riders. (passing on the outside of turn 1 is really fun). at one point, i ducked under a "new" advanced rider coming out of turn 9 just as a really fast rider passed both of us on the outside. i decided to give the passed rider a bit more room than usual in teh next turn so took a line that ran me around the outside of the corner. well, i didnt realize it until it was too late, but the outside edge of the track tightens up quite unexpectedly. not trusting my tires, i stood the bike off and had my first off-track adventure of the day. i managed to keep the bike upright and when i got it turned to head back onto the track, i saw that the rider i just passed lowsided into the next turn (luckily he was ok).

i decided to take a little break after my trip to the beach so i went diretly to the hot pit to calm myself daown. a couple of laps later, and i feel comfortable enough to continue so im off yeat again. i get back into a groove in about a lap and everything is feeling as good as it has been all weekend. i tried a new line through turn one that seemed very promising earlier in the day. on this lap i went in deeper and only clipped the second apex (i was too wide for hte first). this line gave me a chance to square off the turn and get on the gas sooner for some great drive. on this lap i nailed it perfectly. well, in all my excitement i had a momentary lapse of concentration and turned too early for turn 2 (a 110 mph sharp left hand kink). well, the early apex threw me VERY wide and once again i did not trust my tires and picked up the bike for another trip to the beach. only this trip was at about 120mph. everything was fine as i initially left the track and glided over the sand. but then the sand got bumpy. the bars started to wobble. the bike was bouncing in the air. i really didnt want to fall off here. a high speed get off on asphalt is one thing, but the same on bumpy sand is quite another. there would be no easly landing, no gracefull sliding, just ass hooles and elbows as my bike cartwheeled into a million pieces. luckily my fears were not realized and i got hte bike settled down with the rear brake. but then i noticed some tall weeds partially obscuring a rather large ditch. whithin this ditch was a very large pile of sand. and i was heading stright for them. more rear brake dancing and mentally planning my escape from the speeding motorcycle finally paid off. i managed to get the bike stopped about three feet short of the ditch.

with two close calls in the same session, i was done. i tiptoed back around the track to the pits and sat down to regain my composure. at the lever and pace that i ride, i dont get scared very often. but feeling the bars almost become a tank slapper and seeing that ditch definately scared me. there is nothing like the stark fist of reality to beat the fear back into you. at least i was videoing that session.

The rest of the day was a little bit slower. i really didnt want to end my season with a crash like last year. even at my reduced pace, the tires were still slipping. normally, i wear a flat spot about an inch in from the side of the tire. that flat spot was certainly present, but i added a new flat area. the actual edge of the tire was also worn flat. hows that for getting on the gas early. the DCs jsut dont have the side grip that i now want, so, even though i have been fighting hte urge, i realize that i am fainlly at the point where i need to go to full on race tires to not only ride safely at the pace i am accustomed to, but also to increase my ability and speed.

i have high hopes for next year. hopefully i will be able to attend more track days than this year and i would like to get my race license. now all i have to do is try to remember the finer points that i need to practice next year. maybe ill even attend another school...

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