GPTECHMAN
10-22-2007, 07:13 PM
Well here it is...my first race report
I pretty much just decided to do NRS because my bike that was being fixed from being stolen was going to be delivered to willow that weekend. Thought that it would be cool and heard it was just like another trackday. And the most valuable reason to go was because Evan Steel himself was going to be there. Evan Steel set up allan's forks which happen to be the best handling bike hands down that I think most of us have ever ridden (those that have been lucky enough to ride it). So to have an opportunity to get time to dial in my bike with him was invaluable.
My work week was crap and luckily my bike was being prepped by Evan Steel so I didnt really have to worry about my bike passing tech....if I did it...Im 100% sure it would never pass tech.:roflmao:
Got done with work around 6ish on friday and went back to find bill., my crew chief for the weekend had gotten everything together and loaded up to go pick up Jared, from Jared Cosgrove Performance on our way up to willow.
I was supposed to pick up the bike friday night since I still had to put on bodywork, put numbers on, and anything else that needed to be done. I called him a few times was unable to connect and since it was getting so late I knew that we wouldnt be able to do much without any daylight anyways. So we got to the hotel and woke up super early...sorry guys. We ended up getting there around 7-7:15 and no idea where Evan was camped or if he would even be awake....Shambles...straight shambles.
Bringing two guys out a truck full of crap...and no bike. What a moron...:hammer:
Well luckily I saw him walking around and he pointed to me where my bike was. I went to register and we grabbed the bike to get it prepped. bill. and JCP finished up the bike in no time. We got the bike to tech and found out that I needed my lowers off...had to go back and take care of a couple extra bits that could be either safety wired or RTV sealed. I went to class and they finished up with the bike and thats when dustbin and jared ran into each other.....:whistle:
Well I finally got to meet Thad, the NRS instructor, and he wasnt as bad as I suspect. Very nice guy and very scatter brained. Pretty much the whole day consisted of a 45 minute riders meeting...
Our first session that we were supposed to go out in and essentially the first session on my new bike...suspension changes, geometry changes, dyno'd, and quickshifter added.
Lemme tell you...the bike felt fantastic as far as the motor and quickshifter were concerned....it was the most fun toy that I have got for the bike...super fun.
Anyways the wind was so bad that they had to shutdown the track for our session and water trucks went out to water down the dirt.....uhhhh yeah that helped a lot:roflmao:
Winds were strong enough to take shingles off the NRS building as we were sitting there.
The rest of the day kind of sucked with the sand storms and running on shod tires....
Overall it was a good experience and actually was nice to meet people in the same boat. I actually was pitted right next to ryan, who was also in the nrs and we helped each other throughout the day:thumbsup:
Wasnt quite sure if I would race givent eh conditions...I think there were gusts up and over 50mph on sat and the sand storms into 8 and 9 were pretty hairball.
Next morning the winds were pretty strong but seemed more manageable. I was just going to mount some fresh rubber and see how it went. JCP (jared) did some minor suspension tweaking and it felt better....the first practice session had some tearing on the rear, and the bike still felt like crap in 2 and 8.
Waited around til the last race and Evan came over to help me out on a last minute adjustment. He did a little suspension juju magic and I was off for my first race. There were a couple of otehr guys that were running faster times and my starts were horrible...
Rolled out there for the warm up lap and everything was happening so quickly I ended up botching the start...wheelie then bog, and was in last off the grid. I went WOT into 1 and was able to pass a couple people there.
On the exit of 1 I was able to pass another rider and was in pursuit of the other two faster riders from practice.
I was able to catch up to the second place rider in 4 and tried to make the pass down into 5 but had the door closed on me. I didnt want the guy leading to check out so I had a sense of urgency. I then tried to see if I could pass around the outside in 5 but it was a no go. I swooped to the left going into 6 to try and get the drive and was able to going into 7/8...
I was able to start and run down the lead guy and was gaining ground on him on the straight. I had Jared yelling at me in my head to not be a ***** so I tried to make a really far pass into 1. I wasnt nearly close enough and had to get on the binders as I dove into 1 and had a moment when he swooped across the front of me. I had to stand it up a bit and ran it wide but didnt lose too much ground.
I was able to catch up on the guy on teh brakes in 3 and through omega and eventually made the same pass out of 6 into 8. I held him off and had a few moments in 1....
Just tried to keep my head down and relax...slowed down my breathing and tried to remind myself that it was just like a trackday.
Ended up holding him off but was tricky not knowing how much to push or pushing too hard that I might crash.
Crossed the finish line and it was a surreal feeling. Fun day and pushed much harder than normal, but felt like it was still in reason.
Couldnt have done the day with out bill., Jared Cosgrove Performance, Evan Steel and Phil Allison. Special thanks to Dustin for the advise over 6 and for the support of Dblow and wongantor.
I pretty much just decided to do NRS because my bike that was being fixed from being stolen was going to be delivered to willow that weekend. Thought that it would be cool and heard it was just like another trackday. And the most valuable reason to go was because Evan Steel himself was going to be there. Evan Steel set up allan's forks which happen to be the best handling bike hands down that I think most of us have ever ridden (those that have been lucky enough to ride it). So to have an opportunity to get time to dial in my bike with him was invaluable.
My work week was crap and luckily my bike was being prepped by Evan Steel so I didnt really have to worry about my bike passing tech....if I did it...Im 100% sure it would never pass tech.:roflmao:
Got done with work around 6ish on friday and went back to find bill., my crew chief for the weekend had gotten everything together and loaded up to go pick up Jared, from Jared Cosgrove Performance on our way up to willow.
I was supposed to pick up the bike friday night since I still had to put on bodywork, put numbers on, and anything else that needed to be done. I called him a few times was unable to connect and since it was getting so late I knew that we wouldnt be able to do much without any daylight anyways. So we got to the hotel and woke up super early...sorry guys. We ended up getting there around 7-7:15 and no idea where Evan was camped or if he would even be awake....Shambles...straight shambles.
Bringing two guys out a truck full of crap...and no bike. What a moron...:hammer:
Well luckily I saw him walking around and he pointed to me where my bike was. I went to register and we grabbed the bike to get it prepped. bill. and JCP finished up the bike in no time. We got the bike to tech and found out that I needed my lowers off...had to go back and take care of a couple extra bits that could be either safety wired or RTV sealed. I went to class and they finished up with the bike and thats when dustbin and jared ran into each other.....:whistle:
Well I finally got to meet Thad, the NRS instructor, and he wasnt as bad as I suspect. Very nice guy and very scatter brained. Pretty much the whole day consisted of a 45 minute riders meeting...
Our first session that we were supposed to go out in and essentially the first session on my new bike...suspension changes, geometry changes, dyno'd, and quickshifter added.
Lemme tell you...the bike felt fantastic as far as the motor and quickshifter were concerned....it was the most fun toy that I have got for the bike...super fun.
Anyways the wind was so bad that they had to shutdown the track for our session and water trucks went out to water down the dirt.....uhhhh yeah that helped a lot:roflmao:
Winds were strong enough to take shingles off the NRS building as we were sitting there.
The rest of the day kind of sucked with the sand storms and running on shod tires....
Overall it was a good experience and actually was nice to meet people in the same boat. I actually was pitted right next to ryan, who was also in the nrs and we helped each other throughout the day:thumbsup:
Wasnt quite sure if I would race givent eh conditions...I think there were gusts up and over 50mph on sat and the sand storms into 8 and 9 were pretty hairball.
Next morning the winds were pretty strong but seemed more manageable. I was just going to mount some fresh rubber and see how it went. JCP (jared) did some minor suspension tweaking and it felt better....the first practice session had some tearing on the rear, and the bike still felt like crap in 2 and 8.
Waited around til the last race and Evan came over to help me out on a last minute adjustment. He did a little suspension juju magic and I was off for my first race. There were a couple of otehr guys that were running faster times and my starts were horrible...
Rolled out there for the warm up lap and everything was happening so quickly I ended up botching the start...wheelie then bog, and was in last off the grid. I went WOT into 1 and was able to pass a couple people there.
On the exit of 1 I was able to pass another rider and was in pursuit of the other two faster riders from practice.
I was able to catch up to the second place rider in 4 and tried to make the pass down into 5 but had the door closed on me. I didnt want the guy leading to check out so I had a sense of urgency. I then tried to see if I could pass around the outside in 5 but it was a no go. I swooped to the left going into 6 to try and get the drive and was able to going into 7/8...
I was able to start and run down the lead guy and was gaining ground on him on the straight. I had Jared yelling at me in my head to not be a ***** so I tried to make a really far pass into 1. I wasnt nearly close enough and had to get on the binders as I dove into 1 and had a moment when he swooped across the front of me. I had to stand it up a bit and ran it wide but didnt lose too much ground.
I was able to catch up on the guy on teh brakes in 3 and through omega and eventually made the same pass out of 6 into 8. I held him off and had a few moments in 1....
Just tried to keep my head down and relax...slowed down my breathing and tried to remind myself that it was just like a trackday.
Ended up holding him off but was tricky not knowing how much to push or pushing too hard that I might crash.
Crossed the finish line and it was a surreal feeling. Fun day and pushed much harder than normal, but felt like it was still in reason.
Couldnt have done the day with out bill., Jared Cosgrove Performance, Evan Steel and Phil Allison. Special thanks to Dustin for the advise over 6 and for the support of Dblow and wongantor.