Bryant
09-19-2004, 12:48 AM
We just got back from the track. Still need to shower but couldn't wait to post this.
Congratulations Aaron! You are now an official licensed WSMC racer! :rockon:
Aaron and I are now back in the Park Plaza hotel lying on our beds with our laptops. ;p
Aaron did awesome out here today! Super smooth and looked real comfortable. From what I could tell, he was one of the fastest riders in his class today.
Aaron now sports WSMC #787 (my old number when I started racing). That number brought me a good luck. :headbang:
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As for me, wow.. never without drama it seems.....
So as some of you guys know, I slapped on a set of BT-002's on my bike for the first time. I opted to go with a 190/55-17 rear and 120/70-17 (tires were awesome btw!)
Now the story... well i think i'm gonna skip this one part where.. something caused me to miss my chance to practice on these tires and at least scrub them in before the GTU race I signed up for.. ugh.. SO STUPID!!!!! :hammer:
So now the race.. I got gridded on the last row. sucked balls but I wasn't in contention anyway. Thinking to myself... yeah.. just put in some laps and don't crash.. get a feel for the tires.
Race start.. green flag drops.. i get an AWESOME run in first gear.. went to shift..and BAM.. hit neutral... sh*t. Now i have a crappy start to deal with.. i get into turn 1 DEAD last. I lost a lot of ground already.. and my tires are still slick and cold:errf: ...
I saw that the leaders were pulling away so i needed to get past these guys ahead of me. I pushed pretty hard that first lap and made up a few positions. I got into I believe 6th position eventually and started to put a gap on the guys behind me. Around lap 14 or so.. I was going over turn 6 and got on the gas a bit harder than normal over the second lip but I guess I got a bit lazy and didn't get the bike stood up enough to maintain traction... Rear tire kicked out full lock to the left! Bike went airborne.. i went airborne.. my left leg was still somehow near the bike and when i ccame back down somehow my left knee hit some part of my bike and I was lying on top of the tank!! One of the GTO racers was right behind me at the time so he got the best seat in the house! lol.. or maybe it was someone else.. can't remember now. Good thing I brought 3 pairs of underwear! Anyway, i got a nasty little bruise on the right side of my left knee.. sux. Sore everywhere.. hands, wrists, my lower back... oi. I kept on the gas though but was much more careful now. Lots of things ran through my mind at this time.. 14 laps.. tires were a little greasy (every tire I've used gets greasy after about 14 laps into a race so nothing too knew) but I'm not familiar with the BT's so made me wonder a lot. Anyway, I tried not to let the incident affect me as i worked so hard to catch up to this dude ahead of me... but i lost my drive into turn 8 (this is bad cuz if you lose your drive into this turn you are basically screwed for that lap losing out a few precious seconds).
Anyway... I finished in 8th at the end of it all. I was pretty bummed out... but this race.. just wasn't meant to be I guess. =( But at least I'm back out racing after all these years! It was great being back.. It was good to talk with Jeremy Toye out there again (such an awesome dude!), John Chen, Dustin of course, Steve Sturm, Chris Kelley, Russ Penrose, Jacob West, all the ladies in the registration office, Kenny Kopecky, etc..etc.
I'll give a more detailed report soon.. i need to rest up for tomorrow! I think I'm gonna go to the lobby and get me a cookie. ;p~~~~~
Stay tuned!!!
Congratulations Aaron! You are now an official licensed WSMC racer! :rockon:
Aaron and I are now back in the Park Plaza hotel lying on our beds with our laptops. ;p
Aaron did awesome out here today! Super smooth and looked real comfortable. From what I could tell, he was one of the fastest riders in his class today.
Aaron now sports WSMC #787 (my old number when I started racing). That number brought me a good luck. :headbang:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As for me, wow.. never without drama it seems.....
So as some of you guys know, I slapped on a set of BT-002's on my bike for the first time. I opted to go with a 190/55-17 rear and 120/70-17 (tires were awesome btw!)
Now the story... well i think i'm gonna skip this one part where.. something caused me to miss my chance to practice on these tires and at least scrub them in before the GTU race I signed up for.. ugh.. SO STUPID!!!!! :hammer:
So now the race.. I got gridded on the last row. sucked balls but I wasn't in contention anyway. Thinking to myself... yeah.. just put in some laps and don't crash.. get a feel for the tires.
Race start.. green flag drops.. i get an AWESOME run in first gear.. went to shift..and BAM.. hit neutral... sh*t. Now i have a crappy start to deal with.. i get into turn 1 DEAD last. I lost a lot of ground already.. and my tires are still slick and cold:errf: ...
I saw that the leaders were pulling away so i needed to get past these guys ahead of me. I pushed pretty hard that first lap and made up a few positions. I got into I believe 6th position eventually and started to put a gap on the guys behind me. Around lap 14 or so.. I was going over turn 6 and got on the gas a bit harder than normal over the second lip but I guess I got a bit lazy and didn't get the bike stood up enough to maintain traction... Rear tire kicked out full lock to the left! Bike went airborne.. i went airborne.. my left leg was still somehow near the bike and when i ccame back down somehow my left knee hit some part of my bike and I was lying on top of the tank!! One of the GTO racers was right behind me at the time so he got the best seat in the house! lol.. or maybe it was someone else.. can't remember now. Good thing I brought 3 pairs of underwear! Anyway, i got a nasty little bruise on the right side of my left knee.. sux. Sore everywhere.. hands, wrists, my lower back... oi. I kept on the gas though but was much more careful now. Lots of things ran through my mind at this time.. 14 laps.. tires were a little greasy (every tire I've used gets greasy after about 14 laps into a race so nothing too knew) but I'm not familiar with the BT's so made me wonder a lot. Anyway, I tried not to let the incident affect me as i worked so hard to catch up to this dude ahead of me... but i lost my drive into turn 8 (this is bad cuz if you lose your drive into this turn you are basically screwed for that lap losing out a few precious seconds).
Anyway... I finished in 8th at the end of it all. I was pretty bummed out... but this race.. just wasn't meant to be I guess. =( But at least I'm back out racing after all these years! It was great being back.. It was good to talk with Jeremy Toye out there again (such an awesome dude!), John Chen, Dustin of course, Steve Sturm, Chris Kelley, Russ Penrose, Jacob West, all the ladies in the registration office, Kenny Kopecky, etc..etc.
I'll give a more detailed report soon.. i need to rest up for tomorrow! I think I'm gonna go to the lobby and get me a cookie. ;p~~~~~
Stay tuned!!!