CPM F4
01-16-2006, 02:30 AM
What a wild weekend: wild weather, wild race. Got up to the track Friday night to do Saturday practice. When I woke up Saturday morning, I could see the dark storm clouds rolling in from the southwest and the wind was kicking up pretty good. The rain was off and on, only coming down enough to wet the track but only briefly. I was able to get a few sessions in but was disappointed by my times. They were two to three seconds off of my December race times. The wind was making it difficult to go faster. Other riders were doing better than I was so for the race I would need to get a good start and hold my position.
Saturday night would be the precursor to what was in store for race day. At around 3 AM, the wind started blowing hard, rocking my truck as I slept. It was blowing so hard, I thought my bike would tip over. The morning brought cold temps but then it started to warm up. By the time the first race started, things were looking peachy, no wind and it was warm. Then...
Sustatined winds of 27 mph with gusts of 40 to 50 mph. The ambient temperature was 52 degrees but the wind chill took it down to 36. The Middleweight Novice race was the last one of the day so the wind was in full effect. I was gridded third and looking to get a really good start. My starts during practice were great. I wound the enigine to 8k rpm and spooled out the clutch and took off keeping the front wheel on the ground. There's something about adrenaline that causes wheelies. The green flag dropped and I pulled a fat one, chopped the throttle, bogged and saw three riders go by. I hit the gas hard to catch up and carried a good amount of speed into turn 1. The leader, on the outside, ducked in from the outside and the two riders behind him were following suit. I was gaining on them as they started the turn-in and was able to scoot inside of them coming out behind the leader at the exit. Going into turn two, I was gaining on first place. I had a
good head of steam so I took him on the outside. It didn't last long as he came back and passed me coming out of turn 4b. I chased after him as I went into 8 faster than I've ever gone. I felt the front start to go, skipping and sliding as I was leaned over. I picked the bike up a little and put in more throttle which put the slide in check. Then the wind blew me towards the dirt. I cut the throttle and turned away from the edge of the track but that screwed me up for nine. Coming out of that turn, I saw Ryan, the leader almost go off the edge at the exit. I almost went off too. The wind was wreaking havoc on my lines.
I charged hard for the next lap and felt the front slide in two. It was too much. I had to take it down a little so I would finish the race and not crash out. I kept a slower but consistent pace and was able to pull off second place. I was so ecstatic at my finish that I almost fell over backwards off the bike. Crossing the finish line, I threw a fist in the air but came too far upright almost blowing myself off the bike. Heh, heh.
Wild weather, wild race 8-).
Saturday night would be the precursor to what was in store for race day. At around 3 AM, the wind started blowing hard, rocking my truck as I slept. It was blowing so hard, I thought my bike would tip over. The morning brought cold temps but then it started to warm up. By the time the first race started, things were looking peachy, no wind and it was warm. Then...
Sustatined winds of 27 mph with gusts of 40 to 50 mph. The ambient temperature was 52 degrees but the wind chill took it down to 36. The Middleweight Novice race was the last one of the day so the wind was in full effect. I was gridded third and looking to get a really good start. My starts during practice were great. I wound the enigine to 8k rpm and spooled out the clutch and took off keeping the front wheel on the ground. There's something about adrenaline that causes wheelies. The green flag dropped and I pulled a fat one, chopped the throttle, bogged and saw three riders go by. I hit the gas hard to catch up and carried a good amount of speed into turn 1. The leader, on the outside, ducked in from the outside and the two riders behind him were following suit. I was gaining on them as they started the turn-in and was able to scoot inside of them coming out behind the leader at the exit. Going into turn two, I was gaining on first place. I had a
good head of steam so I took him on the outside. It didn't last long as he came back and passed me coming out of turn 4b. I chased after him as I went into 8 faster than I've ever gone. I felt the front start to go, skipping and sliding as I was leaned over. I picked the bike up a little and put in more throttle which put the slide in check. Then the wind blew me towards the dirt. I cut the throttle and turned away from the edge of the track but that screwed me up for nine. Coming out of that turn, I saw Ryan, the leader almost go off the edge at the exit. I almost went off too. The wind was wreaking havoc on my lines.
I charged hard for the next lap and felt the front slide in two. It was too much. I had to take it down a little so I would finish the race and not crash out. I kept a slower but consistent pace and was able to pull off second place. I was so ecstatic at my finish that I almost fell over backwards off the bike. Crossing the finish line, I threw a fist in the air but came too far upright almost blowing myself off the bike. Heh, heh.
Wild weather, wild race 8-).