211 Day - May 8, 2005

9:05 AM – I’m asleep, phone rings, its J, meet at Tryst at 10:00 - shit.

9:55 AM –Why did I wear my leather pants down into the garage to put my bike back together – I’m dripping in sweat – its taking twice as long as I thought it would.

10:25 AM – I arrive at Tryst, hmmm no R6…

10:45 AM – Still no sign of J. I’m at his house, I’m at his garage – no J anywhere.

10:55 AM – I’m back at Tryst – Eric and Pebble tell me that J showed up and just took his bag and left in a huff. I am perplexed. I call J. He answers, all pissed off – “tell those fuckwads to piss off”. I hang up even more perplexed. Eric, Cathy, Pebble and I take off for the mountains the weather is PERFECT.

The ride out was uneventful but nice nonetheless. We had one minor incident involving Pebble and a random on ramp but we quickly turned around and all was well.

Once at the mountain we couldn’t believe how beautiful it was. A guy at the bottom gave us a signal to watch for cops so we took it easy going up. Easy for us that is…

There was one unmarked mo-fo coming down but he past us in a short straight so all was well. We got to the top and Cathy hopped off to relax in the sun and perfect temps. Did I mention how perfect it was! On the way down the next time we past J coming up! I guess he got over his PMS and decided to join us, good call. For the next 2 and half or 3 hours we went up and down 211 like monkeys swinging from vines. Felt real good. Cops were around but got sparse later. Another couple groups of sportbikers show up eventually and it was all very entertaining. Once J and I (the two of the group that always seem to think with our stomachs) decided it was time to go because we were starving, we all headed down one last time. Just then, Daragh shows up, girl on the back and numbers from track day still on the front… I love that guy.

We all took off to the English Pub we typically patronize and immediately took over half the bar. J decided to part with the one piece for the occasion so he ate sheppard’s pie and drank Boddingtons Ale in his red hat, red t-shirt, red gym shorts (3 different shades of red mind you) and black socks… I love that guy.

The ride back wasn’t as fun… we hit bad traffic on I-66 for quite a few miles until J and I decided to blow through it to the finish. Those last few miles through Arlington were pretty damn fun! Thanks J. Until next time!

Coleman Track Day: May 12, 2005

I (Crazy J) and Smithy (Asphyxiate) got back out on the track at Summit last Thursday thanks to a event hosted by Coleman Powersports and the local Ducati riders club. The event was organized largely by my boy Matt Ross, and went off more or less without a hitch. I had only two minor complaints: They should have more prominently posted the tech guidelines, and they let too many people out on the track with masking tape on their brake lights -- which let the light shine right through and proved to be distracting.

I lined up at the very front of the beginner group as my bike wouldn't pass tech for intermediate (coolant swapped for water and some race wiring required). As soon as we got off at the end of the session the control rider told me to bump up, as it was getting kind of hairy lapping a lot of new riders.
Doing so meant stripping off all my bodywork to swap out my coolant for distilled water and race-wiring my oil filter, oil fill cap and drain plug. I did this in the pits after borrowing a drain pan and funnel from a well-equipped Ducati control rider.

A dude named Chris (a friend of a friend) who wasn't riding agreed to help me out, but after pulling off my bodywork it became pretty clear he'd rather be off doing other things and quickly disappeared. Alone, I pulled off my sweaty leathers and got to work. Luckily I didn't burn myself, although I did make a helluva mess spilling some coolant. I don't see how I could have avoided it. Luckily after a couple flushes I was all good as far as the coolant was concerned.

Chris reappeared and I basically forced him to wire my filter and fill cap. The drain plug didn't really get done, as I broke the drill bit trying to do it. We kind of made it look like it got done, though, and it passed tech. I decided to leave my mid and lower fairings off and ride mostly naked as I didn't want to spend another 30 minutes putting them back. When it was all done, I only missed one session because of a crash or two.

I also managed to squeeze in a massage! Matt Ross had arranged for the Heritage Massage School to come out and provide free massages to riders. One of the students was pretty cute and I think took a shine to me. Before they left, she gave me a card for a free one-hour massage, but didn't put her name and number on there. I called the school, but they didn't know of any student named Sam. Oh well.

Out on the track, I felt a lot more comfortable having ridden it about 10 days earlier thanks to NESBA. I managed to loosen my grip on the bars and hang off the bike a bit more, allowing me to (I think) carry more speed around the corners. I know I was going through 9 and 10 faster than last time out. For 10, I wasn't even braking and downshifting only once, hauling some ass through there hanging way off the bike.

I didn't get my knee down, even though for better or worse I was trying my damndest to do it. A couple guys who had ridden behind me told me my knee was less than an inch off the ground. Ugh. I felt like I was really hanging off, putting my head and shoulders out and up front. loose on the bars, weight planted on my inside foot and holding my weight up with my outside leg, back and stomach. Still, no scrapey. Smith got his knee down for an instant, though. Good for him!

Speaking of Smith, the kid was ripping it up in beginner group. The last run of the day, I went out with him and followed him for 3/4 of a lap. He was carrying a lot of speed into the corners, exiting fast thanks to all that R1 power. He had my ass in the straights, but I managed to pass him after turn 10 as he hesitated to pass a control rider on a slow-ass old bike. From there we hit some lappers and I took off. I wasn't about to let him get around me again... hehehehehehe.

Good times. Hopefully I'll have some pictures to post soon. I brought my camera, but didn't take a single shot. Coleman's had a photog there, so I'm trying to get some of those pics ASAP.

For more posted by Smithy, goto www.catspit.net.

--CJ