Mid-Ohio
07.03.06: SportBike Track Time
What can i say, the event was wet. not a good kind of "iuts going to be a deluge all day" kind of wet, but more of a teasing "really humid, almost dry then downpour" kind of wet. Basically it rained REALLY hard off and on all two days. but as i am find of saying, any track time is good track time.

After a long ride that started in Bethany Beach, MD and ending soemwhere in middle Ohio, Mary and i finally arrived at our hotel. Our friends Jay and Lisa arrived wihtin 10 minutes of us so we all went out for dinner.

The next morning we awoke to a very humid morning, but with some drying pathes on the pavement. The outlook was good.I volunteered for the to be the lead of the Intermediate group all day whcih meant that i would have to ride in every intermediate session and be the first one let out to lead the single "parade" lap of each session. We do thins so the riders tires can get up to temperature and hteir mind can readjust to riding again. Mary said i did the lap too slow, and i agree that the first session parade was slow, but fuck em. they should have passed me after the first lap.

Mid Ohio was repaved over the winter and i had the opportunity to ride it shortly there after. nice smooth pavement with no concrete patches. Very nice. This time, however, i found that they have placed sealer in most of the corners. In the morning it was a little slick. i could feel the bike slipping just enough to make it difficult to ignore. i am not sure of the available traction there, but it was not confidence inspiring.

After the first session, the track was nice and grippy, so i spent my time cruising around just fast enough for the fast guys to get past easily but slow enough so mid pack riders had someone to chase. I am not sure if it worked though as i found myself riding alone for a little while. Once i realized this, i picked up the pace and caught up with the fast guys. Although the benefits of the Cornerspeed school are wearing off a little bit (namely the smoothness and comfort i fet on the bike during the class), i was still faster than i have been earlier in the season, judged solely on the fact that i was able to catch the fast intermediate riders.

I noticed something though: i had no idea what i should be "coaching" in the I group. Body positions looked good. braking was done properly. but they jsut werent going as fast as they could have been. Mary and I were talking about this a little in the pits, so i decided to help intermediate riders work on lines and giving them a "tow" around the track. Ususally, if a rider has someone to follow who is just a little faster, the following rider will get "towed" around at the fast riders pace. Seems reasonable to give them a tow, so i resolved to try that next session.

Well, i couldnt try it next session as it began to rain. periods of sprinkles punctualted with downpours. that almost ended my day. i think i went out a couple more sessions, but it wasnt as fun. The new sealer was quite slick and i found myself drifting very wide on a few of the corners and tip-toing around the others. That didnt bother me too much as i got to see what kind of traction my race tires had, but i just didnt want to be wet, because i knew if my gear got wet, it would not be dry for hte next day and there is little worse than damp clamming gear. Thank goodness we had rented a garage though. we jsut sat around and talked with people until the day was over. then we packed some more bikes in to keep them out of hte overnight elements and headed for dinner.

We also stopped at Target, and since i had a little bit of a buz from the free beer i got at dinner, i ended up buying things i didnt really need. but it was great fun being the rowdy bunch in a store, making loud iappropriate jokes. Back at the hotel, with hte empty pool and closed, run down "spa", i got my computer hooked up to the TV and we watched Snatch before heading off to bed.

Day 2 >>

 

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