Sunday, May 07, 2006
a close shave this weekend, well not that i avoided anything by particular cleverness, rather, the opposite.
friday was a good day. no accidents at eastern creek (well not for us, some others had falls, none serious).
i never really got into a good rhythm at eastern creek. last time i went there (especially after phillip island) i had a really good run. i was able to keep my mind free of everything except my lines, where i wanted to be, and enjoying the moment. this time i had all sorts of rubbish going through my head, i was thinking about crashing too much i think. and there were some car guys there playing in the skid pan, you can see them when you come up to turn 9.
one of my mates said that i wasn't happy because my standards have raised, well that's possibly true, but i definitely wasn't riding as well as last time. i think i'm getting a bit complacent too. going around turn 8 i backed off the throttle big time, instead of committing and driving, i thought i was gonna end up on my arse for sure. the bike stood up, looked at the grass and tyre wall, and coming onto the straight i was a lot slower.
i eventually started riding satisfactorily, but i was still aware that i really wasn't riding as nicely as i like. now that it's not as new as it was before to be doing track days on such a weapon, maybe now i need work on clearing my head a bit to get rid of the stupid distractions.
we couldn't get our old slicks changed as early as we wanted. half of the hired help apparently crashed while racing on the weekend, so they had newbie tyre changers. in my second session i had a bit of a slide coming out of turn two. it was very progressive and didn't leave a brown stain, but scared me a lot. if this happened in turn 1 i woulda freaked.
so i came in and the other two took their turns, then we put on the new slicks. much nicer. i don't drag my knee on the ground, but i checked out a few pics on the web from the guy who takes photos on the day, and i'm leaned over as far as some of the others who do, so i'm happy with that. a lot more relaxing needed though.
i had an amusing moment as well. at the start of one of my sessions, i got overtaken, no worries, he's more confident than me on cold tyres. then i overtook some of my mates on the straight (maybe i'm not as distracted as i thought, didn't sese either of them) and started working my way through the traffic. yet again, coming out of turn turn two, trying to overtake without screwing someone elses up i ended up on the concrete. doh!
so i'm working my way through the traffic. there's not as much room to overtake here as at phillip island, gotta blast past (grunt is good) on either the straight, out of turn 9 on the short blast up to the final turns onto the straight, out of turn 5 i can get them up the hill cause i'm going faster through the turn (if i don't screw up, try to early, and balk and have to restart). my favourite is around the outside under the bridge on corporate hill and around turn 8. these slicks stick like shit to a blanket. i wish the photographer took some photos here. everyone i'm riding with is happy with me going around and stuffing myself in deep to do the right hand hairpin.
woohoo! finally i get a clear lap. up to 10, 11 and 12 and the chequered flag brings me in. doh!
i'm still happy. good stress relief. next is wakefield park, goulburn. the others are thinking of an endurance round there. our fastest guy starting, next doing the next stint, me 3rd, then the other two trying to catch up again. they also want to buy a newer, faster bike. we're hitting limitations with this bike. they are running out of suspension and brakes. i'm not going fast enough to notice.
next time i'm going slower. it seems to be the key to me going faster.
oh yeah, and the heading. there was this chickie on the boat. drop dead gorgeous. some of the crew said she was interested in me. (how fucking pompous does that sound?) we were chatting and giggling a bit, but i didn't get the same impression. some "more studly" guys would have capitalised on the situation. but i have never had the knack.
so i avoided yet another screwed up relationship situation with my usual method. being clueless enough not to know what is going on. i'm still not sure if i was lucky or unlucky. this bird is drop dead gorgeous, but i can't play her game.
apart from that the rest of the weekend was grand. hell, that was fun too. dunno where the weekend went, but it's over now (baby blue)
friday was a good day. no accidents at eastern creek (well not for us, some others had falls, none serious).
i never really got into a good rhythm at eastern creek. last time i went there (especially after phillip island) i had a really good run. i was able to keep my mind free of everything except my lines, where i wanted to be, and enjoying the moment. this time i had all sorts of rubbish going through my head, i was thinking about crashing too much i think. and there were some car guys there playing in the skid pan, you can see them when you come up to turn 9.
one of my mates said that i wasn't happy because my standards have raised, well that's possibly true, but i definitely wasn't riding as well as last time. i think i'm getting a bit complacent too. going around turn 8 i backed off the throttle big time, instead of committing and driving, i thought i was gonna end up on my arse for sure. the bike stood up, looked at the grass and tyre wall, and coming onto the straight i was a lot slower.
i eventually started riding satisfactorily, but i was still aware that i really wasn't riding as nicely as i like. now that it's not as new as it was before to be doing track days on such a weapon, maybe now i need work on clearing my head a bit to get rid of the stupid distractions.
we couldn't get our old slicks changed as early as we wanted. half of the hired help apparently crashed while racing on the weekend, so they had newbie tyre changers. in my second session i had a bit of a slide coming out of turn two. it was very progressive and didn't leave a brown stain, but scared me a lot. if this happened in turn 1 i woulda freaked.
so i came in and the other two took their turns, then we put on the new slicks. much nicer. i don't drag my knee on the ground, but i checked out a few pics on the web from the guy who takes photos on the day, and i'm leaned over as far as some of the others who do, so i'm happy with that. a lot more relaxing needed though.
i had an amusing moment as well. at the start of one of my sessions, i got overtaken, no worries, he's more confident than me on cold tyres. then i overtook some of my mates on the straight (maybe i'm not as distracted as i thought, didn't sese either of them) and started working my way through the traffic. yet again, coming out of turn turn two, trying to overtake without screwing someone elses up i ended up on the concrete. doh!
so i'm working my way through the traffic. there's not as much room to overtake here as at phillip island, gotta blast past (grunt is good) on either the straight, out of turn 9 on the short blast up to the final turns onto the straight, out of turn 5 i can get them up the hill cause i'm going faster through the turn (if i don't screw up, try to early, and balk and have to restart). my favourite is around the outside under the bridge on corporate hill and around turn 8. these slicks stick like shit to a blanket. i wish the photographer took some photos here. everyone i'm riding with is happy with me going around and stuffing myself in deep to do the right hand hairpin.
woohoo! finally i get a clear lap. up to 10, 11 and 12 and the chequered flag brings me in. doh!
i'm still happy. good stress relief. next is wakefield park, goulburn. the others are thinking of an endurance round there. our fastest guy starting, next doing the next stint, me 3rd, then the other two trying to catch up again. they also want to buy a newer, faster bike. we're hitting limitations with this bike. they are running out of suspension and brakes. i'm not going fast enough to notice.
next time i'm going slower. it seems to be the key to me going faster.
oh yeah, and the heading. there was this chickie on the boat. drop dead gorgeous. some of the crew said she was interested in me. (how fucking pompous does that sound?) we were chatting and giggling a bit, but i didn't get the same impression. some "more studly" guys would have capitalised on the situation. but i have never had the knack.
so i avoided yet another screwed up relationship situation with my usual method. being clueless enough not to know what is going on. i'm still not sure if i was lucky or unlucky. this bird is drop dead gorgeous, but i can't play her game.
apart from that the rest of the weekend was grand. hell, that was fun too. dunno where the weekend went, but it's over now (baby blue)
