well, despite being a weekday, i've had the coolest day. team pig goes to the track. (you think the bike is ugly, you should see the riders)

went up to eastern creek for a groovy day of fun in the sun. after the rain on the weekend and monday i thought we might be in for a wet track day, and me tiptoeing around the corners, but the sun shone (and the wind blew) and i had a great day.

pictures later. the paparazzi was busy stuffing around with the camera and not much on the track times. much as i want to see where i'm screwing up on the track, i really wanted to get a vague idea of times for my last two sessions. i felt i was going faster than i've ever gone here. but feelings can be deceptive (cue my love life hehehehe)

the last time i was at eastern creek, i managed one of my fastest laps, on a lap that felt my most kookiest. braking late and wierd, stuffed up lines, and wobbling all over the place. an indications of how easy this toy is to ride fast.

but this felt good. the only place i wasn't happy was turn 8. pretty much as quick as i go leaned over, apart from turn 1. i was buzzing around there at high revs in 3rd, while last time i was midranging 4th all the way around. i think i short probably short shift and use 4th next time, it feels more comfortable, and i think that when i'm revving hard while cornering i freak myself out a bit and back off.

in the first coupla sessions there was another guy out there with a gsxr1000, a bit newer than mine, with similar horsepower. it was a lot of fun chasing him around. i was cornering a little quicker (slicks) and blew him away down the straight a few times (maybe i was in the right gear) but he'd overtake me while was sitting behind newbie/slowbies (trying not to freak them out) so i'd chase him again. i think he might have gone up to the next quickest group. he'd have been pretty quick in that group i reckon.

couple of slides through turn two, working on high speed turn one (i reckon my eyes are still as big as tennis balls when i turn in), trying to be smooth and enjoy myself and not panic

panic moments:
turn 1: going too slow, not accelerating when i should, ended up with my knee over the grass and the front wheel heading there, fortunately my right hand knew what to do, wound it on, moved me out from the edge. brain 0, throttle hand 1.

turn 2: impatience and trying to wind it on too quick. i saw my brother over by the side of the track with the camera and didn't want to be caught tooling through the turn, so i squatted into it and opened up the throttle, only to have the back tyre start to move around on me and nearly give me a "brown moment". (note to self, look at the track and ignore the paparazzi)

i didn't scare myself as much as i usually do at the other turns, perhaps i'm not trying hard enough, but i had another at turn 1. had spent a few laps working myself up for a high speed entry, only to have a slower rider in front of me doing what seemed like 20kph. damn these brakes are good

turn 8: i see a puff of dust, woops, someone must be off, i cruise through next 3 corners to find that there's an earthmover off to the side of the track

going around wakefield definitely was a good thing. that short twist track gave me confidence wrestling with the bike. i'm still a little shy at higher speeds though. more track time needed.

next, need tyre pressure gauge (ours are broked/lost), heat gloves (lost), hand cleaner (need petrol for tank, not hands), tune up (other riders say engine needs work) and more grunt :-)