2004 Season Wrap-up
The 2004 season was truly an UP & DOWN season. There were a lot of lessons learned and relearned. The two biggest things I've taken away from the 2004 season which I'll pass on to you are:
1. You cannot physically prepare enough for road racing. Get your exercise in. Diet right and prepare yourself. The physical exertion of even a simple 8 lap race is astounding. If you want to be competitive, you'd better be in shape for it.
2. You cannot mentally prepare enough for road racing. Find someone to work with on this. Preferably a trainer/mentor who has prepared professional athletes or motorcycle racers before. It's been said that 90% of road racing is between the ears, and this is gospel. You can quickly learn all you'll need to know about road racing, but unless you can implement it and do so effectively, you will be held back.
Reflecting back on the year, I recall a lot of frustration from stupid crashes, but now that I've calculated it up, I realize that I didn't crash any more or less than any other year. And only one of the crashes were in a race, but the causes for the crashes were mostly stupid things that I know better on.
This year I worked a lot with Keith Code, and learned probably more than I have in my 25+ years of riding. I look forward to continuing the relationship with Keith and the California Superbike School.
Memories of 2004
Best moment:
Finally breaking my lap record at Blackhawk
Farms on 9/19.
Worst moment:
Losing the front end in practice on 5/28
at Blackhawk Farms in T4, then sliding headfirst at about 60mph into
the tirewall.
Scariest moment:
This would be a tie between the headfirst
tirewall incident and the ride
home on 8/29
Best weekend:
This is tough as the 2 final weekends were both GREAT. 9/18-19,
10/10
Worst weekend:
Definitely 5/28
Worst crash:
Again, 5/28 - There's just something
about compressing vertebrae and thinking you may have broken your neck that
doesn't thrill a person.
Injuries:
None requiring doctor attention or hospital visits, but the compressed vertebrae
and major contusion on the 5/28
incident were really the worst of it.
Track Ranking (Most Favorite to Least Favorite
run this year):
1. Gingerman Raceway
2. Blackhawk Farms
3. Road America
4. Grattan Raceway
Consumables & interesting facts of 2004:
| Miles traveled | 3670 |
| Vacation days used | 9 |
| Laps Ridden | 1050 |
| Bike miles | 2205 |
| Gallons of Race Gas | 184 |
| Tires | 14 |
| Gallons of Silkolene Racelube | 7 |
| Pints of Silkolene ProRace 2000 Brake Fluid | 1 |
| Carbone Lorraine Brake Pads | 6 |
| Windscreens | 1 |
| Sets of Bodywork | 2 |
| Clip-on Handlebar tubes | 2 |
| Frame slider caps | 6 |
| 16 oz bottles of water | 432 |
| Races Planned | 36 |
| Races Entered | 33 |
| Team Challenges | 1 |
| Races Run | 33 |
| Crashes (race & practice) | 3 |
| DNF races (did not finish) | 1 |
| Top 10 finishes | 13 |
| Trophies | 1 |