One of those Seasons

Ever have "one of those days"? It seems lately that I'm having "one of those seasons"... This weekend was to be the come-back of all times. Fresh off from 2 days of Keith Code school, and back from a healthy break, my expectations were high. Perhaps too high...

Friday 7/16:
I took off Thursday and Friday of this week to make sure that I had everything prepped and ready to go. For once, I was relaxed in getting to the track. We got set up on Thursday night and turned in early.

Friday morning showed beautiful sunshine and not a hint of rain, so I signed up for practice. I managed to get in 2 rounds of practice before the rain set in. The rounds were good. I wasn't keeping time, but they felt comfortably fast.

In the afternoon, after the rain had subsided, I did one session with the track mildly damp. It also went well. I then went back out about an hour later for some more of the same. I did one lap on my cold tires nice and easy, and the track appeared dry. When I hit the straight, I had an old friend pass me and then sit up and wave me past like he wanted to play. "Okay, Game on!". I knew I had somewhat cool tires, so I planned on going relatively slow through turn 1. The plan worked, but my method didn't... Approaching the turn, I looked through it while still heading to my turn point, keeping in touch with it in my peripheral vision. I hit my turn point, tipped in and promptly hit the pavement... Sliding gently off the track, I picked up the bike, cussing my head off for being so stupid with cold tires. Then I looked back and noticed the nice little puddle RIGHT AT my turn-in point.

The crash was pretty much a nonevent. I broke the left clip-on tube and the lower tab to the coolant reservoir broke off spilling the reservoir into the belly pan. I replaced the coolant reservoir and bent the mounting tab down so it didn't touch the reservoir anymore, and replaced the clip-on as well.

The crash was stupid, and really served to frustrate me more than anything. I'm just so SICK of crashing for stupid reasons... I'm MUCH faster and better than this. I just don't have stupid crashes like this, yet every time I get on this bike lately, I'm picking it up off the ground!

Saturday 7/17:
My only race today was the Middle Weight GP. I ran a poor race. My times were about 3 seconds off where they should be, and I ended up finishing mid-pack. Frustrating to say the least.

One of the problems I was having was a setup issue. At my last race weekend, I made a gearing change which affected the geometry of the bike, adding about 10mm of wheelbase. This caused the bike to not turn in well at all, and it required a LOT of effort to keep the bike turned right.

I changed the gearing back to my normal BHF gearing on Sat night in hopes of this making the difference.

Saturday night we also met up with Johnny P and his wife from the cbr600rr forum. We chatted & hung out for a good long while with my Team Mate Anthony Connor & his family, and my suspension Tuner Ed Kwaterski & his family. We all had a really good night.

Sunday 7/18:
Ran 2 rounds of practice with no incidents. Woo-hoo! That makes 5 whole sessions on the track without a crash. Man, this feels like a record or something! Today I had 3 races to run. Prior to the first race, Ed (my suspension tuner) added a bit of pre-load in the rear to compensate additionally for turn-in problems. For a bit more confidence, we threw on a new rear tire as well. I also met up with one of my co-workers, Andrew who brought out his family to watch the races & cheer me on. It's always nice to have fans :-)

Heavyweight SuperSport:
This race went without incident, but again, I was plagued with terrible lap times. Although they're coming down, they still lack 2 seconds from where they should be. Plus I began getting tired. I started missing downshifts and my right leg was killing me.

I ended up another mid-pack finish.

I came back in and guzzled down water in front of the fan, prepping for the next race which was only 15 minutes away. At first call for the race I figured I'd make another change to the bike and moved my shift lever up to assist with my downshifts.

Middleweight SuperSport:
My launch for this race was quite good, and I felt like I could do well in this race. I continued to work on my positioning and relaxing on the bike while dealing with my ever cramping legs. The bike felt GREAT. It stuck like glue, and my lines went back to the smooth ones. The change on the shifter also made big difference in me not missing any downshifts. My times began dropping lap after lap, but it still was only good for a mid-pack finish.

Heavyweight Superbike:
This was my final race of the weekend. With a little more confidence on my side, I threw an aching leg over the saddle and went out to do it. This was easily the best race of the weekend. My lines were clean, I felt smooth. I began trading places and working my way through the pack, but still not as quick as I could/should be. It was on the 2nd or 3rd lap when I realized I was in a heavyweight class since the 750 power of my competition would bring them past me on the straights, but I'd get them back in the corners :-) .

My limiting factor in this race was energy. I simply ran out of it. Funny though that the more tired I got, the faster my lap times were. I guess I just stopped wrestling the bike and began working WITH it. I finally worked my way back down into the 1:15-1:16 range, and am confident that I could have shaved 1-2 seconds off with a bit more strength/energy. The more tired I got, the further out my brake points moved.

Wrap-up:
Among many things, this weekend was also the maiden weekend for my new XES Race Leathers (review pending) from Phil Caudill at Moto-Heaven. They are absolutely gorgeous. They need a bit of breaking in, as they are a bit snug, but it's definitely nice to have a tailor made suit.

It was somewhat disappointing to run the weekend and struggle to get back to where I was previously. Excuses abound. I have the knowledge/capability/will and equipment to go fast. It's just a matter of getting it ALL together at the same time. I've got 2 weeks to get things together for Gingerman. I'm looking forward to going back to Gingerman. It is my favorite track, and I always do quite well there.

A good point of the weekend was finally getting my buddy Ike Anderson back out on the track. I have been building Ike's new bike for a good while now, and it was great to see him hit the track and TAKE OFF! He ran some exceptional times for being on a new bike. Way to go Ike!

This week's thanks list (well, aside from the usual)

Ed Kwaterski of Trackside Engineering - Thanks for the fine tuning in getting the bike setup as good as we could.
Phil Caudill of Moto-Heaven - Thanks for the SMOKIN' HOT new leathers!
Matt Drucker of MD Racing - Thanks for getting me the VP U4 I needed for the weekend!
Team Stumpy Racing - Thanks for the loan of the coolant reservoir since I left my spare at home!

Thanks always to my friends, family and fans who cheer me on and help me to continue down this crazy path :-)

JeF4y Racing is proudly sponsored by:

Lake Country Powersports - For all your Honda/Suzuki/Ducati needs!
Hi-Side Racing - Race products, for racers by a racer!
Scotts Performance - Steering stabilizers & reusable Stainless Steel oil filters
MD Racing - Kyle Gordis measuring/alignment system, Race bodywork & engine building
Moto Liberty - All of your gear needs, street and race!
Sliderwoman - The place for Pucks
Silkolenestore - Only the best lubricants for my CBR600RR
Trackside Engineering - Suspension first, everything else is secondary.
Sliderphoto - Making riders look like professionals!
PDI Tirewarmers - Better & Cheaper than the rest!
Moto-Heaven - Thrust Gearing, XES custom leathers, Wintex gear

So? What do you think? Am I great? Do I suck? Let's hear it... Post your comments in the Forum