If you read nothing else in this race report, please click here and read this...
I could crash this weekend!
Those were the words that echoed through my brain and came out of my mouth on Sunday morning which brought about an interesting change... But first...
Figuring that with around 15,000 miles in at Blackhawk, I should certainly know which way the track goes, we skipped practice on Friday. This was a good move since it was a very HOT & muggy day. We arrived at about 5:00, and the track was unusually full. We set up at the absolute end, by pit-out, and I registered for the weekend's events.
We expected rain Fri night & some on Sat. The weather didn't let down our expectations one bit... Fri night, it rained like mad. Saturday morning, there was some mist, but no rain. Sun peeked out here & there and the track started to dry up.
I had rains mounted, but didn't put them on the bike since I was race #1 and the track was dry.
Middleweight GP:
There was no sun, and the track was cool but dry. Traction was questionable.
I was gridded on the 5th row of an unusually large pack. I got a fair launch,
and ended up probably 10th into turn 1, but got hung up behind another guy.
I wound up behind him for 3-4 laps. Inside passing wouldn't work, outside was
failing as well, and I was losing spots!
People could pass the pair of us since their closing speed was so much different, but I could not pass him since I was so close to him that I couldn't induce a 5-10mph difference rapidly. At last, I ended up getting around him on the brakes and started running decent lap times, but it was too little too late as the pack had left me behind... I finished WAY down in the pack (like 20 out of 35).
I was done for the day, and yet again frustrated. My teammate Anto Connor went out for his 30 minute GTO race and the rain began POURING down after the first few laps. They flagged the race, so I ran out and whipped off a tire change for him, getting him back out with good tires. Soaked, wet & cold was how the rest of the day & night were spent... Absolutely miserable...
Sunday:
I woke up to soaked ground, but a 95% dry track, and sunshine poking through.
With the frustration of Saturday still in my mind, I reflected on the experience
and then I admitted and verbalized it: "I could crash today... Yes, I could.
It's okay, it might very well happen".
See, since I had been crashing so much this season, I've gotten in this mode of "no, you're not going to crash! Don't crash!" etc, and I'm realizing THIS mental pattern has slowed me down very unnecessarily. So I resigned to the fact that I could possibly crash and this was okay.
The bike setup from Gingerman on the previous race weekend was perfect. Gearing and suspension changes felt very welcome at the much smoother Blackhawk Farms.
For my 3 races today, Heavyweight Supersport, Middleweight Supersport & Heavyweight Superbike, I was gridded on rows 5,4,3 respectively.
All 3 races ran relatively the same. I managed VERY good launches, and ran absolutely solid, consistent 1:16.01 - 1:16.2 times for all 3 races. This was rather unusual since I normally get tired and slow down the pace. I did get a little tired, but maintained my pace quite well.
The thought that "I could crash & it's okay" really made a difference. It freed my mind and body in letting me relax and ride the way I was supposed to. Although not perfect, there were many a lap that would have made Keith Code proud!
I did my share of dicing with teammates and fellow racers alike. My finishes were solid upper mid-third pack, but more than anything, I really felt freedom and accomplishment this weekend. Something that has been lacking for sometime now...
Little did I realize that the drama of the weekend wasn't to begin until we left the track. Fully loaded, everyone settled in, we pulled out around 5:15pm. We leave the track, and start heading down Fischer Rd in South Beloit, WI. The road is a 50mph 2 lane, straight, rural road. A few newer homes and some older farms are on each side of the road, but mostly wide open space.
The old diesel takes a good long time to get up to 50, and I'm not in any hurry, so I creep my way there. In the distance on my left, I see some kids in a yellow go-cart, the kind that Wal-Mart or Fleet Farm sells, coming down a dirt road across a field. As we approached them, it clicked that they weren't stopping...
To understand what we went through, you must first realize that the race rig is every bit of 9500lbs, and 46' long, van & trailer.
As they entered the road, my right palm smashed into the horn, trying to push it through the steering column to somehow make it louder. Left hand on the wheel, right foot plowing the brake pedal to the floor. Eyes taking in images at thousands per second.
The pair of 9-10 year old boys, both blond hair, passenger with blue eyes, hit the road at probably 25mph. Straight across the left lane and then into mine. Their reaction was much slower than mine as all 8 wheels of van/trailer began to howl despite the anti-lock brakes. I threw the van to the right as hard as I could, and the kids disappeared in the front quarter panel/tire.
The child driving the cart did finally react, spun around and came to a stop in the left hand lane miraculously without contact.
I came to a stop around 60' later, and the van was in park before it was stopped. I jumped out enraged like I haven't been but two or three times before in my life. The verbal lashing I gave that pair, with a voice loud enough to hear at every local home should stick with them about as long as the bumper and tires of 9500lbs of howling steel/rubber bearing down on them at 50mph.
The kids, completely in shock, hit the gas and fled back down the trail.
I looked back at the trailer which was still cocked sideways across the right lane and into the left, and went back to make sure everything was still where it belonged. It all was...
As I drove away slowly, adrenaline still searing through my body, the scenario replayed over and over and over. I looked for the house that the kids went back to but didn't find it. Probably all the better as I was still enraged beyond belief. I'd just like to know that the set(s) of parents here know exactly how close their kids came to dying.
I don't necessarily fault the kids, as I reflect on my childhood and remember many similar instances when I could have been seriously injured or killed. But it still disturbs me beyond what these words can convey.
I gave no care to the fact that I could have easily flipped the van & trailer. The only thought was, please God don't let me hit them dead center, they'll go under the van. God responded in kind.
Ladies & Gentlemen. If you have kids, younger siblings, cousins, friends, etc. Take a moment TODAY to either share this story with them or explain to them that they *MUST* pay attention to their surroundings at *ALL* times. Whether they're on bicycles, 4 wheelers, Mini-bikes, Motorcycles, Skateboards, etc; explain that there are far too many times where there IS NO SECOND CHANCE.
I sit here and thank God for MANY things that happened
which seem impossible in those 2-3 seconds. I also hope that the disturbing
mark left on myself, my Wife and two children, as well as the pair of boys,
can serve some good outside the 6 of us who will live with this vision/memory
forever...
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