Win it or Bin it

That's the phrase commonly used for the final race weekend of the season, as caution is thrown to the wind with everyone pushing the absolute limits for the few remaining points to secure their championships, or just to beat their best times around the track.

As mentioned before, Gingerman is my favorite track. I really enjoy the facilities, and the layout of it. The drive there however, could use some improvement. We left at about 11:00am on Friday, taking Fri as a travel day. We made it to the track around 6:00pm, after averaging 30mph through Chicago. In all, it wasn't a bad ride.

We got set up and I changed out my rear tire to put on a practice tire as Saturday was a practice day only.

Saturday went pretty good. The weather was perfect. Sun and about 70deg F. The first few practices went well, and then on the 3rd practice as I came in, a fellow rider told me I was pouring smoke. Definitely not a good thing. Looking down in my belly pan, I found oil. I pulled the bodywork off and noticed the oil coming from the seal of the filter. Although safety wired, it was still in a position that could come a bit loose, so I tightened it up, and cleaned everything back up. I went out for another round and ran 2 laps and came in to check. I was again wet with oil in the pan and pouring smoke.

I pulled everything apart and determined that the gasket for my Scotts Reusable oil filter had finally called it quits. I should have had an extra one as I've used this filter for near 2 years now and have easily gone through 25 changes.

I spent the next hour trying to find an oil filter and was coming up blank. A fellow who was with my buddy Ike was just mounting up to drive the 50 round trip miles to pick me up an oil filter when I was told that a Kawasaki filter would fit the Honda, so I bought a filter off of one of the Kaw riders. Back on the bike and no leaks. Great!

I only managed to get in about 30 laps today, but at least all the mechanical issues had been sorted out. Another tire change to put on fresh rubber for Sun and we turned in early.

Sunday AM came way too early, and the sun came way too late. It was cold and still pretty dim out when we had our first practice round. I went out to scrub in the new tires. It was interesting to go into turn 3 with the sun in my eyes. I couldn't see the turn, so I was forced to turn at my reference point and then once the bike was leaned over I could see the turn. After a couple of laps, I came off, and called the tires good.

Heavyweight Supersport - (sing with me) "this is the race that never ends..." We get the green flag and we're off! Lap 1 has Denny, my fellow Lake Country Powersports racer crash going into T9. He was right in front of me and just lost the front end on his GSXR-750. A chunk of his windscreen bounced off my shoulder and we kept going. On lap 2, the red flag came out for him as he was having problems walking (he raced later in the day so I think he was just being lazy & wanted a ride :-) ).

The 2nd restart only got us 2 laps again due to someone's motor blowing and them spewing oil on the track. Luckily enough, the rider got WAY off the racing line so there was no oil where we were running, but they still shut it down to clean up.

3rd time's a charm! We ran the race through completion without further red flag incident. I felt great. Refreshed, relaxed and smooth. I still needed some speed, but I was doing pretty good.

I ended up with a pretty large gap between myself and the riders ahead of me. Leading the 2nd group of riders, I came in 8th place. This finish gave me a 5th place overall regional finish for the class. I was 6 points (2 places) away from 4th place, but John Avi Roop finished right behind me vice me beating him by 2 places. Oh well. 5th is still quite respectable for the region.

I ran Unlimited SuperSport this weekend for the first time as it was a Honda money weekend, and a 5th or better finish would mean a pay check for me in this class. After launch, we flew through the first few turns. In T3, my buddy Lonny Michaels lost the front end on his GSXR-750. His bike began spinning to the right of the track while he spun around and was sliding on his belly backwards toward the outside of the track. I only wish I'd have had a camera on my bike. You all would have seen the face of death as Lonny looked at my front tire and then at me. I tipped the bike over a bit further to keep my line away from Lonny, and then ended up pushing it back out to avoid his bike. Drama behind, head down, race on!

On the 2nd lap, I was passed by AMA racer Calvin Martinez. He could crush me on the straights with his 750, but he was running slow as dirt through the corners, so I would pass him 5-6x per lap. We had to have traded places 25 times in that race, and finally I got enough gap that he didn't come around me again. On the white flag lap, I tried to run down my buddy Stumpy on his CBR600RR, but I just couldn't get enough drive on him to close the gap. I finished this race in 7th place. Not good enough for wood or money, but still a fair finish.

Checking my lap timer, I found that I got down to 1:29.2 which is the fastest lap I've run there.

Middleweight Supersport was the next race out, and again another money race. I ran it as good as I could, but could feel my rear tire starting to go on left turns. Turning laps in the low 1:30's was the best I could do, but wasn't good enough. I still managed a 7th in this race.

I put on a fresh rear tire for the final race of the season. Heavyweight Superbike. This is a class which I usually do quite well in at Gingerman, so I had the race-face on and was ready for some wood.

The green flag flew and I might as well have had the bike turned off and sitting on the stand. In all my focus and desire, I managed the absolute WORST start of the season. It was terrible! Head down, trying to overcome the gap, I ran as hard as I could.

During lap 1, as soon as I hit turns 4-5-6 (3 left handers), my left thigh started cramping... BAD... I made it out of the turns, but again in T9 (next left), it cramped back up. The pain was excruciating and by the 3rd lap I had considered coming off, but continued to talk to myself and try to relax myself through the cramps. I reeled in a couple of riders, but didn't have the physical ability to get down into the 29's or 28's for a decent finish. I ended up 9th and called it a day.

Wrap-up.
This weekend was really great. I ran my fastest laps ever at this track and didn't fall down. Before this race, I began working with a friend & colleague of mine who has trained numerous professional athletes (Olympic swimmers, PGA golfer, NFL players, etc). I am her first motorcycle racer. The concept is simple. Remove all distractions and enhance all natural and learned talents. Relaxation, and harmony. It made a huge difference in how I felt and reacted on the track. It's also a great starting point for the 2005 season which I am already looking forward to.

Thanks List:
Sandy - for all of your help, time and encouragement. It made a world of difference.
Justin & Jennifer - for the refuel, stands, warmers & water during the red flags.
Mitch - for all those last minute tire changes!

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