[Pater]

Headed up to Putnam for the first time this weekend. Although there was rain forecast for the week, we woke up to clear skies, a cool breeze, and a high around 73. The event was hosted by Desmo of Indiana and they did a very good job of keeping the sessions moving along.

Having never been to Putnam before, let me just say that the track and the facilites are VERY nice. Two new strips of asphalt have been added in the pits to give everyone plenty of room for trailers, bikes, and gear. The track did have a lot of crack sealer on it, but I did not notice any ill effects to the handling of the bike. If you did happen to ride one of the seams, you were on the wrong line anyway.

The front straight is the longest one we've ever ridden on. Even Barber doesn't have anything with that sort of length. And the first time I came over the hill heading into turn one, JESUS CHRIST!!!. I thought i'd never get slowed down. In reality, we were on the brakes way to soon. The guys familiar with the track proved this by screeming past us coming down the hill on a regular basis. Took most of the day learning the track and just trying to be smooth. The intermediate class was pretty full with around 20-25 guys. The novice and advance had around 15 each.

Several wrecks throughout the day with one rider brought back to the pits in the ambulance. I don't believe he went to the hospital, but did receive some medical attention to his legs. A few bikes were carted off with a lot less bodywork than what they started with.

My only dissappointment was that the club sponsoring the event did not supply any type of crash vehicle. If a rider was not able to get it back to the pits under his own power, he was forced to leave it leaned against a tree for several hours, and this happened to several guys. The Putnam facility had a utility vehicle present, but no trailer was available.

All in all we had a great time. There are some REALLY fast guys out there. The fastest in our group was a kid on a 600rr. It was, to say the least, impressive to watch him ride. Look forward to going up again for the STT sponsored day on August 1st. Hope to see some of you guys there.