Finally did a Track Day...

Blorton · 11-22-2005, 9:28 PM

Very cool!

Thanks to the great folks at NESBA, I was able to do a free intro at Road Atlanta last weekend and had a great time, despite having to crawl through the turns both because it was cold as hell and also cause I was being real cautious. Passing and leaving 600's in the dust on the back straight was an absolute blast!

Here's proof:
http://ceg.dyndns.org/lookit/roadatlanta.jpg

So now I'm figuring out what I'll do to get ready to do a lot more next year.

Cheers!
Dan

sheepofblue · 11-22-2005, 9:48 PM

no passenger sheep

Getsome · 11-22-2005, 10:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sheepofblue

no passenger sheep

Most of us eat sheep not ride with them....

Damn I bet it was cold.......

nhfirefighter13 · 11-22-2005, 10:13 PM

Another one is hooked. Good for you, Dan! Keep one thing in mind...if those 600's you enjoy passing on the straight are getting stuck behind you in the twisty parts, they're probably not going to be very friendly afterward. I always tend to pull over out of the way on the front straight at NHIS instead of opening it up and sure enough, there's usually a few 600's or 750's with number plates passing me at will.

phobiaphobe · 11-22-2005, 10:15 PM

Jealous... I have to promise myself that I will do a school next year.

Getsome · 11-22-2005, 10:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by phobiaphobe

Jealous... I have to promise myself that I will do a school next year.

hoping to do the same thing. want to get to cornerspeed school before grattan.. of course I have to see if i can hide away enough cash from the wife to do both...... if I have to I will sacrifice the school for grattan though. Am friggin dying to get to a track.

Blorton · 11-22-2005, 10:29 PM

NH: Yep - I was careful to keep a steady line and let the 600's around when I could. NESBA had the day broke into B, I and A classes, so any hot 600 riders should've been in another class.

As it was, even with my timidness, I was going around several people who were out there just wobbling all over the place.

My main goal for the day was to not earn an A-hole label. (I think I succeeded.) I just wanted to have a chance to wring it out and get a feel for the track experience.

Heh, with all my winter textile gear on, I flat couldn't tuck in clean enough on the bike and was getting some wicked drag at speed. Dang ole front end was light the whole way down the straights.

During the last session, I was able to follow a buddy around a bit, and being able to piece a few turns together at something better than a wobbly pace was mondo cool.

Dan

Hammer · 11-22-2005, 10:34 PM

There goes your bank acct.

phobiaphobe · 11-22-2005, 10:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Getsome

hoping to do the same thing. want to get to cornerspeed school before grattan.. of course I have to see if i can hide away enough cash from the wife to do both...... if I have to I will sacrifice the school for grattan though. Am friggin dying to get to a track.

There's a local racer here who puts on a full-day school for $250.00... No excuses for me, gotta do it. I'll probably go pretty easy the first time, then if I'm ready to pick up the pace I'll take all my expensive plastics off.

edit: he'll also do a 1-on-1 class for $400.00... It's no Freddy Spencer's but the guy does know his ****, and has been instructing for several years. http://www.bgprschools.com/

nhfirefighter13 · 11-22-2005, 10:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hammer

There goes your bank acct.

Well then, have fun your next time out Dan.

CBRVFR · 11-22-2005, 11:01 PM

Good for you! Glad you had a blast..

How many people were at the track day?

oldfogey · 11-23-2005, 7:33 AM

Well done, Dan! Glad you enjoyed yourself. I'm letting the "see, other people have done it for a first time and survived" lesson sink in, thanks.

cbr99xx · 11-23-2005, 7:51 AM

Welcome to the addiction!

Blorton · 11-23-2005, 7:58 AM

Thanks, guys. They start back up in three months, so I won't have to wait too long.

Bank account is already shot so I'm set there.

CBRVFR - it was a bit crowded in B class. They did a great job of sending only a half dozen or so riders out at a time to keep things spread out, but it still ended up being a lot of people out there. Thankfully, RA is so big you can get more people on there.

I class has a fairly large number of people as well, but A class was much more open. And them fellas all roared out at the same time.

I saw a number of people and bikes that got hurt. Mostly it was lack of respect for the cold track surface but one of the more serious crashes was a guy in B class who barely rear-ended someone else on a straightaway and ended up breaking a collarbone and a coupla fingers. The guy he hit didn't even go down. IIRC, they rolled the crash truck at least 4 times and the ambulance at least once.

So I'm hoping after a couple of weekends in the spring, I'll be able to bump up to I and get away from the wobblers. Real hard to work on smoothness with those guys weaving around in front of you.

Dan

Mojave954 · 11-23-2005, 8:11 AM

[quote=Getsome]Most of us eat sheep not ride them....

quote]

Well, there is bubba and now Bacchus that may disagree with that statement

Mojave954 · 11-23-2005, 8:12 AM

Cool, welcome to the addiction.

Red Rider · 11-23-2005, 9:29 AM

Addiction? More like total obsession!

gthotchkiss · 11-23-2005, 9:46 AM

Is that track open for anybody during the Spring? Or is it more of a closed track?

Zippy · 11-23-2005, 9:48 AM

Don't worry too much about those 600s behind you. If they are really that fast, they will pass you on the corner exits. If you then repass in the last third of the straight, then you might be spoiling their fun a little bit. Generally, for safety's sake, ride your own ride first. You can create a real hazard by slowing down much on a fast straight. If you want to slow, slow just a little and let them earn the pass. Just knock it down 10 to 15 mph if you feel like it. But you don't even have to if you don't want to.

Gecko5 · 11-23-2005, 9:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hammer

There goes your bank acct.

Very true. It is good hear that more people are trying the track and relizing how much fun it can be.

Zippy · 11-23-2005, 10:26 AM

Oh, and Congratulations on your first track day! So was it one of the best days of your whole life? I can say that about every track day I've ever been to. A bunch of my track friends went to Road Atlanta this weekend, and they had a great time too. A couple of control riders crashed, but they will be ok with a little healing time. I wish I'd been out there with you.

abtech · 11-23-2005, 11:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zippy

Don't worry too much about those 600s behind you. If they are really that fast, they will pass you on the corner exits. If you then repass in the last third of the straight, then you might be spoiling their fun a little bit. Generally, for safety's sake, ride your own ride first. You can create a real hazard by slowing down much on a fast straight. If you want to slow, slow just a little and let them earn the pass. Just knock it down 10 to 15 mph if you feel like it. But you don't even have to if you don't want to.

After doing this stuff for "a while", I have found that it's best to let the fighters get away from you and give them their space.

A recurring issue is the egos involved when you have SV class bikes on track with liter bikes. The SV guys all think (some deservedly, some not) that they can wax most liter bike pilots anytime they want and make it their entire misson in life to try in every corner. The liter bike guys all think they can make up any cornering disadvantage with their right hand. You now have a recipe for bike to bike contact and general chaos when this gets out of hand.

tigerblade · 11-23-2005, 11:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by abtech

After doing this stuff for "a while", I have found that it's best to let the fighters get away from you and give them their space.

A recurring issue is the egos involved when you have SV class bikes on track with liter bikes. The SV guys all think (some deservedly, some not) that they can wax most liter bike pilots anytime they want and make it their entire misson in life to try in every corner. The liter bike guys all think they can make up any cornering disadvantage with their right hand. You now have a recipe for bike to bike contact and general chaos when this gets out of hand.

You got something to say to me?