[tarheelguy3]

Okay guys, I guess I should introduce myself. I'm the dumba$$ that was in the jeans.

I really am sorry if I put a dent in some of your tracktime this weekend (the rain took care of most of that)

This was my first track experience, I tried my best(not good enough I know) But my priorities were not hurting anyone else and not hurting myself. (thank God I did neither)

This being my virgin track day, I went in blindly, I expected to be taken out on the track with a group of newbies and just putt around and go about 50%, instead I was thrown to the wolves, which was probably my own fault because I didn't grab a CR and let him know how uncomfortable I was.

As mentioned before I laid outta the first session(wet track)
I usually dont ride in the rain, if it's raining when I leave for work I drive but if it rains while I'm already out I just ride slowly and carefully. NO chance of that sunday. I really didn't belong out there and I was shaking like a leaf when we came off. The first session(your second) had a dry line forming which I tried to follow, problem is THAT LINE (I later learned) was of course created by the A and I guys. I would try to follow them with my slow as hell entry speeds only to drift out onto the wet track which would scare the crap out of me. So I would slow mid corner trying to stay in the dry line.

I got in behind a CR and a guy on an older ducati, and cruised with them for a couple laps, feeling comfortable and liking the fact that that I wasn't peeing my pants in every wet corner. second time down the strait the guy on the duck lost a end cap right in front of me which bounced a few feet to my right. Then the CR then waved me by and I was left to myself again (shoulda stayed with them) I just went as fast as I safely could tried my best to hold my line and not hurt anyone.

At one point at the end of the front stretch a group of fast guys had caught me and started to really go by me approaching turn 1, All I wanted to do was stay outta the way and keep everyone on two wheels. The last guy in the pack pulled a long side just as we were leaning in, I look him in the eye, he looks me in the eye..... and takes the run off. I felt like a complete turd.

After that session came the best part of my weekend. The guy that I had run off comes up and starts talking to me, and pulled me outta the crapper, I cant even remember what he said but he really made me feel much better. He had come from NY with some of the CR's and said that one of them (ZX6RR) was gonna work with me in my next session.

By the way, he said that he had a problems with the guy on the busa too.

I went out for the second session(your 3rd) feeling a little better and felt like I rode much better (dry track helped alot). I looked for the CR on the ninja but never hooked up with him, I got black flagged after about ten minutes because the VIR guys didn't know I had skipped the morning session and thought I was trying to pull some extra free laps.

I wasn't sure how to start taking track days, and the free intro class by NESBA seemed to be just the ticket, I got my first semi-track day experience under my belt. I've been looking for leathers for a while now but I'm really held up buy the fact that there's no place around here that can help me with the size I need (you probably noticed I'm not quite a normal size) I'll get my leathers and work on riding so I dont hold you guys up so much.

I really didn't know I was supposed to slow down on the strait and let you guys by, and I'm truly sorry about that, In hindsight that seems to be easiest way to let people pass. I know you guys paid good money for your track time and I hate that anything I did put a damper on your day.

[ConqSoft]

tarheelguy3,

That's really unfortunate. NESBA should take extra steps to make sure Intro riders have an enjoyable time their first time out, and not just end up in the middle of riding styles that spook them. I'd talk to them about it, and request another free intro day with a little more personal attention before joining and paying for a track day.

Welcome to the site!

[HondaGalToo]

Welcome, tarheelguy. You live and you learn! Have you thought about taking an instructional day? Something like Reg Pridmore's CLASS or Keith Code's California Superbike School would work wonders. I took CLASS as my first track experience in '95 and it made all the difference in the world when I did my first track day with a club. Or, check out this club: Sportbike Track Time. In the beginner group, lecture and on-track instruction is provided for the entire day.

[Heavy-Dee]

Reading this thread makes me wish even more that I could have gone to Jennings. Maybe next year. How about a .org event at Mid-Ohio?

[Heavy-Dee]

tarheelguy3 ,

It sucks that your first post has to be an appology, but thanks for the post anyway. *Thanks for the post, not the appology. *I'm not sure one is necessary. *It is NESBA's fault for not 'holding your hand' more. *Like Conq said, they should go out of their way to make sure you have an enjoyable, safe time. *

Don't feel bad. *You did your best, and were wise enough to stay out of the first session/rain. *

(Listen to me talking like I was there or something...)

Anyway, welcome to the .org!

EDIT: format

[ccwilli3]

tarheelguy,

I didn't see that you had done anything wrong other than what was natural to you... Normal mentality is, I'm holding people up, let me get my butt down the straightaway and out of the way... All the while, he's just trying to get around you... A better rider will ALWAYS find a way around you, the problem this weekend was NESBA wouldn't allow us to pass in several spots... When I was there in march, we had 3 passing zones on the south course and that would have been fine on sunday. (I got rained out completely in march) Why they shafted us with the long straight only, I don't know...

The problem though, was as you said, you were just thrown out there. The 'slower' or 'apprehensive' guys should be identified before the event or in the riders' meeting and they should be looked after. You should get almost one on one attention ALL THE TIME! This should include the intro guys...

But I don't think you held anyone up. Don't worry about that, it wasn't you. YOU need to understand that you need to ride the pace that YOU are comfortable with. If you go out there and ride the pace you wanna ride, are comfortable with that pace and have fun and trailer it home in one piece, you are doing fine! The problem I think is that the CRs weren't addressing the 'single passing point' too well. They did an okay job for the most part, but sometimes it really got out of hand... I mean, the guy on the FZ1 was riding at his comfortable pace, which is fine. He is entitled to that, but with a single passing point only and a for him to kill his, for all intensive purposes, R1 bike down the straights, thats just not cool. Then that leaves me no choice but to brake later than I'd like to and stay in the gas much longer... I've never pulled as many stoppies going into turn one as I did on sunday... I shouldn't have to do that, those guys should have held themselves up on the straight and respected the faster rider and not let ego get in it and haul ass down the straight... If we could have had the 3 passing points, the B group would have been no problem, I could out motor just about eveyone out of 2 going into 3... And again out of 10, but they wouldn't let us. I think there were a lot of 'street' riders in the B group on sunday, and egos normally play a role with that 'type' of rider... I hope you know what I mean by 'street'.

Thats just not cool. But no, I think you did fine and thanks for coming out, you should have went to jennings with us, you would have gotten a much different experience... You should have been able to ride your own pace, a pace in which you were comfortable... Don't let one bad experience sway you, I'm not, I'll be back with NESBA soon. I have sent an email to a NESBA guy asking and pleading to get in the I group. It might not be much better there, but at least I can pass in other places...

Just remember, next time you go to the track. You paid your money, you should be allowed to ride 'comfortably' and NEVER feel like you are holding people up, as I said, a faster rider will get around you safely anyway. But if they only give the other guys one passing zone, just respect that and take it easy through there and give the guys that have been behind you a chance to get around you...

[gautamde]

Its pretty amazing how everyone has different First-Track-Day experince. Hondagaltoo did it the right way at Cal Superbike, Tarheel did it at NESBA and wasn't a very comfortable experience, I did it at Jennings which was probably the most perfect Track experince I could get after reading 'Twist of Wrist' more number number of times than I can remember.

[QuikMike]

I guess it's timed I chimed in on my experience also....

All in all, I had a good time....although, I had more fun at the ROGUE 2-day event back in April....bottom line is, this event was waaay too crowded....I mean, there had to be 25-35 riders in the B group!!! ....and to compound the problem, the only passing point was on the front straight!....not cool....I would almost rearend guys parking it in every corner only to hammer it down the straight...very frustrating...once, I had to literally shift down to 1st going into turn 1 to keep from rearending some of the slower riders....very frustrating...I have never gotten on the brakes so hard in all of my life!!..a couple of times, I felt the rear tire lift off the ground ...these same guys would pull away from me coming down the front and then I would be all over them for the rest of the lap....I definitely think NESBA should address a situation such as that....maybe they could run a Intro class or something...just my .02

Now, let me just say that my bike has never scared me before Sunday...I have always felt like I was in control of it and could pretty much predict what it was going to do....let me also say that I've never ridden in the rain before much less do a trackday on a wet track...soooo, in the first session of the morning, ol QuikMike is coming out of the 'Oak Tree' turn and I roll into the throttle, all of a sudden the bike spins up to about 9,000, I feel the rear tire spin up and step out, it gets all sideways, the bike goes into a tankslapper and it shakes me outta the seat...I am thinking to myself, 'No, this isn't happening'....highside city, here I come!!...amazingly, I remain calm, and roll into the gas just a tad more and it straightens itself out!..talk about a true '$hit your leather' experience....
needless to say, I take my time coming thru that corner for the rest of the day until it dries out...chalk it up to luck, but I am so fortunate to have not highsided....it would have been a pretty nasty crash *

While there, I had a chance to meet TraumaOne, who is really a cool guy...I followed him around for a few laps and he is really good....I was able to hang with him and ccwilli3 until I stuck behind a couple of the slower riders....hope to see you at some trackdays in the future ...your friend Doc on the ZRX(?) was too funny...the reason I say that is because he had no windscreen!!!....this guy is barrelling down the straight with no windscreen...I thought it was hilarious....anyways, there were a ton of crashes...it seems like every 10-15 mins, the crash truck is heading out to pick someone up....there were several red flags, waving yellows and the sort...most crashes I've ever seen...I guess it would be safe to assume the rain and wet track played a role, but I was still a bit surprised at the number of people who ran off the track or lowsided...once, coming out turn two, going down the hill to go into the 'mini-corkscrew', I saw a guy on a R6 and another bike go off into the grass...pretty distracting...

All in all, it was a success for me....I brought it back home the way it left....I call that a successful trackday * * ....I had a ball tripping with ccwilli3's dad....talk about a funny dude....he has stories out the wazoo and of course, I sat there and listened in between sessions....I definitely felt like I went faster this time as opposed to the event back in April...I guess knowing the track a bit more helped....maybe next year, ccwilli3 will see to it that the .org trackday will be at VIR so that ol QuikMike can attend *....I guess I was spoiled at the ROGUE trackday because it was the perfect number of riders, the CRs were extremely helpful and informative and the weather cooperated!!! I definitely plan on doing more NESBA days and hopefully the experience will be better...

P.S.-- that guy that accused ccwilli3 of running him off is a wussy...I heard the whole conversation and it sounded like he wanted to break out in tears!! ... a big crybaby is what he was....I was just waiting on Charlie to snap....his dad had the funniest line of the day afterwards and I quote,'there wasn't going to be any $hit 'cause I had my finger on the trigger!!!'....a funny guy....

[Heavy-Dee]

QuikMike : 'there was going to be any $hit 'cause I had my finger on the trigger!!!'

Nice!

[lfg929]

Heavy-Dee : Reading this thread makes me wish even more that I could have gone to Jennings. *Maybe next year. *How about a .org event at Mid-Ohio?

Too expensive. I believe the track runs somewhere around $7000-10,000 per day. You have to have too many people in order to break even and/or make it affordable. It is definitely doable, but to get the turnout you have to open it up to other groups and outsiders, which as we all know, tends to lessen the event due to the possibility of squids on Busa's pulling wheelies down the track.

Grattan is the most affordable track in our area (Ohio) at roughly $2000/day. Putnam is $5000/day and BeaveRun is $7000. I think Gingerman is around $3000 or so. You really can't beat Grattan for the price. That is where I have scheduled a trackday for a local group out of Ohio.

[flasher2001]

ConqSoft : tarheelguy3, That's really unfortunate. *NESBA should take extra steps to make sure Intro riders have an enjoyable time their first time out, and not just end up in the middle of riding styles that spook them. *I'd talk to them about it, and request another free intro day with a little more personal attention before joining and paying for a track day.

its really interesting because i remember mentioning to my dad that several riders in the B Class looked very uncomfortable on monday. *nesba called a second general riders meeting at lunchtime to remind everyone about the differences in the paces being run in the B and I groups. *it seems like it was different when i did my Intro day at VIR. *there was alot more courtesy shown by the others in the group.

[TraumaOne]

I went to the Beginner 'classroom session' on Sunday. What a waste. They basically said to not use your rear brake and that was about it. They didn't give the 80% lecture or anything... ccwilli3's lecture was much better

Tarheelguy: don't sweat it, the worst thing you could do is push yourself harder than you were comfortable with. There is no problem with being slower, we are all there to learn and it is not a race. Just keep in mind that in the B group, they limit where you can pass and if you are holding folks up, just pull to the inside, and wave them by. Everyone will appreciate it. Don't keep looking over your shoulder, that just makes you more nervous and not focused on the track. I saw many people making that mistake. There definately should have been more one on one with the intro and first time guys. I think the CR's had their hands full with the number of people out there.

[TraumaOne]

I also emailed asking about being bumped to the I group. Here is the reply:

I understand your dilemma, however our policy on bumping people up is determined a little bit differently. We ask that if you are interested in being move up a class, you need to follow our guidelines. The guidelines are very simple, we have two lanes, a 'FAST' lane and a 'SLOW' lane....the fast lane is for riders that are a bit quicker and are very interested in moving up a class. So, if you would like to be noticed by a CR so you can move up to a skill level you feel you have obtained, be the first rider on the grid in the 'FAST' lane. The fast lane position will be determined the day of the event, so pay attention at the riders meeting, and we will see what we can do to accommodate your requests.

Thanks,
Bob Blandford
----- Original Message -----
From: Chris Moon
To: 'NESBA.COM'
Sent: Tuesday, May 27, 2003 9:54 AM
Subject: FW: NESBA: I have a question.


This is the second email that referred to the guy on the busa,



Christopher Moon

Nesba Member Services.

Northeast Director.

1-877-ATNESBA

www.nesba.com

[ccwilli3]

Seems that I got the same 'form letter'. I of course replied back... I tried that one session and all we did was pass people in unsafe places to try to keep a halfway decent pace... Then the rain came. I think you and I both agree about where we think we belong.

[gautamde]

Heres to remind you all that some track days do have a happy ending..Jennings,I miss u baby

[gautamde]

One more

[TraumaOne]

ccwilli3 : Seems that I got the same 'form letter'. *I of course replied back... *I tried that one session and all we did was pass people in unsafe places to try to keep a halfway decent pace... *Then the rain came. * *I think you and I both agree about where we think we belong.

Heh, I also responded again...

Did you see the last part where Chriss Moon says that was the second time the Busa was mentioned? (I mentioned him in my first email...)

[TraumaOne]

gautamde : Heres to remind you all that some track days do have a happy ending..Jennings,I miss u baby

I don't know... kind of look like a blonde shopper to me

[ccwilli3]

I also mentioned the busa guy...

I think he pissed a lot of people off on sunday, just my take on the CR's reaction when he ran off past turn one AGAIN!

[Critz]

ccwilli3 : guy in yellow turned around is the guy that said I 'supposedly' 'went up the inside of him and MADE him run off the track'... *

Me in the center, quikmike two behind me...

he's pickin out his scapegoat early

[CHARD]

Sorry to hear that you guys had issues at VIR last weekend.I was there sat. and sun. and had a great time.Fortunately,I was bumped up to the 'I' group first thing Sat. morning.It is my personal opinion that the intro guys should be taken out by themselves.This way,they get the individual attention they need,and it wont piss off the other rider in the 'b' group.I know that my friends and I always talked about skipping the morning sessions,just not to deal with the intro guys. Then,we remembered that once,we were 'intro guys' and that we all have to start somewhere.I really think Nesba runs a tight ship.I just think that the 'free intro' needs more thought prosess.Hey,anyone going to Summit JC *June 21st?If you are looking to bump up,get up front in the fast lane first thing and dog your control rider.If he thinks you are safe,smooth,and fast enough,you will get bumped.

[TraumaOne]

That is hard to do first thing on a wet track that you have never seen...

[CHARD]

I will agree with you there,I've been to VIR a few times.I've done the south course and the full course.It's a tricky track with all the off camber turns.The river running across the bottom of the spiral definately plays games with your head as well.My only real complaint is that the track is 10 hours to get to.