DCB
Guest
The video covers three laps, at 2:02, 1:59, and 1:58. I can usually shave 10-12 seconds off a lap if I'm on a sportbike--but I'm tired of not being able to walk after riding one all day. 
Seriously, this is all still stupid slow, given that I'll still requiring 108 seconds to get around a track that a professional can do in 86 seconds. In other words, I'd get lapped every 3 laps. Ouch.
Each lap gets a tad more narration to help those of you who want to learn the track. I'm sure some of you watch the AMA Superbike Races that are held here.
The trip down there was really wet.
I guess someone had a tad too much to drink that night, too, and drunk parking in the rain didn't work out too well.
:
It was still raining the next morning, but we divided into three groups and they let anyone ride, using their own judgment. All the racer boys on slicks stayed under their precious awnings, and us fools ventured out--the fools numbered two in the fast group, including me and someone on a rat bike. We had some fun dicing it up until I just about lost it coming out of 8. I swallowed hard and kept riding, though. Rain is a great practice venue.
Slowly you can see it drying out.
It dried out completely at lunch, and at that point I talked a riding buddy, Mark Davis, into moving into the fast group. The riding was a lot safer and there were fewer riders--they didn't notice that he didn't have the requisite leathers.
The most fun of the day was mixing it up with a WERA guy (the one on that rat bike). For a couple laps I heard someone behind me, so I was concentrating on keeping corner speed up enough to not get passed, hoping I wouldn't get taken on a straight, either. Suddenly I heard the sound of another bike a lot more prominently, and out of the left corner of my eye I saw a front wheel trying to stuff me in Turn 15, leading onto the straight. I flinched ever so slightly, because it was a bad pass with about 3 feet of clearance, but held my line and finished the turn. He didn't pass me that lap, but did on the back side. The session ended soon after that and he came over to apologize. I said no problem--let's ride together next session. So we traded paint for lap after lap--often passing each other four times in a single lap. There were several places where he just rang my bell, but I actually learned a lot following him, especially staying wide open on the gas through Turn 14.
Here are a couple of stills I pulled from the video I shot. The first is an instructor pulling away through Turn 1. The second is the guy I called "sport bike boy," about ready to get passed before the Hairpin:
After the day was done, I was chatting with the photographer and he made me smile: "You looked like you were having more fun out there than anyone else."
sup:
Now my favorite two shots of the day. The first is the onboard version of the second.
Here's another link to the video. Click here for the 26MB, 6-minute footage.
And here's a track map so you can follow along.
Seriously, this is all still stupid slow, given that I'll still requiring 108 seconds to get around a track that a professional can do in 86 seconds. In other words, I'd get lapped every 3 laps. Ouch.Each lap gets a tad more narration to help those of you who want to learn the track. I'm sure some of you watch the AMA Superbike Races that are held here.
The trip down there was really wet.
I guess someone had a tad too much to drink that night, too, and drunk parking in the rain didn't work out too well.
:
It was still raining the next morning, but we divided into three groups and they let anyone ride, using their own judgment. All the racer boys on slicks stayed under their precious awnings, and us fools ventured out--the fools numbered two in the fast group, including me and someone on a rat bike. We had some fun dicing it up until I just about lost it coming out of 8. I swallowed hard and kept riding, though. Rain is a great practice venue.
Slowly you can see it drying out.
It dried out completely at lunch, and at that point I talked a riding buddy, Mark Davis, into moving into the fast group. The riding was a lot safer and there were fewer riders--they didn't notice that he didn't have the requisite leathers.
The most fun of the day was mixing it up with a WERA guy (the one on that rat bike). For a couple laps I heard someone behind me, so I was concentrating on keeping corner speed up enough to not get passed, hoping I wouldn't get taken on a straight, either. Suddenly I heard the sound of another bike a lot more prominently, and out of the left corner of my eye I saw a front wheel trying to stuff me in Turn 15, leading onto the straight. I flinched ever so slightly, because it was a bad pass with about 3 feet of clearance, but held my line and finished the turn. He didn't pass me that lap, but did on the back side. The session ended soon after that and he came over to apologize. I said no problem--let's ride together next session. So we traded paint for lap after lap--often passing each other four times in a single lap. There were several places where he just rang my bell, but I actually learned a lot following him, especially staying wide open on the gas through Turn 14.
Here are a couple of stills I pulled from the video I shot. The first is an instructor pulling away through Turn 1. The second is the guy I called "sport bike boy," about ready to get passed before the Hairpin:
After the day was done, I was chatting with the photographer and he made me smile: "You looked like you were having more fun out there than anyone else."
sup:Now my favorite two shots of the day. The first is the onboard version of the second.
Here's another link to the video. Click here for the 26MB, 6-minute footage.
And here's a track map so you can follow along.
