[Burphel]

Testing Day 2 / Race day 1! w00t! Sept. 24th

So, morning is still pretty foggy and cold, but the weather is calling for it to warm up around noon. At this point, I'm still planning on just getting tech taken care of and hitting the practice day. I had a chat with my mentor, though, and she suggested trying to do the ULW GP race. GP in this case meaning it's a 15 lapper instead of the usual 6, so the hot-shots won't be in as big of a rush, plus it's great seat time for the money.

*Warm up the bike and wheel it over to tech with the belly pan.
*Tech is happy with the bike except that he notices my steering stem is pretty loose. I describe my brake rattle issue. That's it.
*Get the bike back to the pit and quickly remove fairings, pull the top triple, and find that the main steering stem bolt is barely even tightened.
*Discover that the shock tool for the Hagons on my Triumph is a *perfect* fit for the head bolt. Nip it up.
*Put everything back together.

At this point, it's just about 9:45. Registration closes at 10, and I still haven't picked up my transponder (I'm renting from the club). So I grab my stuff and rush to the tower. Get things all sorted out and then realize the next practice starts in 30min. And I have to put in practice laps to race. Rush back down to my trailer, flip on the tire warmers and start throwing on my leathers. I finish gearing up just in time for 2nd call. Check tire pressures and they're a bit high so I bleed 'em down to the Dunlop guys' suggested. Warmers off, bike down. I got out a bit late and take the first lap pretty gingerly because I'm not sure the tires got really hot, and it's been foggy most of the day. Second lap, everything clicks. The front end chatter on braking is gone, the bike feels ok, and I drag a toe for the first time (I know, it's supposed to be the knee, but I'm running stock pegs still, and I'm short). One more lap, and the checkered is thrown. Not fast, but the brakes, suspension, engine and rider are all functioning at a safe level. We're ready.

With the GP, we got to run first race of the day, so it was only a hour or so wait. I kept suited up and just left the warmers on. First call was just before the national anthem. I think this is the first time I've actually done the "athlete nervous at-ease" thing as an adult. By means of salute, I fired up the bike and bounced her off the limiter for a second at the end.

Out lap... Nervous and a bit slow, but trying to hustle so I didn't keep the other guys waiting on the grid. Found my slot (back row), did my launch routine like I knew what I was doing, and wasn't last for a whopping 5 seconds. That'd be how long it took for the guy who had to start from the pit lane to catch me. Kept going, riding my own ride, and started getting lapped about 3 laps in. About what I'd figured. No biggy, just keep to the right on the straightaways and let the fast guys do their job and pass me. One or two felt a bit sketchy, but I managed to keep it on the island. Not very fast, but everything going well up until about 11 laps in (for me). During the left-to-right flip between 7 and 8, it suddenly felt like the engine just died. It felt like a false-neutral, but the timing was wrong and the engine didn't go screaming up the RPMs. Figuring the track exit was nearby, I clutched up and coasted around 8 and then got my hand up to exit. About that time, the power came right back on, shooting wide across the apex at 9 and straight toward airfence (also across the noses of two very annoyed fast guys). I managed to get my hand back down, get the bike under control. Checked over my shoulder and proceeded to cut back across the line toward the exit. Get back to the paddock, kill the bike, open my visor and hyperventilate for a minute. Best lap for this race was 1:42.882. Well off the pace, but a slight improvement.

I got a talking to from my mentor and another official, but I assured them I hadn't intended to put a hand up and then go wide. And that I had, in fact, exited so I could get my unpredictable, shook-up ass off the track before I hurt somebody. I did some riding around the access roads and couldn't replicate the problem. Best guess is I was a gear too high and the throttle lag from the stock tune bit me in the ass.