Coming back from a fantastic track event (set a new personal record!) I find myself reflecting on the weird path that life takes... how random chance encounters can change things significantly.
So here's the story of how I got to where I am in my motorcycling journey.
The guy in the photo is Angel Castro Jr. We're friends on FB but I don't really know him personally. I only met him once, years ago. But I'd never have started riding on the track if it weren't for him and a brief conversation we had. It's all his fault.
About 10 years ago I was thinking about a bike to replace my beloved Ninja 250, to this day the only bike I regret having sold. I went to a Kawasaki demo day to ride the obvious step up, the Ninja 650... an ordinary street bike that would make a good commuter. At the time I saw myself as just a recreational street guy, never intending to become a "track monkey" as I liked to call track riders, because they climb all over the bike.
I was standing in line next to this guy and talking about what we were there to ride. I was going on about how much I loved the little Ninja and how much personality it had, especially when ridden hard at high revs. He said I should really try the ZX6R, Kawasaki's full-on supersport... that I'd love it.
Having heard about the big rush of power you get when you rev up a 600cc supersport, I was frankly scared to even try it, thinking I'd lose control of the thing.
But he talked me into it. I rode that Ninja 650 first and... it was a transportation appliance. A sewing machine. Perfectly capable, nothing at all to complain about, but just... meh. The supersport? Well, the bug bit and I started thinking more about it. I should mention here that the Ninjette was not my first bike. When I bought it I'd been riding for more than 20 years.
The following year I bought a new old-stock Suzuki GSX-R750... a very potent supersport with three or four times the power of the little Ninja 250. I discovered what so many already know... that bikes like this are wasted on the street because you can never come close to taking advantage of what they can do.
So I started thinking about trying a track day. I went to one to check it out and volunteered as a corner worker. Over the following winter I bought a race suit, a trailer, and a bunch of other track stuff... thinking that if I decided it wasn't for me I could always resell it.
First track day was July 2014... and I've never looked back. Dozens of track days, thousands of miles, and I'm on my third track bike, an Aprilia RS660 which is the best of the lot. It's been a fantastic experience that's become a big part of my life.
All because of a casual conversation with a nice guy who happened to be standing next to me one day.
