5/4 Update - It's good to have friends

It's been a little while...

Lessee... Amazon contest, first. Drained out with a workman-like pitch, not exciting enough for the pool of folks who review such things. I don't think I'll enter this contest again next year, it's too much like "American Idol for Writers". For what it's worth, none of the writers I know who entered made it past the pitch/review stage.

Okay, now to the motorcycle racing. March races at Arroyo were cold, and I was even colder. I was as bad as I ever was the start of an Amateur season, at 1:17 pace, frustrated as all-get-out, not feeling the traction, and showing it in my laptimes. DFL in every race but one. Ugh, that was harsh.

April races were only slightly better. I ran off the track in one race, just screaming in my helmet, mad that I blew braking so badly - my glove pinched my throttle, and I tried to brake with the throttle open. This is a setup issue, normally fixed by relocating the perch (mount), if there isn't lever adjustment left. I chose to sulk over it instead of fixing it... another really crappy weekend.

So, it's good to have friends. C-Bass (Sebastian), my pit-mate for the season crashed last fall, also. Both of us had a really bad start to this season, and it was entirely due to lack of confidence. The track owner in New Mexico would rather have both of us competitive and happy than not, and so we were able to rent the track (C-Bass and I) for some laps with the owner last Monday. With a little 'push' from the track owner, I made some suspension geometry adjustments that helped a lot, too. Only a few laps into it, on a warm April day, and both C-Bass and I were suddenly in the 1:15's, and I got down into the 1:13's. Hallelujah, and pass the ammo, Brother.

May races were much better. Now I can be mad at myself for mental 'race management' issues - failing to block one turn in a race I led from the green flag resulted in getting passed on the last lap without enough track left to catch up again. That got me mad, but in a different way, encouraging me to flog the bike. This had a really cool effect: I really began to feel the tires again, and the suspension action, and began seriously putting power down to drive out of corners while still leaned over - all things you HAVE to do to go fast. I haven't seen the laptimes from that last race yet, but I think I may have equaled my personal best.

This makes me look forward to next month.

I'll probably do a trackday in Pahrump, Nevada (Spring Mountain Motorsports Park) in late May, to keep the feeling current.