To: labiker@gholam.ph.ucla.edu Subject: LABiker: CSS level II Date: Mon, 23 Oct 2000 19:47:58 -0400 zoom! Darn it! I was hoping to have my Code II out before Kurt did. Mainly 'cause I _didnt_ actually _mean_ to roast him infront of Cobie Fair. Or Keith. Or even Dustin. And I KNOW I didnt get him in front of Trish of Fox News. Really. Well, he and I decide to head out Friday nite. (oh man, can you believe it! I give up a FRIDAY nite to hang out with Kurt!?!) Then I make him drive his truck up the crest to get the the Desert Inn and he scares me senseless with stories of Ghosts and Serial Killers roaming the roads and turnouts. *shver* I'm such a sucker. And I _forgot_ scared puppy dog, my track mascot. Perhaps, Instead, I shall use young Mr Krause as my lucky charm... First off, the guy at the Desert Inn counter was giving Young Mr Krause the evil eye, as he doesnt look anything at all like my usual compadre. Sat morning: hey, its chilly. Big surprise. No traffic tho (i was worried 'cause the Air Show was at Edwards this weekend...) Get into my leathers and feel my hands and feet go numb. I knew I shoulda brought my thermals. Oh well. Hey, look, there's a few women here. :) ok, what a great day! I knew it was gonna warm up and Kurt and I were gonna have fun and everything was going to be OK when Keith's wife, who handles the registration, looked up at me, and smiled and said, "Welcome back!, Gayathri!". Then as I filled out my forms, I noticed Dustin's name -- no real reason, 'cept he was out at FasTrack last week, and I keep forgetting to ask him about his new show. Then, as we're waiting for class to begin, Trish (I cant remember her last name) from Fox News came up and asked if she could interview me later. (sure. dont make me look fat on tv, say I.) Then the camera guy asks me,"hey, are you fast?" uh oh. Me, "Not really." him, "makes ure you hang off tho." me, "argh." Then, the best part of the day in terms of interactions: Keith Code remembers me. He sees me sitting down eating a muffin, and comes over, shakes my hand and asks me how my riding and racing is going. I tell him about my turtle increments, but that its steady and how much I was looking forward to the school. Jason Peydon, who turns out to be my instructor for the day, asks how my FZR400 was doing... I got to tell Keith about my first ever crash, and he just had that wry grin like someone being indulgent (i'm sure he's got MANY crash stories) but agreed that now that I knew it wasnt _that_ scarey, it made sense that I was getting faster... Whoa. how cool was that. Of course, I had to put up with Kurt's teasing me mercilessly about being so popular, but seriously, how many asian indian women ride? :) We start class, with our first session with Cobie Fair. We're talking about hanging off, and he asks Kurt, "oh, do you hang off?" and I reply, "man, he hangs off in the parking lot. I can go faster then him on the street sitting straight up and down on my bike. " oops. poor kurt. :o) Then, Trish asks a few questions and the camera guy follows me around and films me getting on the bike. (really, its not that interesting.) My favorite -- "can you rev it?" Me, "um. ok. But I never rev bikes. its kinda dumb." Getting onthe zx-6 wasnt nearly as .. scarey as I thought it would be. The bike felt a lot like the fzr400 in that it simply disapperared underneath me. It wasnt 'til I got it on the track and started really riding it that I noticed... suspension was set up for someone a lot lighter then moi. I love this track. All these turns, so friendly... I'm working hard on getting the throttle roll on clean, and the session right after Kurt's offroad excursion, where he proves yet again that the zx-6r is a FINE dual sport vehicle, I too almost take it off the track in the same place. I didnt get on the throttle soon enough, bike goes wide, I look at the dirt, and then figure I'd better get on the gas... (*boink* I make the turn. sheesh.) Then around lunchtime, I finally run into Dustin. Forget again to ask him about his show. :) And THEN, I finally get to do the _lean machine!_ whoo! I didnt get my knee down (my legs were TOO TIRED!) but Mike showed me how to hang off properly, and while I didnt manage to break loose the back end, I _did_ push the front consistently. Mike was pretty happy that my survival response to pushing the front was to roll on the throttle. (hell, so was i. I didnt know that's what I was doing. :) ) Later, kurt and I saw one rider consistently save himself from highsiding by breaking the back end, and as soon as he rolled off, rolling on again to stop the bike flipping... Then, we're watching another student, who -- when he broke the back end loose, whacked the throttle open and was flung off the bike as it spun around like a top... (hey, isnt that Dustin?) the day went great. I wonder how much of the stuff Fox taped they are going to use. I hope I dont come across as an idiot. :) Jason and Cobie were both really complementary on my grasp of the skills taught. I'm just not quick about getting quick, but I feel a lot stronger in terms of having more tools in my reach. Now for a few more months at the big track to practice. *does a little happy dance* Gayathri, squid wanna... >-------------------------------------------------------------- gayathri@world.std.com Calamari Club #002, WSMC #158 '88 FZR400 ('gurlzbike') '98 T595 Daytona, "huckleberry" "It IS simple. It ISN'T easy." -- Sensei George