Subject: Saturday riding, sunday rain...
Date: Tue, 19 Feb 2002 19:57:15 -0500
From: gayathri <gayathri>


I wasnt planning on racing anyway, but I'm a total wuss in the
rain. :)

Saturday marked my second time back out on my 1988 fzr400 at the Big
Track at Willow Springs after my big pileup in May of 2001. To say I
still have fear is an understatement, but I'm still working thru
it. Thank goodness for Scott Cleff and Steve Moonitz as my cheering
squad, who keep reminding me over and over again that with smoothness,
the speed will come.

Last month was just painful. I only managed about two sessions when
the cold and wind just drove me to sit in the truck and cry... This
month, I was looking forward to going out and confronting some demons
and kicking a little ass while I was at it. Maybe its watching the
Olympics, but I'm inspired to work out more and stretch more (it still
isnt showing. :( I have a long way to go to get to a svelte body
again...)

Anyway, in high spirits, I squeeze into my leathers and head on
out. First track session sucked. I was stiff, sore and tired. Just
kept trying to stay on the 'right line', even if I wasnt going that
quick. Sat in the truck and slept until my next session... whohoo!
that did the trick, relaxing with some music in between, I felt a hell
of a lot more solid and could actually 'see' where I needed to pick up
the pace again. Got into Turn 8 WFO in 6th gear, but down a bunch of
RPMS, slowed down way too much for turn 9 (but I forgave myself, and
worked on staying in the right line, and rolling off a little later
each session. I do need to do a track walk out there and pick out some
more markers to use to 'roll off' and then all the rest of the things
that make turn 9 work (roll off, downshift, hang off, look look look
down towards the front straight and not where I fell down. )

Each session was better then the last, until I started getting
tired. My legs always hurt in turn 2 and 8. :( Gotta duckwalk around
the house a lot more... Finally, the end of the day come, and I was
sad to see it end. I was having way too much fun. (yay me!) Even with
the breeze. Thanks to squidboy, my suspension seems pretty right on,
tho I can see if I get back to the low 1'40's, I'm going to need
heavier fork oil to compensate for the hard diving going down into
thru 5 (downhill and then a left turn) as well as for the sections in
the Omega... Turn 4a and 4b both have some choppy sections. 

Then got to go out to dinner with the awesome ApriliaSuz (see her pic
at: http://www.ducatitech.com/wsmc/img/suz.jpg and you can read Chris
Kelly's write up at: http://www.ducatitech.com/wsmc/racing.html) as
well as a million other racer boys and the very funny Zina
Kelly. Since I had decided not to race, nothing was stopping me from
sampling the margaritas! whooho! what a perfect end to the weekend. 

(Race Day was rainy and the Squidboy didnt have DOT tyres for his
SV650, just slicks, which he couldnt run if the races were called
'rain races', and they announced it was a dry race RIGHT after we'd
gotten our carryovers and packed up. Doh! But we watched a bunch of
races, got home really early and relaxed...)

The goal this year, due mostly to money issues, is really to go out,
have fun and do well in each race we DO enter as opposed to campaining
for a full year.

Gayathri
>--------------------------------------------------------------
 gayathri@world.std.com          Calamari Club #002, WSMC #98
'88 FZR400 ('gurlzbike')        '98 T595 Daytona, "huckleberry"

	"The few who do are the envy of the many who only watch."
				- Jim Rohn