A couple of days running around Redmond pretending to be working did a body good. Oh, it wasn't the "work" it was seeing Mike and Grace! They are doing well. We had dinner and some drinks, and talked about work, bikes, and other such stuff.
We did some meetings with people. The "software meeting" was a kinda progress report in power point format of where we were going, and where we have been.
The other meeting we went over for was "tasking." But no one had any tasks, so we are now helping David with the light mapper...blech, no fun, but should be a great learning experience.
anyway, not feeling particularly bloggy today....
out
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Sunday, September 23, 2007
An uneventful trackday....
Not a whole lot to say about this track day...but here's what I got:
1) I rode...90 miles is about as far as I can go at a time on the Rebel without a break. Luckily, it's about 90 miles to the track. But this weekend really confirmed my need for a new bike.
2) I did an 8 hour lap (I rode out to my corner on the track, and back at the end of the day on the track....8 hours later). But I didn't get to jam on it because I was carrying flags and stuff.
3) My new pants work GREAT, and I'll be warm until it's freezing....(literally). I plan on riding until it's too cold, but with these pants, my jacket, a sweater under the jacket, and a scarf, and I'll only be stopped by ice on the road! That means (hopefully), that I'll be able to ride most days this winter! WOOT!
4) Some people from the Moscow-Pullman area can ride like mofos! GixxerJeff (Jeff #1), MisfitR6 (Ben), CCWC (Cody)...those boys can r-iz-ide. Some people stand up to wheelie out of turn 2, on the way to 3. Ben goes fast enough that he has to stand up (and over his front wheel) to keep his front end down. Cody, who's handle stands for "Can't Corner Worth Crap", can actually corner REALLY well, and likes to show off, throwing his front end way up in the air, and slamming it back down. Jeff's pretty quick too, but I lost track of who he was on the track pretty early...
5) Subway sandwiches don't hold the wrapper down in the wind, and my wrapper almost ended up on the track, and causing a wreck. Luckily, the wind that took it towards the track turned, and brought it back on my side of the track. I put it back down, but this time with a rock.
6) Doe, a deer, a female deer....inside the track....it was there the first session. It poked its head out and I saw it. I called in and had them hold off on the next session, and I chased it out with the help of the EMTs.
1) I rode...90 miles is about as far as I can go at a time on the Rebel without a break. Luckily, it's about 90 miles to the track. But this weekend really confirmed my need for a new bike.
2) I did an 8 hour lap (I rode out to my corner on the track, and back at the end of the day on the track....8 hours later). But I didn't get to jam on it because I was carrying flags and stuff.
3) My new pants work GREAT, and I'll be warm until it's freezing....(literally). I plan on riding until it's too cold, but with these pants, my jacket, a sweater under the jacket, and a scarf, and I'll only be stopped by ice on the road! That means (hopefully), that I'll be able to ride most days this winter! WOOT!
4) Some people from the Moscow-Pullman area can ride like mofos! GixxerJeff (Jeff #1), MisfitR6 (Ben), CCWC (Cody)...those boys can r-iz-ide. Some people stand up to wheelie out of turn 2, on the way to 3. Ben goes fast enough that he has to stand up (and over his front wheel) to keep his front end down. Cody, who's handle stands for "Can't Corner Worth Crap", can actually corner REALLY well, and likes to show off, throwing his front end way up in the air, and slamming it back down. Jeff's pretty quick too, but I lost track of who he was on the track pretty early...
5) Subway sandwiches don't hold the wrapper down in the wind, and my wrapper almost ended up on the track, and causing a wreck. Luckily, the wind that took it towards the track turned, and brought it back on my side of the track. I put it back down, but this time with a rock.
6) Doe, a deer, a female deer....inside the track....it was there the first session. It poked its head out and I saw it. I called in and had them hold off on the next session, and I chased it out with the help of the EMTs.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
weather forcast
not looking great for track day on Saturday....
oh well, I got new warm pants for riding....
they'll be plenty warm for sitting and flagging :)
oh well, I got new warm pants for riding....
they'll be plenty warm for sitting and flagging :)
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
A couple rides, a couple hunts
Ok, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday...I managed to cram 2 grouse hunts, 2 rides, a fair visit, and a work day into those 3 days.
Saturday, I got up and donated plasma. Ya, I'm still doing that. Except this time, I drank LOTS of water the 2 days previous, ate right, and limited my caffeine, and no alcohol. Plus, the first thing I had them do was slow down my return. I was the first one started, and one of the first ones done.
Once that was done, I headed back home to get ready for hunting, and to wait for Jake, the bro-in-law, who was supposed to come grouse hunting with me. He said he'd probably roll on over to our house around 10. I got there around 10:30, and he wasn't there. I said I'd give him till noon, you can see how pressed for time I was...
Well, about noon rolls around and I just leave. I got about a quarter mile from the pickup when my phone rang. It was on vibrate, and I couldn't feel it, but I could hear it. I couldn't figure out what the sound was until it was too late to answer. I checked my voice mail, and Jake was way too apologetic. He drank too much at The Beach; I know the feeling. I saw some bobcat tracks, but there weren't any birds to be found on Saturday, so, I went on home.
I found out once I got home that Jake, and friends, were going to be joining us to the fair that evening. Wonderful! I love the fair! The best part about this fair is the fact that there is no admission price. You just walk in, look at the animals and crafts, pay for the overpriced food, and leave. One thing I didn't know about the fair is that there is a home-brew category. If I'd only known....I've got some cider that is ready that I'm letting age in the fermenter until I get the gumption to try it. Anyway, the fair was...well...a fair, and we left.
Jake came over, after he dropped his friends off at the dorm, to work on his shotgun, drink a couple beers, and sleep on the couch (lest he miss hunting again). He worked on his gun, I drank some beer, Jessica watched TV.
We headed out the next morning. We found one grouse, and he wasn't shoot-able (too quick for us). We jumped a couple of deer, and otherwise had a nice walk through the woods. We saw a bear track, which was rather exciting. We kept walking, and found the pickup, and home we went again. Another nice walk carrying a gun.
Sunday afternoon, I changed the oil in my bike. It needed it. After that, I took off for Spiral. The wind wasn't any fun to ride in. It was blowing HARD. I saw one other guy on a bike on the way down. He was having less fun than I was, but at least he had fairings to give some wind protection. I went down, then up Spiral, and realized, for sure, what I was pretty sure about as soon as I left the city limits of Moscow...HEAD HOME, IT'S TOO DAMN WINDY! I got home, and took my gear off. What a shitty day for a ride... Why is it that even shitty days for rides put a big grin on your face that won't go away for a couple hours?
Anyway, I went to bed happy.
I got up Monday morning and went to work, mostly uneventful day. Jessica had a late class, so during the down time, I plotted out myself a ride for after work. 100 miles, mostly of forest land.
I left work, and gassed up. Bovill was my next destination. I headed there, slowing only briefly to stay within grasp of the speed limit, and then took off or Santa. Yes, a town named Santa. It's on the Saint Marie's River, and on the way to Saint Marie's. Well, actually, for me, it's on the way to the White Pine Drive--my own personal heaven. Lots of folks will tell you that Spiral Highway is one of the best roads around. Most of them haven't driven the White Pine Drive. Spiral beats the crap out of the White Pine Drive for technical corners, hands down. But, what the White Pine Drive lacks in tight, technical, corners, it makes up for in not having a damn cliff if you crash. Crashing on Spiral would be a bad idea, because you either have cliff wall up or cliff wall down. Crashing on the White Pine Drive, you would probably end up going up the side of the mountain, but it's no cliff wall up or down. The corners are really nice too, and there's hardly ever anyone on the road.
Don't get me wrong, it's some pretty technical stuff, but it's no Spiral. There's no hairpins, and instead of 15-25 mph corners, they are all 25-35 mph corners.
I can go much faster (in relation to the posted speed) on the White Pine Drive because of the simple fact that I don't feel like I'm going off a cliff if shit happens. I'm much more confident in my corners.
So, anyway, it started to rain. Yeah, I still have my chaps. My top half of my body was dry, my legs were dry, and my crotch was wet. What a weird look, I don't recommend it, get real pants.
A little rain, a little sun, a little breeze (not too bad), and a bunch of good miles, and I got home.
Tonight, I had 3 jobs: dishes, bathrooms, and finish the headboard. I've done the dishes, and finished the headboard (with the exception of attaching it to the bed), and now I'm blogging until I have to clean the bathrooms. Jessica's mom is coming, or the bathrooms could wait till the weekend. Oh well.
The headboard looks really great. It's really done, for reals. I finally have all the pieces put together, and all the buttons sewn on, and the whole thing is behind the bed. It's ready for use. I'm really excited, and so is Jessica.
Anyway, that's about all that's been going on in real life....
dear commenters:
you guys are great, keep it up, I love the feed back!
Jeff
Saturday, I got up and donated plasma. Ya, I'm still doing that. Except this time, I drank LOTS of water the 2 days previous, ate right, and limited my caffeine, and no alcohol. Plus, the first thing I had them do was slow down my return. I was the first one started, and one of the first ones done.
Once that was done, I headed back home to get ready for hunting, and to wait for Jake, the bro-in-law, who was supposed to come grouse hunting with me. He said he'd probably roll on over to our house around 10. I got there around 10:30, and he wasn't there. I said I'd give him till noon, you can see how pressed for time I was...
Well, about noon rolls around and I just leave. I got about a quarter mile from the pickup when my phone rang. It was on vibrate, and I couldn't feel it, but I could hear it. I couldn't figure out what the sound was until it was too late to answer. I checked my voice mail, and Jake was way too apologetic. He drank too much at The Beach; I know the feeling. I saw some bobcat tracks, but there weren't any birds to be found on Saturday, so, I went on home.
I found out once I got home that Jake, and friends, were going to be joining us to the fair that evening. Wonderful! I love the fair! The best part about this fair is the fact that there is no admission price. You just walk in, look at the animals and crafts, pay for the overpriced food, and leave. One thing I didn't know about the fair is that there is a home-brew category. If I'd only known....I've got some cider that is ready that I'm letting age in the fermenter until I get the gumption to try it. Anyway, the fair was...well...a fair, and we left.
Jake came over, after he dropped his friends off at the dorm, to work on his shotgun, drink a couple beers, and sleep on the couch (lest he miss hunting again). He worked on his gun, I drank some beer, Jessica watched TV.
We headed out the next morning. We found one grouse, and he wasn't shoot-able (too quick for us). We jumped a couple of deer, and otherwise had a nice walk through the woods. We saw a bear track, which was rather exciting. We kept walking, and found the pickup, and home we went again. Another nice walk carrying a gun.
Sunday afternoon, I changed the oil in my bike. It needed it. After that, I took off for Spiral. The wind wasn't any fun to ride in. It was blowing HARD. I saw one other guy on a bike on the way down. He was having less fun than I was, but at least he had fairings to give some wind protection. I went down, then up Spiral, and realized, for sure, what I was pretty sure about as soon as I left the city limits of Moscow...HEAD HOME, IT'S TOO DAMN WINDY! I got home, and took my gear off. What a shitty day for a ride... Why is it that even shitty days for rides put a big grin on your face that won't go away for a couple hours?
Anyway, I went to bed happy.
I got up Monday morning and went to work, mostly uneventful day. Jessica had a late class, so during the down time, I plotted out myself a ride for after work. 100 miles, mostly of forest land.
I left work, and gassed up. Bovill was my next destination. I headed there, slowing only briefly to stay within grasp of the speed limit, and then took off or Santa. Yes, a town named Santa. It's on the Saint Marie's River, and on the way to Saint Marie's. Well, actually, for me, it's on the way to the White Pine Drive--my own personal heaven. Lots of folks will tell you that Spiral Highway is one of the best roads around. Most of them haven't driven the White Pine Drive. Spiral beats the crap out of the White Pine Drive for technical corners, hands down. But, what the White Pine Drive lacks in tight, technical, corners, it makes up for in not having a damn cliff if you crash. Crashing on Spiral would be a bad idea, because you either have cliff wall up or cliff wall down. Crashing on the White Pine Drive, you would probably end up going up the side of the mountain, but it's no cliff wall up or down. The corners are really nice too, and there's hardly ever anyone on the road.
Don't get me wrong, it's some pretty technical stuff, but it's no Spiral. There's no hairpins, and instead of 15-25 mph corners, they are all 25-35 mph corners.
I can go much faster (in relation to the posted speed) on the White Pine Drive because of the simple fact that I don't feel like I'm going off a cliff if shit happens. I'm much more confident in my corners.
So, anyway, it started to rain. Yeah, I still have my chaps. My top half of my body was dry, my legs were dry, and my crotch was wet. What a weird look, I don't recommend it, get real pants.
A little rain, a little sun, a little breeze (not too bad), and a bunch of good miles, and I got home.
Tonight, I had 3 jobs: dishes, bathrooms, and finish the headboard. I've done the dishes, and finished the headboard (with the exception of attaching it to the bed), and now I'm blogging until I have to clean the bathrooms. Jessica's mom is coming, or the bathrooms could wait till the weekend. Oh well.
The headboard looks really great. It's really done, for reals. I finally have all the pieces put together, and all the buttons sewn on, and the whole thing is behind the bed. It's ready for use. I'm really excited, and so is Jessica.
Anyway, that's about all that's been going on in real life....
dear commenters:
you guys are great, keep it up, I love the feed back!
Jeff
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Epic Weekends, part 2
Ok, this won't be quite as in depth, but I've got a bonus afterwards!
Last weekend, I went out camping with Jessica ,my wife, Mark, a friend of mine, and his little dog Skipper. We drove to Mark's house after work on Friday, in the Tri-Cities, then off past Yakima to the town and river of Naches. Up from Naches, we followed the river to the Little Naches River, to a campsite. We setup tents, had a few beers, and BS'ed about the next morning's plans, and went to sleep.
Saturday morning, we got up. Now, since we were camping, and Jessica can't camp without bacon, and I wanted pancakes, we made bacon, eggs, pancakes, and coffee before we even thought about doing anything else. Once we had breakfast done, we realized we didn't have any dish soap, or any more coffee. We cleaned up as best as we could, and headed back to Whistlin' Jacks, a little over-priced grocery store to get the necessary things.
We grabbed a handful of elderberries from the bush on the way out. They were kinda tart, but really tasty...I can't wait for deer season when I get to go look for more elder berries :). Anyway, we went back up and moved campsites and started fishing the Naches river. Oh, btw, there are no fish in the Naches river. Trust me, there are no fish. We fished all day, and nothing.
That night, we had some more drinks, and went to bed.
Sunday morning, we got up and fished some more, still no fish.
We cooked breakfast again, bacon, eggs, pancakes and coffee, and cleaned up camp. We headed back and dropped Mark off. It was a good weekend.
It doesn't sound so great...but the time spent with Mark and Jessica, and the time spent fishing just don't seem like something anyone else will want to hear about....we just BS'ed a whole lot.
BONUS:
They cut my data patching. Yah, I'm not pleased. I'm angry, hurt, and generally not happy about it. I've spent so much time on it, that I don't remember a time in which I wasn't working on it, since I started working here. And now it's cut. I got the go-ahead yesterday to keep working on it, and send more test plans, and get it moving. That was yesterday morning. Yesterday afternoon, in an email, I get "Projects not being worked on: Data Patching". I almost left early....I should have.....
Anyway, I have an empty bug list now!
GRRRRRRRRRRR
Last weekend, I went out camping with Jessica ,my wife, Mark, a friend of mine, and his little dog Skipper. We drove to Mark's house after work on Friday, in the Tri-Cities, then off past Yakima to the town and river of Naches. Up from Naches, we followed the river to the Little Naches River, to a campsite. We setup tents, had a few beers, and BS'ed about the next morning's plans, and went to sleep.
Saturday morning, we got up. Now, since we were camping, and Jessica can't camp without bacon, and I wanted pancakes, we made bacon, eggs, pancakes, and coffee before we even thought about doing anything else. Once we had breakfast done, we realized we didn't have any dish soap, or any more coffee. We cleaned up as best as we could, and headed back to Whistlin' Jacks, a little over-priced grocery store to get the necessary things.
We grabbed a handful of elderberries from the bush on the way out. They were kinda tart, but really tasty...I can't wait for deer season when I get to go look for more elder berries :). Anyway, we went back up and moved campsites and started fishing the Naches river. Oh, btw, there are no fish in the Naches river. Trust me, there are no fish. We fished all day, and nothing.
That night, we had some more drinks, and went to bed.
Sunday morning, we got up and fished some more, still no fish.
We cooked breakfast again, bacon, eggs, pancakes and coffee, and cleaned up camp. We headed back and dropped Mark off. It was a good weekend.
It doesn't sound so great...but the time spent with Mark and Jessica, and the time spent fishing just don't seem like something anyone else will want to hear about....we just BS'ed a whole lot.
BONUS:
They cut my data patching. Yah, I'm not pleased. I'm angry, hurt, and generally not happy about it. I've spent so much time on it, that I don't remember a time in which I wasn't working on it, since I started working here. And now it's cut. I got the go-ahead yesterday to keep working on it, and send more test plans, and get it moving. That was yesterday morning. Yesterday afternoon, in an email, I get "Projects not being worked on: Data Patching". I almost left early....I should have.....
Anyway, I have an empty bug list now!
GRRRRRRRRRRR
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
2 epic weekends....
Ok, so since I last posted, I've had 2 epic weekends.
I'm gonna do this in order...on a day by day basis...
8/30 Thursday
My boss says to me "you can work a full day tomorrow if you want, but I'm not." You see, earlier in the week, he told us only to work a half day because they were going to be laying down chemicals upstairs. Well, those plans changed, but since he already made reservations, it was basically an already set half-day.
8/31 Friday
I took the half day, and left directly up to Spokane Raceway Park. On the way, I ran into a bunch of rain. Well, it had hit the track too, so that meant that when I got there, most people were just sitting around chilling.
I looked at some bikes in the pits. Most were nice bikes. One WAS a nice bike, until he flipped it a couple of times. It was a total loss, the guy was in the hospital. It was a brand new ZX-6R, and must have started the day beautiful. The guy was planning on riding it home to (I disremember where, but it was a ways away) after track day....he didn't ride home, instead he got carried away. He was fine, but not good...if you catch my drift.
A few people went out and ran another session or 2, but it was pretty uneventful....
Until Curt went down. Curt, a guy I hadn't met yet, took turn 2 wrong. He ended up using the plastics on his bike to scoop up about 5 pounds of gravel. Some of this gravel got revenge on the bike by scraping up the side. Some of the gravel scratched up his leathers and such. Curt had some "rash", which wasn't from the gravel, but just from rubbing, and was sore Saturday and stiff on Sunday, but otherwise, was able to race all weekend. Best kind of crash to have. He laid it down, got back up, rode it in, and dumped the dirt out and was good to go for the rest of the weekend. Thank God for good gear, and for not blowing the corner too bad.
Remember the crunched up ZX-6R? Well, one of the guys there was hauling it home in his (single bike) trailer for the guy. This guy, Fred, just happened to be friends with Curt. And these guys just happened to be friends with Jim, Cody, Ken, and had been pitting with everyone else that I knew at track day. Well, Fred's bike didn't have a way home, and it had to go somewhere. I wasn't going anywhere all weekend, and Fred only lived like 10 miles away, so it went into the back of my pickup. A 50'th Anniversary, 2006 R6 sat in the bed of my pickup for the better part of the weekend.
After we loaded that up, Becky offered to drive Cody, Curt, Ken, and I out to dinner so we could drink, carry on, and have a good time. Well, we did that. We ordered a pitcher of Mac and Jack's, and instead they brought a pitcher of New Castle. Well, since they left it for us, we couldn't let it go to waste. 2 pitchers later (mind you we started at the track before we left) and a burger each, we stumbled back into the pickup for the drive back to the track. Out came the cigars, and then after that bed.
Just so you all know...yes...the beer and cigar did make me sick...and no, it wasn't pleasant. One or the other, not both, and all things in moderation.
Now, around the middle of the night, I was still awake because there were bikes running everywhere. Some people had the bright idea to run pit bikes, small bikes, dirt bikes mainly, all around all night. I even saw a couple of pit bikes with no lights racing around the track, being followed by a street bike with lights.
I fell asleep and dreamed of riding.
9/1 Saturday
I got up and rode my bike up to the shower, and asked the naked guy where there was some running water so I could brush my teeth. He told me where to go, and I headed up there.
After brushing my teeth, gathering water, sports drink, diet coke, and munchies, I headed down to meet the rest of the corner workers. That was a CF if I've ever seen one. The real corner captain wasn't there, so her ass(istant) was in charge. She was pretty useless. Anyway, they put me in turn 9. I headed out there and met Dan, the radio guy. I was to play the part of the active.
"Active" corner workers are the ones who go and try to move the rider and bike out of the way of other crashes (just in case). I saw a couple of crashes and pushed a couple of bikes out of the way. One guy got dirt way up into his face mask, and into his eyes. We had to lead him across the hot track blind. That was no fun, and I was glad I was working on the bike, not the rider. He was more than fine.
A mostly uneventful day was about over when the shit hit the fan...in a good way. Ross Delong and Mike Sullivan (2 racers in the "good gawd almighty fast" class) were riding ffffaaaasssssttttt. So fast, in fact, that Ross Delong took the track record about half way through the race. That record sat for almost a minute and a half, because he set the record again. Mike Sullivan, not knowing this, of course, passes him, and takes the track record back (it was his until this race). Ross Delong, as if he knew what was going on, took the record BACK. 4 times, in once race.
With 1 lap to go, we had a guy go off just past our corner, and almost to turn 10/track crossing. He was hurt. Not really bad (as far as a 90 mph crash goes), but he did break his collar bone, I think. He wasn't moving until the race was over, which was fine....with 1 lap, a waving yellow would be fine, even in the fast class. His wife/girlfriend wasn't too pleased when we wouldn't let her cross the track until the EMT's were done with him, but she was ok once he got across to him.
I was pretty tired, and once I got food, I talked to Curt (the only one at the track I knew still), and then went to bed. Well, not to bed, but I kinda crashed out. It was like 7pm and I was in my tent. That didn't last too long. I got up and wandered around. This guy was working on his bike in the dark with just a little LED headlight. I went and got my BIG flashlight to help him finish before dawn. He is a vintage racer novice, and was prepping for his first race. I helped get him back up and running, and took a walking lap around the pits, and back to bed. This time, for real. I was tired.
At some point in there (after dinner, before crashing out), I ran into a couple of guys, about 50 years old or so, next to their side car. I had to talk to them about it. It was pretty neat. Not like a traditional bike and side car, but one unit, all together. I had seen them practice, and they were some pretty crazy contraptions. If you ever get a chance to look at them, DO IT.
9/2 Sunday
I got out of bed and poked my head out. There was Jim's miata next to Curt's pickup and trailer. Jim was wandering around hanging out, waiting for stuff to happen. It was 7am, and not much was going on. I talked to him about Saturday's races and practices, and about Sunday's races and practices.
I was in corner 5, and had a pretty uneventful day, honestly. It wasn't as exciting as Saturday, but I did pick up 2 bikes. Both of those guys were not only ok, but up and running away before anyone got there. One guy was a guy I kinda know from the forum, but neither of us knew it at the time, the other guy was the WMRRA club president who said he might have re-broke his ribs.
The course record did get reset by Ross Delong, and it stood all day.
There were a couple of big wrecks, but not in my corner. Which is almost as bad as if they are in your corner, because you are sitting there helpless, and you can't do anything.
I didn't even hang around for dinner, I just went back and packed up my stuff and headed home. It was a heck of a weekend, and I was dog tired and needed a shower.
9/3 Labor Day!
I went out grouse hunting, and then I played some computer games and took a nap. 1 grouse, it became lunch, and that was my day...uneventful
honestly....I'm goign to take a break from writing...I've been writing for a loooongg time, and I'll write about last weekend later (maybe not even tonight)
I'm gonna do this in order...on a day by day basis...
8/30 Thursday
My boss says to me "you can work a full day tomorrow if you want, but I'm not." You see, earlier in the week, he told us only to work a half day because they were going to be laying down chemicals upstairs. Well, those plans changed, but since he already made reservations, it was basically an already set half-day.
8/31 Friday
I took the half day, and left directly up to Spokane Raceway Park. On the way, I ran into a bunch of rain. Well, it had hit the track too, so that meant that when I got there, most people were just sitting around chilling.
I looked at some bikes in the pits. Most were nice bikes. One WAS a nice bike, until he flipped it a couple of times. It was a total loss, the guy was in the hospital. It was a brand new ZX-6R, and must have started the day beautiful. The guy was planning on riding it home to (I disremember where, but it was a ways away) after track day....he didn't ride home, instead he got carried away. He was fine, but not good...if you catch my drift.
A few people went out and ran another session or 2, but it was pretty uneventful....
Until Curt went down. Curt, a guy I hadn't met yet, took turn 2 wrong. He ended up using the plastics on his bike to scoop up about 5 pounds of gravel. Some of this gravel got revenge on the bike by scraping up the side. Some of the gravel scratched up his leathers and such. Curt had some "rash", which wasn't from the gravel, but just from rubbing, and was sore Saturday and stiff on Sunday, but otherwise, was able to race all weekend. Best kind of crash to have. He laid it down, got back up, rode it in, and dumped the dirt out and was good to go for the rest of the weekend. Thank God for good gear, and for not blowing the corner too bad.
Remember the crunched up ZX-6R? Well, one of the guys there was hauling it home in his (single bike) trailer for the guy. This guy, Fred, just happened to be friends with Curt. And these guys just happened to be friends with Jim, Cody, Ken, and had been pitting with everyone else that I knew at track day. Well, Fred's bike didn't have a way home, and it had to go somewhere. I wasn't going anywhere all weekend, and Fred only lived like 10 miles away, so it went into the back of my pickup. A 50'th Anniversary, 2006 R6 sat in the bed of my pickup for the better part of the weekend.
After we loaded that up, Becky offered to drive Cody, Curt, Ken, and I out to dinner so we could drink, carry on, and have a good time. Well, we did that. We ordered a pitcher of Mac and Jack's, and instead they brought a pitcher of New Castle. Well, since they left it for us, we couldn't let it go to waste. 2 pitchers later (mind you we started at the track before we left) and a burger each, we stumbled back into the pickup for the drive back to the track. Out came the cigars, and then after that bed.
Just so you all know...yes...the beer and cigar did make me sick...and no, it wasn't pleasant. One or the other, not both, and all things in moderation.
Now, around the middle of the night, I was still awake because there were bikes running everywhere. Some people had the bright idea to run pit bikes, small bikes, dirt bikes mainly, all around all night. I even saw a couple of pit bikes with no lights racing around the track, being followed by a street bike with lights.
I fell asleep and dreamed of riding.
9/1 Saturday
I got up and rode my bike up to the shower, and asked the naked guy where there was some running water so I could brush my teeth. He told me where to go, and I headed up there.
After brushing my teeth, gathering water, sports drink, diet coke, and munchies, I headed down to meet the rest of the corner workers. That was a CF if I've ever seen one. The real corner captain wasn't there, so her ass(istant) was in charge. She was pretty useless. Anyway, they put me in turn 9. I headed out there and met Dan, the radio guy. I was to play the part of the active.
"Active" corner workers are the ones who go and try to move the rider and bike out of the way of other crashes (just in case). I saw a couple of crashes and pushed a couple of bikes out of the way. One guy got dirt way up into his face mask, and into his eyes. We had to lead him across the hot track blind. That was no fun, and I was glad I was working on the bike, not the rider. He was more than fine.
A mostly uneventful day was about over when the shit hit the fan...in a good way. Ross Delong and Mike Sullivan (2 racers in the "good gawd almighty fast" class) were riding ffffaaaasssssttttt. So fast, in fact, that Ross Delong took the track record about half way through the race. That record sat for almost a minute and a half, because he set the record again. Mike Sullivan, not knowing this, of course, passes him, and takes the track record back (it was his until this race). Ross Delong, as if he knew what was going on, took the record BACK. 4 times, in once race.
With 1 lap to go, we had a guy go off just past our corner, and almost to turn 10/track crossing. He was hurt. Not really bad (as far as a 90 mph crash goes), but he did break his collar bone, I think. He wasn't moving until the race was over, which was fine....with 1 lap, a waving yellow would be fine, even in the fast class. His wife/girlfriend wasn't too pleased when we wouldn't let her cross the track until the EMT's were done with him, but she was ok once he got across to him.
I was pretty tired, and once I got food, I talked to Curt (the only one at the track I knew still), and then went to bed. Well, not to bed, but I kinda crashed out. It was like 7pm and I was in my tent. That didn't last too long. I got up and wandered around. This guy was working on his bike in the dark with just a little LED headlight. I went and got my BIG flashlight to help him finish before dawn. He is a vintage racer novice, and was prepping for his first race. I helped get him back up and running, and took a walking lap around the pits, and back to bed. This time, for real. I was tired.
At some point in there (after dinner, before crashing out), I ran into a couple of guys, about 50 years old or so, next to their side car. I had to talk to them about it. It was pretty neat. Not like a traditional bike and side car, but one unit, all together. I had seen them practice, and they were some pretty crazy contraptions. If you ever get a chance to look at them, DO IT.
9/2 Sunday
I got out of bed and poked my head out. There was Jim's miata next to Curt's pickup and trailer. Jim was wandering around hanging out, waiting for stuff to happen. It was 7am, and not much was going on. I talked to him about Saturday's races and practices, and about Sunday's races and practices.
I was in corner 5, and had a pretty uneventful day, honestly. It wasn't as exciting as Saturday, but I did pick up 2 bikes. Both of those guys were not only ok, but up and running away before anyone got there. One guy was a guy I kinda know from the forum, but neither of us knew it at the time, the other guy was the WMRRA club president who said he might have re-broke his ribs.
The course record did get reset by Ross Delong, and it stood all day.
There were a couple of big wrecks, but not in my corner. Which is almost as bad as if they are in your corner, because you are sitting there helpless, and you can't do anything.
I didn't even hang around for dinner, I just went back and packed up my stuff and headed home. It was a heck of a weekend, and I was dog tired and needed a shower.
9/3 Labor Day!
I went out grouse hunting, and then I played some computer games and took a nap. 1 grouse, it became lunch, and that was my day...uneventful
honestly....I'm goign to take a break from writing...I've been writing for a loooongg time, and I'll write about last weekend later (maybe not even tonight)
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