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My Racing Blog


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Hugh;

It's a term of endearment/empowerment but from another place and time. Anyway up in the Great White North there must be something in the water because there are some incredibly talented Canadian Women riders - not the least of which is Misti Hurst, a Coach for the School. Josee Bouchard, Natalie Catherine Provost and Genevieve Lesieur have all been to the Superbike School and those ladies are fast. Nadine Lajoie has raced some AMA events and Shauna Aron was one of the best of the bunch. Anyway if you do decide on reassignment surgery let us know how it affects your lap times.

 

Rain

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Wow, these are really fun to read. And I SO agree with you about safety wire. Also I have a 450 SuperSingle which vibrates an insane amount and apparently considers any threaded fastener a foreign body that must be rejected as soon as possible - so I can relate to your challenges in keeping critical parts attached to the bike!

 

There certainly is a big difference between trying to run a race, and trying to run a season to compete for a points championship. After doing it a few years now, I have a whole new appreciation for the amount of effort involved in just showing up, starting and finishing the races. Speed and laptimes are important but it takes a lot more than just being able to ride fast to get through a season in good standings in the points. Your blog is a nice illustration of that, and a very entertaining description of some of the details involved and the ups and downs of it all.

 

For me, it is usually the 4:45 am departures (instead of the various bruises and lacerations that appear to be a normal part of handling and maintaining race bikes and all the sharp, odd-shaped, or heavy accessories that go with them!) that make me ask myself if I am having fun on race weekends... :)

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Thanks Hotfoot. I write them mostly for myself but it is great to know that some other folks enjoy reading them. And +1 on the "odd shaped accessories". It is surprising how much trunk volume needs to be available to accommodate a steering head stand.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Thanks Hugh and all,

rchase turned me onto ur blog because I'm contemplating beginning a race program. I realize that I'll have to start small maybe with a 600 or 750 instead of my BMW and have modest goals like just showing up and finishing. I don't want to bust up an expensive bike and it will be easier to handle a used smaller bike that is already race prepped which I could pick up for a few thousand dollars. The budget is the most important thing to me for me right now. I'm excited but at the same time not so sure about all the work, time, and expense involved not to mention the bumps and bruises since I'm turning 60 in October. I crashed on the track recently and it was a big eye opener and reality check. I'm still pretty determined. Eric Wood is helping me out because I'm up in the Northeast on Long Island smack dab in the middle of NJMP and Loudon. He's a nice guy and very accessible. Don't want to steal ur thread but thanks a lot for a peak into ur experience.

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Well, it sure is a lot of fun but don't underestimate the time and money involved. Buying an ex-race bike that is already fully prepped is definitely the way to go if you want to keep costs down. In my case I couldn't imagine racing any bike other than the Ducati because I just love it that much. It really stands out from the crowd which makes things even more fun because I get to meet so many people who come up to me just to talk about the bike.

 

The first season can be pretty bad cost wise if you don't already have things like tire warmers, generator, trailer, any special safety gear the race org might require, extra required do-dads for the bike (sprocket guard, lever guard, fluid-retaining belly pan, etc.). No single item is that expensive but MAN does it all add up.

 

Another option that many folks do around here is to just rent a race bike for the first few outings. That's a relatively low cost way to get your feet wet. We have an outfit around here called Racer 5 that runs a race school and then will rent fully prepped (with tires) race bikes to their graduates.

 

And yes for sure age plays a role, especially if you want to push yourself at all to try to be competitive. Even at 46 I don't bounce like I used to, but with sufficient attention to personal fitness I think even us old guys can have a go of it. Really half the battle is selecting the correct class to compete in.

 

If you decide to jump in then by all means share your experiences with the forum!

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Thanks YellowDuck,

I would really love to race my BMW but for one thing I crashed it in School and it cost me a bundle even though I was able to pick up most parts at a huge discount on the S1000RR Forum. Riding a ragged bike while I collected everything and then waiting for my mechanic to find time in the peak of the season makes the whole thing prohibitive as much as I understand your desire to ride the bike you love and know the best. My girl is a bit of crowd pleaser too.

 

The budget is the most important part for me to make sure I can finish a season and that means running a bike that I can toss around a little without fear but for the rest of this season I'll be getting my feet wet on the S1k. Crashing is simply not an option so I'll be extremely cautious while I continue with School, get my license, and maybe do a club race to find out if I am as serious about this as I think I am. I just know I like to finish up in front of everyone right right now.

 

Renting a bike seems like the best option to make the plunge, its just that I've never heard of such a thing in my area. I'll look into that today, After this post I'll be starting my own blog so you can keep track (pun intended) of me and find out if I live or die...no joke here because I've been told Novice races can be pretty dangerous. My last crash really put this in proper perspective for me and the place I won't skimp on is tires and protective gear.

 

As far as age and fitness I am very motivated to trim down and eat good food because of my passion to go fast and I have made great strides already in this department.

 

I think I'm going to also take the time to go back, read your blog more thoroughly and see what else I can learn.

 

Safe riding and I'll be pulling for you to win.

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Renting a bike seems like the best option to make the plunge, its just that I've never heard of such a thing in my area. I'll look into that today

 

Nic;

 

I know a few years ago you could rent a race bike from Penguin at Loudon; I would check that out with Eric to see if they still do.

 

Kevin

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My next blog post is not going to be a very cheery one. I was having a good weekend until Sunday morning practice when someone made a very tight pass on me in a slow corner and I grabbed the front brake to avoid hitting his rear tire. Went down hard and unfortunately the handle bar squooshed the middle finger on my right hand. They had to amputate about half the finger. Pretty depressing.

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Wow, So sorry YellowDuck. Very sorry to hear that. I wish you the best in your recovery and hopefully to raise your spirits I have a good cycling friend Oliver who had a similar experience years back and his handshake today is extremely powerful. I hope that helps. Nic

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