Intermission 2013 (Red Tip!)

Been a little too serious in tone up here lately, what with a lot of things going on, and a whole lot more in the immediate future (Stella's 1st Birthday!). So aptly, I felt like having an intermission, non sequitur-style, just to break the current trend.

I had picked up that pocket bike earlier this year for a measly $25; nothing wrong with it, just had been sitting outdoors for a couple of years according to the previous owner. So I figured the carbs just needed a good cleaning, and with it being a two-stroke 50cc little monster, it should make it even more simple to work on. Alas, with Stella getting dibs on every time off I have now, I had to have my buddy Rob get the little monster (hereby referred to as Red Tip!) running again. And get it running Rob did.

Even though I'd say here and there that it's for Stella when the time comes that she's big enough to ride it and actually has interest in doing so, I really just bought it as a pit bike during my trackdays. But me being me, I really couldn't just leave Red Tip alone as a pit bike, could I? No, no. Instead, I got the idea to host a hillclimb challenge among my friends, using this little beast as our hillclimb machine!

First things first, Jairo and I decided to give it a test run at Patterson Pass, where I would hold the hillclimb challenge.

Unfortunately, the little beast just couldn't handle such heavy demands! Couple our adult frames with its task to go UPHILL with just a single-piston, single-gear transmission, and it was just too much to ask for the little beast. Even the downhill ride proved worrisome; the speed that the bike would carry from the descent proved even too fast for the engine, with the rear wheel and chain drive actually turning the crank faster than it can go at full throttle! I was worried the engine would grenade right then!

Pit bike it is then, unless maybe my friends and I can find an isolated parking lot that we can set up a makeshift track where we can race Red Tip around in. Until then, I'm at least finding out the joys of how cheap parts are for this little beast, so don't be surprised when the next photo I post of it, it'll be decked out!

It Goes On and On

I really wish I could update this journal with some uplifting adventure, but all that's going on right now is once again a "tug-of-war" in my brother's head.
And that's not figuratively speaking.

A Little Something

...to remind myself every day of what I should never be waiting for.

Live life full-steam ahead, though careful as you can, without hesitation or fear of the consequences. I owe it to my brother to not be afraid of the consequences when sometimes the consequences can be unfairly dire relative to your choices anyway.

Bitter Sweet (2013 edition)

For the record, this is what bike looks as of right now following last week's incident. All parts that needed replacement were replaced by mid last week, but clearly I'm still running the rashed fairings.

Well, these are photos of the bike from this year's Annual TAAF Walk held just over two weeks ago on the 5th, courtesy of Mah Ventura Photography:

It's funny. I see this bike every damn day, and while of course I know how awesome it looks, it's amazing how really expensive and professional camera lenses can REALLY make it look good. Here I was this morning prior to seeing these photos, thinking I've decided on what I was going to do following last week's incident, and now these photos are stirring up emotions inside me making me think twice (AGAIN!) about my decision.

Among other things, this bike at times makes me the victim of my own success.

Ironic

I had put on some new frame sliders on the '02 R1 last Friday night; since being taken out on Thunderhill last year and using my previous set, I've been so worried about something happening while the bike was without them. No dout that my tank remains unscathed despite those drops because of the sliders.
 
Then the morning after, I decided to do a solo jaunt down 84, cause I hadn't done a solo ride in awhile. On the way back to STP, just past La Honda through this mild right-hander:

Photo taken from the opposing lane; I'm coming from the
background to the foreground

Next thing I know, about the middle of the corner, I get a violent reaction at the front, then down I go. I slid up to the center line, while my bike slid through the opposing lane, stopping at the shoulder in the other side of the road. There were no oncoming traffic to collide with, but there was some to stop and help me pick up my bike, so I can roll it back to my side of the road.

I don't remember seeing one, but my conclusive guess is a sizable rock that I didn't see, and happened to have ran over. I walked back through the corner, and while I didn't see one (anymore?) in the middle of the lane, there were definitely scattered rocks.

The sliders did their job alright, with the tank unscathed again, but virtually everything in the right side of the bike took damage, from the fairings to the hard parts.



I don't know if I'll wait for winter again to repaint the fairing or do it now; apart from the upper fairing's corner, it's all just rash with no holes or breaks. I may just ride it as is after fixing the hard parts, until this year's winter.

Rebuilding. Again.

A Little Clarity Goes a Long Way

In my previous entry, I noted how I was having trouble finding my speed around the track, and I didn't know what to attribute the attrition to; doing track work, new bike, start of the season, all of the above? I wrote that the following trackdays would either confirm or debunk one or the other (or all of the above).

Well, I worked a Z2 trackday the other day again, and thankfully, it became clear to me as that day was.

It was none of the above.

What it was, was riding in a slower group. See, as part of being grid and recovery staff, myself and the rest of the crew basically confer with one another at the start of the day as to who's riding which group (A, B, or C). For the most part, we're all A-group riders, but since coming into the grid, I thought it best to be accommodating for now, and let the rest of the guys and gal ride A-group if they want, and I'll happily ride B-group. No biggie, I've jumped down a group before to ride with my friends, so no harm no foul.

Well the foul is that I am riding in an environment that though I can handle, is not conducive for me to ride the pace I typically do. B-group offers a fair amount of riders that are both too slow and too fast for the group; it's the nexus of skills from the other two groups, which can make for some unpredictable riding circumstances to negotiate. I can negotiate this, but the problem is that I cannot get myself into a rhythm of riding that taps into my full potential, which is critical in continued growth and development, in my opinion.

I realized this the other day at Thunderhill. Though I started the day riding in B-group still, I decided to go back to A-group again. In retrospect, it was probably pretty ballsy of me to do that when I've been feeling not up to par; it was one of those days with the fast A-group with AFM guys like Chris Siglin and AMA guys like Eric Bostrom signed up to do their testings. But what the hell, why not?

Immediately. IMMEDIATELY as soon as I went out there, with no rolling traffic to negotiate and fast guys passing me offering a rabbit for me to chase, I was back to my pace. Just like that, just to be back in the proper environment that offers no resistance for you to give most if not your all.



It felt so good to be myself again.

Regression with Progress

This track season will be my first full season as part of Z2 Trackday's crew, after they asked me to join them late last year. This past weekend's double-header at Sonoma Raceway kicked off my grid work, and though Saturday was only the third full-day I've done grid work and recovery, I ended up having done the most work I've ever had compared to the previous two, and therein came a surprise.

Pick up their crashed bike, then pick up the rider

It's still a welcome change to be working the trackdays now, rather than just sitting around in between sessions as a customer. The time spent working the grid and/or doing track recovery between my riding sessions really does bring a new and exciting chapter during my trackdays. But up until this past weekend, I never thought that my newfound duties would affect my riding abilities negatively. With Saturday's busy trackday, I felt like I wasn't riding as best as I could during my sessions. Understandably, one can say that it was only the first trackday of the season for me, so I'm probably just shaking off cobwebs, but historically, I've usually been able to just pick up right where I left off from the previous season, and sometimes even going quicker. I didn't feel tired out on the track per se, but in some ways, I want to say that the grid work and recovery duties does tangibly affect my riding.

This isn't really a complaint, but more of an observation rather. The next coming trackdays I work will either confirm or debunk this, but in the worst case scenario that I'm right, I'm thinking that I will need to simply better pace myself during trackdays, and/or up my exercise regimen so that I am better fit to be riding and working the track simultaneously. After all, this is a new chapter in my track adventures, so addendums should be expected.

Any new chapter requires a different approach

The other downside to working trackdays that I was afraid of was that a day would come when I would end up picking up either a friend or acquaintance following a track incident. I knew something like this could and would happen, it just wasn't something to look forward to. Well, it came too soon this past Saturday, when I found MotoLiam a victim of another rider's mistake out on the track. Fortunately, he was without any serious injuries, and though his bike sustained damage, it was nothing that Liam couldn't sort out. Not a guy that's wrenched on MotoGP machines like he has.

Taking Liam safely back to the pits



 But you know, they say you take the good with the bad, and I will forever be grateful to have been given this opportunity to have another dimension in an existing passion. Not everyone is handed something like this, and all the benefits of being in such a position far outweigh the drawbacks that every now and then may weigh you down.

So I say, the best progress tends to be those gained out of adversity.