Felicisima Cunanan

Hi Grandma.

I want you to know that I did not, and that I am not grieving after you decided to remain in slumber. Mom told me that the last time she saw you, you told her how tired you are. I can't imagine how tired you must have been, but I can believe it.

The things you must have seen and experienced in your 93 years of living, after numerous children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and so forth that you looked over as one of our family tree's deepest roots. Even when Grandpa took his rest you remained with us. Oh how much you must have missed the love of your life in the proceeding days, the strength and fortitude you must have had to muster in the decades to stay with us so that my generation and those that came after would know the living history that begotten us all.

You deserve your rest. You have spent your whole life enduring enough for us, and so I cannot mourn that which you have rightfully earned.

But I do want to thank you, with all of my heart, for staying long enough for me to see my own daughter lay her eyes upon you, for her to have felt your touch, to have heard your voice and laughter sharing one afternoon together. I don't know if you would have remembered that, or if my daughter will remember it, but I want you to know that I will never forget it. I want you to know that I am eternally grateful that you have allowed me to have the memory of seeing where I came from, come face to face with where my future lies.

Thank you for enduring long enough to let me have this.

Love,

"Tarat"

I Must Be Solar-Powered...

...because my best just isn't there unless the sun is.

I was back at Sonoma Raceway on the 21st, for Z2 Trackday's last Sonoma event for the 2013. I've had over a week of rest since the Laguna Seca double-header on the 12th and 13th, and I was really looking forward to a more low-key trackday to work as Grid and Recovery. Then again, you just never know what can happen in any given trackday, so I was, as usual, prepared for the worst.

Fortunately, forecast for the day showed highs up in the high-70's, knocking on 80 degrees. Unfortunately, the first half of the day was spent under heavy fog that took its time to burn off. The fog was so heavy in the first session of the day, that I was genuinely surprised that riders still went out to do their sessions when I could barely see the end of the back straight where I normally could. Brave souls, I tell you. The sun did break through well before the lunch hour, and only continued to burn off the fog to reveal clear skies for the rest of the day without one presence of a cloud. Better late than never! And as a welcome reprieve from the eventful Laguna Seca weekend, I only went out ONCE to pick up a bike and move it out of the track's impact zone, despite the handful or so of track incidents.

What's with the entry title though?

Well, in the fog-laden morning, I did go out and ride the track, cautious and conservatively as I tried to gauge the grip available from the pavement. Despite appearances, the track actually had good grip in spite of the heavy fog hanging low over it. There were at least a couple of riders out on track that flew past me like it was nothing, pushing their tires a lot harder than I was willing to given the conditions, yet their tires stuck like glue and their machines went through corners as if on rails. That's scenery I'm used to in dry, clear, and sunny days, but not in that morning. Now typically, after seeing that I might just have been overly cautious and conservative, I would've just said to myself, "Well there you go, you can push it after all!" That morning however, I couldn't.

Then I've come to realize what hindered me out on track; I didn't have the mental fortitude to see past appearances despite first-hand experience.

he darker the gray pavement, the less grip I attribute to it despite actual grip available, and therefore I could not get myself to run the pace I would otherwise be able to. If it's foggy or overcast, or just generally lacking the presence of the sun, it's not dry to me, therefore - yet again - less grip. Truth be told, my tires didn't even slide or provide any feedback that would make me think there was no grip, but I still could not get over my mental block, which I think is a lot harder to get over than a physical limitation. It’s your survival instinct. Have you ever tried rewiring it?

The irony in doing it is you just have to be pragmatic about it, and take that leap of faith. Easier said than done.

Eventually, the sun did come out to bask us for the rest (and most) of the day, and just like that, I was back to full form, riding the bike around the track like know how.

My survival instinct simply likes it sunny.

3rd Annual Yamaha Owner's Appreciation Days

In 2012, practically to the month and date, was when Z2 Trackdays asked me to join their crew. In 2011, the event was my makeshift bachelor party, as I married my wife three days later. This marks my 3rd year in attendance, but my first time working the event instead of attending as a customer.

I wasn't sure how this year could be more memorable than the first two, but you know what, I decided that if it couldn't, that maybe it would be for the best. :)

The event didn't go without trying to make an impression on me though.

This event was so popular, that as soon as registration opened up, it sold out within the hour, each of the four groups available racking up their own waitlist for both days. What this meant that people signed up for any group they could find an opening in, whether or not it was the appropriate group for them.

Net result?

A good amount of speed and skill deficit out on the track.

Fortunately, the track ambulance parked by us at the grid never left their spot throughout the weekend, meaning that despite the number of incidents, every rider was able to drive themselves home like they arrived.

The physical toll on me though was unprecedented - I am TIRED. With all the crashes, mechanicals, running out of fuel, etc. that occurred, the rest of the grid crew and myself were tested in making sure we kept the track downtime to a minimum, as we planned out every rider and bike recovery out on the track.

Z2 Trackdays is due back in Sonoma in a week's time, and this will be a much-needed week's of rest I intend to use up.

All the Yamaha Owners who attended the event better have been appreciative alright!

You Will Never Find a Man as Happy as I Was After Being Hit by a Car

Last Thursday, the 3rd, on the way to work on my motorcycle like I always do for the past seven years or so, a carpool lane violator I was attempting to lane-share past did not see me in their blind spot, knocking me and the bike over to the ground at at least 60 miles per hour, causing the bike and I to slide across two lanes to our right, right in front of dense traffic heading into the toll gate of the San Mateo Bridge.

As I slid, I just kept thinking to myself, "Shit! I'm going to get run over! I've going to get run over!"

I didn't, and when I had stopped sliding, I popped myself back up to my feet and ran to my bike to pick it up, and push it out of traffic's way. The driver that hit me was also able to (and thankfully!) pull over, and rushed over to me to help me pick up my bike, as I was still lacking strength from being so winded. We managed to get out of traffic's way, and I tried to calm myself down to better assess my physical and mental state, all the while telling the driver to also calm down as he was REALLY shaken up over what happened. Apologetic, catatonic, and extremely remorseful, even so far admitting that he neglected to look over his shoulder when he wanted to get out of the carpool lane. Had he done so, he would have no doubt seen me attempting to pass him, and none of this would have happened.

I took stock of myself, then took stock of my bike. As he pleaded for me to allow him to pay me directly for damages he caused, citing his suspended drivers license he had been paying towards and was due to be released in a few weeks, as well as having no insurance for the car he had just recently bought, I tried to make an informed decision as best I can, to either file a police report and claim through my Uninsured Motorist coverage policy for the bike, or let the driver pay me directly. At the time, it was still before operating hours for my insurance agent, so I asked him to follow me back to my house as I was going to ride my bike home, and he complied. He proceeded to stay with me for 2-3 hours after the incident.

In my line of work as an analyst, it's my job to take account of every information from all parties involved to come up with the most reasonable and fair order out of a disagreement. While the driver stayed with me, I proceeded to ask him all there was to know about his current circumstances and his household. He's a legal resident, but his license is suspended from amassing unpaid petty tickets when he was younger, for which he has been paying on ever since. Unmarried, but lives with his partner and their three biological children, the 2nd child handicapped from being deaf. His partner also works full-time like he, but their combined disposable income is about as much as what mine alone is. They rent an apartment, and in fact lives not too far from me in the neighboring city. He had $1000 in cash he could withdraw that day to give me to start with, but if I filed a claim with my insurance, they will need all of the drivers identifying information that I had so they can go after him, no doubt contacting all related agencies for the driver's multiple violations (driving with a suspended license, no insurance, carpool violation, etc.).

I hit the deck hard, but I've had harder crashes than that. I knew I was going to be sore for the next couple of days, but otherwise fine. I told him that to protect myself, I'd need to speak with my insurance about my coverage, as well as my doctor for their consultation. He understood, and so I agreed to let him go to work (he doesn't work, he doesn't get paid), taking $1000 in cash from him as a deposit until I can speak with both my insurance and doctor, so that he and I can negotiate a settlement. An hour after he left, insurance called me and confirmed the amount I could be entitled to for damages to my bike. I then saw my doctor to advise her of my accident, but she allowed me to "sleep it off," and see how I feel the next coming days.

Ultimately, I agreed for him to pay me for damages to my bike. It has been a bit of a controversial decision with people who know me, as some understandably feel that I should file a police report and claim with insurance, and punish the driver at the fullest extent of the law. I cannot argue with that logic, as it is logical, and had my circumstances been more dire and serious as a result of the accident, I probably would've done just that. But all things considered when it could've been a lot worse, it wasn't, and so I feel that being as civil as possible, especially with a guilty party who's just as willing to right the wrong he did, is the best solution to come up with. I don't think I can have it in my conscience to punish a man who made mistakes at the expense of the man's entire household. I walked away from a serious accident, while the driver is not only fiscally punished, but will have the memory of seeing me sliding on the roadway with oncoming traffic bearing down on me burned to his memory. It is my hope that that memory will serve him to no longer make the mistakes he made that day, and I am content with that.



Now, what does this have to do about being the happiest I can ever be?

Well, on that same unfortunate morning, as the driver had me in his car while we went to his bank to withdraw his cash deposit, I got the final word from my real estate agent that we have officially closed escrow in a regular saw of the house I owned with my sisters.

This is the house that I have owned with my sisters for almost ten years. It hasn't been easy keeping it afloat, especially in the last few years. I haven't even lived in it in over three years now. We gave up on it, ready to short sale.

As of that same morning, we closed escrow on it's regular sale, even netting us a few pennies. More importantly though, it's a huge monkey off our shoulders, the world's weight gone, King Kong off our backs. I finally feel like I can be the husband and father to my wife and daughter respectively, COMPLETELY.

I lost a battle to a car that morning, but I finally won years of war. Not only did I, once again, get a new lease on life, but I do so with the cleanest slate possible.

A man in my position cannot afford to be anything but appreciative of it all.

Familiarity is a Dangerous Territory

I have this electric edge trimmer that I use when doing yardwork. It has a sticker on it that effectively says something like, don't let familiarity with the equipment lead to mishandling, to always wear proper protection when using.

Whoever wrote that is damn genius.

Over half a decade now of doing trackdays, from temperatures ranging to really cold, to really hot, and all the pleasantness in between. Yesterday's trackday at Thunderhill was triple-digit hot (ambient temperature), but I've ridden during hotter days. However, maybe it was my familiarity with it all that led me to be so careless, finding myself with growing nausea throughout the day as my core ended up overheating. Once recognized, I practically ended each session I rode dousing myself with water to cool me back down. When the ambient temperatures are that high, the wind isn't much help as it's not cool enough, and coupled with riding a motorcycle with operating temperatures in excess of 200 degrees fahrenheit, and I guess it would be easy to get caught out and be at the cusp of heat-stroke, even for a "seasoned" participant.

On the upside, nearly a year after I picked up the 07 R1 for track use, and I feel that I've finally come to grips with it, able to ride it with as much confidence and comfort as I had on my 02 R1, despite being polar opposites.

And here I was almost ready to sell it.

       

Something's Afoot

While it still hasn't escaped me how lucky I am as a motorcyclist and a father of a 1-year old to be able to continue sport riding on the weekends, something's been troubling me in my last few weekend, recreational rides.

I haven't been enjoying them like I used to.

I've been chalking it up to high-traffic days and less-than-stellar road conditions I've been used to, but even weekend rides on roads that I venture to in order to avoid traffic and such have been marred with unpleasantries (such as road work). Of course it's all coincidental, but that they've been consecutive are conspiring to even make me think about taking a hiatus from street riding - something I'd never thought would happen this soon, let alone cross my mind this early.

'Course, there is still a lot going on outside of my riding life that are probably tugging away at my attention, so maybe I just need o persevere until such time that all I can do is think about riding while I'm out riding.

It's just, if this means turning the page to leave a chapter for a new one, I'm thinking I shouldn't resist.

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!