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MARCH
20-21 WSMC |
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| The weather report said 78 degrees, so
like a fool I listened to it and packed jeans and T-shirts, even a long
sleeved T-shirt for chilly mornings. Why do I forget this is the
high desert in March? It was over 90 all weekend long. I have new
leathers and I have not experienced them in the heat (oh, and this is
merely a teaser for the summer 110 degree days). Well, let me say one
word: Black. Black helmet, black leathers, black bike. Why. We arrive to join our friend Pat McGill down from Oregon, with the pits already set up for us. Rich from San Diego was all by his lonesome and joined us for much of the weekend. Rich was quite the fashion statement all weekend with shorts, socks and sandals, one of my most favorite looks. |
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| Half day practice went off without a
hitch, although the suspension on
the 250 still felt scary. It sort of worked for CA Speedway the weekend
before, but not for Willow
Springs speed and that bumpy ass track. I had Phil from Lee's cycle
wrench on my suspension at the end of Saturdays practice and hoped for
the best for Sunday morning. We went to dinner and joined a large group of WSMC hooligans at a nearby mexican restaurant. Everyone already looked sunburned and tired and had clearly been drinking (as per usual, apparently) and were well into the race stories and gossip. One of my favorite things about club racing is the people that are dedicated to it. There is a lot of camaraderie and respect around racing. We joined the frivolity and story telling and had a great night. Sunday practice: I ride in two practice groups since I have two bikes. Unbelievably, the lightweight practice is far faster than the middleweight practice. In fact, middleweight practice is so slow I compare it to the Intermediate group at a trackday. Just clots of people in every corner, so I practice passing large groups and it seems to help. I cannot get up to speed to test the new 250 suspension set up, so I leave it as is. First race for me is the Aprilia Cup Challenge. I am 6th on the grid and get a great start. I lead into turn one and feel pretty confident until I get to the middle of turn two and the bike feels like it's going to tuck. Now, dear reader, I know you read diligently these reports so I know you remember last months WSMC report. You will recall I crashed because I tucked the front on this bike, in this race. Well. I had to back off a bit in turn 2,4 and 8. I did manage to hold third place until Rueben Archilla snuck inside of me in turn 8 (nice move by the way). I drafted him up the straight but he crossed the s/f line first. Next month, my little Spanish-Basque descendant friend, it is on! The 125GP race was the next race. I was gridded second and had a decent start but nothing like last months start. I was second into turn one and was passed by Kevin Murray halfway through the first lap. Then John Hjelm shot through everyone and I was in forth, watching Kevin and a new kid, Michael Beck, battle it out. We hit the 250 slower traffic and I didn't skip a beat getting through, which is new for me. Kevin and "the kid" were paying attention to each other so I snuck around both of them in turn 8! Then I put the hammer down because I knew I'd have to outrun Kevin. I thought he was behind me the entire time, turns out a short while later his bike conked out. I started chasing down John Hjelm who had a terrific lead, but 6 laps wasn't enough to catch up, so I placed second. We finished the day with getting evicted from our pits, since Pat packed up his toys and went home due to an electrical problem. We moved to the sliver of shade provided by Rich's trailer and JM finished one more race with a foot that resembled hamburger (see his race report for the gore) We stayed one more night to get some track time in on Monday, and scored a garage. The only reason why I am even mentioning this is that the picture to the right is so nice and I needed to qualify it. Next races not for another three weeks! We can use the break. Thanks CRS Tires for the Pirelli's, thank you Phil from Lee's Cycle for crawling around in the dirt and heat to set up my suspension, and thanks JM for not laughing when I put my wheel on backwards. |
 Phil from Lee's cycle gets down with my bike.  Rich is a fashionable cat in socks and sandals.  Honestly, it is harder to put this front wheel on than drag the bike on a wobbly wheel stand 300 yards. For me anyway.  The pair deserve this treatment all the time |