Race Report: Rusty Bites the Dust, Thunderhill

Well, every newbie has to have one of those weekends, I suppose, and this
was mine.

Between rain on Thursday, work on Friday, and a wedding on Saturday, I got no practice time. I went back and looked through my stuff and realized the last time I had ridden at Thunderhill was last November, so I was a bit rusty to say the least.

Sunday morning practice went OK, I was back at my usual pace pretty quickly and the bike felt OK, but I wasn't as relaxed as I was at Sears. Then I had a long wait till my first race, which was F4 (#7). In the intervening time I was stupid enough to answer my phone and try to deal with a work crisis, which did nothing to help my focus.

Time to grid, thanks to my stellar results last month I was on the 3rd row from the back instead of DFL. Sidewaaaays GREEN FLAG and we were off. Horrible start for me once again, I still don't have the nerve to stick it up in the turn 1 melee. There was a pileup on the exit of 1 right in front of me and the race was red-flagged.

So back on the grid, another horrible start, but I think I stayed ahead of 2 people through turn 1. Got around another in turn 2 and set sail after that damn #323 again. 2nd lap I felt a big rear-end slide in 2, but I was closing on #323 so I ignored the warning signs.

Lap 3, I got a really good drive up the hill out of turn 8, went to turn into 9, and went down quicker than....well, I lowsided. I slid for a while, and got to watch my bike hit the dirt on the outside of the track and start tumbling. End of race, end of weekend.

No issues for me, other than the karmic pain. The bike looks like it was dropped on its head - subframe/tail busted off, tank is squished, fairing bracket and instrument panel are crushed, and the muffler now points at the sky. I've got parts on the way, and a little creative fiberglassing should have me back out for next month.

Post-crash analysis?

1) Practice is required. Thunderhill can be a pretty intimidating track, and I was definitely out of my comfort zone all weekend having not ridden there enough recently.

2) Direct cause of the crash I think was being way too tense on the bike. Even with no track time this weekend, my shoulders are really sore, leading me to believe I was Mr. White Knuckle, which upset the bike enough in T9 to send me down the road.

3) Remember the teachings of Yoda. "If finish first you want to do, first finish you must." Eventually I will catch you, #323!! But I abandoned my usual analytical and cautious self when the green flag waved, which is a complete rookie mistake, and I paid the price. I've got some time to think about that, which is a positive to take away from the experience.

See everyone next month! Big shout out to Frosty for sheltering my bike all weekend in the Frost Consulting World Headquarters Garage, and to Fred for throwing down the 'Q even though he wasn't riding. Joe, Carla, Rick and Ian, a pleasure as always. Let's also not forget Ann, who's out there ready to look after us should we leave the track in a less than graceful manner.

Cheers...