Endurance!

Thanks to an eagle-eyed citizen, San Rafael PD found my purloined SV650 last week, safe and sound in some lowlife's backyard. Just in time for the 4-hour endurance race! We got 4 riders together, threw on some fresh tires and brake pads (thanks EBC!) and team "Knife in a Gunfight" was ready to rock on Saturday.

We had planned to do 30-minute sessions and switch, each rider taking 2 rounds. Dave Raff was our ringer and can do laps about 10 seconds faster than any of the rest of us, so he stayed out longer (40 minutes) for the first session. Then Dave Canzano got out and clicked off consistent laps for a solid 30 minutes. Matt Sappington was next, but he's the only one of us who doesn't normally race an SV650, so he had some trouble adapting to the bike. He pulled in after 15 minutes, done for the day. My turn. I did a 45 minute stint to get us back on schedule. Raff took another long turn, leaving Canzano and myself to split the final 45 minutes. I had the honor of taking the checkered flag and waving to the heroic AFM turnworkers on the cooldown lap.

Unofficially we finished 13th out of 20 entries in the 600 class (much more powerful bikes) and 33rd overall out of 59 entries, completing 115 laps. More importantly we had lots of fun figuring out strategy, doing pit stops and rider changes and being part of a team.

Sunday came and it was back on my regular bike for the sprint races. In race #3 (Formula 4) I got a reasonable launch for the first 30 feet then rolled off the gas and let a bunch of people by. Moron. Spent the rest of the race picking off as many as I could, and finally worked my way up to 35th. My first lap was a 2:02, the rest were 1:54-56, and I really could have used that 6 seconds to catch some more people. Afterwards Michele reminded me that the race starts at the green flag, not 1-2 laps later. Hmm.

After lunch race #9 (650 Twins) gridded up and I had the eye of the tiger. At the green flag I kept the throttle open, nobody got by and I passed a couple others on the way up to turn 2. All the folks I usually spent the whole race chasing down were already behind me, and the 2 riders I usually can't catch were right ahead! I was able to hang with them for a few laps and plan my moves. The first one, #894, helped me out by running wide at the exit of turn 11 so I got hard on the gas and outdragged him to turn 1. Then it was me and #758. I closed up and shadowed him till the last lap. I am very strong at the exit of the Carousel, so I got a running start on him up the dragstrip toward turn 7, got inside, held off the brakes a tiny bit longer than he did and slipped past at the turn entrance. My slowest parts of the track are 2 of the last 3 turns (9 and 11), so I really blasted through the esses to create (I hoped) enough of a gap so he couldn't get me back in my weak spots. I braked deep into 9, wide open through 10, and took a tight line into 11 so he'd have to go around the outside. He didn't even show me a wheel. So full throttle and up through the gears to the line to take the checkers! The strong finish was good for 24th place, my best so far in that class. First lap in this race was a 1:56, which made all the difference. Michele confirmed that this is what happens when I get my head out of my ...

Next (and final) race for 2006 is at Buttonwillow Oct. 21-22. Right now I'm planning on going but it's a long drive and work is heating up, so the situation is a little fluid. Stay tuned!

Thanks this time out to my endurance teammates Dave, Dave, and Matt, to the San Rafael Police Department, to EBC Brakes for providing us with 4 hours worth of dynamite stopping power, and to my Guru bicycle, for giving me the fitness to survive over 100 laps this weekend at race pace. And of course, we can't forget the fine folks at Heritage Service Centre, whose encouragement and support are unmatched.

Cheers...