AFM Round 4: Turning Lemons into Mimosas

The weekend started out swell. Nikki Nienow and I came up Thursday night to get a full night’s sleep for the Friday track day, hosted by Zoom Zoom Track Days. It was also a women’s VIP day, which meant that I could ride in two sessions; A Group, and Ladies Group.

My first A Group session was at 11 a.m. I got three laps in and then noticed a red flag somewhere, so I stopped, then eventually was shooed back into the paddock.

For the 11:40 session, Nikki and I went out and had some fun showing the girls what they’ll have to look forward to if they keep coming to the track. It made me wish I could wheelie, so I could pass a girl over turn 9 on one wheel. It was fun riding around with Nikki, I tried to see how close she’d let me get to her, then I’d pass her, and we’d take turns.

It was really amazing to see what a full group of women there were out on track. Maybe thirty chicks out there being rad. It reminded me of my own first track day, August 2006:

After a nice lunch for the ladies, I went back out on track and was ready to do some work and start really testing. I wanted to feel out my new motor, contemplate my gearing, fiddle with my suspension and re-acquaint myself with a track I hadn’t ridden in six months. I started having some fun, and then disaster struck. After the slowest part of turn 1, which probably sits somewhere around 80 mph, I started to open the throttle about as much as I ever do, which is not very much, and then had the sensation that I was eight again and me and my bike were on a Slip ‘n’ Slide out in the backyard.

The rear of my bike kicked out to the right, and I was already just inches away from the ground so I hit the deck and went slip ‘n’ sliding off the track. It was really quite an interesting sensation, very smooth and buttery. My ACT suit did its job and when I stopped sliding I got up to find that nothing, and I mean nothing, was hurting. Not bad for such a fast turn.

Unfortunately my little gymnast of a bike did its usual flip and landed on its right side, nose facing me, as it slid off the track. The exhaust was pointed towards the ground and got packed full of chunky dirt. Also unfortunately, two riders were down behind me; one looked to have had his bell rung, and one was a bit of a teammate, Known Fast Guy Chris Siglin. The night before, I was at Fastline Cycles while Alex dynoed my bike, and Chris, who’s fully supported by Fastline, was there too putting the finishing touches on his beautiful BMW S1000RR. He spent probably 45 minutes just cleaning the damn thing, and here he was, crashed out in the dirt.

I felt so horrible. I figured it was my usual boneheaded riding that caused all this chaos and I ran over to both riders to apologize and see if the guy on the ground was okay. I saw him later, walking around in the pits with an ice pack on his elbow, so he was fine. Siglin reassured me that it wasn’t my fault, too, but I still didn’t believe him.

The crash truck towed me, my bike, and the dizzy rider’s bike back into the pits.

When we entered the paddock, Corey Sarros’s little banshee was on her bicycle with training wheels, looking up at me with eyes as big as tennis balls. “This is what happens to little girls who crash,” I told her. Pretty sure this kid’s going to be kicking my ass in about ten years; she was a holy terror on that bicycle, and was once seen even scaling his trailer, climbing up to the top of it, by herself:

I learned later that I’d had a mechanical. Witnesses mentioned seeing poofs of smoke or fumes pop off as I approached turn 1, and fast kid Joey Pascarella said that I was spraying all sorts of fluid on him. He also said my bike was really fast. Hee.

So some sort of hose thingie had come detached from a radiator pipe and was spraying fluid. The Pirelli track day pro slick I had mounted in the rear didn’t like it very much. I’m not sure a DOT tire would have enjoyed it either. My bike was an absolute mess:

• severely rashed upper fairing
• broken right rear set (footpeg etc.) and master cylinder
• damaged front brake lines
• bent exhaust system, big hole in the can (my beautiful new Leo Vince Corsa Titanium system! For shame!)
• bent fork
• broken right clipon (that’s a handlebar for those non-racing folks), destroyed throttle grip, destroyed brake lever

There might have been some more. Miraculously, my beautiful new helmet didn’t touch the ground. Those Arais are pricey.

Alex and I’ve discussed what might have happened. I know it wasn’t their fault; I saw him tightening everything more than once before, during, and after dyno. This was just one of those somewhat random mechanical problems that don’t always have a source you can really pin down, but we’re replacing parts in the whole system just to help make sure it won’t happen again. Alex and Ray Perez worked double time repairing both my bike and Siggy’s bike, to get both ready for Saturday’s practice. Ross the Rocket Scientist Mechanic and I helped out with some of the work and sourced parts.

Finally, towards dinner time, my bike was ready for morning tech.

I awoke Saturday morning to find rain dumping. And dumping. And dumping. The AFM doesn’t race in the rain. We’re from California; it rarely rains here. But this has been the wettest, stupidest spring I’ve ever experienced, and now two of our race days this season have been rained out.

My friends and I sat in the Lauritzen’s RV waiting for race officials to call the day so we could, well, relax. Unable to sit still anymore, Jason, Greg, Ross and I put on our bicycle gear and went out riding in the wet. Within about a half a lap my pedaling shoes were soaked through. A nice side benefit of that is that they look much cleaner now.

We came back in to learn that the day had been cancelled, and someone had the bright idea to bring champagne and orange juice to the track, so we drowned our sorrows in a few mimosas, then went to town to get lunch. We all had way more fun than anyone who might race the next day should be having, but we were all pretty convinced that Sunday would be rained out as well. It was a gamble that for some reason I found it appropriate to make. It was such a difficult weekend to take, what with the crashing, the raining, and the usual racetrack mini dramas, that a cocktail or two was just what the doctor ordered.

Sunday morning. Headache. Dry outside. Time to get busy.

We prepped my bike for Sunday racing. Put the bodywork back on, put in some new brake pads. A few finishing touches we didn’t get to in the downpours of Saturday. Then it started raining again. The day was finally called and we packed up and went home. I was glad; I was in bad shape and hadn’t been willing to admit it, even to myself, until the races were finally called in the early afternoon. It sounds like the AFM made the right decision, as well, for even though it was starting to dry up, there were still some rivers on the track and another system was expected to blow through.

Next up, a WERA round at Miller Motorsports Park near Salt Lake City. It’ll be a fun road trip, fun racing, and hopefully great weather!