Oh, snap!... new twitter wordles! Apparently "engine" is one of my most blogged words. ROFL.
Wednesday
Monday
The Bay Tour
A friend flies planes and took me up for a tour over San Francisco last night. Great sunset trip starting in Palo Alto, up the peninsula over San Francisco, over Marin and down over Oakland, touching down in San Jose, then back up the peninsula. Living in San Francisco as a single person in my mid-thirties is definitely a Peter Pan experience. All my friends have exotic and expensive hobbies. I love it. Here are some picture...
WERA West - Cal Speedway and Las Vegas Rounds One and Two
Racing in January is strange. Feels too early to be race season already? Here's updates...
I forked my twitter profiles and broke off motorcycle related tweeting to a new profile. Follow me there for more timely updates, we'll see how much I can keep after this blogging thing this year:
Clicky, Click!
Scrambling to get the new bike together by January for WERA round one, I was driving down to Los Angeles calling every Yamaha dealer from San Francisco to LA on the way hoping to find someone with a clutch lever bushing for a 2008 Yamaha R1. Fortunately Yamaha motor america is located in Cypress, California and I'm only a couple degrees of separation away from someone who works there. Made it to the track in time to race, with a bike that was race ready. Most of December was a sprint to get the bike together, so fairly amazing that I even got down there ready to ride.
Suspension is installed but not tuned, it might take me half the season to really get my suspension behaving like it should. It's a game of millimeters. Still, with a net new bike, all my handiwork in December putting the bike together in question, and no familiarity with the glitches of this particular machine... I was able to muster a 3rd place and a 6th place at Fontana for the WERA West season opener. This is my first season racing as an Expert - so competition will be much more fierce this year. To calibrate, the fastest guys on the grid in my races are pro, former pro, or about to be pro. All in all, couldn't have hoped for better. Not a bad start to the 2011 season!
Then round two at the end of January took place at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. I didn't place as well, but had fun, kept the bike upright, and got to be on the track at the same time as one of the fastest guys in the world... Jason DiSalvo (#40 below, me following... well trying to follow... ha!)
Also, I got a couple sponsorship offers at the start of the season, some formal and some informal. I got a great brake sponsorship offer from EBC, they are already my favorite brakes but now they're paying me to ride with them?!? w00t!. Mission Motorcycles is my Yamaha shop of choice, they do great work and are awesome people. Keigwins and Pirelli also help me a little, and are generally great to work with.
Also got some on board video from the Las Vegas round I'm still trying to find, hope to post it up here soon...
Dyno Tuning A Race Bike
First thing I did with the new race bike was dyno burn it in. When any motor is new, the valves haven't completely set yet, and during the first few hundred miles on the engine it will settle in. Valves seat with compression on the engine, the "engine braking" action that happens when you take your foot off the accelerator and put negative pressure through the system. The momentum of the engine propels it forward, not the ignition. Think pull vs. push.
Horsepower is important on a race bike, and properly seated valves make better horsepower than improperly seated ones. So the first fifty miles on my bike and first three oil changes were done on a dyno at Mammoth Motorsports North of San Francisco by about an hour. $250 and a day later, I gained three horsepower. Dyno graphs later if I can find time to scan in my maps. I'm at 152 rear wheel horsepower. This puts me well under some of the newest bikes and tricked out bikes which make over 200 hp, but overall it's a lot for a bike that weighs about 570 lbs full of gas with rider.
...
Horsepower is important on a race bike, and properly seated valves make better horsepower than improperly seated ones. So the first fifty miles on my bike and first three oil changes were done on a dyno at Mammoth Motorsports North of San Francisco by about an hour. $250 and a day later, I gained three horsepower. Dyno graphs later if I can find time to scan in my maps. I'm at 152 rear wheel horsepower. This puts me well under some of the newest bikes and tricked out bikes which make over 200 hp, but overall it's a lot for a bike that weighs about 570 lbs full of gas with rider.
...
What's That You Say? I Have A Blog?
I guess proof that I'm becoming uni-dimensional and incapable of discussing any topic that does not in some way involve motorcycles... I have abandoned this blog basically since 2010 race season wrapped up. Hilarious. Let's catch up...
Spent the racing off-season, well... still scrambling around doing racing related things! No exciting exotic holiday adventure travels this year, I stuck around Seattle visiting family. Which was great! I have trips planned this year already to Ireland, South Korea and Hong Kong though... so I'm still aiming darts at the map and trying to get to new places.
Working in computer security has maybe made me paranoid, or I'm just getting older and trying to build more figurative parachutes and seat belts into everything I'm doing staving off disaster scenarios. Or I have zero impulse control and was simply tempted by a screaming bargain. Whatever the cause, I ended up purchasing a second race bike in December. It's exactly the same bike as my other race bike, now when I drive up to 15 hours away to a track in another state, a simple mechanical failure won't keep me from being able to race for that weekend. I'll be bringing both bikes to the track with me for most races this year. Disaster Recovery/ Business Continuity Planning at it's finest... my security friends would be so proud.
Financially, a race bike might something like this:
Bike............. $8300 (new model bike is more, this is a 2008)
Shock.......... $900
Forks........... $1100
Exhaust...... $2000
Body work... $1000 (fiberglass and paint)
Electronics ... $500
Other stuff*... $2000
* clipons, rearsets, brake lines, brakes, tires, sliders, number plates, tuning, etc.
So I spent much of December evenings and weekend in my garage putting this bike together, and got it out racing early January already. Health permitting, this year I will be doing all AFM races and all WERA West races. Basically double the races I did last year, and expanding to some tracks in Las Vegas, Utah, Southern California, and all the local Northern California tracks. I'm getting professional coaching, and will basically put in as much practice time as humanly possible for a person with a serious day job.
I feel like I'm living vibrantly racing bikes. I get clues from the outside world about this... When my truck is loaded up and heading to the track, I get all kinds of looks and stares. Especially from meat heads, little boys and old men. When old guys are looking on I like to imagine they're thinking, "go get 'em... and give 'em hell" Realistically they're probably thinking, "what the f*ck is that clown doing...? he's not going to live to be my age...." Ha, ha. Either way, I'll take it.
Spent the racing off-season, well... still scrambling around doing racing related things! No exciting exotic holiday adventure travels this year, I stuck around Seattle visiting family. Which was great! I have trips planned this year already to Ireland, South Korea and Hong Kong though... so I'm still aiming darts at the map and trying to get to new places.
Working in computer security has maybe made me paranoid, or I'm just getting older and trying to build more figurative parachutes and seat belts into everything I'm doing staving off disaster scenarios. Or I have zero impulse control and was simply tempted by a screaming bargain. Whatever the cause, I ended up purchasing a second race bike in December. It's exactly the same bike as my other race bike, now when I drive up to 15 hours away to a track in another state, a simple mechanical failure won't keep me from being able to race for that weekend. I'll be bringing both bikes to the track with me for most races this year. Disaster Recovery/ Business Continuity Planning at it's finest... my security friends would be so proud.
Financially, a race bike might something like this:
Bike............. $8300 (new model bike is more, this is a 2008)
Shock.......... $900
Forks........... $1100
Exhaust...... $2000
Body work... $1000 (fiberglass and paint)
Electronics ... $500
Other stuff*... $2000
* clipons, rearsets, brake lines, brakes, tires, sliders, number plates, tuning, etc.
So I spent much of December evenings and weekend in my garage putting this bike together, and got it out racing early January already. Health permitting, this year I will be doing all AFM races and all WERA West races. Basically double the races I did last year, and expanding to some tracks in Las Vegas, Utah, Southern California, and all the local Northern California tracks. I'm getting professional coaching, and will basically put in as much practice time as humanly possible for a person with a serious day job.
I feel like I'm living vibrantly racing bikes. I get clues from the outside world about this... When my truck is loaded up and heading to the track, I get all kinds of looks and stares. Especially from meat heads, little boys and old men. When old guys are looking on I like to imagine they're thinking, "go get 'em... and give 'em hell" Realistically they're probably thinking, "what the f*ck is that clown doing...? he's not going to live to be my age...." Ha, ha. Either way, I'll take it.
Saturday
WERA West - Auto Club Speedway
Went to Los Angeles last weekend to race in a WERA event. WERA is a national club vs. the regional AFM I participate in, but the level of racing is perhaps comparable. It was fun because the points don't count toward anything and I could just grid up and race. The track in Fontana, California was built chiefly for NASCAR events. It's a giant oval with seating for tens of thousands. The motorcycle track uses part of the NASCAR oval, but most of the track is on the infield to make the track interesting.
I had only been to this track once before, so was excited to get laptimes in the race of 1:36. My friend who has been here ten times this year and considers it his home track was at 1:36 times before the weekend started. In the race he got down to 1:34's so I could not keep up with him while competing, but it was fun to try.
WERA racers are NICE. It was an absolute train wreck at the start of both my races... I thought we had a two wave race, so I was waiting for the first wave to split before putting the bike in gear and revving the motor and getting ready to start. Instead I realized it was a one wave race as we were on the two board (starting in about 2 seconds...) I freaked out, stalled my bike, scrambled to click it into neutral and start it again, then click it down into gear, flip my visor down, and actually launch my start about a half second after the green flag flew and the race was underway. Despite being slow off the line initially, I guess I'm just getting comfortable racing, I shoved my front tire in front of like four guys (and one girl) at turn three and simply pushed forward. This would never be possible in AFM, love you guys but simply AFM racers aren't that nice and wouldn't give up a spot just because I had a crazy look in my eye.
I ended up getting second in one race and fourth in the other, which was slightly this side of a miracle given the weekend in the whole. The air temperature was as much as 108 throughout the day, and the track temperature was up to 150 degrees. This makes the track slick, and sufficient hydration near impossible. Also, prime conditions to upset my body enough to need to call in professionals to help.
I was practicing during testing sessions on Saturday, and drank three (3) gallons of water through the day. By the time I pulled off at 4PM to get ready for Sunday races, I was feeling light headed and disoriented. I tried drinking my way back into feeling normal with water and electrolyte drinks, but after four hours it was 8:00 PM and I still had a splitting headache and was growing nausea. So off to the hospital I went, which turned out to be a good move. Testing my blood proved I was hypokalemic and hypocalcemic which sent my body into rhabdomyolsis Basically my muscles were eating themselves. But after four hours on an IV and four liters of saline and potassium drinks I was feeling good and dismissed at 2:00 AM. I left unsure if I would actually proceed to race Sunday, but I was feeling okay in the mid-morning so I suited up and went out there to take it easy and just pull out if I wasn't feeling alright. Both the studliest and most idiotic thing I've done in quite some time. What can I say... it's racing!
Again, all is well that ends well. So that's a wrap on the race season for 2010, time to rebuild my suspension and start the several month season of bench racing (i.e. reading about racing) and getting ready for 2011. Here's my little trophy room I'm growing. Feels a little like high school where everyone is a superstar and you get trophies for every possible achievement, but I'll take what I can get. Ha, ha.
No Racing, No Cry
It's official - my race season is over. AFM round 7 happens in a couple weeks, but I'm off to a wedding in Oregon. I asked them to reschedule the wedding around my race schedule, I think it's kinda selfish they won't do it, but c'est la vie... he's a good friend so I'll skip my race and attend anyway. I will drop down in season standings from currently 4th to somewhere between 6th and 10th... we'll have to see how all the guys right behind me in points do that weekend.
Even typing this plan out in writing tastes like vinegar pouring out of my fingertips. It would be one thing to race and just get clocked, but in this case I'm going to let the competition beat me by NOT EVEN SHOWING UP. This goes against most every fiber of my being... 90% of life being participation. I'm neither the smartest or the best looking guy, but especially in the last 10 years I have good, "being present" skills. This is a big factor in my career progress and value I deliver to my employer (as with many technology executives, see: 170 flights/ year...)
So to deliver some semblance of internal peace about this race skipping business, I'm doing two cool things: (a) I raced in the WERA round at Auto Club Speedway in Los Angeles last weekend, and (b) I'm doing a track day at Miller Motorsports Park in Utah in a couple weeks. I think this is a good way to wrap up the race season anyway, doing fun days with friends in semi-exotic track locations. I will be checking the laptimes posted on MyAFM during the AFM round 7 though from my phone, refreshing every 10 seconds.
So about now begins the campaign of letter writing to potential sponsors. Show them I made a race season happen with no crashing (wow!), raced with two clubs, got some top five finishes, graduated to the "expert" license status, racked up some points in three classes, and have my head a little picked up looking out at the 2011 season and my sophomore race season.
Even typing this plan out in writing tastes like vinegar pouring out of my fingertips. It would be one thing to race and just get clocked, but in this case I'm going to let the competition beat me by NOT EVEN SHOWING UP. This goes against most every fiber of my being... 90% of life being participation. I'm neither the smartest or the best looking guy, but especially in the last 10 years I have good, "being present" skills. This is a big factor in my career progress and value I deliver to my employer (as with many technology executives, see: 170 flights/ year...)
So to deliver some semblance of internal peace about this race skipping business, I'm doing two cool things: (a) I raced in the WERA round at Auto Club Speedway in Los Angeles last weekend, and (b) I'm doing a track day at Miller Motorsports Park in Utah in a couple weeks. I think this is a good way to wrap up the race season anyway, doing fun days with friends in semi-exotic track locations. I will be checking the laptimes posted on MyAFM during the AFM round 7 though from my phone, refreshing every 10 seconds.
So about now begins the campaign of letter writing to potential sponsors. Show them I made a race season happen with no crashing (wow!), raced with two clubs, got some top five finishes, graduated to the "expert" license status, racked up some points in three classes, and have my head a little picked up looking out at the 2011 season and my sophomore race season.
Sunday
Just Touched Down In London Town...
Today was a pretty great day. Despite the jet lag traveling to London - I gathered myself up and hit the adventure. My hotel is this old castle in a town 75km outside London called Aylesbury. This is by far the furthest off the beaten path work has ever taken me. I would have been well within my rights to sleep away much of the day and rest - especially since starting tomorrow I've got four solid packed fifteen to seventeen hour days of work - but today I met up with a old coworker who has lived in London for a while and hunted down Banksy graffiti.
I'm new to Banksy art, but after he did four pieces in San Francisco a couple months ago... I'm a fan! Plus, most things posted on Stuff White People Like are sadly, things I like. I'm learning graffiti can be hard to track down. After time it can be defaced or painted over. So tracking where these pieces are is a bit of an Easter egg hunt. Especially in a city I'm not familiar with, and roaming data rates too high to make GPS a realistic possibility. I did track down a few pieces though. I'm sure there's 20x this in London if you know where to look (Banksy lives here). Here's what I did find:
I'm new to Banksy art, but after he did four pieces in San Francisco a couple months ago... I'm a fan! Plus, most things posted on Stuff White People Like are sadly, things I like. I'm learning graffiti can be hard to track down. After time it can be defaced or painted over. So tracking where these pieces are is a bit of an Easter egg hunt. Especially in a city I'm not familiar with, and roaming data rates too high to make GPS a realistic possibility. I did track down a few pieces though. I'm sure there's 20x this in London if you know where to look (Banksy lives here). Here's what I did find:
Why I Race
Initially there was quite a bit of, "oh wow, check out how awesome I am right now" but honestly most of that is gone. The week before each race, I get a quiet tremble of fear. Fear of injury, yes. But also a fear of the pending visceral competition I'm about to partake in. It is a very "bro'd up" thing to do. Loud motors revving to 14,000 RPM, the smell of race fuel and rubber burning, looking at the guy gridded next to you wondering, "is that fool going to ride safely or is he going to take me out trying some crazy move?" Overcoming that fear and putting myself on the line - for better or for worse - head to head against some pretty great riders - that's certainly part of the motivation to do this.
There is also an internal confidence that comes of it. I went out for drinks for a friends birthday the other night at a fancy bar in the Marina. I laughed to myself when I got there - realizing I had spent literally less than 10 seconds wondering what I was going to wear, and feeling 100% comfortable among all the good-looking-people in their just-came-from work outfits; wearing a ball cap and a plain black tee-shirt with tattoos poking out. I didn't very well fit in, but internally I felt completely comfortable in my space. Some of that has to come from knowing I regularly do something most people couldn't put themselves up for.
Also the camaraderie is one of the big things I get out of this. Fellow racers would easily loan each other parts, show each other how to get faster (even guys you're competing with), rush to the aid of a fellow racer who's in trouble, and win or lose - high five the guys you just raced with when it's over. It's a great feeling. One of my racer buddies and I were talking about this recently - after a weekend racing you have a feeling for a couple of days that's unlike anything else. Like you took a trip to a magic place where none of the rest of the world even existed. While there you completely put yourself on the line, mentally, physically and emotionally pitted yourself against yourself (and others). It's like the sense of accomplishment from having climbed a mountain or done something that required all of yourself present to do.
AFM Rounds 5 & 6... Season Recap
As a couple friends have pointed out lately, I've not been rambling themelessly much. In my defense, it's been a busy month! I returned from Rome, had a motorcycle race the following weekend, had another motorcycle race three weeks later, and as I type find myself back in Europe - this time in London for work. Despite being here for work - I am going to steal out time today to try chasing down a couple Banksy graffiti spots and see if I can find anything still up and not defaced. More on that later this week if indeed I am successful in following the Tube mashup I've created this morning overlaid with Banksy locations.
My AFM season had two good race weekends - both at Infineon Raceway aka Sears Point in Sonoma, California. I'm picking up my times at this track a little - both race weekends found me accomplishing my personal best laptimes. Regardless of where you finish, it's always a great weekend when I make progress, have fun, don't wreck and make some improvement.
Last weekend was a great Clubman Heavyweight race. I am beating some of my competition for the year by out financing them and out lasting them. I'm a little older than some of the guys at the track - and probably a little more aware of the frailty of the human condition. I would say I take fewer risks than others on the track, and would rather give up a position and live to tell about it, than try an unsafe pass. This has produced a situation where I'm slowly-but-surely gathering more season points than some others who are not making all the races. THIS produces a situation where I'm gridding up at the front of the pack - well in front of some guys who are clearly faster than me. On one hand it feels rather unsuccessful to slowly lose positions the entire race, but it also pushes me to try and keep up when they get around me (which for some of these fast guys seems entirely effortless... ha!) I'm reasonably good at starts. For the first time this last weekend I took the lead in the race and held the 1st position for three laps. I often dart out in front, but now I'm getting hard enough to pass that I was able to keep the lead for a bit. My entire race strategy? Get in front and try to make my bike 10 feet wide! Ha, ha, ha. After 8 laps I finished a respectable 5th place, logging 1:48's which was two seconds faster than a month ago... great progress!
I'm at an interesting point in the race season on a couple levels. There is one race left, and I'm not decided if I will participate. A good friend is having a wedding reception that same weekend out of town, if I attend I'm precluded from racing. This is the final race of the AFM season, and I'm in contention in one of my race categories. Season standings so far include:
Open Production (1000cc bikes/ not modified): 19th of 40
Open GP (1000cc bikes/ modifications allowed/ one of the fastest race in AFM): 34th of 70
Open Superbike (1000cc bikes/ modifications allowed): 39th of 69
Clubman Heavyweight (1000cc bikes/ only Novices): 4th of 42
... I have an honest chance at a top three spot in Clubman Heavyweight - depending on who makes it out for round seven. There are a couple guys faster than me - and some I should expect to beat. Also I feel I'm on the cusp of dropping some time at that track... All the 30 days of track practice I've put in this year and last, all the race preparation, stringing together a race season so far... all leads up to this one final race of the season.
Anyway... enough rambling. Here's some pictures from last weekend!
My AFM season had two good race weekends - both at Infineon Raceway aka Sears Point in Sonoma, California. I'm picking up my times at this track a little - both race weekends found me accomplishing my personal best laptimes. Regardless of where you finish, it's always a great weekend when I make progress, have fun, don't wreck and make some improvement.
Last weekend was a great Clubman Heavyweight race. I am beating some of my competition for the year by out financing them and out lasting them. I'm a little older than some of the guys at the track - and probably a little more aware of the frailty of the human condition. I would say I take fewer risks than others on the track, and would rather give up a position and live to tell about it, than try an unsafe pass. This has produced a situation where I'm slowly-but-surely gathering more season points than some others who are not making all the races. THIS produces a situation where I'm gridding up at the front of the pack - well in front of some guys who are clearly faster than me. On one hand it feels rather unsuccessful to slowly lose positions the entire race, but it also pushes me to try and keep up when they get around me (which for some of these fast guys seems entirely effortless... ha!) I'm reasonably good at starts. For the first time this last weekend I took the lead in the race and held the 1st position for three laps. I often dart out in front, but now I'm getting hard enough to pass that I was able to keep the lead for a bit. My entire race strategy? Get in front and try to make my bike 10 feet wide! Ha, ha, ha. After 8 laps I finished a respectable 5th place, logging 1:48's which was two seconds faster than a month ago... great progress!
I'm at an interesting point in the race season on a couple levels. There is one race left, and I'm not decided if I will participate. A good friend is having a wedding reception that same weekend out of town, if I attend I'm precluded from racing. This is the final race of the AFM season, and I'm in contention in one of my race categories. Season standings so far include:
Open Production (1000cc bikes/ not modified): 19th of 40
Open GP (1000cc bikes/ modifications allowed/ one of the fastest race in AFM): 34th of 70
Open Superbike (1000cc bikes/ modifications allowed): 39th of 69
Clubman Heavyweight (1000cc bikes/ only Novices): 4th of 42
... I have an honest chance at a top three spot in Clubman Heavyweight - depending on who makes it out for round seven. There are a couple guys faster than me - and some I should expect to beat. Also I feel I'm on the cusp of dropping some time at that track... All the 30 days of track practice I've put in this year and last, all the race preparation, stringing together a race season so far... all leads up to this one final race of the season.
Anyway... enough rambling. Here's some pictures from last weekend!
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