This might be long but i wouldn't have it any other way
. I finally had my first track day on friday May 8th and all i can say is it is the absolute best experience i have ever had on a motorcycle. It all started Monday night when i finally finished prepping my bike and got her all setup for the track.. All week i was excited, and frantically watching the weather! I could not wait to be done with work on thursday so i could get off the island. Me and Mookie decided to take his van and tie the bikes down in the back for the trip. Thursday came and i managed to get out of work early so i headed home grabbed dinner and patiently waited for mookie.
He arrived around 6 and we loaded the bikes up and finally headed out! One quick stop at the grocery store for some PBJ and we were officially on the road.
Mike (mookie) happy to be off
The drive itself was 4 hours from my house it was wet out and full of traffic. But as the night went on the rain cleared showing promise for the following day. I checked my phone for the weather one more time around 10pm and it looked good. My one main fear was subsiding, a rainy trackday.
We arrived in millville around 11pm stopped at a wawa for some gas and headed to the hotel. On the way there i noticed a sign for none other than the best fast food joint in the world "SONIC". This was a good sign.
Finally we got to the room and were surprised by chromo who had just arrived as well. After some chatting we tried to sleep. I was up for a good half an hour tossing and turning thinking about lines, braking points and everything else associated with riding. At 5:40am the alarm ripped me out of sleep and i checked the weather outside. It was foggy but i was sure it would clear. This was parked outside our room too which i couldn't help but appreciate
After some poptarts and 10minutes of filling our cooler with ice from the hotel's ice machine we headed to the track.
We arrived at the track just after 6:30am unloaded the bikes and setup for the day. The fog began to lift and the sun came out
We managed to grab a spot right next to IG and Chromo which was great. I can not thank you two enough for all the help that day!
IG and Chromo's tent
Our tent
Both bikes passed tech with ease and we patiently waited for the morning meetings and intro class. Absolute had a free intro and intermediate class that day which was exceptionally helpful to newbie track riders like ourselves. Before the day started i let another rider borrow my rear stand for the day since he forgot his for his 748 SBK that used to be Troy Bayliss's! Here are some pics of the bikes he had, most of them are AMA SBKs, the orange one is the 748
The advanced group went first and 2laps in somebody already crashed. Long story short he was a young racer and the advanced group is full of ex ama riders who have over 15years experience in riding. They were faster than him and he road over his head on a wet track with cold tires trying to outpace them. A recipe for disaster. It delayed the day about half an hour and he was sent to the hospital not a good start i would say. Remember people stay in your comfort zone, don't ride above your head!
For us newbies we got red shirts so the coaches could pick us out on the track and watch our lines, show us lines, give us feedback etc. We were really lucky the beginner group was so small it was like having a personal coach whenever you needed it. I had the same coach for the first two sessions and he was very impressed. He really thought it was not my first time at the track, i have to say this put a huge grin on my face! It was nice having the same guy to follow because he knew how i rode and could really give me good feedback.
This is what tires should look like, too bad i don't have a pic of chromo's but he had so much melted rubber on his it extended his lean angle!
Mookie got some personal coaching too in the 3rd session which doubled his speed around the track! I can't wiat to see what you could do on something faster mook! After the 3rd session we breaked for lunch and enjoyed the PBJ sandwhiches from our cooler. I took this time to snap some pics of everybody's bikes.
IG's awesome SV!
Chromo's monster NINJA!
With lunch finished we had another 3 sessions to go and i could not wait to get back out. The rest of the day i stayed in the beginner group simply because hardly anybody was in there and i was able to get out front most of the time and enjoy the track to myself
. In the 2nd to last session i even managed to touch my knee down twice in turn 5 at 60+MPH!! That was a great feeling! I also managed to hit over 140mph on the main straight out of the bowl, i really put those brakes to work to say the least
Also in the 2nd to last and our final session a BIG THANK YOU to IG and Chromo!! They dropped down to beginner and took some video of us on the track and it really helped in us getting our body position down. Not to mention who doesn't like to see themselves ride?! When the videos get posted also take notice of our friend "Mr. Sport Classic" this guy was one of those riders who dogged the corners but flew on the straights. Poor mook and IG were having trouble getting past him since his bike has an 1100cc engine
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After the day finished up the weather started to change back to cloudy and a little bit of rain. I could NOT have asked for a better day. We all packed up and said our goodbyes we had a long drive home.
Bye terry! (Chromo)
Before the long drive home we had to get some Sonic
The ride home was uneventful just long and full of talk about how much fun a track day is. All in all i NEEDED this i have been sketchy about going full lean since my accident last summer and i have regained my confidence in the bike and it's tires. I just want to go back to the track and ride again, mook and i are already discussing dates and making plans for going to thunderbolt next time.
Mook-you did awesome out there and like i said i can not wait till you get something a little bit faster, you were ripping on that 750!
IG-thanks again for the video and all the help during the day! It was great to meet you and chromo! That SV is really cool and you can move on it, especially when offroading
Chromo-You are one knowledgeable individual and it was awesome riding with you! A big thanks to you too for taking the video and joining us in the beginner class. I still can't believe you were outpacing control riders!
And to all the people i met at the track it was a blast! A big thank you to absolute for running a great track day!
