Track day #4. Motocorsa Sept 25 2006

For the first time I actually slept the night before a track day. I'm
usually too nervous. I was soo tired from PtO that I was asleep by
10:30. I woke up at 4 with a sore throat. Went back to sleep and got
up at 5:45. My sore throat was worse and I felt a little sick. But I
was really looking forward to this track day and I was going. Took
some vitamins (no cold medicine before a track day) drank some throat
coat tea drank a lot of water and juice while I was packing. Then I
was off to get some gas. I filled the gas can just cause, I had a
feeling I wouldnt need it. People really gave me lots of space on I-5
with that gas can strapped to the back! heh

Originally Tony and Gustavo and I were going to do this track day
together and I was really excited about that. Ive always wanted to do
a track day with them. Unfortunately they both were unable to make it.
So I was pitting with a friend of a friend who is a woman and a novice
racer. I called her the night before and she brought an extra chair
for me. I got my bike all taped up and went through tech. Thanks to
Ted and Tamera I passed. Then the C group riders meeting. We meet
every hour for the morning session. Michael Czysz (motoczysz) and Bill
Cismar were the C group instructors. That was cool.

Arun (motocorsa is the ducati dealer doing this TD and he is the
manager) announced at the beginning that they were changing the way
they do C group. Instead of assuming everyone in C group needs the
same level of instruction they asked us to self select into the fast,
medum or slow group. It worked out well. There were 5 of us in the
fast group. Last track day you may recall I was very very frustrated
with being stuck behind really slow riders the entire morning. I was
not the only one who complained that day apparently.

I was still not feeling 100% but I wanted soo bad to go out that I
did. The first session was great. I was still getting used to the new
tires and height of the rear (I think the extra height rather helped
with the track riding actually). They started us out slowish but it
was still fun, had to warm up the tires and such. I was in the groove
right away. I started feeling better (probably from adreniline) and
had a great first session. Quick but safe and I got to lean over all
the way just about every turn.

The second session they wanted us to work on body position and in the
class room they said that we shouldnt try to move our butts over just
head and shoulders. I said, what if we are scraping pegs? Bill laughed
and said "Hanna is a unique case, she would be in B group if she
wasn't on a 250". I didnt even know he knew my name... I did end up
scraping pegs if my butt wasnt off the seat just a tad so I followed
my own advice after that. I also removed my peg feelers. The darn
things are shaved to a point now anyway (mostly from the ART).

I was told 3 times in the morning that I was reaching the limits of
the abilities of my bike. I dont totally believe them, I still think
there is plenty I can learn. Granted it may not be the best track bike
in the world. I was struggling to keep up in straights but had no
problem in the corners. I like street riding more than track so I am
defintely still happy with Lucky.

At the end of the first session I was more wiped out than I normally
would have been. It took a lot out of me. By the end of the second
session I was starting to make dumb mistakes. I had sharp pains in my
stomach distracting me. It was taking all my concentration to function
normally. I knew I wouldnt last the whole day at this rate.

I decided to sit out the 3rd session and see if I started to feel
better after lunch. I laid down for a bit but my sore throat was
getting progressively worse, I was having really bad intestinal
distress and a runny nose and head ache were not going away. All
through lunch I couldnt decide if I wanted to try one more session or
not. I decided to just do a lap or two and see how I felt. By the
second lap I knew it was over for me. My dumb mistakes were getting
worse not better. I slid the rear in 9 after hitting the brake too
hard. That was my last lap of the day. I pulled off and packed it up.
Was home by 2:15.

The only thing Im driving for the rest of today is the remote control.

It was still really fun and I trust myself to know my limits. Maybe
not the smartest thing in the world but I wasnt trying to push myself
and quit when it was time. Next year Ill go back. Hopefully the city
wont close PIR before then. : ( [http://www.friendsofpir.com }

Hanna