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has begun to tear down the new race bike for next year, and has started to order parts for it.... now is the time to hit up my awesome sponsors.
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next year....
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for all of her races.
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today!!! Brand new 2010 SE Triumph Daytona 675
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Invitational race at Barber!!! Yippie. Now, just gotta figure out how to pay for it.
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August 22-23 SMRI trackday combo race weekend Saturday the 22 was a trackday sponsored by SMRI, the turnout was rather light again. It has been that way all year, so I guess it really shouldn't be too much of a surprise. We had about 5 students to work with for the school, and there was a few more that really should've considered doing it with us. Oh well. It was also hot again, but not as bad as the last one. Boy was I happy about that. I'm not sure if I could handle another 100+ degree day on the track. The days went smooth, with very few offs and the ambulance didn't have to transport anyone. In all it was a fantastic day for everyone. I was thrilled with the whole day. I helped with the school in the am and then for lunch I put on a fresh front tire to go with the new rear that I had on for the morning. I did another street school session and filmed as many of the students as I could. Then I went out and ran one expert session. I pushed it just a bit to get a feel for how it was going to feel racing this weekend. I push just a little more each lap, and I hit a 1 min. lap time on the 3rd lap. So I decided to try for that 59 second lap time that had been eluding me... Unbelievable and thank you Charles!! I managed to do 5 laps at 59.+ Yippee! At that point I called it a day and put the bike in the trailer. Sunday, was even cooler the Saturday, it was great weather. Unfortunately there was a lighter turn out for this weekend then the last. It was a shame that some of the more regular racers weren't there. It would have made the day more fun. Of course, it worked to my advantage in the points and at the end of the season that is really what it comes down to. I am far from the fastest, but I make try and I show up. I only did one of the practice sessions, with for races that day I didn't want to make myself more tired then I had to, I just needed to loosen up. I managed to run a couple more 59s so I was thrilled that it wasn't just a fluke. Am U was my first race in the morning. As usual I had a less then stealer launch... I really gotta work on that. I ended up in 5th in the first corner. It took me about three laps to get around Shana, and it really ended up being a game of chicken coming into turn 4. She flinched and I didn't... I had no intention of rolling off until after she did. She was on the outside; I was going to take it, even if it meant pushing her wide. After that, I spent the rest of the race trying to catch up to the guy in third; I got close to him but not enough to get around him. I had to settle for 4th. Nov O was the next one; I really was considering not finishing it and just pulling off, but that thought stopped as soon as I realized that I had just launched into second place. Dang... I figured I'd just try to see how long I could hang on to the back of Kevin. To my surprise I was right behind him for about 4 laps, then he started to pull a bit on me. Then on the 7th lap, I heard someone right on my tail. It took him a two more laps to get around me, but he did on the white flap lap. He got me in the drag race to the first turn... when he got in front of me, I rolled off. That was a huge mistake, he blew turn one. Had I kept at it I would have taken it back. I tried for the rest of the lap, but just couldn't pull it off. I had to settle for 3rd. The third race of the day is by far, my favorite race to date. Nov U, I launched myself into fourth, but moved into second before the turn 2. I'm quite pleased that that move didn't do the same thing to me as it did last year. (I ended up wrecking there when that bump in 2 put the back end of my bike in the air.) I had someone right on my tail for about 4 laps, then he and I had the same game of chicken coming into turn 4 that I had had earlier in the day. Neither of us gave it up. We both took it at the same time side by side. He got a slightly better drive into turn 5. I stayed right on his tail until we came turn 1 where he blew the entry and I got it back. He got me again, in turn 3 on the last lap and I stayed on his tail we made a drag race of it to the finish but he beat me by a foot. Damn that was fun!!! I managed to set a new personal best time in this race of 0.59.21. Until this weekend I'd never done better then a 1.00.20 and that was a one time fluke. But, in all of the races so far I'd managed to run 59s for part of the race. Race 4 was Formulae Femme, we had a decent number of women on the grid. I managed to launch my way into second and that was where I stayed. I tried to stay within sight of Edda, but that only lasted a couple of laps. Then I was by myself, I could see the bike closest to me coming into turn 2 as I was coming into turn 4. I figured all I had to do was stay up right. Besides, after the Nov U race I was beat. Then I started to feel my chest tightening up.... luckily, I only had to make it two more times around the track. Had the race been 1 more lap, I'd have been screwed. I haven't had an asthma attack in at least 9 months, but I had another one while was on the track. It wasn't too bad, until I started the cool down lap, then it started to get ugly, and by the time I hit the pits. I was starting to panic, and I couldn't talk well by the time I got off the bike and got to my inhaler. Huge thanks to John, for taking care of me. I owe thanks to Chaz, Jason, Aaron and Anna for helping me pack up everything for me, cause I was still so shaky for at least another hour after that. If I had tried to load my bike, I'm sure I would have dropped it. I was having a hard time just getting the little stuff where it belonged. In all it was another great weekend, but how could it not be... we were all riding and racing. That is always a great time. I really love the club and hope that it can weather out the year. KKP
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July 2009 So July starts off with working as a volunteer for the 2009 R2SL (Racing 2 Save Lives) event Can anyone say road trip??? From Santa Fe it is a 12 hour drive to Miller Motorsports Park (with a truck, trailer and 3 bikes)… who knew it was that close. Shelia came up from Texas; we transferred everything into my truck and trailer. Yes, three bikes. Two in the trailer and one in the bed of the truck, it only took us an hour to move everything around. Not too bad, really… but then we of course had to have lunch before hitting the road. You can’t do a road trip with an empty stomach. We decided on Sushi, as it was the best way to torture her daughter. We got to the hotel at 2am, we all were getting a little tired and testy by then. We all had to be up and at the track by 9am in order to start setting up for the event. It was my first time, at Miller, and that place is amazing. Getting everything into place went fairly smooth, with the exception of setting up the Pirelli tent. About the time everyone got to tying down the tent, a nice BIG thunderstorm rolled in. The wind was lifting it up off the ground despite the almost 20 people that were holding on to it. I have to say it is kinda scary to be holding onto a large metal pole and being lifted off the ground by a large tent with lighting all around. By the time it was finally anchored down, everyone was absolutely soaked. The rain was coming down so hard that you couldn’t see across the parking lot. Working at the registration table was great, you got to see just how many people were coning in for the event and meet people from all over. There were a few small hitches, but it really went well. I got to ride for at least a session every day, the first day I got to work with Shane and Mark from the Yamaha Champions Riding School. It was AWESOME! It was the best way to learn the track that I could have imagined. They cleaned up my body positioning and my braking techniques. It was very helpful. I got so much out of it that I signed up to work with them again on Sunday. Sat. I just played with the things they taught me and I worked at learning the West track. I really wasn’t fond of the new slippery pavement over on the west track, but I did figure my way around it. I got some great video footage with the Tachyon camera that I have mounted on the tail section of my bike. I filmed a number of the volunteers and we all had a great time rippin their riding apart. LOL. From Miller I spent a week in Denver, we were supposed to have a race at PPIR the next weekend but it was canceled. Drat!!! Oh well, it was relaxing hanging out in Denver, meeting some new people, getting to know some other better, attending an MRA meeting, haulin bikes around Denver and sleeping a lot. Before heading home on Tuesday, Shelia and I went to the Star Motorcycle School at HPR. It was a great school, it helped my braking and downshifting even more. My lap times were still dropping, I was 1.5 seconds a lap faster then race pace the last time I was there… and I wasn’t even trying to ride fast. I was working on too many things to think about speed. After all that seat time I just couldn’t wait to get back to Sandia. I didn’t have to wait long either. The next weekend for SMRI was on Saturday and Sunday. The weather was unbelievably hot!! It was 100 on sat, and doing the school was a killer. I was still dehydrated even though I drank over a gallon of water. I’m sure the 110 laps had something to do with it. I also discovered that I had a hole in the sole of my right boot. I wondered at the Star School why my foot felt bruised each night. It was really bad after riding and walking on rocks all day Saturday. It was worth all the pain and sweat that day. We had a number of riders at the track for the first time from Kirkland AFB, it was part of their safety office promoting track riding to all of the Airmen. There was a video camera following us around all day on the track, in the classroom and in the hot pits while we were talking to the students. The plan is for them to come back and spend more time with the street school. They want to use this to promote track time for all personnel in the Air Force. I’m sure that being dog tired from the day before hurt my races on Sunday and the fact that it was even hotter on Sunday then it was on Saturday. My lap timer was saying it was 102, in the shade. I believe it, it was the first time that I’ve had trouble with my contact lenses. The first race went off with out a hitch, I was 5th in the AGTU… there was a number of outta state riders there, so I had to work harder to place well. My lap times were even better then the last race weekend, but not quite enough to move up in the placings. The second race was the most interesting; I lost my right contact coming out of the first corner after the start. It’s really hard to ride with no depth perception. I pulled off the track when I scared my self in turn three of the 3rd lap. The third race… is to date the most frustrating one that I’ve had in a long time. I didn’t get a very good start and I got stuck behind a rider who’s a bit slower, but can out power me on the straights. Sandia isn’t the safest track and hits some times hard to pass people safely. I didn’t want to stuff her in the corners, but that was the only way I was going to get around her. Now, I will pass the guys a lot closer then the women… but she is a friend, has a hurt husband and a small kid. I wasn’t going to risk hurting her so I stayed behind her and ran the slowest lap times I’ve done in two races. I have to say I’m still kinda irked about it and I’m not likely to be that kind next time that happens…. The last race was the Formula Femme race, it is one of my favs, I got a great start and was right behind Edda for almost a whole lap… not easy to do. I managed to hold on to 2nd until the 4th lap and then Shelia passed me. I was able to stay right on her tail but she out powered me on the straights so that I couldn’t get back around. Coming to the finish I had figured out how to get her coming out of the last turn, but we had lap traffic that prevented the pass… oh well. Next time!
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June 2009 June started with heading back to HPR for the second race in the W.o.W series (Women of the West). The only Ladies to make it up for the races were Edda and I, shame too. We had made prior plans to pit together, that way all of the New Mexico racers would be together. It was a USGPRU weekend too, so there were loads of people there. I got there the night before and dropped off the trailer, I met up with Edda and Charles at the hotel. It was the first time I’ve gotten to really spend anytime with them, they are amazing people and I’m glad I got to know them better. We spent all day Friday practicing again; I managed to drop about 5 more seconds off my lap times. I raced in NGTU, NGTO and LOR again. Just like last time I just wanted to practice in the NGTU and NGTO races. I finished better still then the last time. So it was a great day, with the exception of running over some debris off a wrecked bike. It didn’t cause me any issue while out there, but I had a large cut in my tire. After pulling off the rim and checking, Mark at Vanmar, thought it would be best to put a new tire on for Sunday. Sunday, got off to a good start to only get better. I had Shane check out my suspension; after he made some changes to it I went out and dropped the lap times by 5 more seconds. Yippie!! There wasn’t any rain for the LOR race this time….. I was gridded in the second row. I got off to a decent start and I hit the first turn in 5th, but got pasted coming into the second turn. I was kind of unhappy bout that. It took me the better part of the first lap to get back around Jen, but I did and by that time there wasn’t any hope in catching back up to the girl in 4th. I also had to be aware of Jen right behind me. The best part of the whole thing was dropping another 6 seconds off my lap times. Credit for the 11 second drop belongs entirely with Shane, between the suspension changes and the body position changes…. WOW!! Again the next weekend was the 3rd SMRI race weekend. Well, racing on Sunday, Saturday was a track day. I actually ran the track day school this time; Troy was out do to injuries at the last race and was not up to spending all day on the bike. There were only 3 students, and two of them I had worked with at the first track day. Again, I did some insane number of laps that day this time it was like 180. It helped that the weather was perfect, not too hot and you were comfortable in the leathers. Sunday the weather was a little sketchier, there was rain spitting during all of our races, but not enough to get the track wet. It was enough to really mess with a few people’s heads. After riding at PPIR last in with slicks in the rain… It just didn’t bother me at all. So far it has been my best weekend. I was running lap times that were about 1 second faster then the last race weekend. I placed really well in all of my races.
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Wow, I really have been negligent in keeping up with the blogs... So just the highlights to bring everyone up to date, I guess the easiest way to do this is by month, given how long it still is I’m going to have to break it up into sections…… May 2009 Actually, there was a track day at the end of April. It was the first track day that I did as one of the instructors for the track day school. There wasn’t a huge turnout, but I manage to ride all of the street school sessions, and the advanced group sessions. All said, it was about 120 laps that day. I spent most of the day working with two of the students; I took about 4 hours of video that day of the students and of some of the other racers. It was a blast to work with people their first time at the track. The next race weekend was for MRA at the brand new High Plains Raceway (HPR) it was the first race to be held there. OMG!!!! That track is fabulous; I could rave about it for hours. I went up a day early to learn the track; it took the better part of the day. It’s not really that I’m a slow learner… but I was recovering from food poisoning (and had been really sick the day before, I was afraid I wasn’t going to be able to make the trip). Fighting the urge to hurl makes it harder to learn new things. I felt fine most of the time I was on the bike, but every time I stopped to get off the bike. It was horrible, and it would take me almost a half hour to recover. Really the hard part of learning it was that with it being a new track the curbing is temporary and there aren’t exit curbs and visual reference points where hard to find. I raced in NGTU, NGTO and LOR, or at least that was the plan. Saturday’s races went off great, but the grids were huge compared to what I’m used to, 48 riders?? That is huge, since it was my first time there, I just wanted to finish… upright. Not a hard to reach goal. I managed to do just that, and to boot I wasn’t last. Sunday the weather just wasn’t cooperating, it was pouring down rain, no one had rains, for sale and since we don’t race in the rain at home, I didn’t have any rain tires just my DOTs. I chose not to do any practices in the rain, hoping it would clear up. No such luck. I just wasn’t comfortable with it and I really wasn’t feeling 100% either. So I went out and did the warm up lap just to see how tricky it would be, that way at least the grid was filled and everyone else would get their contingencies. After the first lap I came in and called it a day. I still had a 7 hour drive home in front of me. The very next weekend was the 2nd SMRI race weekend. It was a really quite weekend, we were down quite a few of the regular racers, and there was A LOT of wrecks, which took out a couple of our hard core racers. Most of the wrecks were rather bad and the injuries serious, not really the kinda thing I wanna go into detail about. It was a great weekend for me; I finished quite well in all 5 of my races. There weren’t any really epic battles for placings, so not much to write about. There was another track day at the end of May. It was the only track day that I haven’t gotten to work as an instructor for SMRI doing the street school. I had to coach an MSF class that weekend, so once I finished with my class I hopped onto the Trumpet and went over to check it out. Turned out to be a really great day, weather wise, while I was taking a spin around the pits to see who all was there. I ran into a couple of other MSF rider coaches, who were doing their first track day. It was great fun, helping them make the transition from street riding to the track.
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