Wrapping Up February On Ice!
Saturday, February 23rd, we headed out to Lake Koshkonong for some riding. We ended up riding a pretty icky track. Icky is the only word I can think of. In some places the ice was pristine. Traction was amazing and you could really pitch the bike in. And then all of a sudden it was really crappy. Clear, glare ice went into 3-4" of crusty snow. It was wild the way the track conditions varied. Of course I faltered on being mentally strong. I let the crusty snow freak me out and I rode like a total girl. The only saving grace was that I did keep my feet on the pegs. :D
So first I went out on the 250F. After the last few weeks, I figured I could get out there and just rock the track. On my third or fourth lap, I hit the crusties, chopped the throttle and went down pretty hard. I received my first bar bruises of the year. Meaning there is a nifty line of bruises across my thigh. So I went in, collected myself and decided to ride my daughter's 85.
The hubby and I were mixing it up pretty good-I had that 85 tapped in fifth, there was no more it could do for me. He finally took me on the outside of a hairpin (on the 250F). I was like "it is on!" Well he started to check out. I can't even begin to express how angry that made me.....long story short I messed up the transition into the crap and had a nasty smack down. What is a smack down you ask? Well, there are low sides and you slide. There are high sides and you fly. Well a smack down is going from a low side into a high side only to get slammed onto the ground on the low side side of the bike. I bent the bars ( Sierra was very gracious, seeing as I broke her bike) and saw some birdies for a couple of minutes since I was slammed on the back of my head. It's seriously time for a new helmet. On that note I decided to call it quits for the day.
Sunday, February 24th, the hubby and I teamed up and headed to Fox Lake to run in the 2 hour endurance race/Steel Shoe Benefit. The track was crusty. It was slick and the only way to get around was to make your own traction. In practice I made 2 laps. I had a heart to heart with myself while I was out there. All the things that scare me were there and the track conditions were only going to get worse as the race went on. I decided on my second lap that I was going to ride that freaking bike. There is NO excuse for me to screw this up. I chose my mental status. :D
The hubby started the race. He put us in a really nice position, mid pack. He came in. Told me I COULD do this. I got on and went out. My first lap I came up on a rider that was holding me up. I had to be patient because they would slide everywhere through the turns. I followed him for 1/2 lap. We both shot out into the straight. I was on his rear wheel. He was on the outside. I got up on the gas tank. My head was OVER the bars (first time ever). I waited, hit the rear brake, slid into the turn, rolled on the throttle and took him on the inside-I was a whole bike length in front of him when I got out of the turn. I could not believe it!!!!!! The rest of the race rocked from there. I set the tone of my ride in the first lap and it was amazing.
As the day went on, it was like riding 2.5 miles of acceleration/braking bumps mixed in with ruts getting to 10"....which is tough for me. I found myself riding the edge of the ruts. My front wheel would stay on top an the rear just powered through. It was freaking amazing!!!!! I put that bike on the 2" of clear ice available at the apex and the edge of ruts. I only got passed by the super fast guys. The best part was when some of the guys would pass me knowing I was a girl and then screw up because they were riding above their head.....and I would pass them right back and walk away. Later a few people came up to tell me their feeling of "I was just passed by a girl!!!!" It was awesome to actually be able to hold my own out there.
In the end, my hubby crashed and broke the handlebars. They snapped in two right at the triple clamp. There was 30 minutes left in the race. We still finished 28th out of 34 teams after missing 1/4 of the race. We did darn good. The scorers had us marked as being in 10th place on our last lap.....who knows. All I know is today was a great day. Practice paid off and being over the front of the bike made all the difference in the world.
I am SO looking forward to dirt!!!!!