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What a great time April 10-11 at VIR

1K views 4 replies 4 participants last post by  zooom 
#1 ·
Met up with Apagios, Zooom and Maryland998 as well. Great seeing other forum members at the track. It was a MAD Ducati event but Cornerspeed really did a great job running the two days. Got tons of instruction including a few sessions with Aaron (main instructor) one on one. Last session was awesome going back and forth with him letting me pass him, he would follow me awhile and then all of a sudden fly around me. Great stuff. Learned how to pass people in places other than the main front straightaway and felt more comfortable at speed as well. Also Maryland998(Ken) got behind me for awhile and filmed me for a session. So looking forward to seeing the whole thing. Zooom's girlfriend even volunteered to burn to DVD. Major cool!!
 
#2 ·
Great to hear. I love VIR north. Post the vid when you get it.
 
#3 ·
I definitely had a blast, that was my first 2 track days ever so i learned a ton. still need to work on sliding off the bike more in turns, but that just gives me an excuse to go back right? It was great to meet and hang out with everyone.
 
#4 ·
for me it was great to put a few names with faces and meet alot of folks and as well hang out with other friends of old and familiar.

I was indeed not fully prepared for everything I might encounter,but didn't do too bad considering.

I have never been to VIR before this and would consider going back for sure.I had great confidence going in onto the track during the morning sessions on Monday and was IMHO quickly improving little by little as I got a better understanding for the lines and picked up the pace and used them as they were moreso intended.I wasn't even really complaining or having a problem as I thought with turn #4 that frustrates so many people....I kinda looked at it in a way kinda like turn #5 on Summit Main which you kinda throw away as it were as a set up for the next turns that come...."Then it happened"....1st session after lunch in the afternoon and I am setting up for turn 7 and BAMM....I get "fudgepacked" (Jay's loving term for it anyway) by this guy on an SV650.I remember setting up for the turn and then the next thing I remember is getting asked questions and getting my blood pressure taken by the medical folks in the infirmary.Apparently I was quite frustrated and aggravated at the time on the scene and they insisted I take a ride in the ambulance so they could thoroughly make sure I was okay!...My bike wasn't pretty and needed a little manipulation and repair and persuading.Thanks again to all that pitched in and helped with what I couldn't and what my girlfriend Cassie wouldn't let me do.....The details as to why the fellow ran into me are still VERY grey....but...from what I have figured out...he blames it on rotor buttons that were missing from his brake set-up that was missed by tech....still his fault for not maintaining his machine (no one should depend on Tech to catch what they should know and be maintaining!)....what I think happened and he won't own up to...I passed him in the 1st 3 sessions and he was looking for payback because he wasn't gonna let some obviously street Monster beat his race prepped SV and was gunning for me out of 6 and 6a and didn't have the motor or speed or anything to get passed me for 7 and was too hot and waitied till too late to brake and lost control into me....sounds much more feasable than missing rotor buttons causing him to fold the front end...well...in the end....he damaged his bike enough that he couldn't get back out...but it seemed like if he could...he would have and I would have gone to Aaron and pitched a fit using his own words in arguement against it (you make contact with another rider..and you are done..period!)...but alas...was something I didn't have to deal with.

So come Tuesday morning,after a nice evening and a very very slow moving Millies dinner for getting the food and having some nice conversation with a few folks, I come to the track with a bike that is 70% done on its repairs and an open offer to use Jay and Lisa's "Gizzard" 99? GSXR600....which I end up using in the 1st session to get back on the horse as it were.Man did that bike feel weird in comparison to the Monster!...I come back and finish the bike and get all done and back out on the track to do a couple of laps to find something else from the downing to repair but have to wait till lunch when the track is closed so I can retrieve the part that fell off my exhaust to complete said repair from the side of the track just after 17a....geeeez....I fix the bike including metal manipulation again to refit things and get it all snugged up and out I go next session....got some great feedback from the CR's and Denny's( thank you once again!)....but found that I just wasn't at the same level of confidence I was on the morning of the day before...and due to soreness...was tiring early and not able to have the endurance that I feel I should have....I guess it comes with the territory somewhat of track riding to a degree....and I am a newby for all intensive purposes at track riding....I also found it VERY hard to break a street riding habit of mine of referencing back and forth from points forward I needed to be looking at on the track and the points about 12 feet in front of my tire (like I was looking for debris or hazards in the roadway to prepare for)..which caused me to somewhat change my inputs to the bars in mid turn looking as if I was re-adjusting through the turn as it was remarked....this caused me to somewhat be slower through turn 1 and the roller coaster especially.... all in all....a great pair of days at the track with awesome weather when all was said and done!...I also want to thank Ken (Maryland998) for following me for a few laps also and getting some footage of me because I think my head was not where it should have quite been and I want to see how much it shows in the video...hence why I was soooooo slow going into the Roller Coaster in thinking about it in retrospect...but attached are a few pics...1st 2 are before the get off and the other 3 are after the get off....

as a side note...I also want to thank everyone for their kindness in communicating with my girlfriend who wants to badly get into riding and no one treated her with disdain or looked down apon her for when she was around like I have seen in certain circles with S.O.'s who are not current riders....she felt the warmth that we as riders shared around the track through our sharings of experience and comraderie off the track as well....that to me is one of the many things that I enjoy within the riding community....she left with a feeling that maybe one day she could be out there also,especially after seeing some of the other women who were getting out there!

Till the next time we all meet again,whether it be on the road or the track or a bar or wherever!....be safe and well and I hope our journeys are fruitful!
 
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