AMS trackday w/ Larry Pegram - MSR Cresson - Nov 1

[muskrat]

Well is be ok ?

[Samsonite]

I'm hurtin....!

[RED]

Volunteered as a corner worker for the day. Free lunch, and I don't have to buy a new rear tire.

Got to prep for the corner worker tech inspection, hmmm, lesee:

SPF 2000 sun screen?  check
CamelBak hydration system?  check
snakesproof muck jumpers?  check
insect repellent? check
Tilley hat?  check
UnderArmor underwear?  check
Various and sundry ridiculously overpriced Ducati outerwear items?  check

Did I forget anything?

I'll see if I have some pictures of the Crokodile Dundee look you had going on later...

[RED]

The quick and nasty: coming out of horseshoe onto the Big Ben straight I had followed a 1098 all around the track a full lap before being able to over take him. I'm following Jeff's line in front of me as he goes around the outside of the corner. I had his line perfectly until the squid patrol in front of me stopped to go around the corner and some went wide right into my line. I thought, what the hell, I'll just ride through the grass and catch back up...forgot that the lowest part of the track in at the head of Big Ben and found some slop. Couldn't keep the bike up straight and just fell over at about 5-10 mph. Good thing I had just bought a back protector! That I think was the sole factor in me being able to walk upright this morning! Buy one!  as far as the bike is concerned it is in really good shape because the mud softened up the whole ordeal. I must replace the left turn signal and replace the gear shifter and fairing stay because it cracked but no plastic was hurt and the bike cleaned up really nice.

Samsonite, you  might want to jump on this one pretty quick...(wink wink)

[jweave]

I'm hurtin....!

That makes two of us.  Sorry about being slow in front of you.  At that point my legs were killing me and my hands were getting a bit numb. 

[junior varsity]

Me and the wife dropped by around 2p to watch for a bit.   Now she's interested in the idea of the track too!

I must say, that KTM was loud as f*ck.

While we were there, nobody went down, but the guy on the other track did eat it right around the time we were leaving, which kind of screwed things up it seemed. Watching the Desmo go around was pretty neat, but he didn't look as fast as Nash did on the Bayliss LE.

Marty had that camera mounted to his fairing, hopefully he'll post a video somewhere where we can see how good the footage is.

The track was nicer than I expected, It'll be really nice when they finish the construction on the road in, and they really ought to put power out in the pit area for you guys. I'm not really interested in buying a generator for track use...

[Cher]

Yep, very, very FUN day!  A good time was had by all.  All that is unless you're my left knee puck, haha    Ground the bugger down but good.  O.K. not really good - most would consider the puck scrapage a mere flesh wound... But hey, draggin' a knee is draggin' a knee (and crapping your pants 'cause you've got no idea what just happened!)

It was very cool to hang out with The Gang; there are so many accomplished riders in our group it's an awesome sight to see (as they whiz past, becoming a dot on the horizon  ).  Raised my game, that's for sure 

I also got a chance to ride a two-stroke 125 Aprilia RS for a session.  Now THAT is a hoot and a half.  I think I may trade in the Sprint and get the mini-mo just for track days... I feel like I've dodged a bullet everytime I come off the track with my 999; no track day damage so far, but I've been really lucky.

Anyway, thanks to Jason for bring me an extra chair to plop in, and RED and Bryant for bringing some much needed shade, and to everyone else for the excellent friendship. 

Y'all rock 

[junior varsity]

Lisa! We saw you under or near the big canopy in the afternoon but Milli was too chicken to ask you how you got into riding on the track and what not (despite meeting you at barbecue recently). I am going to poke and prod her next time, she had a grin from watching, and would go bananas after some inspiration talks

[RED]

Pics from the day...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/31443079@N03/sets/72157622593604581/

[Cher]

Lisa! We saw you under or near the big canopy in the afternoon but Milli was too chicken to ask you how you got into riding on the track and what not (despite meeting you at barbecue recently). I am going to poke and prod her next time, she had a grin from watching, and would go bananas after some inspiration talks

I'd love the chance to bend her ear on the whole motorcycles and track day thing.  I'm sure we'll see each other again at one of the Ducati lunch days or something 

RED, cool pix 

[bryant8]

Fun stuff as always...

I'm glad to see all those that came out.

Josh, sorry to have missed you out at the track.  You'll have to get an SS for track duty soon!  (FYI, the owner of the D16RR ran his 998 and 996 in the morning... talk about a trailer with some nice rides)

Tommy, you my friend are quick out there.  I'm jealous of the track time you've got under your belt. 

Charlie, bummer about the laydown and the issues w/ your suit

Lisa, great to see you abuse your knee puck... FYI I have your Pegram autograph'd picture in my truck... I 'll drop it by Motopia for you this week.

Jacob, still miss your S2R?

Jason, it was fun chasing the HST special for a few laps

[junior varsity]

I walked around to see if I could see you guys at one point, and saw Tommy pulling into the pits one time, but other than that - it was a zoo of people - Toni told me 90 folks came out, and there were certainly around 100 ducs, which was really cool to see.


Interestingly, as we were coming down 377 we passed another D16RR riding northbound... Thought that was interesting, I wanted to say "HEY, YOU ARE GOING THE WRONG WAY".

[bryant8]

Yeah, that dude left sometime after lunch.  I was probably out in the hotpits waiting for my session when you showed up

[Jester]

Fun times yesterday.  I feel like I got hit by a freight train this morning.  I got home around 8, fell into bed and got about 12 hours of sleep.

Great to see the whole crew out there yesterday and had a real good time thrashing the new 848.  Ron, it was a blast following you around the track, and what can I say about Larry Pegram.  That dude absolutely flies and doesn't even look like he's putting in any effort.  Ron and I were coming through horseshoe and he ran right up our inside and proceeded to pull away through the double apex onto the back straight.  I've got my knee down coming through boot hill and tombstone and he's just got his butt hanging off, no knee, not much lean and powers out and gone.  Those guys are on another planet.  I think you need a certain mindset to go that fast for sure.  Perhaps one of the big boy riding schools would be a good investment this year to work on better form and technique. 

The 848 is such a beast in every way compared to my old S2R.  The braking forces I could achieve are insane.. got the rear off the ground braking into big ben.  A steering damper might be a good investment soon.  I got a lot of headshake on hard acceleration when the front would get real light or come off the surface a bit.

Thanks Bryant for letting us use your area to hang out and congrats to everyone that improved and got faster yesterday!  See you guys at a trackday next year I hope.

[RED]

I do want to shout out a great big ol thank you to Bryant and Jacob for helping me load the Ducs yesterday afternoon.  I was in a great deal of hurt and they came to my rescue.  The way I see it is that I owe you guys a night at the Monk, or Idle Rich, or Black Friar or wherever! Thanks guys!