i-Zapp

1 hour ago, ludwb675 said:

Signed up for thursday. I'm #7 in I so its going to be a great open track day.

Also signed up for the appreciation day next week. Woot!

having bought a 4-pack of gift certificates last winter, I was pleasantly surprised to recently discover that it qualifies me for a free Customer Appreciation day PTR! (even though I gave one to my son and only actually rode three times). thought I was done with MidO this year, but as long as the sun is out, i'll be there Wed in A group!

1 hour ago, Vagabound said:

.. Basically anyone first time at the track doesn't know what their doing and needs monitored and hand held? If your in the sport its most likely because you have done other things in your life successfully. IMO, morning sessions are used to identify those who need additional coaching, it's very evident. 

Any novice at a new track does. The Novice program shouldn't be about letting new riders use a rented track, but rather a concerted, regimented program to methodically "train" new riders to become competent and safe at speed. Three watered-down coaching sessions in the morning, then throw-them-to-the-wolves after lunch is not that. I brought a brand new rider to MidO a few months back, and based on his feedback the current program is a far cry from the classroom sessions and track drills I went through 10 years ago.

a couple of interesting comments from Intermediate group on Tuesday:

• i late registered (with a certificate) and didnt pay a late fee, although EVERYONE else i know got dinged. maybe they like me.
• they tech ALL your gear now
• this one is good: during the riders meeting the CR doing the talking was like "so there'll be no passing in the corners..." WHAAAT? luckily Mike jumped in and said, "whhoah, listen, there's no way that's going to work...etc" and it got revoked
• even with 43+ riders, it seemed like they were only half sold-out; there's was surprisingly PLENTY of room; for whatever reason everyone stayed very spread out (maybe due to good clean, quick passing)
• there were lots of comments about how "good" everyone was riding (no bad passes, no close passes, no stuffs, etc)
• only 1 (?) red flag

overall fantastic day, weather couldnt have been better. unfortunately, thats it for MidO for me this year.

2 hours ago, durk said:

Then I got a ticket last week. She was not impressed. So I'm gonna hold off and do the track thing next year. 

another ticket or two and you might be doing trackdays sooner than you think!

been a few years since i got my last ones, and need some more. forgot how to request them, exactly. 

can anyone help refresh my memory??

you're right - it's been some great racing, and nice to see that VR and MM seem to be cordial with each other again.

I might do BeIN next year. this year i opted for VideoPass, and it's been a bit flaky for me... like this morning, with two laps to go the feed froze on me. wtf!  and once you abandon the live feed, it's not easy to get back in at the same spot you left off. i ended up watching the last two laps and post race festivities on the taped version later.

great racing. seems there def a half dozen guys that can win on any given weekend this season....

On 8/19/2016 at 0:28 PM, F4iguy said:

Weather watching.  Will be there one of those days

lol, i want to see that GL drag those crash bars around the carousel! jk. John - did you buy another track bike?

fwiw, me and the crew will be there on Tue,

18 hours ago, DesmoDuc said:

VMD Roll Call

Who is racing what?

I'm doing STARS HW and MegaTwins/Tripples on my eurotrash 1098.

 

probably will be there to watch Saturday (and camp Sat nite). Interested in learning more about "vintage" bikes... toying with the idea of picking up something to do AHRMA series next year and figured it'd be a good venue to do some research.

me and the kid were chasing each other and got solid into the 41s, which is fully 2 secs quicker than my best normal/best pace on the 600. Another 60 hp and fancy electronics must've made the difference. I just need to get rid of those ape hangers now!  oh, and yes getting passed by those two Pro guys was pretty humbling (not that our pace was anything to be particularly proud of).

2 hours ago, Trackbikez said:

Hoping to be a walk-in tomorrow morning.

us too. Planning on A group, but will be riding slow on the new beast.

quote from Nelson's facebook page today. sounds encouraging!

Quote

Significant renovations are happening now at Nelson Ledges Road Course, but we will remain partially open for 2016! Your safety is our number one concern and we understand your urge to get back on the track quickly. It will take time to make these improvements, so we hope to have your patience and understanding as we are renovating while maintaining track availability. To all of the racing enthusiasts that have been to the track in the recent years, you most likely have noticed the hundreds of thousands of tires that have been questionably collected over many years. We have been working with local and state officials to try to solve this hazardous issue. You, our fans, and our team included, wanted to repave the track this year. However, the large transportation vehicles used to remove the abundance of tires would bring damage to the freshly paved asphalt.

Along with repaving the surface, we also have exciting plans to build garages, create an elegant clubhouse, and welcome other track motorsports! We will share more detail on these great enhancements to the track at a later date.

We decided not to close the track completely because we understand your passion for Nelson! We have had overwhelming demand from people asking to use the track as is. Therefore, our plan is to allow private track days this year. The track condition itself is in fair condition and the facilities around the track are in poor condition, so we will reflect that in our pricing this summer. Unfortunately, our insurance will not allow motorcycles to be on the track until our improvements are completed. The only way around this would be for the group to have their own policy. Currently, our policy will allow 6 cars to be on the track at a time, but we can have as many waiting as we want. Also, if the group has their own policy we can increase the number of cars on the track.

The current private pricing is $2000 per day from Monday-Thursday and $2500 per day from Friday-Sunday for this summer only! Gates will open at 9:00 am and close at 5:00pm and accepting groups of any size. We ask you to contact us at least two weeks ahead as the calendar will fill up quickly. This is the last year of old Nelson Ledges, so please take advantage of it.

If you have not visited Nelson Ledges Road Course or would like to walk the track to see the condition before you rent, we encourage you to do so.

Please contact us by email at info@nelsonledges.com for booking, scheduling, and more information.

We appreciate your patience and support, 
-The enthusiastic team at Nelson Ledges Road Course!

On ‎5‎/‎18‎/‎2016 at 3:44 PM, Trackbikez said:

Disappointed that wasn't clear upfront, if that really is the case.

when the woman at the signup desk mentioned the late fee as I slid the printed gift certificate towards her, I said oh wait a minute, that should have been made clear when I purchased my $600 worth of certificates LAST year.  I did not pay the late fee. Must have really frazzled the poor woman cause she let my newbie buddy in without even paying a cent! (he went back and paid)

Monday was a great day. Perfect temps and not a single red flag in A group. I love A group. Now if I can only break into proper A group times....

BTW, that Kyle Hunter guy takes some great shots.

if it's gonna be a trackbike, i would just kick that thing over right now. having such a nice bike will keep you slow and cautious.  

8 hours ago, jbot said:

what's the maintenance like on these bastards?

the maintenance is peanuts compared to the traffic tickets for wreckless op, wheelies, stoppies, jumping curbs, .......

glws, beautiful bikes!

...lol, except for insurance, maintenance, utilities, track maintenance, track workers, safety crew, promotion expenses, management, repairs, about double the capital investment you estimated, etc etc. The track owners that come to mind are racing / motorsports enthusiasts that became track owners because of their passion, not because it was a means to become richer.

16 hours ago, Chrome said:

He is a business man. In it to make money, and maybe have a little fun too. 

a guy who buys a $35M collector Ferrari probably buys a place like this for fun first, bragging rights second, and making money third. (does anybody actually MAKE money running a racetrack?....) It'll likely be a class act but expensive to ride at just to keep it exclusive (somewhere between midO and COTA). I hope that bikes will even be given the time of day. How sweet it would be to have a track 45 minutes from home...

10 hours ago, F4iguy said:

I have DirecTV with a fairly low tier package and BeIN is on there.  It's channel 620.  I just looked at the listing for 3/20 and it is showing MotoGP.  Interestingly, it does not show Moto2 or Moto3.

it's shown, but grayed out - they want more $$ for a subscription. if moto2 and 3 are not being shown i'm def going videopass.

FYI, no longer being televised on Fox Sports like previous years. Now exclusively on beIN sports. http://www.beinsports.com/us/moto-gp/

which means I either need to pony up the cash for the MotoGP videopass, or add some sports package to my Directv account. At least then i could watch WSBK too. i dunno. the videopass seems to provide all kinds of extra footage....

btw, a nice link for racing schedule - http://www.tvracer.com/

23 hours ago, Jester_ said:

If you have never ridden with N2 before you will need to start in I or N and then get bumped from there unless you have a current race license. Honestly im not sure of your pace so I suppose that is at your discretion as to which you would pick.

I've only ridden with N2 at Beaver, and run A group with them there. My question was more general and just curious about what most guys do. For me, since at a new track my pace is going to be slower than most A riders, and my lines not yet figured out, I'd be inclined to sign up for I. Just wondering what other's thoughts are...

this is really intriguing. me and the local gang are planning on Barber in April, but haven't committed yet. hmmmmmmm. at a new track, do you guys typically signup for A or drop down to I?

Anyone know what's up with intermediate a and b? They running 4 15 minute sessions now? Looks like twilight is advanced and intermediate a only.....

interesting. i dont think they'll trade 20 minute sessions for 15 minute ones, and if the ride time is the same (like the website says) then they must be running earlier to later time. like maybe 830 to 6 or something like that.

twilight was always reserved for the fast guys in I and A, and it seems that even that was too general of a qualification. most I riders would stay away since they just werent comfortably running with that speed differential, but MidO's typical weekday schedule would bring a lot of newly christened I riders that just made for problems.

25% discount today only, which is more like 33% off when you consider there's no late penalty for last minute registration.

15% thru 1/3/16.

just got back this weekend with STT and had a great time - def one of the most beautiful tracks we've got. Laid down a personal best of 1:43.8 in I group. Love to go back, but I don't think I can swing another one this year. Next year spring for sure!

btw, don't let the forecast fool ya - Sunday morning it was almost in the 30s!

i approached those guys about 5 years ago about letting SM bikes out there, and didn't get very far. They seemed unwilling to share their track and were concerned about damage to the surface from pegs, bars, etc.  Given the tiny size of the track, I didn't feel like pushing the issue and gave up on it.

It is small, but might be ok for the little roadracing minibikes. Maybe half the footprint of Beaver. Currently, it's no place for a full sized supermoto, even a 250. With a track extension it might be whole new track.

Good luck!

i didn't have to safety wire my kickstand, and never had, either I or A group. if I leave it down, making the left from pit lane into turn 1 always kicks it back up! (jk)

weather was perfect, too bad about the back to back ambulance trips that shut the track down. hope the riders are ok. but, apparently you weren't aware, but they extended the day till 6pm so got all our promised riding in. Thank you MO.

@trackbikez - it was fun running with you and Tom on the RC51, I usually only got a view of your pipes from behind, at least until you ran off the track going into the keyhole. :>)