redkow97

Sorry i missed you at the CX race. I did a short ride Saturday, and my knee was still sore. I'm also fighting off one of those annoying cold/flu bugs - the kind that makes you feel like shit, but not shitty enough to get any sympathy from your wife, or stay home from work... Anyway, racing on Sunday would have been a waste of money, and probably hindered my recovery. I woke up this morning and didn't have to blow my nose for 20 minutes, so I'm hoping to be riding again pretty soon. I also got poison ivy (or something) from my fall in that race. Fuck. That. Shit. misery.

Did you get ticketed in Ohio, or out of state? I can't give you legal advice for anything in Ohio, but i can answer questions that might be hard to find online... the quick things that jump to mind are: If the speed limit is 54 or lower, it's a 0 point violation until you're going 5 over. if the speed limit is 55 or higher, it's a 0 point violation until you're going 10 over. (at that point it's a 2 point violation, and it doesn't jump to 4 point until you're at 30 over. 6 point violations are for 'street racing,' and OVI, or other serious offenses. The definition of "street racing" is very broad. I'm surprised more group rides don't get popped for that...) Court costs for moving violations are $107 where I practice. If the Court is allowing a waiver, they issue a $50 fine and a bill for the $107 in Court costs. Your jurisdiction may charge more for court costs, but tha'ts the ballpark you're in.

Almost forgot - my lap was about 55 minutes. That's with all the falling and stopping and garbage pacing. My best there is a 52. The winner of the beginner class (in my age group) rode a 56... The 40+ winner rode a 45 or something. Seems like I may need to go back and win beginner at a faster pace, and then maybe just gut out a second lap for fun and training purposes thereafter. Live and learn.

good turnout, but a bad race for me. I got a little overconfident and tried to stay with the "sport" class pack. Not the leaders, but I burned myself out about halfway through the first lap. I made a dumb mistake (set up too wide on the first steep switch-back, and fell pretty hard on my left side. I must have hit my knee harder than I realized, but it felt okay at that point, and I slogged on. (this was after a stop to realign my handlebars with teh front wheel... the impact of my bars hitting the ground had knocked them about 20 degrees out of alignment. I was able to twist them back, but nervous for the rest of the ride that the stem was loose) Never really recovered from that crash. Just felt tired and out of breath. So then I hear people catching me. It turned out to be the expert women's leader, but I was thinking it was the beginner men's leader - which was making me mad. Anyway, when she caught me, I pulled off to get out of her way, and promptly fell down a small hillside, with one foot clipped in, and the bike tumbling over me. More dumb/tired idiocy on my part. I didn't know it at the time, but I also ripped a nice hole in the ass of my bib shorts, and my right butcheek was hanging out for the rest of the race. The mens beginner leader did catch me, but that tends to happen when you spend 2 minutes on the ground, and another minute or more bending your bike back to rideable condition. I stopped after my first lap to tighten the head tube and stem bolts, then realized my ass was exposed, and my knee was swelling pretty good. At that point, i turned in my number, told them to mark me as a DNF (so they wouldn't be looking for my body on the trail), and raised one beer to my lips while the other one 'iced' my knee. Kind of a frustrating and humbling day, as I biffed a few features I had previously been able to ride without dabbing, and also failed to complete the 2 laps I'd done at the last race. That said, i cleaned cheater's hill with a damaged bike and a gimpy left knee - and man did those beers taste good. Knee is still sore, but i've been icing it, and it seems to just be a really bad bruise. No meat to shield the bone there. Hoping I'll be riding again Thursday, and racing CX on Sunday at Brooklyn.

Find a $2800 SV650 that someone else has set up well, but made ugly, then use the rest on funding a few weekends of riding, or new bodywork, if you must.

ABS on varied public road surfaces = good ABS on a race track = variable outside of the rider's control that creates risk of more harm than good when milliseconds matter i would test it before disabling it, but I wouldn't pay extra for it. Lateral loss of grip is still the more common crash scenario...

These races are not very well attended - enough people to be fun, but unless you're racing expert, there will probably be 4-10 people in your class. Vulture's Knob is a very cool trail system. More like the Medina Huffman (and surrounding trails) than the metroparks trails. Virtually all obstacles have a bypass (even the suspension bridge), but there are plenty of jumps for those looking to have a good time. Assuming they run the typical XC loop, it's between 6 and 7 miles per lap, with two climbs of real significance. Beginners ride 1 lap Sport class rides 2 laps Experts ride 3 laps I will probably enter in Sport class again. $15, which supports a fantastic trail system. If you podium, you get a discount on your next race entry :-)

'cross is HERE!

I don't think I used the word "regretted," but riding the sand definitely sucked my energy for that switchback climb up around the tree, and yes, that was almost definitely me, given how closely we finished to each other. I felt great yesterday morning - which was a stark contrast to finishing the XC race and then wanting to puke. My only regret from the CX race is that I was way too polite at the start. I should have wedged my way up to the front for the horn, rather than allowing the leaders to run away while I sat in traffic the first half of the first lap. the only time I unclipped that entire race was when the guy in front of me hopped off his bike and stopped dead in his tracks in the sand. I'm so used to MTB races, where walkers are supposed to yield to riders, it was pissing me off having to navigate through the beach traffic. Staying upright was hard enough without having to weave!!

I know I'm in the minority here, but I did not like the way the R6 felt from behind the bars. Maybe it's something I could get used to, but I did not like riding "on" the bike rather than "in" the bike. GSXRs and ZX6s feel much more natural for me. My Honda (the 600RR, not the XR100) felt comfortable as well, but they're known as "forgiving," which is the nice way of saying that it handles like a turd, and doesn't have the grunt to make up for it in the straights. If you can live with the ergonomics of a supersport, that will obviously be more suited to track riding. I wouldn't change the bars on an FZ6 unless it was to make it crash better. Lower rearsets may be a lot more comfortable, and if you never drag the stock set, i don't see a reason to buy anything else...

I think your budget dictates what you buy... I'm sure I'm not telling you anything you don't already know, but my initial thoughts are: - fairings/aero will matter a lot on a top-speed run. - cutting off unnecessary weight will help you overcome the acceleration loss of shorter gearing - be prepared to buy or machine custom sprockets to achieve said shorter gearing - did I mention aero will matter a LOT? I would bet you spend more money there than you probably anticipate. Charlie V who owns Pit-Bull is a salt-flats top speed guy. I believe he's surpassed 200 mph. I know that was a goal of his for a while. I'm sure you can find his email address on the WERA board or their public website. https://www.pit-bull.com/about-pit-bull-products

a 300 at Mid Ohio? Pack a lunch and a book for the back straight

Congrats. The FZ1 is one of those bikes I think about often, but always end up dismissing as more than necessary. That said, its ability to accelerate even with a passenger is highly appealing. For whatever reason, I also like the Honda "superhawk." Maybe only because it should feel torquier with a passenger.

Probably not very much. He was in the 1:46's on his 600...

One more thought that occurred to me - I would NEVER tell anyone not to spend money making their bike crash better. Case covers, clip-ons, folding levers, etc. - anything that makes your bike cheaper to fix after a crash is a good investment, IMHO. That's another plus on the XR100. It rarely breaks, and when it does, it's almost always a cheap fix. You may want to rent one before you decide you need a faster bike. Seeing what better riders can do on the same equipment is eye-opening.

As I've scrolled through this thread, I keep reading Craig's posts and thinking, "yep. I was just about to type that." I do not believe for one second that you're nearing the limits of even a stock FZ6. IF you are, it's because you're making the bike work harder than it should be. That means you need better skills and more practice, not a new bike. I'm also concerned by your comfort statements. Will you be able to ride a supersport in anger for 20 minutes without discomfort? Or is the FZ6 the best compromise between comfort and capability? (with suspension and braking upgrades as possible improvements) I got antsy and bought a 1993 Honda F2 after five track days on my EX500. While the sportier bike did make me faster on the track, I was nowhere near the EX500's limits. So now time for the hard question - Do you really want to be the best rider you can be, or do you just want to have fun and go a little faster? Riding around a stock bike's limitations is a hugely underrated learning tool. That's at least half of the appeal of riding and racing XR100s... You learn how to handle slides, scrub speed with the rear brake, and deal with a noodle frame and crap suspension (and you learn it below 50 mph). You could do the same on an FZ6 and definitely find its limits before you would find the limits of a modern 600. So do you want to learn to ride ANY bike fast, or do you prefer to buy a bike that is so much more capable than you that you'll probably never find its limits, let alone need to ride around them? My personal opinion is that pursuing the latter drives people away from the track prematurely, because they start blowing their cash on their bike, parts, etc. rather than seat time and tires. YMMV.

And now that I look at the "who's registered?" link, I see that @jhawk is already registered for the CX race. I've been off my bike for 2 weeks, but I will be gunning for you!

(waited too long to edit my original post, but there's a lot going on for spectators as well. Live music, food trucks, etc.)

I'll be racing the XC and CX races, Saturday and Sunday morning respectively. The fat tire division is Sunday afternoon, but I'd like to see how the Browns do... http://www.neocycle.org/home

super fun place, right??? There's still one more race 9/16, i believe. I'll be doing sport class again. Probably taking last place again.

didn't take many pictures, but Nora and I were there Saturday. Got there in time to shake hands with Brad (Burns, #912 in the WERA 1000 class) before he headed out for qualifying. Watched that, then rode over and said hello to Todd, and Gavin's dad, Adam, along with Jared and Kent. They were putting the bike back together from the qualifying crash, so I tried to get out of their way relatively quickly. I took Nora around the pits and pointed out the bikes of people I either know, or hope to see have success. Tim Bimisderfer (2nd in WERA 1000) and his wife were very nice. His bike looks similar to Brad's, so I was trying to observe the different paint schemes to identify them more easily at speed. I saw "Super" Carl Soltisz's scooter in the pits, so I knew he was racing, but I never found his pit box. After watching him struggle in race 1, I didn't look for him. Figured he was either pissed off, or busy fixing something. Same with Gavin. After seeing the mechanical, I texted Kent later in the evening to wish Gavin luck on Sunday. Great racing though, and I thought the track handled the crowd really well for their first major event. The longest wait I had was to sign a waiver for having a minor with me. Because she was under 12 (and thus free), there is no disclaimer on the ticket she didn't have to buy. I had to wait for the guy w/ the clipboard to come over to my car before I could park.

Dibs, if Adam doesn't pick it up!

Ankle is still sore, but feeling much better. It looks like I've dodged disaster, and work (which has been crazy this week) has kept me from riding. I'm probably lucky that the two events coincided. Final race is 9/16/17!!! I will be there, trying to lose by less in Sport class!

Work just threw a big curveball at me... I should not attend, but I still want to. If I make it, I'll have my daughter with me. That means no camping (this year), but she'll be a hoot to hang out with. Saturday only. I'll have a bike and a bicycle trailer w/ my kid and beers in it. #dadoftheyear

my wife got her M endorsement through the MSF program. It definitely needs to be more difficult.