redkow97

looks like an excuse for a long ride this weekend, if you ask me i like old jeeps, but there's always way more shit wrong with them than you can ever determine. But there's a lot to be said about a vehicle that you can order and build part-by-part from a web site.

hey quwip10 - i've been where you are, and you should know that things do get better. I'm sorry for your loss, but keep your head up, and make an effort to smile a couple times a day. I suspect the loved ones we lose would want it that way. Grieving is healthy, so I'm not suggesting you don't mourn Chachi's death, but each memory of him is a reason to celebrate his life.

register in Intermediate. I don't know if any track is ever "easy" to learn, but BeaveRun is really only 8 turns; the rest are just kinks in straightaways.

At BeaveRun, people should be breaking the 1:00 mark. I consider 1:05ish to be the threshold for an "advanced" time, and i'm not quite there yet. I was thinking in terms of WERA times instead of Fasttrax times when i registered though. Eddie Kraft is int he :57's at Beaver. The fasttrax leaders from the July 4th round were all over 1:00. if they have room to move me up, I'll consider it.

I registered in Intermediate, so i'll be out with you all day. maybe I should have gone in advanced. we'll see. 1:09 is a pretty good pace, actually. Anything under 1:12 is solid for "I" group with most orgs. I usually warm up in the 1:10 range, then turn 1:07's and 1:06's until I hit traffic. Pretty sure I could click off some 1:05's in a race setting, but there's only one way to find out. Maybe next year.

enlighten me as to the reward in keeping snakes, spiders, lizards, etc. as pets. I understand fish - they're nice to look at, and easy to maintain (except cleanign the fucking tank -that's a bitch) But these exotic pets are expensive, hard to maintain, and they're not exactly companions. My dog comes when called, sits, stays, lays down, is happy to see me when I get home, whines when I leave, fetches a ball, catches a frisbee (about 20% of the time anyway...) and will curl up and take a nap with me. what does a snake do? And if you're going to say, "eat a live mouse," I'm pretty sure my dog would do that too, if i let him...

two more things than Isaac's Papa!

you're talking turn 7 at BeaveRun. Turn in earlier. I know it's a completely blind entry, but the track lies to you there. The concrete apron is too far down the hill. To get the line right in that turn, you need to be dragging a knee through the dirt BEFORE the concrete, and hard on the gas, drifting away from the apron by the time you reach it. That keeps you inside the ripples and lets you get on the gas harder earlier for the back straight. It can literally cost you a full second if you turn in too late and have to go neutral throttle through the ripples. I'm by no means good at it, but I know that's a mistake I make. There used to be a skid-mark I used as a turn-in point, but it disappeared since last year. finding a new marker has been hard. the only other spot I dislike at Beave is the bump entering T1. You can avoid it, and hitting it has never caused me any issues, but it surprises me when I do hit it. the patching in Turn 5 is grippy as hell. Don't even think twice about it. as for nelson... the whole place is a "trouble spot," but I love that track. It just takes me all day to build confidence and get up to speed. Mid-Oh's only problem is that it's crap in the wet, not much better in the cold, and there's that dip exiting the carousel. gingerman has the seams, and its own dip onto the back straight (in the old configuration) all of them are worth riding.

your wife was trying, but I have higher standards than you might think.

Not every US state adopts the Castle Doctrine. I'm glad we live in a state that does. Even then, most states have some qualifying loopholes that can screw you. They're made with domestic violence in mind (i.e., Sue can't shoot Jimmy if she locks him out for cheating on her and he breaks in to slap her silly), but truth is stranger than fiction. People rob their relatives.

'merica, FUCK YEAH - over half the nuclear explosions world wide! take that, Russia! Makes me think twice about ever living in the NV/AZ/NM area of the country... Oh, and I'm going to stop recycling. barely a drop in the bucket after seeing that. <eyeroll>

you're half right. following too closely, yes; but even a modern family sedan can out-brake a sportbike. It's a simple matter of the car having more rubber on the ground, and probably ABS. A motorcycle is limited by its small contact patch and the point at which stopping power lifts the rear wheel. But I agree that keeping the bike upright and continuing to brake is always a better way to find traction than laying the bike down. It's like Fred says at the track, "never tell me 'I had to run off into the grass' when you go down. I've never found MORE traction in the grass than on the pavement."

that sounded like a 2-stroke. the fun that could be had with a cheap EX250 or EX500 motor would be near criminal... I really have to learn how to weld and make my own tube-chassis kart...

see you there. I'm not planning on racing on Sunday, but I plan on drinking enough Saturday night to necessitate hanging around yellow plates and more safety wiring should be in my off-season plans though. Just in case I get the urge to race a little. FT's July 4th results would put me around mid-pack in the 600 superbike race (combined with 1000 GT though, so who knows who is in which class).

well that sucks. Good thing I registered months ago.

NESBA has a "skills enhancement day" at BeaveRun on 8/14 and 8/15 (saturday is Beginner, and Sunday is Intermediate). It's steep at $305, but you literally get 5 hours of open track, and more 1-on-1 instruction than you can handle. I'll be at the Putnam SED on 8/1, or I'd have strongly considered doing the one at BeaveRun. I'll also be at BeaveRun on 8/28 with Fasttrax. $135. total deal.

Does Brian even own a 600? 1:37.6 would have been the cutoff, so I'm sure Brian could have qualified, but when race pace is consistently below 1:32, it's a lot of money to spend on entry fees to get lapped by the faster riders. I guess someone has to be last in every race, but I admit I found myself asking, "why is Johnny Rock Page even here?" Melissa Paris didn't look impressive either, but she's injured, and totally hot, so I cut her a lot more slack.

I don't think many of the coaches are in the low 1:30's at mid ohio. High 1:30's maybe, but the AMA riders were doing 1:29's on 600's and 1:25's on liter bikes this past weekend. mid 1:30's would be impressive. Low 1:30's would be down right implausible, with few exceptions. (Ryan Kerr was coaching last time I was there. the kid's legit.) Advanced group traffic added about 4 seconds a lap to Cory West's race times last I saw him. I doubt he was pushing very hard at a trackday, but still. breaking 1:20 at Nelson is a milestone in my book. breaking 1:10 is a bigger milestone, but one most of us won't reach. I've only timed a 1:18 at Nelson, but control riders swear i've done faster than that when the timer wasn't running. Whatever... Going fast at Nelson is less about riding well and more about having the confidence (or fearlessness) to trust the surface.

"WITNESS!" - George Costanza.

how did I miss THAT?

the bike burnouts were making me nervous as hell too! I saw that they had the burnout board up against one of the marker poles so it didn't shoot out and kills someone, but they had the front wheel of the bike(s) against a log with people holding the forks in place by hand. I kept moving away from the fronts of the burnout bikes and picturing the headline, "2 die, 12 injured in motorcycle camping accident at Mid-Ohio"

Have you ever tried to MAKE a 4-yr-old do anything? the wife and I had 4-yr-old twins in our wedding, and there's no way to make them do anything if they're not enjoying it. I think the parents ahve the right idea though: sell "jonah rocks!" t-shirts now while he's a novelty. The fact is that there's not that much money to be made as a professional musician, and good as the kid is for being 4 years old, there are a lot of people out there who are a LOT better, but lack the gimmick. IF he sticks with it and works hard, he's got a chance to be great, but he ain't there yet. [nomedia=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHDjGtj18X0]YouTube- Amazing Drum Solo[/nomedia] it really picks up at about 2:05. He's doing what's called a "muscle roll." Drum roll on snare with one hand.

yeah, the girl on the van was... well, she was trying pretty hard. I'll be nice and leave it at what I said when I saw her about the third time: "i'm glad I'm drunk for this; it's making that broad tolerable, but honestly, i'm more impressed that that piece of shit van can still rip a decent burnout." BTW - i saw the van the next day parked in the infield. I'll be shocked if that right rear tire made it all the way home.

sounds like you guys are upping the pace out there. I'm gonna have to get back to Nelson and catch up before the end of teh season!

that's fucking funny. my coolant reservoir melted (header heat) last year, and I should have gone that route.