Grattan, Owndjoo (Drew) get better

[owndjoo]

it's all about line choice for 10B, you gotta get that 1k up on the meat of the tire and drive through there. I've just gotten used to the bumps there and go through there wide open and let it hop and skip. dont get frustrated with it, just have fun chris. and when the hell are they gonna get the times up on mylaps?!

[Chrisoh]

That is kind of why I may be getting out of it. I didn't really have any fun this weekend.

Laptime wise my goal was 24s so I made that.

I don't know if it was the extra power of the 1k, but even going slower through there when I tried to get 1/2 throttle out of 10B is when the bike would bounce and shake bad enough where I would alsmost get thrown off the bike. I didn't think my line was that much different. I did start using the wide line around that big bump at Apex, but just never felt like it was helping any.

[Moto-Brian]

Chris -

Get to an STT event where we can sit down, go through your suspension notes, set the suspension and try things. Your bike is probably good, but your head is wrong. We need you to start having fun. Get with us at an event, pit with us and let's get you rolling.

Realize that in life, w all can try things and do as much as we can. But, in the end, some of us aren't meant to be what we want to. Not saying you're not meant to be a racer... I am saying that you sometimes have to do it because you enjoy it. Once it becomes work, it isn't fun. I raced for 14 years. the first three were AWESOME! The rest was to a point where I competed and tried so damn hard to win and make money that I forgot the reason why I enjoyed it.

I did well for myself and for our team. I got to see a lot of things, meet a lot of people, ride a shit pile of cool bikes, etc. BUT, even though I made some cash, had a few trophies and had some cool moments, I never enjoyed it as much as I did in the first three years.

Now, with doing STT, I feel the way i did in those first three years. I have fun, I have a bunch of cool people I get to hang with, I get to help once in a while with others who try and learn to ride the track. Above all, I don't feel as if it is a job. I love it. Will i race again? Probably. I will do the one off events. Maybe an endurance race now and again, etc. But, no more full seasons. I'm not fast anymore (Never was) and I'll leave it to the young pups.

Get with me and we'll try and get you laughing and having a good time. We'll get that 1000 working better, too.

[e-flores]

lizard you are a wise man, that is the best piece of advise you can give a racer. Just go out and have fun try your best to win but have fun. Dont push yourself or the bike too hard you at just going to go slower, run at a good pace throughout the race and be as smooth and as cosistant as possible. Cissistancy is key, sure you can run a lap in the 24s but how many of them? I would much rather run 10 laps at 25.1 than one at 24.8 then some 25.3's, and maybe a 25.0, and if you mess up and have a sucky lap a 25.7.

The cosistancy will also give you a better benchmark for all of your adjustments. If you change your suspension and you go out for practice and run 3 laps cosistantly at 24.8 or 24.9 then you know you have gotten somewhere. If you are runing 25.2, 25.1 and then somehow you pull a 24.7 how the hell are you supposed to know if it wasn't you getting better and not the bike?

I dont know kinda went on rambling but that was the best piece of advice I got when I first started racing.