Almost 6 months to the day after the crash that left me with five bone breaks (but only four broken bones) and that required surgery, I find myself waiting in line for over an hour to get back into the track and start my first race weekend of 2007.

The months of physical therapy.

The long weekends repairing my old bike.

The late nights preparing my new bike.

Working with Desmoto Sport to shake the bugs out of the new bike and get it dialed in.

Several weekends riding at the track to fine-tune the setup and get back into mental and physical shape for riding. 

I put in a lot of effort to get ready for this, my fifth season of racing -- certainly more effort than for any other season.

TigerBike Racing starts the season with lofty goals and high hopes.  The team has solidified with five guys, all with plans to race the full season.  Two of us have new bikes for this season.  Two personally rebuilt their motors over the winter.  One of the guys moved to Massachusetts and is flying back out for the race weekends.  More “reinforcements” may come in mid-season, but I’m excited about the group we’ve got. 

Day 1 – Friday

Session 1 – I go out and start putting around the track for the first session.  I’m not feeling totally comfortable.  My last outing to the track had me feeling a little apprehensive because I will still new to the Dunlop 16.5” tires that I’m trying for the first part of the season.  Incidentally, I bought the last two 16.5” 195-width rear tires that our Dunlop tire guy will have – Dunlop is discontinuing the tires and moving the 16.5” range to a 200-width tire.  Also, I’m sporting a new paint job.  Racers have a superstition that new bodywork and paint makes you much more likely to crash.  Fortunately, it didn’t happen for me in my first session out.  What did happen, though, was that I could smell my radiator fluid.  I run distilled water with a non-glycol based additive that aids in cooling, but doesn’t create an oil-like slick that normal coolant leaves when it hits the pavement.  The fact that I could smell it while I was out tooling around at over 90mph made me a bit concerned.  As I pulled off the track at the end of the first session, I could see my bike was running 25 degrees hotter than I would have expected. 

Back in the pits, I ripped off the bodywork and saw a LOT of fluid (over half a gallon) in my bellypan.  I dumped it out and looked around on the bike but couldn’t see where it was coming from.  Desmoto Sport took a peek and immediately noticed something I had overlooked – a hole in my radiator!  It turns out the bodywork mounting screws had punched a hole in the radiator and dumped my cooling fluid out.  I scrambled around the track and ended up locating a Champ Car racing team that hooked me up by taking a break from what they were working on and welded over the hole in my radiator.

Around this same time one of my teammates ended up crashing.  He was run off the track by a guy who was running too slow for his practice group and apparently had some kind of issue on-track.  When my teammate hit the dirt, it was too soft from recent rainfall and he ended up falling down.  The bike fared REMARKABLY well – aside form some cosmetic damage, it was fine – nothing even broken.  His suit held up well, too.  His helmet did hit the ground and was rendered useless (helmets are designed for one impact only – even more important in racing where the chances of using your helmet increase substantially).  He tried on my backup helmet but it didn’t fit him well, so he called our other teammate in San Francisco and had him bring a new helmet with him when he came down on Friday night. 

Back out on the track for me…

The next session out, I picked up the pace a bit more, starting to feel comfortable with my braking and turn-in markers.  I checked my bellypan after the session and saw more fluid.  It turned out to just be overflow from when I refilled the radiator – the leak was sealed. 

I continued lapping, making a couple adjustments to my suspension, but nothing dramatic.  By the end of the day, I had turned in a 2:01, which was enough to make me happy.  That was my best race time from October 2005 on my old bike, and to hit that in a practice session on my first day at the track was a good result.

That night, I cleaned up the bike and looked everything over.  I mounted my timing/scoring transmitter onto my new bodywork.  After I finished, I went to sleep. 

Day 2 – Saturday

I woke up and went over to register for the AFM portion of the weekend.  I ate a little bit of food, but was scrambling around with my morning prep work so much that I didn’t eat much. 

My first session out was PAINFULLY slow.  I was frustrated because the AFM had placed me in a slower practice group than where I felt I belonged.  They only look at times from the previous year, and since I had only participated in one Buttonwillow AFM round in 2006, they took my slow lap times from that weekend, my first real outing after having changed a bunch of hardware on my old bike.  Not to fear – I just needed to turn in 2 laps at a fast pace to demonstrate to them that I could move up.

Second session out.  I was feeling more comfortable now.  I started picking up the pace and consciously thinking about going to full-throttle faster and more frequently.  I was starting to focus on passing the slower guys out in the group with me and was so caught up in the other riders that I didn’t see a warning flag coming through turn 1.  As I came around, I saw the other riders “check up” a bit and I glanced down the track and saw a bike lying on its side on the righthand side of the track (where I was).  I had to react quickly and decided to ride around the right side of the bike.  I had about a foot of clearance on both sides, but I made it through uneventfully.  Unfortunately the damage was done – I would not be able to turn any “hot”laps on this session due to a bike and debris flag flying in one of the more important turns. 

Back in the pits…  I discovered that my teammate had crashed again.  In his haste to get his bike ready, he didn’t have time to put on his tire warmers.  Going really easy on his outlap, he still caught a nasty highside that dropped him on the same elbow he fell on the day before.  He also burned the new helmet and punched a hole in his gas tank.  He would be done riding for the weekend.  :(

Session 3 – I headed out early this time to try to get some clear track in front of me for some fast laps.  Sure enough – I got open track for my first three laps before I starting hitting “lapped” traffic.  In the lapped traffic there were some guys who were frighteningly slow – enough that I had to check up because the closing speeds were scaring me.  I didn’t turn any more hot laps. 

Now it was the lunch break.  I had found myself in this situation once before – the slow group I was in went out before the lunch break and the faster group I was trying to get into was right after lunch.  I waited for my timesheets to get posted and went to the tech & registration folks to get moved up.  First – they asked me for my group sticker.  I ran back to my pits to grab it.  When I returned, I showed the woman my timesheet, but she explained that the faster group was *absolutely* full.  I was crushed, and started walking away.  Then I remembered that my teammate had crashed out was in the faster group.  I went back and they agreed to switch me up.

Session 4 – First time out in the faster group, nothing really changed.  I was in a big pack of people doing the same pace as in the slower group.  I guess the main difference was that there wasn’t anyone doing really slow times in this group. 

Session 5 – I got out there and was running in a pack with John Fosgate -- one of the racers who also does the announcing and color commentary on race day.  He’s a super nice guy who’s been around the club long enough to know everyone.  That having been said, when I saw him in front of my coming onto the front straight on his 250 two-stroke bike, I knew I wanted to pass him.  I went rocketing by under power on the front straight.  Unfortunately, I didn’t have clear track in front of me and a few turns later, he came sailing past me in the fastest turn on the track.  I stayed with him and lined him up on the front straight again, only to have him pass me back in the same turn.  Later that night at the BBQ, he explained I was getting a bad drive coming out of the turn before and made a few helpful suggestions.  More on this later.

Session 6 – One last short session where we’d all get 3 laps.  I got out there at the front of the group to get some clean track.  When I showed up I bumped into a student of mine from a track day a few weeks earlier.  He had done the new racer school and I had evaluated his on-track riding and approved him to start racing.  He got out in front of me and I couldn’t catch the guy.  I was able to close up on him in a few spots, but couldn’t make a pass.  I talked to him for a while afterwards and was really impressed at how well his riding had come along in such a short period. 

End of the day – my first priority was to get my tires changed and then take my bike through tech inspection.  If you’re able to go through tech on Saturday night, then you just show up to ride on Sunday morning.  This is a really nice benefit because you can sleep in a bit later and not scramble around as much in the morning.

Saturday night – we hung out in the pits and kicked back some beers.  A few non-racers have come down from the bay area to hang out and do some cool highway riding in the area.  I was mostly focused on cleaning the bike, making a couple suspension adjustments that the shop recommended, and trying to fix the front brake drag on my bike. 

Day 3 - Sunday – Race day

I woke up and checked my tire pressures first.  Then I added fuel and looked over the bike.  DAMN IT – I had put the front wheel on backwards – probably part of what was contributing to my front brake drag.  It actually might not matter – but I switched it back anyway just to be sure. 

First practice session – everything was slow.  The track was still cold and I didn’t feel I should push too hard, even though I had my tire warmers on.  I blew my downshifts coming into turn 1 on two consecutive laps and the bike stalled out each time, but otherwise the session was uneventful.

I asked Desmoto Sport about the downshift issue, but the answer wasn’t obvious.  I decided to inspect my clutch plates before the first race.  Race starts are hard on clutches and with three races, I wanted to ensure my clutch could hold up.  Sure enough – the plates were fairly worn, so I threw in a fresh new pack.  I was a little concerned because I was switching form “regular” plates to “sintered” plates and there is a different feeling that each provides.  I took it out for a couple quick practice runs up and down in the hot pit and everything felt well.  Time to race. 

Race 1 – Formula 1

I was gridded up in 42^nd position out of 60-something bikes.  Wow – I’m glad I did a race last season and was able to get a couple points!  I was gridded up a few rows behind my teammate Adrian and after all the smack-talking over the six months of the offseason, I was looking to beat him.

Off the line – WOW – what a crowd of bikes.  We were 3-4 wide going through the first two turns, and then things started to thin out.  I saw Adrian poke up through traffic in the first couple turns.  I was impressed and I realized I need to get the confidence and aggressiveness to do that!  I tried to tuck in behind him, but the best I could do was a couple bikes back. 

Going into turn 13 leading to the start/finish straight at the end of the first lap, I heard a bike try to pass me on the outside.  Well... not exactly.  I heard his tires give up as he tried to outbrake me.  I heard he went shooting off into the dirt and crashed.  I don't think he'll try to outbrake me again.  ;)

After a few laps, I stumbled across John Fosgate while coming up the front straight.  Sure enough, I had enough drive to dive past him before turn one.  This time, I focused on the advice he’d given me and drove hard out of the couple turns leading up to where he had passed me the day before.  I kept looking out of the corner of my eye for his bike, but this time he didn’t come around me.  Thanks for the advice, John!  ;) 

After a couple laps, I made my way past some of the slower guys that were between us, and going into the fourth lap decided I needed to try to make a move now.  I tried passing on the brakes going into turn 1 (on the outside), but I missed a downshift and he blew back by me with ease.  I worked my way back over the course of the next lap, but wasn’t able to take another run at him until the main start/finish straight.  This was to be the first real side-by-side test of our bikes’ power.  As Adrian came through turn 13 onto the straight, he was just a few yards ahead of me.  I focused on getting a great drive coming through the last turn on to the main straight and tucked.  I pulled to his inside and was just desperately watching for the start/finish line.  I thought I beat him to the line by a hair, which was good information, but we had another lap to go.

I put my head down and focused on riding a good hard lap, but made sure to ride somewhat defensive lines so that he couldn’t sneak past me.  A few turns later, we went by a fairly gnarly accident in one of the turns, and the race was black flagged before we could finish another lap.  In these circumstances, because we had completed more than half the race distance, the race officials go back to the last completed lap.  I lucked out – I had edged him out by a matter of inches (less than 5 hundredths of a second) and I ended up with the higher finish. 

Result: 38^th out of 59 starters
Best lap: 2:02.506 

Race 2 – 600 Superbike 

I knew Adrian would be back after me after that “cheap” victory in Formula 1.  I got another mediocre start in this race, but did go sailing past Adrian.  Unfortunately for me, he came sailing right back past a few turns later.  Again, the guy is much better in traffic than I am.  I tried to tuck in behind him, but this time 3 bikes separated us.  I settled in and hoped he wouldn’t break away from the pack.  I sat back at the back of the pack for a couple laps, biding my time while the different folks at the front of the pack took turns nipping at each other.

After about four laps I started making a few moves to approach the front of the pack I was riding in.  I was able to close up on everyone on the brakes on a very high-speed section of the track going into the “sweeper” – just before start/finish.  It was enough that I was able to get a run on Adrian going through start/finish, but not enough to move past anyone else in the pack.  A few turns later, I tried making a move to pass on of the guys on the outside of the Lost Hills turn, but Adrian took advantage and made his move on the inside, taking both of us.  Coming out of the right-hand turn, we both were charging hard for the few feet of pavement leading into the left-hand turn.  One of us had to back down, and I couldn’t establish position – so it was me.  I checked up on the throttle and he gapped me.  I caught up some ground while the rest of the pack held him up in the sweeper, but I knew I’d have to wait and try to get him coming out of turn 13 into start finish again.  Sure enough, coming through I got a great drive and was able to clip him by a narrow margin – this time by 37 thousandths of a second!  I finished in 39^th and Adrian in 40^th.  That puts me in the points -- not a lot of points (just 1, I suspect), but it’ll help in the gridding for the rest of the season, for sure. 

Result: 39 out of 57 starters
Best lap: 2:03.845 

Race 3 – Open Twins

This is the class I’ve raced since 2004 and the one that I care about most.  It’s a small grid and most of the grid has been in the class for a few years.  I know most of the guys and they’re a friendly bunch off the track, but on-track it’s all business. 

I got a TERRIBLE start with almost the entire field going by me – so much for my 4^th row grid position.

I had my work cut out for me, but unlike in the previous classes, the “crowds” of bikes around me were all moving at a good clip.  I wasn’t really getting held up so much as sitting back and watching for where I could move on people. 

The race went on and was fairly uneventful until three laps to go.  Going into the start/finish straight someone blew turn 13 trying to pass me and then waved me back past them.  That put me behind one of the 1098’s on the grid.  I tucked in behind him for the next lap, waiting for the change to make a move.  After following him through Riverside and watching his rearsets spark up as they hit the ground on the exit, I decided I wouldn’t follow *too* closely.  I caught up to him on the brakes entering the sweeper and decided I’d see what his bike had on the front straight – for shits and grins, since he was packing probably about 35 more ponies in his stable.

Again, focusing on my drive out of turn 13 on to the front straight, I wound up and gained quite a bit on him – maybe only 3-4 bikes lengths back pulling up the entire front straight.  To my total shock and amazement, he didn’t pull me up the front straight!  In fact, I was able to glide past him on the brakes into turn 1 – I assume he checked up a bit early for the yellow flag in one, but that didn’t stop me from clipping him before we got to the tower. 

After checking up a bit for the incident, I rode one good clean lap.  By the end of the lap, I was up on another bike.  He blew turn 13 and ran wide, but in my effort to drive past him, I was too hard on the gas to dive up his inside.  I checked up, too and he beat me in the drag race to start finish by about 2 feet.  *sigh*

Result: 14^th out of 22 starters
Best Lap: 2:00.850

Parting thoughts:

I had higher expectations for the weekend, but it wasn’t a wash.  I was very happy to be back out there again duking it out with folks and feeling comfortable in the race.  I had been concerned that my crash from last year would force me to be way too hesitant in a race situation, but it wasn’t the case.  I walked away from the weekend with some valuable race experience, feeling very confident with my bike setup, and I picked up points in each of the classes I entered – which will help me for the remainder of the season.  I was also really pleased that I held up physically through three races very well.  It was a warm day, but even though my winter conditioning was limited by my collarbone injury, I was able to get through to the end of the day and stay focussed for every race. 

My hat goes off to Tim who had such a great attitude after a couple of really tough breaks.  I look forward to seeing him back out on the track soon.

I’d like to thank my main sponsor, eBay Motors, for helping make the effort possible this year.  I look forward to using them to find replacement parts when I start crashing. 

I'll also thank Bob Keith and CycleFinish for a *phenomenal* job making the Tigerbike concept come to life.  I handed him a photoshopped picture of a 749R and told him "make it look like this, but better."  He exceeded my expectations by a country mile.

I’d also like to thank Scott & Lance from Desmoto Sport.  They provided a tremendous amount of help this weekend – far beyond the call of duty – not to mention all the assistance in prepping the bike during the off-season.  The package came together really well and I couldn’t have done it without them.