I spent the greater part of the day on Sunday working on the bodywork.  I sanded and sanded and sanded, and then sanded some more.  It was a shame to strip off all the old stripes I had painted on before, but in order to make the bike look clean again, it was necessary.  I'll do some more sanding and some bondo work this weekend, and hopefully get a primer coat on.  The goal would be to paint the orange next weekend, and throw the black and clear coats on the following weekend -- leaving me two weeks before my first track outing.  We'll see how it goes!

I ordered the Marchesinis yesterday from a company on the east coast called Hard Racing.  A few weeks back they told me they had a couple sets in stock and it would take only a couple days from when I placed the order.  Now they explained they were out of stock and it would now be a special order from Italy and it would take 4-6 weeks (putting me out past the start of the season!).  I reluctantly agreed, knowing that the ultra-cool forged magnesium Marvics would take even longer.

In a great turn of events, today I got a call from Hard Racing explaining that they had one more set of wheels in their warehouse and they were being shipped today.  Hurray!  This is seriously great news, as now I'll be able to get the suspension dialed-in for these rims and tires before I head to the track, helping me keep the dream of "show up and ride" alive.  I'll also be stepping up to at least a 44-tooth rear sprocket.  I'm debating going to 45 (and probably will).

Now, to start the search for a lightweight rear brake rotor as icing on the "rotating mass reduction" cake...