AFM 2016 - Last Round at Buttonwillow Raceway

This is Going to be a Short One...

The weeks between round 6 and this last round (7) was crazy busy with things that weren't moto-related (how unfortunate!). I wanted to do more dirt riding and practice my starts, but I didn't get around to that. I needed to get some riding in because I knew ahead of time that I would miss Saturday due to a family's wedding that day.

But, at times, things don't go according to plan and I decided that I still wanted to come down and race Sunday. I knew it would be rough since my competitors would have Friday, Saturday practice and Saturday races all under their belts.

Yup! This was going to be interesting, I thought.

Sunday - Novice 250 Production and Lightweight Twins

I arrived at the track Saturday evening around 10:30 pm. Luckily, Greg was ready to go to bed and the Dunlop tent stopped playing music a little after 11 pm. I got a great night's sleep and woke up excited and ready to rock and roll that Sunday.

I was the first group out for the short practice session, so the track was cold, which means I can't really push it. This didn't really matter because as soon as I picked up a bit of speed, I felt like I was going to run of the track. Even though I've been to this track and ran this configuration a handful of times, I still was having a tough time nailing down my lines and hitting my apexes.

I came off track a bit uneasy, but I wasn't feeling defeated like I at times do when I don't perform well during practice. I figured that I could figure it out while I raced, and I just had to get my hand and focus on keeping up with the rest of the guys.

As we gridded for my 250 Prod race, I was (as I always do) feeling very nervous but was super focused. I needed to not botch my start and make sure I can stay with everyone. Unfortunately, I did sort of botch it by staying on the front brake a tad too long when Phil dropped the green flag. Everyone shot ahead but I eventually caught up going into turn 2.

I saw my competitor Pao right ahead and he was sandwiched between two expert racers. For a few laps I kept all three within sight and passed one eventually. The other expert got by Pao and he was my target for the remainder of the race. I desperately wanted to pass him, but since I wasn't familiar with track, I wasn't sure where to or how.

However, on our last lap I was closing the gap and I knew I would pass him eventually. I was getting a bit nervous as we were going into The Sweeper and I was still behind. But once we got through The Esses and headed into Sunset (the last turn before the straight) I knew I could get him on the exit. Sure enough, as we exited I pulled away and crossed the start/finish right ahead.


Though I didn't get podium, it was still a fun race and I felt very proud of myself that I was able to go into this without having much practice or seat time at all. During this race, I also set a personal best and dropped five seconds from my previous PB at Buttonwillow.

As for the Novice Lightweight Twins race, well... that didn't go as well as my 250 Prod one. The good news is that I FINALLY was able to get a good launch off the line! However, when it came to going into turn one I back off since there was a whole lot of chaos around me. Again, I'm not familiar with the track so I didn't know where I needed to be in order to get around all the bikes.

I eventually stuck with previous competitor, Jak and he was my carrot for this race. Things looked good initially: I was able to, again, get a good drive coming out of sunset and almost passed him going into turn one. I, of course, backed off though going in and he stayed ahead. This definitely put some fire under his ass because he started to pull away more, all while I was making more and more mistakes. I was also having a really hard time refocusing, which was weird because I was able to be so focused in my race earlier. Anyway, this race ended up being terrible as I was left all alone to race myself. I really don't like that kind of racing...

Anywho, the good news is that I was able to race and I, overall, had such a wonderful season. There were a lot of highs and lows, and to be honest, I didn't perform the way I wanted to. But, this showed me that I am capable of getting better--I'm just a person where it takes time and a shit ton of practice to make progress. I've come to terms with that, and decided to look at it the way I look at my personal health and fitness. Did I lose weight and get fit in one month? Six months? No. That took a ton of time that I 100% dedicated myself to. I've decided I'm going to 100% dedicate myself to becoming an even better rider than I was this past season.

To help me get to where I want to be in terms of riding, I've decided to go ahead and move up to expert. This will pressure me to perform at my optimal level--I'm never going to get better if I don't ride with the fastest of the fast on these little bikes.

Now, as for the bike I want to race next year, I am leaning towards my old faithful Santiago (the Ninja 250). Even though a lot of my competitors will be moving up to 300s, I haven't ridden the 250 to its full potential, and feel that I need to before I move up. It's going to be a fun 2017 and I'm looking forward to racing with everyone again.

As always, I want to thank my sponsors who've supported me all season: Suomy Helmets, Spy Optics, RACER gloves, Sidi Boots, and Moto Guild. I also want to thank the AFM staff and turn workers for doing an amazing job--can't wait to see some of you at the banquet! Also, these always rad pictures would not exist without Max and Koi over at Oxymoron Photography. Finally, I want to thank all those who helped me so far on my racing journey: Ken Hill, Z2 track days, and my main squeeze, Greg. 

See you in 2017! 

AFM 2016 – One Last Time at Thunderhill for Round 6

Preparation

After round 5 at Sonoma, I knew I needed a bit…no, A LOT of help. I decided to reach out to Ken Hill, who is a professional motorcycle coach that teaches his riders to go faster as safely as possible. I’ve worked with Ken in the past at Rickdickulous moto camps, as well as attended his dirt riding camps. Every time I work with Ken, I improve a lot.

This time around, I felt I was a bit all over the place and needed clearer guidance when it came to my riding. I started a bit (figuratively) blind. I wasn’t getting my eyes to where they needed to be and didn’t put as much thought and practice on improving my riding. I guess I was getting content even though I have a crap ton of things to improve upon.

Ken gave me a few tips and advice on how to get my mind recharged when it came to technically improving my riding. I decided to do some dirt bike riding before round six to practice and apply the things that Ken told me to work on. I started with moving more eyes more and asking myself, ‘What type of corner is this? Where am I going to the brakes and/or letting off? Did I hit my apex? How soon am I getting on the throttle?”

Greg also helped a ton by bringing cones along while we did drills on the oval track at Metcalf. I’m not going to lie, it was quite a frustrating experience since I wasn’t flawless. But I kept going, and slowly, things started to click in my brain.

Track Day Practice

At the track day, I set out to work on my entry into corners. There were many corners where I could brake/let off deeper in the corner, but I didn’t want to work on all of them—I needed to pick just one or two to work on.

For one session, I went out with my friend Gordon, who is also an instructor for Z2 track days. Gordon rides a 300 and is fast, so I knew he could provide little bike pointers as well. After a few laps around Thunderhill, he provided great insight. What stuck in my mind for the rest of the weekend was when he told me that if I was going to brake or let off early into a corner, I needed to get back on the gas quickly. I was having problems with coasting into corners, too, so this tip was important in regards to picking up my speed. After we had chatted a bit more, I asked him if I had to pick one corner to work on, which one would it be.

He immediately said turn one.

“Okay, I think I can get better at that turn if I just make sure to lift at the right brake markers,” I thought to myself. Turn one is a balanced corner on the little bike—meaning that how you enter the corner is just as important as you exit the corner. You pretty much have to be pinned going in, lift a hair (or not at all for those who are studs), and get back on the throttle. No coasting…

I started working on turn one, as well as turn eight. Greg followed me for another session, and he and I discussed that if I’m working on turn one, I might as well work on turn eight as well since it’s another corner that I lift and coast into. He told me that I could easily drop two seconds if I didn't coast. Again, no coasting...

What's the goal for the weekend? No coasting... 

Saturday – Practice, Novice Formula 3 and Lightweight Twins

"Okay. I think I can do this."

Even though, I couldn’t help but still be a bit pessimistic—I’ve been trying to get better at Thunderhill since my crash three years ago. It’s been a very long and arduous road, but I’ve been slowly shaving off time, but the problem is that it wasn’t enough to be competitive.

Practice on Saturday went okay since I was able to get down to my personal best time at that track. I was relieved I was able to do that, but it wasn’t where I wanted to be; I really wanted to drop more time.

Due to the forecast of rain showers on Sunday, the race director decided to run Sunday’s first three races on Saturday. That meant that I had two races for the day: Novice Formula 3 and Lightweight Twins.

As always, I get incredibly nervous/excited/anxious prior to gridding up. Also, I was a bit worried about my race starts. Out of all of the preparation that I did before this race round, I forgot to practice my race starts (doh!). I tried to get my wheelie out of my head and go back in time when I wasn’t so bad at them.

Unfortunately, I did take a step back in regards to my race starts: I had a bad launch for the Novice Formula 3 race. Everyone flew past me, and I ended up back of the pack. I quickly fought my way through, trying as best as I could to get as far up as possible. I tried to keep the front runners within sight, and was also going back and forth between a guy named Jaakko, who was pretty aggressive…which was awesome—it was now a race!

Eventually, he was able to stay in front, but just barely. At that last lap, I knew I wouldn’t be able to get him on the straight, but I still tucked as tight as I could and opened up the throttle until I practically twisted It right off. He finished ahead, but that’s okay! He made it fun.

Fortunately, I got to encounter him again during Novice Lightweight Twins. I had a similar start to Novice Formula 3, so I had to play catch up. I caught up to Jaakko again, but this time, I wasn’t able to pass him. I stayed right behind him the entire race, so it wasn’t as fun as the first, but it was still a good race since I had a carrot to chase. And not only that, I was able to drop three seconds from my previous personal best! FINALLY!

Overall, Saturday was pretty awesome.

Thumbs up for awesome racing. 

Sunday – Novice 250 Production

At the beginning of this season, I made a point to podium my 250 Prod races. Well, that didn’t happen, but I still made it a goal to obtain a podium spot.

As I gridded up, I tried hard to focus on getting a decent race start this time around. And, well, I sort of did. It was still garbage, but at least I improved a bit (baby steps). I was able to quickly get up to fourth place, with my competitor Troy in third. OH MY GOD! I am so close to third place it’s not funny.

So naturally, I fought. I tried passing him in many corners, but it wasn’t until we got onto the straight where I could pass him. I got a good drive out of turn 15 and was able to lawnmower past him before I encountered turn 1, where he was able to pass me back.

During our battle, it started to rain lightly. I was very aware of this and watched to see if he would back off—he didn’t. I’m not going to lie, I was hoping he would because riding in freshly wet asphalt spells potential disaster. But, the minute I realized he wasn’t backing off, I mentally prepared myself for HIT air vest deployment down the road and pushed on.

Again, I was able to only get by him out of turn 15 until he again passed me into turn one. That lap I saw more rain drops on my shield, but I still pushed. It wasn’t until I got to turn 10 that I saw the red flag and knew they were calling the race. I didn’t know how many laps we got in (we needed to complete four in order to call the race complete), but I was super pumped and ready to go again if need be.

Sure enough, we completed our four laps, and since I passed Troy on that last lap before they threw the red flag, I got third place. OH MY GOD! FINALLY! I couldn’t believe it, but it was true. I finally accomplished two goals I set for myself that weekend: to drop time and to get a podium spot in Novice 250 Prod.

I couldn’t have had such an amazing weekend without my kick ass sponsors: Suomy Helmets, Spy Optics, RACER gloves, and Moto Guild. I also want to thank the AFM staff and turn workers for doing a fantastic job given the weather conditions! Also, these rad pictures would not exist without Max and Koi over at Oxymoron Photography. Finally, I want to thank all those who helped me so far on my racing journey: Ken Hill, Gordon Pull, Z2 track days, and Greg <3

AFM 2016 - Round 5 Back at Sonoma Raceway

Greg tried to pull the trailer from our backyard, and at this point, he was taking forever! I figured something was wrong with the truck, and lo and behold, there was. The power steering pump went out and I sort of just shrugged—Burt, who is his quirky '76 Ford F250, likes breaking things. It's not the truck's fault either; it's so old, and the parts just wear out. Anyway, we decided to head to Sonoma Raceway for the track day early in the morning. I was fine with doing that and hoped that this was the only glitch that came our way this weekend.

Saturday - Practice and Novice Formula 3 race

The glitches kept coming, and it wasn't from Burt, either—it was me. The track day on Friday helped me shake off the cobwebs from Sonoma, but I wasn't able to shake them off completely.

Practice was fine! I was feeling pretty good... 

I felt fine and did okay throughout practice and figured that I would get down to my personal best (PB) time once I got to racing. I also was dealing with a weird clutch lever: It was letting out really far and was sort of loose. I made sure to do a few practice starts prior to the race to make sure I was able to launch the bike.

Once I pulled up onto the grid after the warm-up lap, I mentally got into "race mode" and was super excited (like I always am) to get going in the Novice Formula 3 race. I got on my marked number spot and anxiously waited until Phil dropped the green flag. As soon as he did I went from looking at the ground to looking at the clear blue skies that day had to offer. I seriously thought I was going to loop my bike, and what seemed like minutes, I finally came back down with a hard thud and just went for it.



It took me a lap to get my heart rate at a reasonable pace, and I was finally able to get my mind back into race mode. However, by that time it was too late as all my competitors are freaking fast and pulled away after the first lap. Unfortunately, I did not finish well in this race, and I could sit here and blame it on the clutch, but it was me at the end of the day who didn't perform well.

Sunday - Novice 250 Production and an Attempt at Novice Lightweight Twins

After the prior day's debacle, I was ready to bring a better A-game to the Novice 250 Prod race. I tried to get focused and in race mode well before I had to get on the grid. I figured that if I can prep myself as much as I could mentally, I would be able to get back to my PB time at Sonoma, and possibly beat it as well as podium.

When I gridded up this time around, I still had that damn wheelie in my mind. So when the green flag dropped, I took a snail-paced approach at my launch. Once again, I got a terrible start, and my competitors walked away quickly. It's incredibly hard for me to pick up speed when I don't have a carrot (i.e., someone to chase). Unfortunately, I underestimated how close the guy I was racing with was behind me. He passed me on the last lap and I ended up doing horrible. Again, no one to blame but myself.

I headed back to the pits quite frustrated and questioned everything I was doing. I really let myself down, especially since I thought I was progressing quite well this season. For one reason or another, I took two steps back this weekend.

My disappointment in my performance stayed with me longer than I wanted it to, and I questioned if I was mentally able to race my last race, which was Novice Lightweight Twins. I decided that I was just going to go for it—afterall, at this point I decided to just keep two wheels on the ground. I just didn't want to overthink things.

I suited up and went out on my warm-up lap, and immediately realized that something did not feel right. I felt the seat get loose and started to go back and forth in regards to whether I should try to race with a loose seat, or go back to the pits. I decided that I could ride in a way to keep that seat on. I got on the grid and realized it was worse than I thought: The seat came completely off. I tried to "snap" back in place, but it was futile—it needed to be bolted back on. I also killed my bike on the start, too... I had to make sure my hands were up so now one came plowing at me during the launch.

Well, shit. It looks like my seat just popped off. Thanks Pete for pushing my to safety! 

Let's just say, I was a bit pissed when I headed back to the pits.

After I had calmed down, I decided to make a game plan that involved contacting Ken Hill, who gave me a few pointers and great advice. He also gave me things to work on, and I've started putting in more work than I have in the past few months. I'm determined to get better at my worst track (Thunderhill), and I feel that I have all the tools and support needed. I feel super blessed in that respect, and I'm looking forward to October!

As always, I want to thank my amazing sponsors: Suomy Helmets, Spy Optics, RACER gloves, and Moto Guild. I also want to thank the AFM staff and turn workers for doing a fantastic job! Also, these awesome pictures would not exist without Max and Koi over at Oxymoron Photography. Finally, I want to thank Greg, who always kicks my butt to be a better rider.

I shall return! 

AFM 2016 - Round 4 Back at Thunderhill Raceway

Work was really busy the day before Greg and I headed off the track and unfortunately had too much of that on my mind right before I left for the track. Fortunately, once we hit the road I was able to turn my mind off and leave the real world behind. I was ready to continue my quest to podium, as well as record a new personal best (PB) at Thunderhill Raceway.

Saturday - Practice and Formula 3 Race

Practice started off a bit frustrating and continued up until the end. I wanted to be only a second or two off my PB. Unfortunately I was closer to three to four seconds off the entire time. Again, as frustrating as this was I still had a bit of hope that I would be able to get down to my previous PB, but I didn't think I was able to beat it. I just wasn't doing the things I needed to do in practice to really be as competitive as I wanted to be. But as always, I was going to try.

I gridded up for Formula 3 alongside the usual group of guys (and gal) I race with. Once Phil dropped the green flag, I got an okay start, but I have the habit of backing off just hair going into turn one. I guess I'm not as aggressive as I need to be, which is shame because if I were, I would definitely be alongside or ahead of my competitors from the get-go. 

I stuck with fellow racer Pao, who is also on a Ninja 250. I got a fire lit under my ass and was determined to pass him. I was getting closer to him in certain corners; however, he'd still pull away in the back section of the track. I still was close to him for the first three laps, so I wasn't losing hope that I wasn't able to pass him--I just had to wait for the right opportunity.

As Pao and I were battling it out, fellow gal racer Ashlee passed my ass going into turn 10. At first, I was trying to figure out who I was, but as soon as I got behind her I figured it was indeed her. So now I had to figure how to get by Ashlee and Pao. As we continued our battle, she eventually got past Pao and I could see he was desperately trying to pass her back.

She's coming for us! 

She eventually got both Pao and I. Great job Ashlee!

As for me, at this point I knew I couldn't get past the both of them, but I kept up my momentum to ensure I didn't lose sight of them and stayed as close as possible. Unfortunately, since I suck so bad going into turn 10 at Thunderhill, I got passed by another racer during the last lap (FML). 

At this point, I tried desperately to get a great drive coming out of turn 15 (the last turn before the straight), but of course that didn't work. I ended up finishing 6th, which isn't horrible, but I didn't podium. I always and will always work to get a podium spot.

Good news is that I officially beat my previous PB at Thunderhill by a full second! I was super stoked about this, and really looking forward to the Sunday races since historically I do way better for my Sunday races than the Saturday ones. 

Sunday - History Didn't Feel Like Repeating Itself

As the title of this section mentions, history did not repeat itself. I guess the good out of how I performed during my Novice Lightweight Twins and 250 Production race was that I didn't crash. I was also very consistent. Unfortunately, however, I didn't drop any more time and actually did worse--I was off by two seconds from my PB. 

There wasn't really much of reason as to why I performed the way I did. I guess I just couldn't get my mind to focus as well as it did for my Saturday races. Either way, there really was no excuse for my less than stellar performance: I ended up placing 6th in Lightweight Twins and 4th in 250 Prod. Oh well, there's more racing this year and I'm looking forward to the next round at Sonoma! 

Again, thanks to my amazing sponsors: Suomy helmets, Spy Optics, RACER gloves, and Moto Guild. I also want to thank the AFM staff and turnworkers for doing such a great job in such wicked heat! Additionally, these bad ass pictures would not exist without Max and Koi over at Oxymoron Photography. Finally, my small progress is always due to the coaching and cheerleading from my fiance, Greg. Thanks hun! <3 

Four-Wheeled Fun at Buttonwillow Raceway

I wanted a fun car to take to the track, so I randomly started looking for one one evening. I spotted a Porsche on Craigslist. I convinced Greg (it really wasn't that difficult to convince him) that we should go look at the car. Greg was always on board when it came to getting a track day car, and once he looked at this 1989 944 S2, he knew it would do a fine job. It ended up in our driveway the next day.

I've only driven his dad's spec 944 during an autocross, so I didn't have any "driving" experience aside from that. I was eager to take a vehicle on a big track since I've heard it's a hoot --at least, a different kind of a hoot than it is racing motorcycles.

Getting the S2 Track Ready

We got a great deal on the S2 because Greg knows 944s inside-out, upside-down , between the cracks... you name it. He's owned one since he was 16 years old (and still has that 944). The car wasn't perfect, and after he inspected the S2, Greg was able to drive the price below what the guy was asking.

After getting the car into the garage, Greg was able to perform the surgery needed to get this car track ready. He started working on it as soon as he possible, and tightened up as much as he could a few days before we headed to the National Auto Sport Association (NASA) SoCal races and track day this past weekend (June 18th and 19th).

The S2 received the following upgrades: 

• New windshield, 
• Two new wheels and all new tires
• Rear springs 
• Torsion bars were deleted
• Fire extinguisher mounted
• New CAT and muffler

The S2 received maintenance on the following:

• Voltage regulator
• Cam chain tensioner pads 
• Fan resistors
• Oil and coolant 
• Water pump heater outlet hose
• Alternator tensioner
• Instrument cluster (swapped out) 

As you can see, this car needed a bit of TLC before it was deemed track ready and capable.

Saturday - HPDE 1

NASA has locations all over the country, and even has a division here in NorCal. However, we decided to do the NASA SoCal weekend at Buttonwillow because Greg's parents (mom and dad) live in San Diego, so they are part of the SoCal region. Greg is determined to get his NASA racing license this year, but for the meantime, he's hanging out with his mom, who also rips around the track, doing Time Trial (TT) sessions. 

For track days, NASA has four groups you can sign up for: HPDE (High Performance Driver Education) 1, 2, 3 and 4. HPDE 1 and 2 are for beginners/intermediate, and HPDE 3 and 4 are for advanced/super advanced. 

After HPDE is the TT group, which preps you for racing (if you choose to go that route). You have to have an instructor sign you off to get to the next level, which is great in my mind. It keeps people that shouldn't be in the higher groups doing TTs or racing. There were also classroom meetings after each session out (for all groups). These classroom meetings are required, and each session talked about driver's mistakes, victories, and provided more driving instruction and tips.

Bumpy Start

So off I went to the newbie group, ready to soak up all the information I needed to become a better driver. After the first meeting, I was paired up with an instructor (required for HPDE 1, but it's optional for HPDE 2) named Jerry who was super chill. I did about two laps before I realized that the lines that you take in a car are similar to the ones on a bike, so Jerry praised my lines right out the gate. However, I didn't start off smooth as butter...

First, I had issues with shifting. I don't drive a manual car, and shifting on a motorcycle is easier (in my mind) since it's sequential -- you need to go through all gears to get to the one you want. With a car, you can technically go from fifth gear to second depending on how much you need to slow down going into the corner. I'm not accustomed to where the gears live, meaning I forgot whether I need to shift up or down to get to the gear I want. I'm fine at shifting when on the road, but for some reason my mind went totally blank on where the gears lived when on the track. I guess I just had to much on my mind to begin with. 

Speaking of having a lot on my mind, during that first session I had to ask Jerry what gear I was in because I forgot (oy!). I also mis-shifted, meaning I put the car in fourth gear when I really wanted second gear (oy again!). Additionally, the actual act of shifting was a bit difficult. Getting the car from one gear to another as smoothly as possible was a lot of work. I wasn't beyond terrible at it, again it just required more thought on my end.

What really tripped me up was pressing in the clutch to grab a downshift, braking and then getting back on the gas. This process was not as fluid as I hoped. I held the clutch down going into corners for some odd reason, and getting back on the gas didn't go as smoothly as I wanted.  

Jerry noticed all of this and told me to just keep it in fourth gear, which was fine, but I really wished I had the drive out of the corners. But, I obeyed because I knew driving on track wasn't my forte: I needed to learn to manhandle this 3,000lbs machine before I can really get it hot and bothered. 

Putting the car in one gear helped me to pick up the pace where I needed to, but picking up speed when you don't know how to pitch a car into a corner can lead to spinning out--which I totally did. I was heading into turn 1 at a good pace, but I had two-wheels on the brain. I knew how fast I could go into this corner on a motorcycle -- I figured the car would do just the same. Hell, actually I know I could faster through that turn than I do now on my moto, so I was overly confident that the car was completely fine at the speed I asked it to go through turn 1.

Any way, I went in too hot and the S2's back end kicked out too much, so I tried to bring it back in. Well that wasn't working so I ended up overcorrecting the car to prevent spinning out...but I ended up spinning out. It's a bit nerve wracking mainly because I was worried that someone was going to hit me, but luckily no one did. That would have sucked messing up someone else's car due to my error!

I was able to get back on track and did one more lap before coming in. Jerry wasn't too fazed by the spin and told me it was okay. When I went to the meeting afterwards, the classroom instructor called out everyone who made a mistake during the session. I feel that doing this is a good thing, mainly because it helps you and everyone else understand what went wrong and how to avoid it next time. After my session and classroom meeting, I decided to slow down a bit and focus on one thing at a time.

Smooth as Butter (Almost)

Thankfully, the rest of my track day went without another hitch. I was able to really nail my lines and smoothly get on the throttle by the end of the day. I was even able to practice down-shifting the car into third gear while going into turn 2. When I did this, I simply concentrated on being smooth into the downshift, as well as smooth while transitioning to the throttle. For the most part I was, so I was pleased with that little bit of progress.

Driving a car on the track made me realize that I need to refine a few more skills in order to be good at it. My personal goal is to get into the TT group by sometime next year. I have hope that I can do it

--it will just take a little bit more work than I was expecting. 

All in all, I really enjoyed driving the car. I didn't think it was going to be as hard as it was, but again, I know I can improve. There are many similarities between driving a car and riding a motorcycles, but there are definitely differences. I will work super hard on those differences and kick butt along the way. 

Photos by CaliPhotography

AFM 2016 - Round 3 at Thunderhill Raceway Park

I haven't been to Thunderhill since October of last year, so I was glad to get a bit of seat time at the Z2 trackday the Friday before the races. I was also fortunate that Greg was able to follow me for a few laps. He's a great coach and knows how to nitpick at things that really do make a difference when it comes to getting faster. He told me that, overall, I was looking pretty good, and then proceeded to give suggestions on how to improve.

At the time, I believed I could apply the things he told me to work on. And after a successful day at the track, I felt pretty damn confident that I could drop a few more seconds from my PB at Thunderhill...

Saturday (5.28.16) - This was not the plan...

After having two fabulous margaritas from Casa Ramos the night before (thanks Nancy for making them so tasty), I felt pretty good Saturday morning (thank goodness). I went out the first session feeling okay—I took it easy so I could warm up my mind and body. However, as the morning went on, my practice times weren't really improving. I was stuck at a less than desirable pace (to me), and I started to get a bit frustrated.

WARNING: TMI Coming Up...

It was that time of the month. And I'm not saying this as an excuse to my performance on Saturday, but it REALLY did not help. I was thinking waaayyyy too much, losing focus, and letting my emotions get the best of me every time I came off the track. I was feeling a bit discouraged, and I was also doubtful with how I would perform. All I knew is that I had to keep pushing because with the times I was turning, I was nowhere near where my competitors were. 

...Okay, It's Safe to Keep Reading 

Despite my frustrations, I still held onto a bit of hope that my times would drop. I tried to get my mind right for my Novice Formula 3 race, which I decided was the only race I was going to race that day. 

As I gridded up, I got the normal excited/anxious butterflies as the revs went up. When Phil dropped the green flag, all my focus was on the guys in front. As always, my strategy is to latch on to a front runner, close the gap, and (if I somehow get lucky) pass him/her. Well, none of what I just typed out happened. I backed off too soon going into turn 1, and my competitors were gone pecans sooner rather than later. Grr...

So, in a nutshell, this race wasn't exciting. The only good things that came out of it was the fact that a) I didn't crash and b) I was consistent. I tried looking at the bright side of things that day, but it was hard to not let my confidence slip a little. 

Sunday (5.29.16) - I Suck at Passing

Today was a new day and I hopped for better results timewise. To be honest, I wasn't really confident that I would get a podium in either of my races, but I sure as hell was going to try.

I had a more positive mindset going into the first race of the day: Novice 250 Production. I gridded up, looked over my competitors so I could make sure I knew who to stick with. Once we took off, I was in a good spot. Three guys got in front, but I was close behind. I stuck with them for three laps until we started catching up to the back of the 450 pack.

There was one dude with really nice hair on a 450. How did I have time to check out his hair? Well, it's because I got stuck behind him for the rest of the race. Of course, there were plenty of opportunities to pass him, but I didn't because I told myself I couldn't. You see, I've always had a tough time passing people. This is mainly because I'm worried that I will try to make a pass, and the other person I'm trying to pass won't see me and plow right into me.

The second I realized I wasn't going to get by Nice-Haired 450 dude, I mentally checked out. I simply stayed behind him the entire race, huffing and puffing in my helmet.

I wished my hair looked as healthy as his. 

After the race, Greg immediately knew what happened but didn't say a word. I continued to huff, puff, and bitch about how I suck at passing. The only good things about this race were a) I didn't crash and b) I got 4th place and shed a little bit of time (but didn't post a PB). Sigh.

I didn't think much of anything going into race two: Novice Lightweight Twins. I knew I couldn't get a podium spot since the really fast guys were in this race. But, I also didn't want to be dead last or second to last either. I forced myself to get my mind right and to just stay focused.

Once we gridded up, I made sure to just get a good launch and go from there. Once we launched, I tried to get to the front immediately, but that didn't happen. I ended up getting stuck right behind a gal on a Ninja 300 and I could have made a pass going into turn 5, but didn't (of course). At this point, I was getting angry with myself. I NEEDED to pass in this race. It was my last one of the weekend, and I knew if I didn't to it then I'd forever be pissed at myself (at least until the next round).

We headed into 10 and I thought I could out brake her there (nope). Coming out of turn 12, I decided that if I was going to pass her sooner rather than later, I had to out brake her going into turn 14. I lined myself to take the inside line and maintained focus. We headed into 14 and I got on the brakes later. Sure enough, I see that I got ahead of her — success! 

Gotta pass, gotta pass, GOT TO PASS! 

It wasn't the best pass as I forgot to go down a gear while going into 14. This caused a bit of panic because I was really down on power going through and out of 14 — I was sure she would pass me back. But the second I got out of 14, I grabbed that downshift I needed and got on the throttle to get onto the straight as quickly as possible. 

No one passed me going into that second lap, so I thought I was golden. I was correct in that assumption: No one else passed me the rest of the race. However, once I came in after the race, Greg told me that two guys on 300 were on my tail the whole race. Thankfully, I didn't back off too much during that race — I needed all the points I could get. 

I ended up getting 5th place in the Novice Lightweight Twins race and beat my PB by tenths of a second...i'll take it! 

The guys on the green bikes weren't too far behind... eek! 

As always, I want to thank those who help me do this addictive hobby: Suomy helmets, Spy Optics, RACER gloves, and Moto Guild. I also want to thank the AFM staff and turnworkers for doing such a phenomenal job. Also, these fantastic pictures would not exist without Max and Koi over at Oxymoron Photography. Finally, when my head dropped there was someone who always brought it back up: Thank you Greg. 

Back at Thunderhill at the end of the month. I'm looking forward to keeping up and getting a podium spot!