CMRA 2012 - Round 2 - Texas World Speedway

Friday Practice...

My first outing with the CMRA got off to a rocky start with my dog getting sick (he has heart failure) on Wendesday and got progressively work throughout Thursday.  A lack of sleep on his part, and mine meant I slept right through Friday morning practice.  But once I got him stable, I hit the road to Texas World Speedway 1.5 hours away in College Station.  A fuel stop and heavy doses of traffic delayed me long enough that i arrived at the track just as the last practice session was starting.  Oops.

I setup my pit area, unloaded my bike and things and drove 1.5 hours back home to check on the dog.   He was doing much better Saturday morning, so I called my 'baby sitter' to come stay with him and drove back out to TWS Saturday afternoon to camp overnight.  7:00AM riders meetings..  Ooof!

Sunday - Race Day!

We were given two short rounds of practice in the morning.  As I was suiting up, I took a moment to think and realized that after missing Friday practice, and missing the previous trackday, this was going to be my first time on the bike this year.  And the first time on a bike since November of '11.    Rusty much? 

The morning was extremely humid and there was a nice layer of dew on the ground.  Gearing changes, suspension changes and shiney new tires, what could possibly go wrong? 

I basically used the first session to scrub the tires and make sure nothing was going to fall off the bike as it was hastely reassembled while looking after a sick dog.   My glasses fogged up instantly though the helmet visor was fine.   Session done!

I went out for second practice sans glasses and was immediately happier and more comfortable.  It's amazing how quickly you can pick up the pace when you can actually see where you are going.  *facepalm* 

Race 1 - B Superstock Novice

3rd race on the day's schedule and wow, massive grid.  50 riders lined up in 2 waves for the start.    I made a poor start from the middle of the 2nd wave, but made up a few spots going into the very wide, sweeping T1 and T2, but T3 had riders bunching up 3 and 4 deep!  I fell inline to clear the first lap and made some progress picking off people here and there.  I think the stress of the weekend really got to me as I felt too tired to keep my pace and lost a few positions on the last lap ending up 26th (out of 50!)  

Race 2 - C Superstock Novice

The 6th race for the day, and my 2nd was another MASSIVE grid.  54 riders, 2 waves.  Again I was lined up about midway back in the 2nd wave.    Just like race 1, I lost quite a few positions on the start, but made them up through T1 and T2 and then RED FLAG just as the first lap was completed.

The race was restarted minus 1 lap.   I made a much better start and was making decent progress until the penultimate lap when my bikes dash started blinking and then the bike just died.  I threw my hand up and pulled off the line, but luckily (?) the race was red-flagged again just at that moment for another incident.  I coasted to a stop, but the bike wouldn't start.  I had to get the embarrasing push back to pit by the out-rider.

I was credited with 22nd place which is much better than a DNF!   As it turned out, the positive lead disconnected itself from the battery.   5 minute fix and I was ready for the next race! *phew*

Race 3 - C Superbike Novice

I made my best start of the day yet from the 3rd row of the 2nd wave of a 40 bike grid.  I was pleasantly surprised to find myself with little traffic once we got to T3 and I was able to turn my fastest laps of the day.  Fatigue kicked in again and I lost a few places as I couldn't keep my pace but still managed my best finish of the day with a 17th.

Summary

Overall I can be relatively satisfied with my first outing with the CMRA given the up and down week leading up to the weekend.  My main goal for the year was to finish in the top half of my races and I did that for the most part with a minimal amount of practice.   I'm looking foward to the next round... practice AND the races!    

I'd like to thank my 2012 sponsors

Vortex, Race Tech, GoPro, Galfer, Bazzaz, DawnAndDrew  

.. and special recognition to Dante at Bazzaz for going above and beyond to get my Bazzaz unit built and shipped out to me 

CMRA Licensing School with LSTD

I've finally taken the first steps to getting my CMRA race license by taking the licensing class with Lone Star Track Days.   Well, technically the first steps are getting some practice at the track before you take the class, but yeah.

In order to race with the CMRA, you have to take their licensing class which is offered by several track day organizations with Lone Star Track Days, Fast Line Motorcycle School and Ride Smart Motorcycle School being the most popular.  Keep in mind, this is not a racing class on how to go fast(er), it's designed to get you familiarized with the track procedures, flag meanings, safety guidelines, registration procedures etc, to make your transition from trackdays to racing a smooth one.

The cost for the class is $75, in addition to the regular trackday fee which varies by organization and by track.   You'll get a booklet, a yellow t-shirt and a classroom instructor.   In order to pass the class, you must do the following:

1. Attend all classroom sessions
2. Correctly answer 30 of 36 questions on the written exam
3. Wear the yellow shirt at all times while on the track
   
4. Do not crash at any time while on the track
5. Ride the mock-race at the end of the day

Pass or fail is not determined by a minimum speed or lap time.  The yellow shirt allows the corner-workers to easily identify students on the track should they crash which means they have failed the class.   A crash is defined as, 'a handle bar touches the ground'.  If you happen to run off the track but stay upright, that is ok.

Fancy Yellow Shirt

Finally, at the end of the day you get to participate in the mock race.  This is where you put the class room instruction into practice.  From the calls to the grid, taking your warm up lap, finding your grid spot and watching for the starting boards until finally the green flag is waved and you're off!   Run your race, watch for flags and have fun.

Riding along with you and the other students will be control riders.  These are instructors and/or racers that will help ensure that you get the full experience and feel of what it will be like to race.  Unlike trackdays where most groups have minimum distance requirements for passing other riders, there are times when you may only be inches away from another rider. There are no rules for leaving a minimum amount of distance between you and a rider you are passing.  Only that it is a clean pass and it's the overtaking rider's responsibility to make a clean pass. Some control riders may slow down and ride along with the slower riders, passing, and then allowing themselves to be passed by the students.

The mock race is exiciting, and fun, but remember there are no trophies. Finishing 1st or last does not matter. It's not even tracked.  What matters most is that you actually finish the mock race.

My mock race.  The blue shirts are the control riders.

When the mock race is done, that's it.  Congrats!   You will receive a certificate of completion that you will fax/mail into the CMRA along with the membership registration forms to get your actual Provisional Novice license.

Also, hold on to that yellow shirt.  You will need it to fulfill some requirements racing as a Provisional Novice before you get the full novice license.

It took me a few years to gain the confidence to attempt it, but now that I've done it, I wish I'd taken the plunge a lot sooner!   So if you've done a few trackdays and even *think* that you *might* want to give racing a try, sign up!

2011 Track Season Summary

Since my season is basically done, I thought I'd go back and see where I started, where I'm at and where I want to be.

Starting out 2010 with a new (to me) bike and having not done any trackdays for a quite a few years, I set a goal of getting < 2:00:00, but thinking 2:05's would have been more reasonable by the end of 2010. WRONG!

<some missing data was in the 2:14 - 2:16 range IIRC>
06/05/2010 2:12:51
06/06/2010 2:11.15
07/17/2010 2:11:57
07/18/2010 2:11:25

A little progress, but progress nonetheless.

2011, the goal again was < 2:00:00 and if I was able to do that consistently, then I'd take the CMRA licensing class.

04/01/2011 2:08:30
05/14/2011 2:09:41 <-- 1 step back
05/15/2011 2:03:75 < -- 2 steps forward!
06/18/2011 2:02:36
07/02/2011 1:59:92 <-- was a happy day!

Revised goal to < 1:55:00

10/01/2011 1:57:11  - Best of 2011 and EVER (so far)
10/02/2011 1:59:53
10/21/2011 1:57:84


Took the CMRA class on 10/21.  I'll post a review of the class soon.


My best session of 2011 at Texas World Speedway with a 1:57.11.

2012 goal for TWS is now 1:49:59.   We'll see how it goes.

Dear Sandy Claws, Gimme This!

Dear Sandy Claws,

I know it's a bit early, but last years xmas was teh disappoint so I figured I'd make sure you had plenty of time to find and deliver the goodies I want this year.

Zhumell Z12 - 12" Dobsonion Telescope

No fancy automagic go-to gadgetry, (that's next year), just a decent light gathering bucket and a decent price.

 Tele-vue Nagler eye pieces

82 degree apparent field - "The goal is to allow the telescope to virtually "disappear," leaving the impact of "spacewalk" viewing."   Yes, please!

I'll take the following: 31mm, 26mm, 16mm and an 11mm

 Telrad Sight

"Easy and accurate star hopping" - Should go well with the very manual dob scope.

 

Laser (pew pew pew) Collimator

And finally, to make sure the mirrors are perfectly aligned so the scope performs at it's best.  The Hotech with it's SCA, Self Centering Adapter should do a great job!

I love technology and I would absolutely love some fancy gadgetry on a telescope that finds it's own location via GPS, auto-slews to the next star or planet selected from it's eleventy-billion object library, but I want a large aperture.  Fancy scopes with large apertures are big $$$ and so will have to wait some time.  Priorities. :-/

Polytune Guitar Tuner - iPhone App

Polytune is a polyphonic guitar tuner that allows you to tune all strings at once.  Or rather, the display will show you the state of tune of all the strings while strumming the strings.  The guys at TC Electronic have released the functionality of this pedal in an iPhone app.   In short,  I LOVE THIS TUNER APP!  And at 1/20th the price of the physical pedal, you can't go wrong!

 

Pros:

- Displays all 6 strings state of tune at once.   Strum and go.

- Lightning fast pitch determination and display updates

- Sensitive enough to show changes in pitch when applying the slightest bit of pressure on the guitar neck

- No cables required for the iPhone app.  Sound is detected through the iPhones built-in microphone.

Cons:

- Alternate tunings ?

I tested the app with the phone sitting on the arm of my chair and a Marshall MG 10 practice amp 2 feet away and with my Blackheart BH5H 10 feet away and it performed great in both instances.   Sound is picked up through the phones built-in microphone so you'll want to keep any background noise to a minimum. (TVs, fans etc)

It also tunes for Bass guitars which I don't have so I can't comment on that.

This tuner is a real game changer.  I don't think I could ever go back to standard, non-polyphonic tuner now.

Check out the videos on the Polytune site and decide for yourself.