So then, the racing.
We set off to do a practice day on the Friday and I must confess that I was bricking it. I was wondering just what I had let myself in for, with tales of modern 600's and AMA riders frequenting the grids, I just didn't want to look a tit.
When we arrived we unloaded the pick up and set up the garage. Now the yanks don't have vans to transport stuff like we do (Shandra referred to them as "kidnapper vans", which cracked me up). They either have a pick up truck of varying largeness, or a large pick up and a cool trailer. If they've got plenty of cash, they have a bloody great big wagon that wouldn't look out of place in a BSB paddock.
Having signed on and gotten ready for the first practice, it was announced that one of the new riders had spilled oil all the way down the straight and through turn 1. This was exactly what I didn't need for learning the circuit on my first day, that awful feeling of going across the white cement line at speed and hoping the track workers have done their job right!
quite a few racers got out of their leathers and mucked in. I wasn't one of them, lazy git that I am I had been introduced to one of the racers by Amy, called Ken Kramer. Ken also does the new racer school, so I tagged along for a few laps behind him to see what I could learn.
The first impression I got was of just how fast and open it is, with little or no reference points to speak of. turn one is down from 6th to 4th, then up to 5th for a long 180 degree right hander. This leads into a nasty little up and downhill section with terrible tarmac and weird cambers. Then it zings onto the back straight that leads into turn 8. Turn 8 is taken flat in 6th and then turns back in on itself, requiring you to go down a couple of gears as you're cranked over and try to aim it in the right direction so that you don't end up running off the track.
I came back in slightly intimidated, but hopeful I could learn it quickly.
Next session I followed Amy on her CBR 400 and was having a real hard time keeping up with her, even though I was on her R6. She doesn't hang around!
After a few sessions though, I started to get the hang of the place and was beginning to enjoy myself. The wind started to get quite blustery, and the place is notorious for catching out the unwary when it starts to get like that.Turn 8 and 9 weren't the sort of corners that you needed to have your front wheel blown from under you either!
Team topanga on Friday practice By the end of the day, I'd managed to get my times down to a 1:35.5, which I was told is very respectable for your first day at the track, so I was pretty happy with that.
It was my birthday that day, and as I walked back to the garage later, I strolled in and they were there with a bunch of iced muffins with " happy 36th birthday Tim" written on them. It was a really nice surprise. I got a cool book from Amy about Black holes and time warps, by Kip S thorne.
Shandra, Amy's friend had also made me a T shirt. I'd commented to Amy that I'd seen a really cool logo on some webite, and wished I could get a T shirt with the logo on. It turned out that you couldn't. Shandra however, had used her considerable talents to recrate one just from a tiny little logo grabbed from a site. Thanks for that Shandra, you're a legend.
Shandra had also been to the Freddie Spencer riding school recently, and brought me and Amy some cool signed gear. Very nice indeed.
We weren't finished yet though apparently, and scooted off to a local Mexican restaurant for a bite to eat. After we'd eaten and partaken of more margeritas (I'll really need to hit the gym when i get back!) the waiters came out, plonked a big Sombrero on my swede and sang happy birthday to me again.
With our faces glowing from the combination of the desert winds and the booze,we then trotted over to the hotel and got some shuteye.