It was my first time at Barber and I can't wait to go back. The STT and Barber staff ran an excellent event. This was the first event I've attended that Mark ran and I was very impressed. It was probably the best run STT event I've been too. Unfortunately, the weekend was a major crashfest. What the *uck is wrong with people? :? 10 red flags and 19 total crashes Saturday. I've done Team Chicago at Grattan when there was still snow on the ground and there were ZERO crashes. I didn't bother keeping count Sunday. While not as bad as Saturday, there were still far too many red flags and crashes given the the perfect weather and dry conditions. They came close to shutting down early Sunday because there was only one EMS left on site at 2:00. On a positive note we didn't lose "much" track time in the Advance group. Love the layout and flow of the track, and the facilities make Mid-Ohio seem ghetto.
Re: What a fantastic weekend! Hey, I was the one on the flat black kawi with green leathers that talked to you. It was nice meeting you, hope to see you at the next one. Overall, great weekend. Coulda done without Saturday morning though with all the red flags. I ride like a sissy in the rain and even I was sliding around like crazy. I think a lot of people were pushing way too hard with the conditions like that. It's not suprising we had so many wrecks. I only had one really scary moment the whole weekend which was at the exit of turn 10 during one of the wet sessions. I wasn't even riding hard and the rear end stepped out on me big time. I really thought I was going to lose it, foot came off the peg and everything, but I kept her up somehow. After that I decided to just putt around the track slowly until it dried up. But the next session I was going into the same chicane (very slowly this time) and a guy on a big BMW passes me at a relatively quick pace. He wasn't really riding crazy fast, but I still got a bad feeling and backed off a little bit and I'm glad I did. He lost the rear end at the same exact spot I did earlier and went down hard. That big bimmer was going end over end and came within about a foot and landing on him. It was a pretty spectacular scene and I had the best seat in the house. He looked pretty banged up when I went by, I hope he is ok.
I had my rear step out on me and I was in the novice class in third gear mayber doing 40 mph. I wasnt even in the gas more than maintenance throttle and it stepped way out on me. I hope everyone that went down is okay! By 1:30 the track was back to normal and dry and was AWESOME! Sunday was even better! With all the red flags, I think the STT crew did there best job ever of getting every one back in their sessions. Minimal track time was lost. Thanks Rodney, Ms. Lori, and Nate!
Re: What a fantastic weekend! You just said that 'cause I was there. LOL Good to see you and Gina again.
Kudos to SBTT for another fine event at a first class facility! Staff, instructors, tire service, etc. was great. First time intermediate for me this time and though I was a little apprehensive at first I must say hats off to almost all of the experienced "I" group riders for passing cleanly. There were only a couple of tense moments. Hopefully during the times I did a poor job of holding my line I didn't scare too many of you :roll: Once I got the winter cob webs out I started to get back into learning mode instead of survival mode. Riding in the rain....it reinforced how crapy your bike can ride when you get tense. Later when that was all clear and the speeds picked up I was reminded how many different variables are involved in making things work just right. Plenty to learn and practice! OK guys, remember no passing (or crashing) under a warm up lap. rick silver/yellow striped 675 p.s. Mario drop me a PM if you read this.
What an AWESOME time!!! Man, it feels so good to get back on the bike again... I almost forgot how much fun this is over the long winter!!!! Huge props to Mark and the STT Southern Staff... you guys run awesome, well organized events! It was very nice to see the tech inspectors taking the extra moment to verify safety wire on oil fill/drain/filters. We did have too many crashes on Saturday - I guess you can only tell people to take it easy so many times - they're gonna either listen or they won't. The combination of rain, a challenging track and guys who've been cooped up away from the track all winter makes for a tricky combination!!! I had fun busting out the rain tires Sat morning... I tell you, I understand how those things work, but when you're draggin' knees through puddles you can't help but think there's a little elfin magic in those tires!!! Thanks for an awesome weekend everyone! t
the weekend was ok i guess if you like motorcycles, well run track days, good weather, and a fun-as-hell track. i'll be back.
Saturday turned out to be awesome. Good to see everyone again and had a blast on track. Props to George "Crash1" for some great riding.
Yeah man,ole' crash truck george was flyin' for sure!!Looking strong as hell,best I could do Sat.was mid 38's,didn't get under a a 39 on Sun and was mostly in low 40's.That boy was rockin,good on ya George!!!
We had a little too much to drink last night and took your bike apart. Seemed like a good idea at the time. Now I can't find your frame. :?
Trust me Lance,we talked AND talked about the BB-Q last year man.We missed ya,where the hell were ya anyway??
Ummm...I must have missed that. We just mocked Lance repeatedly all weekend as we ate some delicious Barber pulled pork sandwiches. Seriously Lance, we really missed you. Wish you could have made it down. Being our first time at Barber, the rain Saturday morning was actually beneficial as it allowed us to learn the track at a slow pace without getting in anyone's way. By the time things dried up we were running a good enough pace to be mid-pack. By Sunday probably running a bit better than mid-pack, but a LONG freaking way from getting into the 30's! My best time was a 1:45, but I was having a blast. Anyway, I love my new home track. The facility is very impressive, the track has enough elevation changes and blind corners to make it fun and challenging, and the STT crew down here really impressed me. Can't wait to get back. Unfortunately, since it was a bit of a reunion for the Michigan people we spent the time catching up with each other and didn't socialize much. Next time I'll have to make a bit more effort to meet everyone and put faces to names, etc.
thanks Benny to bad you didn't get to stay for Sunday, weather was great May be you can make Tally in two weeks :idea:
I've been stuck up here in Illadelph... Been unemployed since x-mas, just sold the gsxr last week. Hopefully work will pick back up in the next week or two. Hoping to make it back to Michigan with the bbq for the Grattan season opener in early may. I've still got the BMW to keep me going for the time being... How does the old saw go? If you wanna learn how to go fast, ride a slow bike!? Yeah that's the ticket... Lance
Yeah,it was fun for sure.You started pulling away by about a second a lap,Mark passed me,then I passed him back(first time that ever happened)my foot started slipping off my peg,due to a developing nasty oil leak,but he was just about to swollow me up anyway,getting back down to 35's,I know you were doing 36's,that's just a little too quick for me,prolly put me on my head trying to keep up with you two.All in all great weekend,never solved the oil leak,cashed it in early.The good Lord was defineatly looking over me though,while we had the tank off,checking the airbox,somehow the fuel line got loose,I went out and did 2 quick laps,and on lap three,the bike just stopped dead cold right in the middle of the slowest part of the coarse,t-5,and I almost got ass packed by Mark Sheldon and Steve Palella.If that would have happened in the back right/left chicane,it could have been chaos...whew!!!
wade.. just put the bike together so it goes faster. feel free to use your ducati parts where appropriate. we did start talking about lance while eating pulled pork sandwiches. moslty... blah.. blah.. blah.. lance's pork sucked big balls.. blah.. blah.. blah. something like that.