12 Apr '08 -17:45
Dear Dairy, we just returned from Texas and I’m back to work. I’m titling this race the financial suicide tour because we returned to an empty checking account. Jefferson Texas and the event at Diamond Don’s is the best of the year. It’s located in the north east corner of Texas this is a beautiful area unlike most of Texas.
Driving through Texas is like walking up hill to school in the snow barefoot both ways. Till you get past Dallas the country side just sucks. To this day I wonder why Mexico wanted to fight a war over it.
We were greeted by rain and thunder storms on Friday. They cleared out by mid-day but for the folks racing the cross-country the damage was done. It took the better part of the after-noon the get all the stuck bikes out of the swamp. Diamonds race track and property are located in and around a swamp. At the highest point it’s only about 10 inch’s above normal water flow.
Saturday was vintage day and I intended to race the Maico. I got one lap into practice and the shift lever spun on the shift shaft. I spent the rest of the day trying to fix it with the help of buddy Maico James and relatives from Sharon’s family. In the end all attempts to cure the trouble failed. The only bright spot to the day was late in the afternoon we got to take the sidecars out on the course for a few laps. One of the workers was my planned passenger (Jeff) as Rick could not make the event. Jeff is a really cool dude and had been looking forward to this since last year. After a few instruction out on the track we went the one thing he been told was watch the team in front of you and do the same thing.
This is good unless you’re on a right rig and they are on a left hand rig. First lap around he made that mistake and over we went. He now knows what it is like to get flung off a sidecar, he landed about 10 feet away and of course I went over the bars.
Everything was ok and we restarted and finished off a few laps, lesson learned!
Sunday was sunny and about 70 the track had been modified from the day before because of a mud bog. Morning practice was another chance for Jeff to get a handle on the passenger thing and he was getting better with each lap. First moto was all 4 sidecars into the second turn together with Al and Janette on my left, Janette was so close she got her jersey caught on my handlebars. It was kind of interesting for a few feet till we all got it sorted out. We finished 3rd by staying up right and making one less mistake than one other team.
Second moto was a goof; I stalled on the line just as everyone took off. So we played catch up sort of. We spent most the moto getting smother and smother as Jeff really started to get a feel for it. By the end of the moto he was working really well and I was able to turn it up some. This sport takes more time to learn than most and with a few more races Jeff will be a good passenger, thanks Jeff for a great race.
As far as the team goes this was very likely the last race of the year. Unless a sponsor can be found the cost of fuel and maintenance on the bikes will put and end to 08. The economy and the rising cost of fuel are affecting large numbers of people in many bad ways. It’s clear the current administration (Bush is a moron) does not get it and has let things get out of hand. Now it’s a little late to fix it, the average working stiff in this country is doing all they can just to pay ever increasing cost’s just to live. But hey we can dump billions into a war and a bunch of religious nut cases for the right to show the world who we are. My only hope is that the top two dumb shits running things get to spend their retirement in Iraq. Live in what they have created and allow our country to heal it’s self and care about it’s self first.
17:44
Dear Diary went to the first AHRMA Vintage National this past weekend and what fun it was. Never been to Buckeye Arizona or the new track located there, interesting location in an old strip mine.
The track is located down in the old pit and parking and other facilities are up above looking down on the track. Utilizing the walls of the old mine gave the track some great up hills and down hills. The down hill was a 3rd gear launch about 10 to 20 feet before landing onto a 4th gear down ill run to the next corner. Great stuff, the dirt is typical desert with a mix of hard pack with sand covering to softer loamy sand.
The start area was about 30+ feet wide all through the start straight and first left hand corner. I was able to pull off an outside dirt track slide on that left hander to get 2nd place starts in both moto’s. Being a mixed grid it was a little difficult to tell where I was during the moto, plus I made a few mistakes in the first moto letting more than a few bikes get by, some how I pulled off a 3rd in the first moto in my class.
Second race I was able to do the same start and came out of the first corner in 2nd. This time I was able to run a more consistent pace and ended up in 2nd place. Only folks that came by were the experts near the end of the moto as they lapped me. With all of that I ended up 2nd over all for the day, not a bad start to the national season.
Now if I could just find a sponsor or two to pay for the long trips I might do very well in the nationals this year. Next event will be Diamond Don’s in Texas with out doubt the best race of the year