The previous weekend at Socal Track Days I clocked some consistent 2:12s and made a goal for the race weekend to again break my previous personal best.  I was pretty confident I could knock that time down, but by how much I was uncertain.  I was heading into this weekend fresh off of Lasik surgery 6 days ago, with a week riddled with extreme head aches, sleep deprivation, and not to mention a serious flare up with a soon to be extracted wisdom tooth.  My health-o-meter was probably at a steady 70%, and with forecasts of 100 degree plus weather who knew what the weekend would bring.

4.21.12 Saturday Morning 8 am
Sure enough, even in the wee hours of the morning, the sun is blazing and we are all cooking.  The prospect of pulling a full leather suit on is daunting but I’m still pretty jazzed to get on track.  I go out for first practice to loosen up and shake out the CBR and despite some traffic I drop in some easy laps.  Second practice I turn on the heat a bit more and definitely notice my tires are feeling a bit slippery, I’d like to throw on some fresh rubber for qualifying but there simply isn’t enough time.  I know during lunch though my friends at Pirelli will set me up just right for race time so I head out to qualify with a conservative mindset.  I qualify right on Christin’s tail with a 13.8 and settle myself in for the long haul since Femmewalla is the last race of the day.  There’s plenty of excitement to go around though as my husband Alex is making his first CVMA race weekend and there are plenty of teammates and friends I can shade under my umbrella throughout the day!

Race 13: Femmewalla
Finally, it’s my turn!  Going out on the warm up lap is almost eerie because at this point in the day the track almost looks completely different from my early morning practice.  The bowl is completely in shadows, and a mean glare from the setting sun in T4 puts me in a cautious mode.  Gridded up and ready to go, I don’t really know how it’s happened but I have become quite the maverick with good starts. I shoot several positions ahead into T1 but it isn’t long before the fierce fast gals catch me and pass me in the coming turns.  It’s all I can do to keep them in sight for the first couple of laps and inevitably they disappear.  Even this late in the day the heat is wearing me down, unknowingly my pace is slowing and I just keep holding on until I finally get that checkered flag.  I come in pooped but pretty happy with my fourth place finish.  A little video review later with Alex helps me identify some key areas of improvement and I spend the evening writing notes and making plans for my 2 precious morning practices.

4.22.12  Sunday 8 am
Rise and shine and it’s another scorcher in Desert Center.  I am up off of a great nights sleep and with a written plan in hand to improving my lap times.  I spend both practices exploring new shift points, new gear selections, and a few new race lines.  The changes feel great and inspire some confidence even though my practice time to reflect any drastic change.  I am hoping in the heat of the race when I turn that throttle on some magic will happen.

Race 7 Femmewalla:
Here we are on the grid again- and the grid has grown!  I am so proud to grid up with all these amazing chick riders and hope I can win a competitive ranking among them.  The green flag drops and I’ll be damned but I do it again! I am right on fast gal Dani’s rear tire and I do all I can to latch on through the dreaded carousel.  I watch as the top 4 riders bob and weave and I can already tell this race is gonna be a barn burner….but little did I know I had my own 6 lap battle on the horizon!  I am implementing all of my new techniques and running as quick as I can to keep some of those fast girls in my sight, but isn’t long before they are gone and all of the sudden Christin is passing me on the inside into T10.  I am hoping she blows the next corner wide but she nails the racing line like a champ and I’m not about to go exploring new passing routes in that tricky section of the track.  It isn’t long before Christin misses a shift headed into T7 and I dart on by while she shakes her head in disgust. Soon enough I am doing my own head shaking as I begin to methodically blow out easy turns, panic stab my front brakes into spectacular stoppies and rush all of my race lines too shallow as I worry myself sick about where Christin is behind me.  I don’t have to worry for long as Christin sails by me on the brakes again into T10, and again she holds her line tight and true allowing me no easy pass back through the off camber section.  We’re on the last lap, the last few corners, and the panic sets in. Where, where do I get her back?  As I’m trying to formulate some sort of comeback but  its already too late, all of my chances blown I proceed to find first gear like an idiot in the last turn and rev limiter my poor CBR to hell crossing the finish.  Disappointed in my own failures but proud of my teammate for running a stellar race, we throw signs and laugh in our helmets all the way back to the paddock, where the heat suddenly becomes unbearable and I collapse in a chair will dousing myself with water. I find out I reached my goal if beating my previous PB and now have the bar set at a  2:10.

Conclusion:
This race weekend has served to be an excellent motivator for me.  I learned some really important lessons about my riding technique, race craft, and the importance of fitness.  Though I had a few maladies, the truth is that my fitness level is bunk and I need to step it up. All of my teammates and friends were running multiple races in that heat and I was barely finishing one, it was slightly embarrassing but has motivated me to get back in the gym and train hard.  I have to give thanks to so many friends- Seth and Pino came out to run pit crew for Alex and I on Saturday.  They endured the intense heat and worked tirelessly to keep us on track and I hope we can repay the favor, or at least buy them some Rocky’s burgers   I’ve gotta thank my loving husband for all of his support on race weekends, he is my greatest coach and friend and improvements would be hard to come by without his mentorship. Special thanks to my GC teammates Christin and Sofia, Sofia had a very hard weekend with her bf’s crash and I hope he has a very speedy recovery! Christin and I have been leap frogging these past few races in times and in standings, having a partner in crime to both motivate and support me has been a blast and I can’t wait to do it all over again with my Toki Doki twin! A big thank you to Racer’s Edge Performance and Pirelli for helping me keep it rubber side down, the CVMA staff who ran a smooth weekend and kept it cool in the stifling heat, Socal Track Days, Dainese, Puma, Snug Harbor Motorsports, and Woodcraft.

I regret to say I will be missing next month’s round of racing, but WSBK only comes to town once a year and I can’t wait to go watch all the pros do it proper at Miller Motorsports Park in Utah.  I will take this extended break to freshen the bike, train with a purpose, and hopefully run some more 2 wheel fun either out on the MTB trails or running some moto.  Thanks for reading, see you in September!

My goal this month was to get a sub-2:10 lap time. I’m excited to be racing with GirlClutch Racing teammate Jen Dunstan #70 again, and we try talking teammate Sofia Amadio #327 into racing Femmewalla with us, especially considering our grid keeps getting bigger! New racer Amanda Erickson #90 has been racing Mini’s with M1GP and had just earned her race license during CVMA Friday Practice with TrackDaz on her Kawasaki 650. I hope girls like Kit Liberty #731 and Tiffany Burkett #187 on their 250’s come join us in upcoming races; Elaine Carpenter is out on her Kawasaki 250 and I’m sure that would make for a great battle too.

Saturday Race 2: Amateur SuperSport Middleweight
Amateur SuperSport Middleweight started out to be a great race; the whole pack is together leading into the back straight. A rider goes down in Turns 12 and 11 and I ride through the cloud of dust, not able to see the candy-stripes, “Days of Thunder” style. I go to make a pass on a rider going into Turn 10, and he holds me off. But he blows his line through Turn 9 from blocking me in Turn 10, and I’m able to get the drive on him coming out of Turn 8. That doesn’t last long, as I see a red flag flying approaching Turn 7. There’s a rider and bike in the dirt; the rider’s on his feet. But then I see another bike on its side, still on the track. My heart sinks when I see one of my pit-mates (and teammate Sofia’s boyfriend) Matt Cavarlez #405 in the fetal position, rolling around on the asphalt, obviously in pain*.

Officials order us back to our pits while the ambulance and crash truck go to check on the riders. After a long break, we grid back up and restart the 6-lap race. The pack isn’t as tight as before, but I’m still motivated to do some passing like last month. Into the third lap of the race, I come up on Turn 10 and see both red and yellow flags being waved frantically. There’s a rider down at the top of 9, kneeling, clearly dazed from the crash. So we all come off the track again. This time, the officials have us sitting out in the hot pit, under the 110-degree Chuckwalla sun. Teammate Jen Dunstan, bless her heart, comes to my rescue with an umbrella and keeps me in the shade. The officials tell us we’ll restart a 4-lap race. I make a mental decision that if another red flag comes up, I won’t be finishing this race. It’s too hot and I’m growing weary. The race restarts and I spend the four laps mostly to myself, as the 28-rider pack of racers thins out early. I finish the race in 21st.

Saturday Race 13: Femmewalla
After the crashes in our Amateur SuperSport Middleweight race, officials decide to shorten all the races to 4-laps again. Femmewalla is the last race of the day, and it’s cooled down a little bit since earlier in the day. But the sun is starting to get low in the sky and I wonder how it will affect our vision in some parts of the track.

The race starts and I find myself being tailed by a rider behind me. I can see her shadow exiting Turns 16 and 11, and can hear her bike in the latter half of turns. I find out after the race that it’s Niccole Cox #725 on her SV650. It’s her first season at Chuckwalla after having raced at WSMC and she’s learning the track pretty quickly and constantly improving her times. I hold her off during the race and finish 5th.

Sunday Race 5: Amateur SuperSport Middleweight
For some reason, I woke up Sunday feeling more nervous than usual. I don’t know if it was because my parents came out to watch me race, and getting the worried vibe from my mom after she learned of Matt’s crash. My parents wish me luck as I head out to the grid and I’m still nervous as I take my position. The green flag goes up! And then I stall.

I start the bike back up as riders whizz past me on either side, and I’m screaming expletives in my head. I get the bike rolling, and it’s bogging, dragging. I can see Eric Nolan, the grid marshal, waving his arms like, “Go! Go! Go!” I’m trying! Why isn’t my bike moving!? How did I end up in second gear? Then it dawns on me… Please tell me I’m not in sixth. I’ve grown accustomed to riding the TrackDaz R6 that I have muscle memory down for GP-shift. Now here I am on my standard-shift CBR, in an active race, and I’m stomping down with my left foot and find the gears keep dropping. Son of a… I finally get into first and launch towards Turn 17; my competitors have already cleared Turn 16. More expletives. I’m pissed.

I fight, angry at myself, pushing towards the little black dots of racers in front of me. I know I’m pushing it, because my bike is reacting differently coming out of Turns 16 and 14. I’m getting some ass-shake, which makes the bike shimmy all the way from the ass to the front. I ride her out and she stablizes by the time I’m ready to transition to the other side of the bike. By the second lap, I’ve caught up to the tail end of the racers and pass the last rider in the back straight, still livid. Usually this particular racer and I fight for position but he doesn’t pass me back. I remember thinking in the back of my head that I hope I’ve redeemed myself in my parents’ eyes by catching and passing this rider. I’m mortified thinking of the disappointment my parents and friends must have felt watching me sit on the grid as racers fly past me. I finish the race, not able to catch the rest of the pack, and can’t help but shake my head as I ride back into the pits. I’m embarrassed, but also proud of myself for being able to catch up with at least some of the racers.

Sunday Race 7: Femmewalla
I know there isn’t a lot of time before the Femmewalla race, so I quickly douse myself in ice water, drink a bottle of water and add gas to my bike before second call is announced over the PA.

After managing not to stall my bike, I hook up to the back of Jen’s wheel and chase her around the track, as the lead pack of four girls pull away in the distance. I stay with Jen for three laps before I pull around and pass her on the brakes going into Turn 10. Through Turns 9 and out of Turn 8, and then I mis-shift going down the second back straight towards Turn 7! Seriously!? Today’s just not my day! Jen capitalizes and blows past me as I struggle to find the gear I need and sit on Jen’s wheel again for another two laps. My bike continues to shimmy, shake and buck slightly, as I rip the throttle open trying to get past her.

We come down the front straight and the white flag is waving. Last chance! I chase Jen around the track, looking for an opportunity to get past her. We dive into Turn 13 and I drag my left knee puck on the ground as we go around The Bowl. Up and over Turns 12 and 11, and I come along side Jen in the back straight and get on the brakes hard into Turn 10 and dip in under her. I’m able to hold her off for the rest of the lap and cross the checkered flag a few tenths of a second before her. We exit Turn 16 into the cool down lap and I turn around and we exchange some friendly and playful arm and hand gestures. I’m pumped! That was the most exciting race I’d ever been, and dicing it up with my teammate and friend made it fun! And the best part? I achieved a new Personal Best in the final lap of the race battling Jen with a 2:09.08!

 ~*~

 I’ve got a lot of mixed emotions from the weekend’s race. Some mediocre riding, some definite lows, but the battle with Jen in the last race of the weekend brought out some of the best in me and made everything worthwhile. While there are definite areas of opportunity for me to work on, having achieved my goal for the weekend, I have to tally this round up as a success.

I’m looking forward to the May round, which is the last round before our summer break. Right before I went into April’s round, I came together with Aussie Body Fitness as my newest sponsor, to get me into better athletic shape for my upcoming rounds, and there’s no time to waste! See you guys in May!!

*Matt never lost conciousness, and was found to have a compound fracture to his right leg. He was life-flighted out of the track, and at the hospital, he was found to have shattered his tibia into 5 pieces. He’s expected to make a full recovery.

My most exciting moments this weekend were in the Formula Twins and Lightweight Shootout races. I am competitive at the back of the second of three ‘clusters’ of riders in that class and my starts are improving to the point where I only lost a few positions before turn 2 which I can usually reclaim within the first lap. I refer to the second cluster because CVMA has some spectacular competition posting times in the sub-2:00s which I hope to be able to learn from in the coming months! The Formula class was a blast because it was late in the evening and the sun had already set behind the mountains which made for a pretty environment but also added the challenges of crosswinds and shadows, It was difficult to find reference markers in the changing landscape but I managed it well enough to get a mid-pack finish! The shootout was Sunday morning and was exhausting. There was a reprieve when someone crashed under the crossed flags and resulted in a 4lap restart. I have mixed feelings about the restart… I think I would have placed better if the race had gone straight through but I am grateful for the race start ‘practice.’ I am getting better with the race starts, but I am hoping to get some non-race-weekend practice.

While my improvements on the track definitely are not reflected in my standings and I did not podium in my first race weekend as an expert, I did beat my personal record (PR) by a nearly 2 seconds, a 2:05, which gets me very close to my growth objective of a 2:04 by the summer break. I was able to consistently post faster than last years times, when not held up with traffic. This, above all, is my goal for this year; I want to be able to report a New PR every round this year.

Formula Twins and Lightweight Shootout were both phenomenal experiences that pushed my abilities farther but racing with GirlClutch teammates Christin Voros (161) & Jen Dunstan (70) and the other Girls in the Femmewalla Open was the most rewarding. Being able to see grid sizes increase more than DOUBLE was a huge inspiration. While I was out classed, on a 650 twin, against mostly inline Middleweights, I was still able to dice it up with Kimi Donahue (521).

I raced on Bridgestones for the first time and found them agreeable. Keeping the pressures correct on them is a little challenging which dramatically affected their wear characteristics but I like the feedback I felt. There were no surprises when the ‘traction pie’ runs out. I kept them warm with my Woodcraft tire warmers and thoroughly am impressed with them except that the element lights were difficult to see with all the glare in the desert… Which was easily remedied by cupping them in my hand. Keeping the Bridgestones warm this weekend helped me keep them sticky.

My Woodcraft KluckyPucks also worked well, one I got them where I needed them. I was concerned because I had them too far back and very quickly ate up the corner of them but once I got them on correctly where wore very well!

I would definitely like to thank BigHeadz Racing and GirlClutch racing for providing wonderful company and encouragement in the Paddock. Having that support from my teammates is what is enabling me to continue the trend of getting faster, Faster. The support I also receive from Woodcraft, ArmourBodies, LiveWire Energy, Bazzaz, ACT Racing, Bell and Wreckage Clothing are also Hugely Appreciated; their products are top notch.

See you in Round 2!

Friday, March 9 6:15 pm

I’ve just gotten out of work and I am hustling off to my first race with the CVMA!  I’ve become quite the regular out at Chuckwalla, so much so that my husband and I decided to marry each other on the start/finish line only 5 months ago.  Despite my many laps around the track I know racing is a whole different animal and I am eager to view the track from this point of view.  I pull in to the track and my crew chief husband Alex and fellow noob racer Tony are still safety wiring away!  They had arrived much earlier in the day and had set up base camp and began the process of registering and teching our race bikes.  It’s now midnight and we are still tinkering with vinyls and pulling off wheels for new tires in the morning…how did it get so late?! And more importantly, how are we the only racers here working up until the last minute on our bikes? Nothing but lights out and gentle snoring going in the paddock tonight.  Content with our labors of the evening, we turn in for a few winks and an early rise in the a.m.

Saturday, March 10 7:15 am

I’m rolling out of the air mattress and despite the few hours of sleep I’m feeling pretty bright eyed and bushy tailed.  Race day, wahoo!  The paddock is bustling with over 170 racers getting prepped for morning practice.  I’m reviewing notes in my notepad and just going out in practice to get my body limber and the bike warmed up and trying to find that ever elusive race line.  The weekend before at the Socal Track Days event I was turning lap times of 2:20s, consistent 2:18s, and chased my husband around to score a rare 2:16. Slow as molasses for the middleweight class but I’m hoping I can keep mid-pack in the Femmewalla race.  Although Saturday’s practice sessions were riddled with red flags and other snafus I end up running consistent 2:17s and 2:16s.

Qualifying session rolls around and I drop the hammer as best I can, spinning a new PB of 2:14.6! Apparently race weekends are like a Jenny Craig diet for your track day lap times, I was shedding those fatty seconds in no time.

Race 3, Femmewalla:

I learned very early on in this year how critical a good start can be in a race.  Due to time constraints instead of releasing us in 3 waves Femmewalla, Modern Vintage Lightweight, and Formula Singles all took the green flag at the same time.  The disparity of top speeds and braking turned into quite the show in the first turn as I slammed on my brakes to avoid running over a vintage bike and many of my Femmewalla racers flew by me up the inside. A few mis-shifts and the fast girls of the pack were long gone.  Luckily team mate Christin was still a few turns ahead and she became my dangling carrot for the rest of the race.  I nipped at her heels on my last lap but just didn’t have the juice to reel her in.  I ended up finishing 6th and reached another new PB of 2:13.8.

Sunday March 11 7:30 am

Despite my early turn in to bed the night before, I’m feeling a bit groggy this morning. Outside the temperature is definitely cooler than yesterday and the cloud cover means a colder track than normal.  I take it super easy in first practice and allow myself and the CBR some proper warm up time.  In the second session I hone in my focus and spin some more 2:14’s and feel good and ready to race.

Race 1, Team Challenge:

My husband Alex, new amateur racer Tony and I signed up to do the Team Challenge Endurance race.  Alex starts off the race for us in excellent form running upper mid-pack on an unfamiliar bike.  As he rolled into the hot pit the anxiety takes over; I’ve never ridden this bike, it is regular shift and EVERYTHING else I ride has been switched to GP shift, there’s lots of faster guys out there, I want this pit in to be smooth…as I jump on the bike my mind completely blanks and I stall the bike clicking into second gear instead of first. Oh the humility….only to boil over into blind rage as my attempts to bump start the bike are thwarted.  Finally the guys get the bike going but at this point I am ready to throw in the towel.  Alex and Tony won’t let me give up, I’ve got to get out there, and in dramatic fashion I peel out of the hot pit and proceed to rug this new-to-me bike to the limits in the next couple of laps.  This 600’s after market suspension combined with my new found rage sent me through corners faster than I had imagined.  I am still waiting to see some lap times from the Team Challenge race but I’m betting there are some killer ones in there! I pull in after the rage wears off and I have nothing left but meekness and fatigue.  I pull in and Tony goes off to finish our race for us.  We end up in fourth place, all in all not a bad race.

Race 5, Femmewalla:

My final race of the weekend starts off much better than yesterday and I hang with the group through most of the initial turns though some more bad gear selections in fast corners made that fast group of Femmewalla riders disappear all too soon yet again.  I keep at it though and not long into the race a pesky motard creeps up on me and yet again I find a tasty carrot to bound after.  I chase him relentlessly until the end of the race and finish another sixth place with my final lap of the entire weekend resulting in yet another PB of 2:12.3!

Weekend Conclusion:

My first weekend racing CVMA has been absolutely stellar! My goals were to run mid-pack in the Femmewalla class and to drop my lap times and I can say with confidence both those goals were met.  I couldn’t have done it without all the great help I received from my teammates Christin and Sofia and their friends at Big Head Racing, coaching me on race starts and helping me take off and get back on rear stands throughout the weekend.  Not to mention the help I got from Tony and of course my husband Alex.  Alex went so far as to leave his racebike home this weekend to help me to his fullest capability and I am so thankful to have his support on the race track and beyond.  It was great to see AMA #13 Melissa Paris on Saturday as she tested her new bike for the AMA opener in Daytona, she’s an inspiration to all girl racers and to get to grid up with her in the Femmewalla race  was a special treat! A big thank you goes out to Aimee, Micky, and the CVMA staff who were overwhelmed all weekend by the record breaking turn out and other technical glitches.  Though things didn’t go to plan they worked tirelessly so we could race and play all day and I thank them for their efforts.  Also special thanks to a number of vendors who made me and my bike race ready such as Racer’s Edge Performance, Pirelli, WoodCraft, Dainese, Puma, Snug Harbor Motorsports, Socal Track Days and my trusty mechanic Frenchie.

Here we go! The start of my first full race season with CVMA!

I didn’t really know where to set my expectation for CVMA’s first round of 2012. Last year after only competing in the Femmewalla class the second half of the season, I had decided to step up and jump in with the sharks in the Amateur SuperSport Middleweight class. I had opted to keep my yellow number plate (even though I had enough points to graduate to expert at the end of last season) because while I had an idea of what racing would be like, I didn’t feel prepared since I hadn’t competed with anyone other than the wide range of girls of Femmewalla. So I decided this round I wouldn’t put too much pressure on myself, and focus on doing the best I can and set the bar for myself, especially never having raced Chuckwalla clockwise. My goal for this round was simple; don’t be last.

Saturday, March 10, 2012

The number of racers that came out for CVMA’s first round was rumored to be around 170 racers. This was enough to split up the Middleweight classes not by wave, but to put us amateurs on our own separate grid from the expert class (last year, all expert and amateur Middleweights started on the same grid, but in two waves; expert and amateur). This was a little more than intimidating to me. What the heck was I thinking gridding up with twenty five testosterone-filled guys (and fellow happa racer Kimiko Donahue (#521), who was also racing her first Middleweight race)?

CVMA decided not to post qualifying times in order to post grid positions for two hundred-some-odd racers quicker. Unfortunate delays in posting times and grids forced CVMA to also cut all of the day’s sprint races from six laps to four. I was running consistent 2:18’s in the first two practice rounds, which placed me starting in 25th on a field of 27 Amateur SuperSport Middleweight racers. Last year, I was usually gridded on the first row of the Femmewalla class, and there weren’t other riders in front of me to get the hole shot.

Race 1b: Amateur SuperSport Middleweight:
I found myself in my first race of the weekend sitting behind seven rows of riders who I’d have to negotiate through if I even DREAMED to get close to getting the hole shot. The number board dropped in the distance, the green flag flew up, and I launched my bike, getting in front of some racers, but also getting passed by others. I don’t know where I sat going into Turn 1, but I wasn’t being dropped; there was always a racer in my sights. My dangling carrots! I started reeling in and passing riders in Turns 6, 8 and 13, and I went from “What was I thinking?” to “Hey, I can totally do this!!!” After just the first lap, I had gained five positions in the race. I held onto 20th place and working on pulling in 19th for two laps before Kimi passed me going into Turn 1 in the final lap of the race. I wasn’t able to pass her back, even with a personal best of 2:12.5 in the final lap, and finished my debut Amateur SuperSport Middleweight race in 21st place out of 27. My only regret here (and I know this is out of my control), is that I feel I could have finished in a Top 20 position if we had the full six laps in the race, instead of four.

Race 3: Femmewalla
Saturday’s Femmewalla race was the third (or fourth, if you count the Expert and Amateur Middleweight races as two races) race of the day. You would think with a race in between your own races, you’d have enough time to catch your breath and let the adrenaline wear down a little bit. Such is not the case when sprint races are only four laps long. I was back on the grid before I could even get my heart rate to settle down.

I started on the grid in 5th, behind Dani Taylor (#144), Joanna Bitter (#88), GirlClutch Racing teammate Sofia Amadio (#327), and Elaine Carpenter (#242), again gridded behind the Modern Vintage Lightweight class. To save time, they sent us out in one wave. So again, I had to figure out how to manage my way around four rows of riders in front of me. When the green flag went up, I managed to get ahead of Sofia and Elaine, and found myself in third going into Turn 1 behind Dani and Joanna (if you don’t count AMA racer Melissa Paris #13, who was there shaking things up on her Yamaha R6 before heading to Daytona and up at the front with the fast girls way before Turn 1).

Right away, I noticed my bike was handling differently from thirty minutes ago in the Middleweight race. My front end felt very light entering into Turn 4, and I got the sensation like there was not much contact to the ground. I could only get the bike to turn in about halfway across the track; nowhere near the candy-striping or apex. I thought for sure Sofia would capitalize on the line I just blew, but I didn’t see her until I think she showed me a wheel going into Turn 6. Maybe it was my shadow. But I couldn’t tighten my line as quickly into Turn 7 either. What was going on!? The rest of the track felt fine, and the bike handled great earlier, but again coming into Turn 4 in the next lap, the bike didn’t want to tighten up. I decided to back off slightly and not push it as hard; my front tire didn’t want to communicate with me, and I’d rather finish the race than losing the front, binning it and losing it all. Sofia and Kimi passed me in the third lap and I finished the race where I started; 5th of 9.

What frustrates me the most, was going into Femmewalla feeling confident after my performance in SuperSport Middleweight, and knowing I might have been able to join Sofia and Kimi in their battle for third place. Even with backing off so I wouldn’t lose the front, I managed a best lap of 2:13.5, which makes me feel I could have beaten my own PR of 2:12.

Sunday, March 11, 2012

I woke up Sunday not really “feeling it”. I only had Femmewalla scheduled (I had dropped Amateur SuperSport Middleweight to save some money for a trip I was secretly planning to surprise my best friend in Daytona), but I just wasn’t feeling very aggressive. Maybe it was the cold I was getting over…

I went over to my awesome suspension guy Randy of InHouse Suspension, who has been working with me and my bike for the last few rounds and making me feel more and more confident and comfortable on it, and hoped there was some suspension adjustments he could make so I wouldn’t have to get a new front (since I had left my spare at home). After describing Saturday’s Femmewalla race to him and answering some of his questions, he said it was definitely tire. So I went back to where I was pitted along with GirlClutch Racing and Big Heads Racing, and started working on taking my front wheel off. That’s when I noticed my fairings were drooping and causing the front tire to rub when I was on the brakes. I’m running 2009 bodywork on a 2008 bike, so there are a couple brackets my bike didn’t come with. But nothing some zip ties couldn’t fix. Sofia helped me lift my bodywork a little to clear the front tire, and I walked the wheel over to Dale Kieffer at Racer’s Edge/Pirelli and he was able to salvage and swap a front tire for me in time for practice.

So I went out for my practice sessions to warm up and check out the new-to-me tire. Turn 4 came up, and I was able to bring it up to the candy striping and apex it without extra effort. That made me happy. So I spent a few more laps cruising, warming up, and stretching across the bike… My practice times showed my lack of enthusiasm for the day. Still, I decided I was going to give it my all for the Femmewalla race, which had one more competitor; Lea Cutshall (#24, who won 2nd place in the Femmewalla championships last year), making the girls grid a CVMA record breaking 10 girl racers!

Race 6: Femmewalla
I started 5th again, only this time, everything was crap. My start was crap, I rode like crap, and I finished 7th dropping behind Kimi and the newest GirlClutch Racing teammate Jen Dunstan (#70) very early in the race. My race was uneventful with the exception of catching up to and passing a guy from the Modern Vintage Lightweight class that went out in the wave before us. I don’t have any excuses for my performance on Sunday. My bike felt fine, I felt healthy… But my mind wasn’t in it, and my performance showed.

So what am I taking away from this weekend? The disappointment I feel about Sunday won’t be repeated. I could have done better if my head was in the game, and that’s how it’s going to be for the rest of the season.

Having a nine and ten woman grid in Femmewalla was inspiring and empowering! What’s more is these girls are not only my competitors, but I can also call many of them my friends. While our battles on the track can get pretty hot, I don’t feel any of that tension when I’m in the pits with them. In fact, I pitted with Joanna, Sofia and Jen all weekend. I’m really looking forward to getting to know and competing with these women more this year!

I’d like to thank Dale, Jason and Tom at Racer’s Edge/Pirelli for swapping my front tire so quickly I was able to make it to practice on Sunday morning. Thank you to TrackDaz for making riders’ safety a priority in CVMA Friday practices, and always to one of my best friends, mentor and invisible crew chief Sal for the advice and direction and definitely the patience!!

Thank you to Big Heads Racing; John Reynolds (#619), and his wife Kristi, Bill McCoy (#2), Joanna Bitter (#88) and Price Allen (#750) for making room and including GirlClutch Racing and for the pit support, company and laughs you guys provided. Especially to Price for helping me out of the wheel chock and pulling me bike out of the pit for me. I’d also like to thank Kelsey at NJK Leathers for the cool new custom leathers in time for this round’s races. And a huge shout out to the staff at CVMA! Though there were SO many racers, some glitches and a lot of downtime, I think the staff handled tripling the number of race entries as best they could, and I think it’s great that none of the races had to be canceled and everyone got to race in the races they wanted.

Thanks also go to Shoei Helmets, CycleGear, Fierce Heart Obstacle Gear, First Generation Motorsports, CaliPhotography and Vortex Racing!

There are a few things I was working on Friday with TrackDaz and Saturday morning in practice and qualifying that I plan to continue working on to better prepare for the next round on April 21-22. I’ll see you guys next month!

VEGAAAAAAAAAAAS!!!!!

Saturday was overcast and the clouds threatened to dump water on the track. There were, in fact, a few drops of water that fell, but nothing I’d call “rain”. Still, I was a little nervous if it started raining; I’d still be on my Pirelli slick up front, and Bridgestone BT003 on the rear, which is supposed to last me another two track days after this weekend’s races.

With the chill in the air and the threat of rain, still not running tire warmers, I was less than confident twisting on the gas too hard coming out of corners. In fact, I thought I felt my rear tire slip for just a second coming out of Turn 4. I went into the Timing & Scoring booth to make sure my transponder was working and was told by Dustin Coyner (CVMA #37) that my best lap in practice was a 2:21. I kind of grunted my displeasure, and he pulled me outside to have a little talk about a few things I could work on, mainly a little tweaking of body positioning in the drive out of corners. (I don’t know why I always get a little scared or nervous when someone pulls me aside like that, do I feel like I’m about to get scolded? LOL) But okay, I’ll give it ago. I also went and talked to Randy with InHouse Suspension, as I was getting a lot of bounce driving out of Turn 11. I didn’t know (and still don’t) how much of that has to do with the fact that cars are driven out at the track too; how bumpy are they making things? He played around with my bike for a moment and came to the conclusion that my rear was rebounding faster than my front. So he tweaked a few things and I took it back out for qualifying. Turn 11 felt more like little hiccups now, rather than bounce. So imagine my relief when I took off two seconds and qualified at 2:19; the same lap time I qualified with in September. I’ll take it.

Femmewalla was the last race of the day before the one-hour Team Challenge Endurance Races, and luckily the weather held up, though it remained overcast all day. My parents came out to watch and I could see the nervousness in my mom’s face. Joanna and I gridded up behind the Modern Vintage Lightweight racers, and had one Formula Single racer gridded behind our class. I was relatively calm compared to the last race in September, because I already knew Joanna was going to take off on me in the first few turns, as skilled as she is. The number board counted down, the green flag went up, and I nailed the hole shot. Again. I was pretty pleased with that, even though Joanna was in front of me just before Turn 17 (going Counter Clockwise again, this would be Turn 1). I was surprised to find that in the two months that had passed since the last time I raced against Joanna, she didn’t pull away from me as quickly as before. I didn’t lose her until The Bowl (Turn 13) this time. But I could hear that Formula Single behind me.

I knew that whether or not this guy got past me made no difference in either of our positions; he didn’t qualify for Femmewalla (obviously), and he was the only racer in his grid so the only benefit he was going to get in passing me was potentially faster lap times. Still, for whatever reason, I didn’t want him to pass me. I heard his bike buzzing behind me, which made sure I wasn’t going to let off, even though Joanna was long gone and there weren’t any other girls behind me. Being lapped by two of the Modern Vintage Lightweight racers who were gridded in front of us was a little discouraging, but I finished the race in one piece.

When I checked behind me on my cool-down lap, I saw the Formula Single Racer was still behind me. We gave each other the thumbs up when we got back to the pits and went our separate ways. My dad was all smiles when I got back to my pit area and said that the guy behind me was with me the entire race, so I was glad it was fun for my parents to watch instead of my mom being on the verge of a heart attack the entire time. I looked at the lap times in the race after I changed out of my leathers and saw that our times were nearly identical; only varying by a few tenths of a second, if that. I was working in the trophy room when he came to pick his trophy up. Scott Fabbro (CVMA #38) ended up being the guy behind me, and admitted that since I would pull away from him in the straights and he would catch me in corners, he had decided to hang out in my draft the entire race. Well you’re welcome for the tow, buddy! LOL. Funny thing was, because of the weather, I hear everyone (if not a lot of racers) lapped in a second or two slower than normal. Same held true for me; my fastest lap was a second slower than qualifying. Not awesome, but I was still taking home 2nd.

I got to talk to Sal that night to go over how the day had gone, what I was working on in practice and in the race, what I was still struggling with, and he talked me through some of the corners I’m still having issues with. I’m driving out of Turn 15 super wide super quick, making me really feel like I’m about to fly into the dirt before I even get my bike stood up. And I’m also messing up the late apex in Turn 4, which is not allowing me to drive out of there very well. Sal gave me some pointers for those turns (mostly “You’re going in too early. Wait a split second longer ”), and advised me on suspension and tire pressure on cold days like this, since I’m not using warmers. As always, I’m grateful for his advice.

I woke up Sunday morning to much better weather. The skies were mostly clear, and the sun was shining. I saw Lea Cutshall (CVMA #24) in the hot pits during the one practice session we got, and caught a tow with her for a couple corners before she pulled away from me. I worked on Turns 15 and 4, and worked a little on my shifting going into 10, 3 and 17; all dropping into second gear. I had a good feeling both Lea and Stacie London (CVMA #505) would be gridding up in Femmewalla that afternoon. Lea competed in a few Middleweight races, and unfortunately crashed in Turn 6 or 7. She walked away unscathed, but needed to scramble to find and replace her rear set before the Femmewalla race. No such luck; she had to sit this one out.

So, I gridded up with Joanna and Stacie behind the Modern Vintage Lightweights. I got the hole shot again, and got a really good drive into Turn 17, going in side by side with Joanna before she dipped inside to Turn 16. I realize now after reviewing some of my race footage that I might be too “nice” going into Turns 1 and 2 and letting Joanna have the line. Going to have to work on that. What a difference in confidence the weather makes; I felt a lot more comfortable on the bike, even though I felt I was riding by myself. I lapped and passed Stacie inside in Lap 5 coming up to Turn 12, and couldn’t help but wish Sofia was there. This time, I crossed the checkered without being lapped by any of the Modern Vintage guys. My fastest lap time was 2:16, running consistent 2:17’s the last three laps of the race, which is a couple seconds off my times from September, but four seconds faster than where I was Saturday. Still; taking home 2nd.

I finished the 2011 race season in 3rd place for Overall Points in Femmewalla, just 5 points off from Lea. Even though I only started halfway through the season, it was absolutely memorable. It’s been a great experience being able to apply what I’ve been helped and coached on all year. I have four track days planned before the season opener in March, and I’m going to take that opportunity to work on some techniques and continue to improve my riding. I’m already looking forward to the 2012 season, the improvements that will be made within it, and the achievements I’ll accomplish as well!

Thank you to Chuckwalla Valley Motorcycle Association representatives Dustin Coyner and Michael Gougis for putting together such an awesome race organization, and to Aimee and Mikey Grana, the owners. Granted, I haven’t been in “the game” long enough and don’t have the experience to compare CVMA to other race organizations, but it’s been a very pleasurable experience, even with all the nerves that come with it being my first race season! Even though this is a very competitive sport, I feel like the people here are very friendly and easy to approach. I’m excited and look forward to racing with CVMA again next season.

Thank you to Sal for being by my side on and off the track. I’ve been fortunate to share the pits with him at track days, have him following me around the track and giving me pointers, advice and feedback to get me where I am today. I look back at the first Chuckwalla weekend video and think; “Oh goodness. I was all over the place.” And I’m not going to lie; when Canae Rowan (CVMA #787) randomly told me “I see Sal in your riding” one day after horsing around at Buttonwillow, or hearing the excitement and pride in Sal’s voice when he heard about the results of my introduction race, or when others otherwise acknowledge my progress (especially in the last few months), it put a fat smile on my face. See, Sal? It’s working! LOL.

Thank you to TrackDaz for having faith in me and picking me up at the end of the year as a “staffer”. Not only has working with Orientation Riders been extremely rewarding, but I know the extra track time has made a huge impact on my riding as well.

And of course thank you to my sponsors for their support this year; KBC Helmets and NKB Motorcycles.

We’ll see you all for the season opener in March 2012!

Without the chance at a rematch, I set myself what seemed to be a lofty goal of shedding 4 more seconds, in the three day weekend for CVMA Round 5.  I came for the Race Practice Trackday held by TrackDaz on Friday 21 Oct.  I was able to practice some of the skills and lines that were taught by Jason Pridmore and his team of instructors the weekend before at STAR and managed to record hot laps of 2:11s.

Melissa Paris, AMA #13 and fellow San Diegan, who was in attendance at the track day was harassing me… saying that I needed to set a new goal!  She was impressed that I was able to shave off 3 seconds on the first day of practice, knowing full well that the race atmosphere that was looming would inspire further progress.

I came into the Practice 1 running 2:15s with a hot 2:14….  Slightly less than where I wanted to be, but having been up late helping Joanna, CVMA #88 and fellow Cornerworker for SoCalTrackdays, put her bike back together after an off earlier in the week at the Dale Keefer Race School, it was expected that I would need some time to warm up.   Practice 2 showed progress in the right direction, including posting a new Personal Record of a 2:08.6!  Mission accomplished, and it wasn’t even Qualifying!   I actually Qualified at another 2.08.6 to prove the consistency.

Having completed Qualifying and having achieved all I set out to do for the weekend, all I wanted was to complete my originally planned 4 races with the rubber side down.  Saturday’s Femmewalla was my first race, against Joanna on #88 and Lea Cutshall on #24.  Both women are more experienced and are riding Yamaha R6s, but I was able to keep up with them on the 35HP disadvantaged SV650 for the first lap before they were 2 turns ahead, at which point I was racing my own race to finish an expected 3rd.

Saturday’s Amateur Supersport Twins’ grid was unexpected vacant.  I was the only entrant, so they gridded me with the Experts.  I had hoped that they would because I was looking forward to seeing how well I would fare against the ‘pros’ and I managed to set yet another new PR as I passed two of them.  I ran a 2:07.117 before I ran wide and left the track.  I was able to keep the bike up and return to the course without penalty.  As I was the only entrant, I still finished an uncontested First.

Saturday came to a close with a lot of jubilation and conversation regarding my progress.  With my new laptimes, posted for all to see, the competition decided to find me…  I was approached by Stephan Ludwig, #22 and rider for WestCoastGP Cycles (a CVMA Sponsor), to race in the Amateur Formula Twins class.  I had been apprehensive about that class because I felt that my stock motor would result in getting destroyed. But when Stephan pointed out that I was running almost identical lap times and that it would be a hell of a race, I got fired up to see how I would stand against them in a ‘proper race!’  I talked to the Race Director and was allowed to register for my 5th race class!

Sunday’s practice was dismal.  I felt completely off.  I was genuinely concerned about my performance in the Formula Twins race because I wasn’t able to get much under a 2:14 and I was blowing lines and dragging toe in 9.  I was almost heart sick; like I was going to let down the people who were talking me up the night before.  My first race on Sunday was Femmewalla, again against Joanna and Lea, and again placed 3rd.  I was able to brush off some of the cobwebs of sleep and get back to consistent 2:11s.

The Race of the weekend… Amateur Formula Twins was next; I had to admit a little apprehension to my pit-mates.  I was so nervous that I forgot that my gas light came on after the Femmewalla Race.  I panicked!  I was worried that I would screw it all up.  My dear friends with Big Heads Racing calmed me and settled me by reminding me to ‘race my own race’ and have fun first and foremost!  I took a long breath and allowed the words to settle in.  I gridded up without realizing that I was gridded up in the #2 position.  I hadn’t realized that my Qualifying time was sufficient to place me so well! Not that it mattered; my start was terrible!  Regardless of my start, I managed to come my way to the front of the 4 bike race.  I held the lead the entire race running consistent 2:07s.  Crossing the finish line for the first time in the lead of a very closely matched race was positively invigorating.   The race was within 10ths of a second , right to the last turn of the last lap where David Martin, #60, attempted to overtake me on the inside of Turn 16 to only to realize that he was not going to make the pass.   The result was to check up and push Steve Zabzdyr, #815, off the track.

The last race, Amateur SuperSport Twins was again a grid of 1 and I was released with the experts.  I was able to keep up for a few laps before the gap included 2 turns at which point I was, again, racing my own race.  The results for the weekend were three 1st places: Amateur SuperSport Twins (twice) and Amateur Formula Twins (once) and two 3rd places: both Femmewalla.  Of the trophies, the First in Formula Twins is my most valued as it represents my first victory extending beyond myself.

There was speculation about what “had happened” to cause such improvement.  Melissa Paris made the comment that women riders are great students because we lack the stereotypical ego that out male counterparts have. The STAR School greatly influenced my riding technique and I found myself doing things that greatly improved my lap-times.  There is still a lot of room to improve, of course.  While I am pushing deeper, to the 2 and 1 markers to downshift and trail braking in a few places, I know that I can make up more time exiting the bowl, through Turns 14/15 and taking a more defensive line through Turn 16.  I am predictably slow through Turn 9, but it is the slowest part of the track and there isn’t much time to be made up there. As Steve Rapp has said “If you are going fast through there, you are doing it wrong.” As long as I get the drive out of 10, which is something I took away from the STAR School; Thanks Jason!  I have even taken to short shifting into 2nd gear between Turns 9 and 10 to get a better drive out of 10.

Oki took an outside line into 7 where I was able to sneak in and push her wide.  The last thing I saw there was her number plate about a foot or two away.  I had been looking for nice clean passes and this wasn’t the clean pass I had hoped for. But nevertheless, I was in front.  I pushed my way around the remainder of the lap in 2nd until she motored me down in the front straight.  She took second back in turn 17 and held onto it for the remainder of the race.  

 

• First off, my Start was terrible; I bogged it with too much gas early on.  I am planning to spend some time on the weekends with the bike in a deserted industrial park doing practice race starts and maybe even head over to the RaceLegal drag races to practice my starts.  
• Throttle control…  the rear spinning and the near high-side were all errors on throttle… grabbing early without being smooth 
• Corner speed…  I can go faster in 16; I finally figured out the bowl, but I need to give it more gas earlier; I need to brake later going into 10 and get on the gas harder in 4. 
• Bicycle more… My endurance needs to be higher

In the end, I am trying to be cheerful that I got podium in my first race and that I am almost 10 seconds faster than I was before the race… 

Gridding up, the third position was on the inside of Turn 17 (going counter clockwise, Turn 17 is Turn 1. I’ve provided a layout of the track to help aid any confusion). I decided I was going to do my damnedest to get the hole shot and beat both girls to Turn 17 and give myself a fighting chance at the front. We received our last call to pre-grid to start our warm up lap. Sofia and I exchanged hugs and wished each other luck before we got on our bikes and headed to pre-grid.

We were gridded behind the Lightweight Modern Vintage racers and as the first wave took off, we settled into our race positions. The number board went into the air and I stacked up the RPM’s a little bit while loosening my grip on the clutch to where the friction begins. The board went sideways and the green flag went up. I twisted some more on the throttle as I quickly let off the clutch and shot forward, ahead of Joanna and Sofia. No over revving, no bogging. Yes! Got it! Coming into Turn 17 side-by-side with Joanna, she took the inside line into Turn 16 and I slid in behind her. She quickly pulled away and I didn’t see her again after Turn 14. Okay, I thought, it’s just me and you, Sofia.

I sped around the track, knowing Sofia wasn’t far behind. I felt like I was in a state of panic. Panic turned into frustration when I saw Sofia’s front tire come along side of me on the inside as I drove out of Turn 7, setting up for Turn 6. Sofia got on the gas going into the second apex, causing her to start drifting out towards me a little quicker and closer than I expected. I reduced my lean angle just the slightest bit to avoid making contact with her, and dropped it back down, going a little wide as I followed her out of the turn.

A friend had told me before the race; “Don’t brake until you see Jesus!” At the time, I thought “To hell with that concept!” but after Sofia passed me, I actually started to consider it. I knew if I didn’t catch and pass Sofia in the front straight, that’d be the end of it. I rode behind her into and out of turns 3, 2 and 1. I looked to pass Sofia on the left in the front straight, only to find that’s the line she had chosen. So I pulled my bike to the right, to the inside again, came alongside of her across the start/finish, and passed her on the brakes into Turn 17. From then on, I was in a state of “get the hell out of here!!” I started rolling on the gas harder and sooner, getting on the brakes harder and later. I resulted to trail-braking into the first half of Turn 10, as well as Turn 7, which I wasn’t pleased with, because I like to be on the gas when going into turns, not on the brakes.

In the last two laps of the six-lap race, the wind kicked up and started blowing dust across the track. Waves of dirt danced across the track as I looked to exit Turn 16. Up at turns 10, 9, and 8, the wind kicked up so much dust, it made the already difficult series of turns (Turn 9 is an almost blind right-hander as you’re riding up its crest from Turn 10), terrifying to ride through. Though I was pretty sure it wouldn’t cause my tires to slip, it definitely wasn’t confidence inspiring and distracted me enough to screw up my line through the section.

Even still, my bike and I crossed the finish line at the checkered flag in one piece. I pulled back a little bit on my cool down lap to catch my breath and was surprised to find I was more relieved than excited at my finish; relieved that Sofia hadn’t passed me back in the four remaining laps and relieved that I hadn’t crashed my bike trying to stay ahead of her.

I hear a lot of racers say you’ll drop two seconds from qualifying in a race. I did two better than that; I actually dropped four and a half seconds from my qualifying time, my best lap recorded at 02:15:135. As it turns out, I dropped one second in each lap of the race until I ran consistent 2:15’s in the last 3 laps of the race. I think that’s what I’m the most happiest with right now, knowing I’m only 10 seconds off middleweight pace. I really have to thank Sofia for a job well done and a race well performed; she pushed me into those times and unquestionably made me work for it. I know I’m going to need to invest in a set of race slicks, as well as tire warmers if I’m going to be able to stay competitive with some of these girls.

My mom (who has never really been happy to hear about my track days and has always been reserved about her opinion when I show her my track pictures), was smiling when I walked into her house with the 2^nd place trophy in my hand. I even got a hug and was told she wanted to come to my next race at the end of October. One of my best friends Rachael said she knew I had it in me. And then there is my dear, sweet Sal from TrackDaz, who has been working with me for over the last year, and was elated when he heard of the results. Thank you all for supporting me and my riding for the last year and especially the last few months leading into this race. I’m looking forward to the next Femmewalla race on October 22!!