Race Report

Last year, I left the Canadian Nationals at Race City Speedway with the idea that I was never going back to that place. It was just generally miserable the whole time I was there, then I got caught out with the wrong tire on my bike as the green flag dropped in the rain. It was a grumpy ride home, and when I think back to how I felt at the time, I find it really surprising that I'm even writing this race report. Nonetheless, I was at Calgary again this year.

Practice went fairly well, even considering I've never been to the track with a 600. Although my times were fairly strong when compared to the fastest locals, my goals were set fairly high. I wasn't about to sit back happy with my times. Every afternoon we had these crazy thunderstorms roll through the area and they would just drench the place. The fact that the pits are dirt/gravel there doesn't make it any better when it pours a half inch of rain in 45 minutes or so. Everything we had there was disgustingly filthy half way through the weekend without any signs of improvement. Just to give you an idea of the level of ghetto we were dealing with – there's no power outlets, you have to hunt for an old scrap piece of plywood laying around to park your bike on since you have to pit in the gravel, and my tire got changed with tire IRONS all weekend! I should have Krylon’d my paintjob and put on my old original set of blue Fieldsheers from '92 to complete the package. Maybe some duct tape holding my boots closed would have been a nice touch too.

The nationals at Calgary this year were a double-header weekend (that seems to be the going trend), and I was happy for it. Basically twice the bang for my buck! That meant I had a main on both Saturday and Sunday, with the qualifying from Friday applicable to both. My qualifying time was decent enough, but I still had bigger plans.

The weather was touch and go on Saturday, but our race ended up being held in full dry conditions – and I was more than happy about it. I got off the line fairly well, and had an even better run into turn 1 up the inside. I came around in 11th place after the first lap. I fought with a couple of the factory boys for a while before they ended up getting the better of me by the end of the race. After that I had to work to hold my position from the two local fast guys. Aside from the time my shifter bottomed out and jumped my bike into the next taller gear coming out of the "bus-stop" I led them the whole time. I quickly moved back to the front of the group again though and held 13th to the line.

Sunday was a wash out. I don't particularly like riding in the rain, and have no qualms about it. Since we were packing up and immediately heading for Laguna I had no desire to push till I was on the ground in any way. I floated around for a 15th place finish on the soaking wet track.

Although my visit to Calgary went a bit better this year than last. Due to the weather, bumps on the track, and gravel in the pit, I was happy to begin my drive to sunny California.