Race Report

My first instinct when I look back on my 2005 Infineon Superbike experience is to say that it would be a good weekend to forget about. But that's not true, 'cause then I wouldn't learn anything from it. Well, it's a good one to put behind me, but what doesn't kill me makes me stronger, and it came fairly close.

First off, I'd like to mention that I'm going to be doing some freelance writing for MotorcycleUSA. It's an exciting opportunity for me, as the audience is huge, and although I'll refrain from using it as a shamless plug, it will be huge for my sponsors in terms of exposure. I just wrote about my experiences from Infineon, and they should be posted on their site some time soon. So this is going to be a challenge, as I'll try to keep the content a little different, but talk about the same weekend.

I spent the entire first day wrenching in the pits by myself after spending the night on the floor of my trailer. We (incorrectly) determined that the head gasket was blown so out came the motor, off came the head (no small task), back together it went, and back in the frame. I didn't take a shower or brush my teeth till the end of the day, and I lived off of 1 Cliff bar and about 10 Chips Ahoy cookies until about midnight when I scarffed back a chicken burrito and 4 Coronas. Serious productivity in the health department there.

Finally on the second day I get on the track, but everyone else had been riding for a full day. The AMA determines whether you qualify in the fast or slow group based on your times from the first morning practice. I'd never been in the slow group before, but I guess there's a first for everything. I qualified in the top three for the group, and didn't realize that they take the top three and weigh the bikes with dry gas tanks to ensure you're not under the legal limit. Great news since Chuck, my wrench, had already taken off with the key to the fuel tank in his pocket and the AMA tech guy is standing there saying "let's go". In the end we got it sorted out, and it wasn't until just now while writing this I remembered that I had a spare key in my backpack - Doh!

Turned out that the changing of the head gasket was all for naut in the end anyway. Essentially somehow the cooling system is getting pressurized. We assumed head gasket, but there's a chance that there might be a crack in the head or a casting flaw or something like that. Basically we'd have to pull the bodywork off every time I came off the track and empty the overflow bottle back into the radiator. Sounds like no big deal, but by the time I was done with the bike the bodywork was held on by handfuls of zip-ties. It was a serious pain in the ass. Thankfully it was more of a pain for Chuck, instead of me. Chuck - you are my demi-god.

If my bike didn't look ratty enough to start the weekend, I decided to launch it down a hill at the bottom of third gear on Saturday morning. It wasn't a big deal for me, but the bike went for a bit of a ride. It was a bummer too because that was my first time out on new tires for the weekend, and I had just lowered my best time slightly and was hungry for more. I sat the rest of the Q out on top of a tire wall, and would have to live with my best qualifying time from the early part of the session.

Considering what I'd gone through I got a great start in the first race. I was a bit of an animal through the first few turns and it paid off huge. I had worked my way up a couple of rows worth of guys and felt pretty good. Unfortunately there was a red flag after a couple laps and they gridded us up for a complete restart. That one didn't go so well, and after about 1/3 distance I began to tire drastically and basically turned to mush. I guess everything was just now all catching up to me (including the competitors behind me) from the weekend. I got my hole kicked to finish a pathetic 24th.

Saturday night we went off. I'm usually Dr. Sqeaky Clean (one of my many nicknames is Anal Schmidt) at race weekends but damn it, I needed to cut loose, and it felt good. Many thanks to Krazypants and Uncle Chuckles for looking after me and the bike respectively. We both needed overhauls after the three days I had previous.

All things considered (including my less than stellar state), I rode fairly well on Sunday morning. You know you're having a bad race weekend when the way you judge success at the end of it is based not on how well you do, but by whether or not you survived. My bike was bent, puking water, junk hanging off it, bent rims, but it made it around 28 laps. I got my hole kicked and could have done much better, but considering the circumstances, I'm OK with that.

The motor's out now and getting checked out. I'm racing this coming weekend at Mission, B.C. and I'm a little bummed that I'll only get to ride the 600 and not Blitzkrieg (the 1000). Too bad for the fans too, cause that big bike is a pretty good show on that little track. I feel dangerous, so keep posted for some exciting action from there.

Mass props go out to Flexi-Glass. Sorry Trev, for making you fix that bodywork every time I ride the bike. You're definitely one of the "good guys" in this sport. Chris from SBS/Ohlins/Parts Unlimited - I can always count on you for help and support. Maxima Lubricants are slicker than ---- and Pirelli Tires stick like stink on plop.