Me and the 'Bee'. First race ever . NC30.
Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2012 11:10 pm
Warning: this topic holds no information value. Turn away now if your stomach is turned by existential rambings - this could get ugly.
Had my first race. Ever. And did it on the NC30 aka the 'Bee'. Very happy. As the Spanish lady in my life (who luckily for me, happens to be bike and racing crazy) would say "estupendo!". oh, it was club level racing in Victoria, Australia.
So ,for the race day I had three goals (in order):
1) Be on the starting line. Yup, get the damn racing licence, turn up, and just get one's arse (British English) out there.
2) Cross the finish line. Yup. Don't bin it. Left ribs have been punished, then right ribs and now I'd like to avoid any more punishment.
3) Don't be last. Yup. Turn the wick up when possible.
Now, it was not a dry day and all didn't go to plan. In qualifying for the 'novice' race, the damn helmet fogged up like a scene from a 'B' jack-the-ripper movie. I couldn't see a damn thing. Abort. That put me 20th out of 24 on the grid. Actually, probably about right I reckon. I am, after all, not a gun.
Anyways, in attempting to qualify for the F3 class, my old friend the dreaded "I am not going to start when hot" gremlin reared its head. Nice. Refer viewtopic.php?f=24&t=36051. So, I did not get out to the track at all to qualify. Last on grid.
The racing:
First, a thing about the 'novice' class for race day. 'Novice' means not raced before in Vic. A 'novice' did a lap that was only 1.5 seconds on the outright 400cc lap record. 'Novice' my elbow!
Anyways, for the 'novice' race I learned just how strict the '2 minute rule' is. Miss getting to the track 'gate' after that warning and you are last on grid. So, despite my magnificent second (last) row qualifying I had to start plumb last. I'll show 'em.
And indeed I did, by not crashing or running of the track I finished not last and still upright. Whey hey! :-) Still, altogether, a bit of a sh*thouse performance, but refer goal '2' above.
Anyways, on the first race of the F3 class. I managed to make the two minute thingy, but, as I couldn't get the damn thing started for qualifying, I was last on the grid anyways. Again. Nevermind, I show 'em (see goal '3' above).
In the 'novice' race I had my first race start. Seemed okay. Not too bad. So, this time I'll just do the same, but turn the wick up a bit. I was last on the grid, but by turn one I was midfield-ish. Ah hah! Progress. A mate of mine said his first race start almost ruined his family life as he knackered himself so hard after lifting the front then slamming the family-jewels into the tank. None of that here trend-setters.
After my Pedrosa-like start I got passed by a those-who-feel-400cc-is-not enough people on the back straight but I took a few scalps back to end up 14th out of 20 or so. Nice .... Very happy with that.
Then, it rained a lot. So after communing with the gods via a chicken schnitzel and salad sandwich, we decided it was time to head off. I have no wets (but I have recently got some spare rims - next time).
All in all, a good day. Finished upright, learnt a few things. Had a ball on the NC30. One of the forum members member here came over and said g'day too. Nice.
For those of you out there considering getting into some racing. The VFR/RVF 400s are a pretty good way to do it.
Had my first race. Ever. And did it on the NC30 aka the 'Bee'. Very happy. As the Spanish lady in my life (who luckily for me, happens to be bike and racing crazy) would say "estupendo!". oh, it was club level racing in Victoria, Australia.
So ,for the race day I had three goals (in order):
1) Be on the starting line. Yup, get the damn racing licence, turn up, and just get one's arse (British English) out there.
2) Cross the finish line. Yup. Don't bin it. Left ribs have been punished, then right ribs and now I'd like to avoid any more punishment.
3) Don't be last. Yup. Turn the wick up when possible.
Now, it was not a dry day and all didn't go to plan. In qualifying for the 'novice' race, the damn helmet fogged up like a scene from a 'B' jack-the-ripper movie. I couldn't see a damn thing. Abort. That put me 20th out of 24 on the grid. Actually, probably about right I reckon. I am, after all, not a gun.
Anyways, in attempting to qualify for the F3 class, my old friend the dreaded "I am not going to start when hot" gremlin reared its head. Nice. Refer viewtopic.php?f=24&t=36051. So, I did not get out to the track at all to qualify. Last on grid.
The racing:
First, a thing about the 'novice' class for race day. 'Novice' means not raced before in Vic. A 'novice' did a lap that was only 1.5 seconds on the outright 400cc lap record. 'Novice' my elbow!
Anyways, for the 'novice' race I learned just how strict the '2 minute rule' is. Miss getting to the track 'gate' after that warning and you are last on grid. So, despite my magnificent second (last) row qualifying I had to start plumb last. I'll show 'em.
And indeed I did, by not crashing or running of the track I finished not last and still upright. Whey hey! :-) Still, altogether, a bit of a sh*thouse performance, but refer goal '2' above.
Anyways, on the first race of the F3 class. I managed to make the two minute thingy, but, as I couldn't get the damn thing started for qualifying, I was last on the grid anyways. Again. Nevermind, I show 'em (see goal '3' above).
In the 'novice' race I had my first race start. Seemed okay. Not too bad. So, this time I'll just do the same, but turn the wick up a bit. I was last on the grid, but by turn one I was midfield-ish. Ah hah! Progress. A mate of mine said his first race start almost ruined his family life as he knackered himself so hard after lifting the front then slamming the family-jewels into the tank. None of that here trend-setters.
After my Pedrosa-like start I got passed by a those-who-feel-400cc-is-not enough people on the back straight but I took a few scalps back to end up 14th out of 20 or so. Nice .... Very happy with that.
Then, it rained a lot. So after communing with the gods via a chicken schnitzel and salad sandwich, we decided it was time to head off. I have no wets (but I have recently got some spare rims - next time).
All in all, a good day. Finished upright, learnt a few things. Had a ball on the NC30. One of the forum members member here came over and said g'day too. Nice.
For those of you out there considering getting into some racing. The VFR/RVF 400s are a pretty good way to do it.