diary of an Endorphin Junkie

I got a good start and passed half the experts on the long run down to turn 3. I caught 3rd place on the back straight and outbraked him into turn 12. On the following lap I caught 2nd place on the banking and tried to follow him into turn 1. The fool braked, no kidding, on a full throttle DOWNHILL off the banking turn. I had to pick my bike up and run off the track (on the nice pavement thankfully) and then pull back in behind him. On the next lap I drafted past him by the finish line, flew through turn 1 with the throttle wide open and left him far behind.

I finished 1st in Superstock Novice, cinching the championship with one race remaining.

Even better, I beat the 2nd place Expert to finish 2nd overall.

I got an absolutely horrid start, wheelie off the line and had to make it up on the long run and dive into turn 3. I beat all the novices thankfully, but got stuck behind Shandra -- who is usually fast, but didn't have enough practice this weekend. I almost passed her on the back straight but she slammed the door shut and I ended up rolling off hard to avoid hitting her. I got her on the banking just past the finish line, and then tried to make up the 10 second gap the lead pack had already opened up.

Unfortunately, my next run through the technical infield I hit one of the plastic, fake tiger teeth and left my left kneepuck behind me. Unable to put my left knee down (no feeler gauge), I was forged to give up chasing the lead pack and went just fast enough to beat the novices and slower experts by several seconds.

While not the chase/battle I would have preferred (I hate racing alone in between two groups) I did what I came to do -- win the race, and widen the points gap back to 2nd place. In fact, I succeeded better than I hoped. The only two individuals with enough points to beat me got 4th and 6th respectively. This means I've won the championship unless I don't show up at the last race *AND* Michael wins the race - at which point we'll be tied.

I got a decent start for this race, and quickly found myself battling hard with two 80lb kids on 125s. Deion Campbell had my number and got past me and got away (taking the win in Novice by 10 seconds). Dusty (an expert) and I battled (2-3 lead changes per lap) all the way to the end. On the last lap I went (too) fast into turn 12 off the back straight, pushed the front and had to save the bike on my knee. Dusty slipped past and I was unable to pull it together enough to get a run past him to the finish line (lost by 1/4 of a second)

2nd place sucks, but I really didn't have Deion's pace. I'm fairly pleased with being able to hold him off for 2 laps. And I beat Lex Hartl, 2nd place in the championship -- widening the gap to 13 points. This means that 8th place or better (at the finish line -- no crashing!) at the final race would win the championship.

This weekend was an unqualified success in everything I set out to do. I rode faster at the track than ever before, I convincingly (+20 seconds) beat the people I usually battle with, and I wrapped up 2 championships and pretty much guaranteed the third if I can keep the rubber side down at the last race.

However, I did slam into some walls where my success had very finite limits. ( Only click this if you like reading body/mind/bike competitive mumble/grumble... )