July 6 at VIR was my first time ever at a track. I had always wanted to go with my car, but never managed to get out there. I finally pulled the trigger on a NESBA track day after about 9 months of riding. I rode all the way down on my Ninja 250R from Northern Virginia, stayed at a friend's in Charlottesville, got up at the butt crack of dawn and made my way to Alton. Having done multiple autocrosses in the past, the pre-event routine was vaguely familiar.
I'll never forget how overwhelmed I was during my first session. I had to concentrate as hard as I could on learning the track while bigger bikes were screaming past me. I'll also never forget the pure ecstasy of a few decent laps after I got my bearings around the track. Big thanks to Chad the CR and the advice he gave me. I need to work on getting my body more off the bike. I have to admit it felt good when he told me that by the end of the day the bigger bikes were of course catching me up on the straight, but in the corners I was opening up a lead on many of them all while throwing up sparks from scrapping my pegs. Thanks too to Adrian for sharing his pit with me - though I ended up sunburned anyway. I returned home completely exhausted, muscles aching, and mentally drained but with a desire to get back out there, immediately, now.
It only took one trackday to get me completely, utterly addicted. Right now I'm in the process of selling my car to afford a track bike, trailer, and a cheap car that can tow.
I'll never forget how overwhelmed I was during my first session. I had to concentrate as hard as I could on learning the track while bigger bikes were screaming past me. I'll also never forget the pure ecstasy of a few decent laps after I got my bearings around the track. Big thanks to Chad the CR and the advice he gave me. I need to work on getting my body more off the bike. I have to admit it felt good when he told me that by the end of the day the bigger bikes were of course catching me up on the straight, but in the corners I was opening up a lead on many of them all while throwing up sparks from scrapping my pegs. Thanks too to Adrian for sharing his pit with me - though I ended up sunburned anyway. I returned home completely exhausted, muscles aching, and mentally drained but with a desire to get back out there, immediately, now.
It only took one trackday to get me completely, utterly addicted. Right now I'm in the process of selling my car to afford a track bike, trailer, and a cheap car that can tow.
