A Mind Troubled By Doubt...

It was cold. Well, if you live where the average winter temperatures are in the teens, then maybe it wouldn’t have seemed cold to you. But, sitting on the C-Superstock Novice grid at Talladega GP Raceway it was about 39f with a stiff breeze, and it was cold to me. I was on the inside of the 5th row, in the first wave. My good friend Jason was gridded just two spots to my right, on the outside of the same row. We’d been wanting to race together for over a year, and now was our chance, temperature not withstanding.

The one-minute board was up, signaling that the green flag was imminent. I was already in 1st gear, holding the motor at a steady 8,000 RPM, ready with the clutch. It felt like forever waiting for the flag, but it was really just a few seconds. In the next instant, the one-minute board went sideways, then the green flag flew, and we were off. Jason got a better start than I did, my wheelie the result of too much clutch too soon

Even as he pulled away, I knew that the traffic jam that would be turn one in about three seconds would be my salvation, and I was right. Jason had pulled out maybe ten bike lengths on me at the launch, and two other bikes had passed me from behind. Leaving me maybe 14th or so. However, when everyone checked up for the inevitable turn one morass, I went wide there, then deep into two, making up all of the ground I’d lost and putting a wheel under Jason as I reached the apex. I knew it wouldn’t be safe to try to pass here, as he had no idea I was there, and he’d be tightening up his line. So, I was patient, and got a strong drive at the exit.

I was gaining on him slightly as we approached the 90’s. This left turn is called ‘the 90’s’ because in a previous configuration, there were two distinct 90 deg. turns in succession. As I was now on the right side of the track, and Jason had traffic in front of him, I knew I’d be able to pass in the braking zone, and go by on the outside. I did this, and managed to get by two other riders as I dove left, one to each side of me. I exited the 90’s and could hear a screaming motor right behind me. Jason had passed the same two riders, and was in hot pursuit. It was on, as they say.

As I exited the 90’s, I gained on another rider, and immediately decided to pass him on his left. This can be a tight place to pass, but I judged that he had left plenty of space (perhaps 6 feet at that moment), and also that my speed was sufficient that I’d be past him well before the braking zone for the next turn, a right-hander called The Bowl.

I quickly closed the gap between myself and this rider, and as I did so, he moved to his left, reducing the amount of space I had to work with. I shaded to the left, and he kept coming. I had a split second to decide…I can check up and risk causing Jason and maybe others to plow into me from behind, or I can continue to the left, leave the track for a bit, re-enter just ahead (the shape of the track at this spot facilitates this), probably blow the next turn and lose a bunch of places.

It’s hard to explain to a non-racer how you can so quickly come to such a conclusion, that it’s a good idea to ride off the road at 80 MPH, but I assure you that at that specific moment it was a great plan. But, the rider continued to drift left to the very edge of the pavement, and just as I approached the pavement again, he hit the brakes.




I didn’t know I was at all claustrophobic until the MRI table moved me into the barely-larger-than-me tube. The tech had given me headphones, through which a local classic rock station was just finishing up a Journey hit from the 80’s. It occurred to me that perhaps they thought the torture of listening to awful music would distract the subject from the torture of being stuck into a tiny tube. It then occurred to me that I really hoped that this strategy was proven effective, because I did not like being stuck in that tube.

Why was I getting an MRI? Well, that’s what you do when you drill yourself shoulder-first into the ground at 80+ MPH. See, when that other rider hit the brakes as I approached, I was still about .5 seconds away from being in the clear, and my brake lever met his leg, and down I went…for the first time since 1992 I might add.

Newsflash: Crashing still sucks.

Jason tells me that the rider moved way too far to the left and left me no place to go, but this is not the whole story. In racing, it is the overtaking rider’s responsibility to pass safely, and I failed to do that. I still don’t know who the other guy is, but I’m told that he wasn’t hurt badly, and I’m thankful for that. I am very sorry that the whole thing happened, and I hope he is able to get back in the saddle soon.

The weekend wasn’t all bad. I finally got to ride the R6, and wow, it is an awesome machine. I rode all day on Friday in the Ed Bargy track day, and the bike was magic. It’s ultra fast, handles great, and looked fantastic thanks to Mark and his crew at Fasttrack Motorsports Promotions (see the pic in my previous post). I was really taking it easy, as I hadn’t ridden any bike in almost 5 months, and I’d never ridden this bike ever. But, even with caution at the top of my list I easily did a series of laps in the 1:06 range.

Saturday dawned even colder than Friday’s high 40’s, and I went out for one practice. I only did a few laps, and decided I’d had enough. My race on Saturday was the Solo 20, which is a 20 lap race with cash prizes. My plan was to simply ride at whatever pace I was comfortable given the extremely cold track temperatures and their limiting affect on traction. If that pace was enough to get me into the money, great…if not, that’s life.

It turned out that 1:07’s was about all I was good for, and that was good enough for 7th place and $70. It was almost $20, until Jeff (the super cool track announcer dude) called me back up to the trophy table to give me the fifty dollar bill I’d left in the envelope.

Sunday morning…wow it’s cold. The thermometer on my truck reported that it was 34f when I woke up at 7:30 am. Practice started at 8:00 sharp, and Group #1 was, of course, 600cc novices. There was absolutely no chance I was going to ride that session, so I went back to sleep for a while, and then went out in practice 2, in preparation for Race #4, C Superstock Novice. It was going to be my first chance to race against Jason heads-up, and I couldn’t wait to get out there. Some mornings, it pays to stay in bed.

One positive side-effect of my crash was that I got lots of reminders of how great the people I race with really are. From the moment I crashed and lay prone on the ground, all the way to a few hours ago when one of my racing buddies called to ask how I was feeling and could he do anything for me, I've been the recipient of amazing kindness. Ya, the speed and the bikes are cool, but it's the people who make racing so fun and satisfying.

Arthur Golden wrote that "a mind troubled by doubt cannot focus on the course to victory." I'm sure he's right, which is why I'll do my best to move past this experience by learning from it, and being a better rider for it. Of course 'victory' doesn't have the same definition for everyone, but I will be spending the coming weeks repairing the bike, healing physically, and preparing mentally for my return to the track in April at Nashville. Come visit me at the track. Look at my face after the first practice session and you'll know if I'm victorious or not.



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*pictures from the weekend are incoming…thanks Vicki at VHS! Come back soon to check ‘em out. Here's one quickie that Lane took at the track...