Pat and I had a good trip to Mid-Ohio earlier this week. I've been too busy to write up a proper ride report yet, but here's a pic of how our day ended on Moday. We got 3 great sessions in before lunch and then got hit with this. You can see my Sonata and just see the back of Pat's VW. We had everything set up between the cars and trailers. We pulled the EZups down in the pouring rain because the wind was so strong they were going to get blown away. More to come...

Pat and I finally made it to our first track days at Mid-Ohio for 2011. We drove out Sunday evening and met at the Travelodge. We made it over to the track early Monday morning, got registered, through tech quickly, with no issues and got a free T-Shirt. It used to be that Mid-O days were pretty expensive, but that's really not the case now. We got at discount for signing up for 2 days ($365 or $182.50 per day), which includes lunch and a free T-Shirt.

The track surface at Mid-O is usually pretty slippery in the morning until it gets heated up a bit. It was pretty sunny on Monday and really hot and humid. I still took it really easy on my first lap and gradually picked up my pace. By the end of the session it was clear that the track already had lots of grip! I ran a best lap of 1:45.65 on the last lap of the session. Not bad for a track I hadn't ridden in a long time. My previous best lap at Mid-O was a 1:41.48 and I was Hell-Bent on getting into the 1:39's.

The turn out for the A group seemed to be pretty light which made for lots of open track. I was able to run a new best lap of 1:40.87 in the 2nd session and a new best of 1:40.44 in the 3rd session. Pat was riding really well and dipped down in the 1:39's in the 3rd session. We broke for lunch and Pat checked the radar on his phone and it looked ugly. We immediately started cleaning things up and strapping down the EZups.

The I group went out after lunch and just as I was getting into my leather to get ready for the 4th A session it started raining. We were scrambling around turning the generators off and trying to keep everything dry. It just kept raining harder and harder and the wind kept picking up until we decided to take the EZups down all together before they got twisted up like many others already had. Brian, Carl and Frank helped us out and let us hang out in their garage afterwards. It didn't take long to figure out our day was over so we left the bikes and trailers and headed back to the hotel.

The overall turn out seemed a bit lower on Tue, but there were more riders (25) in the A class. This could make my quest for 1:39's more challenging. It was warm, but not as hot and humid at it was on Mon. Once again I took it easy on the 1st lap and gradually picked up the pace. The track was not quite as good as it was for the 1st session on Mon, I spun the rear up in the shaded areas of Thunder Valley, but it was still fantastic by Mid-O 1st sessions standards. There was still lots of open track to be had, but with more bikes on the track it was a bit tougher to get in clean laps. I ran a best laps of 1:43.98 in the 1st session and 1:41.88 in the 2nd. I ran a new personal best of 1:40.25 in the 3rd session before lunch.

I can't remember what session it was but Pat and I both had some issues with a guy on a tracked out BMW 1000RR. The bike was obviously very fast but he was parking and screaming a bit (turns out it was his first time at Mid-O). I'm OK with that, but I think it's silly for a guy in a situation like that to motor by me on the back straight after I passed him on the outside of the chicane on a tired old 600 with a license plate and headlights. I passed him again, he motored past on the back straight. I finally got by him in turn #7 going into #8 and pulled enough of a gap in the twisty bits that he couldn't get back by on the back straight and that was that. Pat got the same treatment and at one point the guy hit a curb, had to stand the bike up, and they almost made contact. He was staying in the same garage with Lantry (great to finally meet you BTW) and apparently got a earful when he complained about being stuffed and a rider in another garage got on him for parking and screaming. It was never an issue again during the day.

We also met Walt early on Tue, but unfortunately he had wheel bearing issues and packed up after the 1st session. Great to meet you Walt! Sorry you're day ended so early! Let us know what you find out the issue was!

Pat and I rolled out for the 4th session and put in lap after lap without hardly seeing another bike out there! It was nice to string together a bunch of clean laps and I thought I might have gotten down into the 1:39's, but I managed a best 1:40.61.

I believe I was the first bike on the track for the 5th session, Pat was behind me, and Jason behind him. I got the signal to pull on the track and noticed a rider on my left heading for hot-pit from the entrance right by the starter. He was all decked out in some serious looking gear and his bike looked way nicer than your standard track bike. As I pulled by him I recognized the bike as Larry Pegram's Foremost Insurance BMW. "Is that Larry Pegram behind me" I wondered to myself. I got my answer a few seconds later as he came blazing by me on the exit of the keyhole and disappeared. A few riders confirmed what I already knew after the session was over. I'm not sure what he was doing there, and I never saw him out on the track again. It was pretty cool to see him ride from that perspective, even if for only a few seconds.

Pat came past me on the back straight and we had a good session dicing it up with each other and anyone else who got in our way. I tried to get back past him immediately but he was too good. I followed him for a lap and got him on the outside of #6 (after the back straight). He got back past me, pulled a gap, got a rider between us, I had just caught back up to his rear wheel (probably got some help from traffic) and the session ended. It was a really fun session, probably my favorite of the trip. I thought I had to have dipped into the 1:39's. I was close and had done a new personal best at 1:40.00!

I think if we had not been rained out the 2nd half of Monday, I would have gotten into the 1:39's, but as it was I had cooked my rear tire just as I was really getting my mojo going. It had started to slide around pretty good and I had a big one on the last lap in the keyhole. I put a new rear tire on before the last 2 sessions of the day.

Things didn't go my way in the 6th session as I ran 3 laps and lost a knee puck in the carousel. I was pushing, trying to pick up my pace, and clipped the curbing and it flew off onto the track. I pitted, threw on a knee puck and got back out on the track. It was obvious the new rear tire had significantly more grip, and I was able to roll on the throttle earlier. I missed out on a chunk of time getting the knee puck and was still working up to speed when the session ended. My best lap was a 1:41.24.

It all came down to the last session of the day. I was fired up and ready to go. I pulled out and took it a little bit easy for the first 2/3rd's of the first lap and then put the hammer down. My first flying lap was a 1:41.5 and then I ripped another knee puck off on the carousel cubing on the 2nd lap. "It's just not going to happen today" I thought to myself. Pat saw me lose the puck and was waiting with one when I got to the pits. I got back on the track, put my head down and tried to take advantage of the increased grip of my fresh rear tire everywhere I could. I only got in 5 flying laps before my knee puck actually flew off my knee in the wind on the back straight. When I hit the curbing the first time it ripped the velcro away from the leather so after that, they were less than secure. I finished the lap out and the checkers were flying when I came around anyway.

There was no traffic, and I knew I ran some good laps, but the session was broken up, and I just didn't feel like I really got to settle into a super strong rhythm. I didn't think I made it into the 1:39's, but I was wrong. I ran a 1:39.75 on my first flying lap, and then went 1:40.48, 1:39.83, 1:39.75, 1:40.31 for the balance of the session. I was pretty psyched about that! The rear tire had obviously made a big difference! It was a great trip to Mid-O and I'm looking forward to getting back there soon!

Larry Pegram Cameo

http://www.vimeo.com/26455154

Battling with Pat

http://www.vimeo.com/26455199

Nice write up Matt. What dod AMA superbikes run around Mid-O - just to underline the way LP took off. Amazing how much faster those guys are than us mortals.

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Superbikes were down into the mid-1:25's, Supersport was down into the 1:28's...

Dicing it up with Jason and one of the CR's...

http://www.vimeo.com/26457586

Great write up Matt. That's pretty interesting about the price. Because of the late sign up fee I'm forking over $190 for a day at the Beav . Nice times you're putting down there, at that pace where are you in the A group? I haven't been out to Mid-O since May of last year .

I wonder what Pegram's up to, first Beaverun, now Mid-O after their races are already over?

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Ben
#535

Ben,

$200 for a track day used to be a lot - not anymore. Mid-O hasn't gotten any cheaper, the others have just gotten more expensive. I didn't get passed too many times at Mid-O, but then again, the group was pretty small. Sounds like the turn outs have been pretty small, which makes for lots of open track!

Here's some vid of the dude on the BMW and Lantry.

http://www.vimeo.com/26510852

Just watched the Pegram video...you had to just be laughing inside of your helmet.

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Ben
#535