Pat are I are having a good time at CMP so far. It's got to be close to 60 degrees and there's not a cloud in the sky. I'm liking the Michelin Power Race's and ran a personal best lap of 1:50.16 (1:52.28 was my previous best). Just put sunscreen on for the first time in forever.

- looks like a great track weekend for everyone all around!

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Ἢ τὰν ἢ ἐπὶ τᾶς

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Just made it home...

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LETS GO PRAIRIE DOGGIN!!!!!!!!!YEEE HAWWWW!!!
WERA & NESBA #45

Well it was supposed to be Pat, Jeff and I going on this trip. Jeff even went out and bought a trailer, but his schedule got balled up and he couldn't make it. In true Jeff style, he offered up his trailer, tire warmers and anything else we wanted to take with us (Thanks Jeff!!!!). I had picked up 2 wheel chocks from Harbor Freight and Pat came over Wed night and we set the trailer up with the chocks.

Pat picked the trailer up on Thursday and showed up at my place Friday morning with his bike and truck already loaded up. We loaded my stuff up, I put Ethan on his bus at 10 AM (2 hour delay), and we hit the road. The trailer swayed a bit at times, probably because we needed a bit of a longer drop hitch, but the drive down was pretty uneventful. I called my brother on the way down and he met us for dinner in Charlotte. It was a pretty quick stop (about and hour), but it was good to see my bro and his son (thanks for agreeing to stop Pat!).

Pat's truck and both of our bikes did get completely blasted with salt and road-goo on the way down so we stopped at a car-wash outside Kershaw to clean everything up. We stopped to get some supplies at the local Kershaw groceries store and were unpacked and checked in by 9 ish.

We got up early, grabbed b-fast, gas, ice, and headed to the track. Unfortunately, the late night car wash and freezing overnight temps resulted in Pat's gas cap lock freezing up. He worked on it a bit at the gas station and finally got it sorted out shortly after we got to the track.

Since I low-sided on cold tires the first session, of the first day, at CMP last month, I told Pat my goal for the first session was not to crash. We made sure we had the tire warmers on for an hour before we went out and I accomplished my goal. It was still a bit chilly for the first session, but the sun was out and it warmed up fast. My best lap the last time I was there was a low 1:52 so I was hoping to get into the 1:49's on this trip.

We went out for the second session and it had warmed up and I was feeling a bit more confident. I picked up the pace and got down into the low 1:50's (a 1:50.16 I believe). We broke for lunch and the weather was really nice. It was nice to be walking around in a t-shirt, soaking up the sun. I went out for the third session and I was feeling pretty good. I came in and had made it down into the 1:48's on my lap-timer. I felt good about that and was done thinking about lap times and just wanted to go out and have some fun. I followed Pat and Justin (rider Jeff and I met last time we were at CMP) the next session and shot the vid I posted. Pat was riding really well and looked very smooth. He made a great outside pass on Justin before the kink. I believe that I ended up getting around Pat when he ran wide in the last turn before the front straight (possibly due to his brake problems). The last session was fun as well and I ended the day with a best lap time of 147.77.

I started the day with a new set of Michelin Power Race tires. I had a PRC on the front and a PR3 (soft) on the rear. This was my first time on the track on anything other than Dunlop in a very long time, and I have to say I like the Michelin's every bit as much as the Dunlop's, if not more. By the end of the day the right side of my tire was looking pretty beat. I wasn't even sure if it was worth flipping, but I took it over anyway, thinking I could maybe at least get 2 sessions out of it. It was about this time that I discovered I forgot to bring the socket for my rear axle. Luckily we were able to get my rear wheel off with a crescent wrench. Pat took his tire over as well and as they were being flipped, Stickboy asked if we wanted to grab some Mexican for dinner.

We got our wheels back on and I just snugged up my axle nut, hoping to pick up a socket somewhere so I could torque it properly. I had a 27mm socket that was a bit too small and I seemed to remember that I needed a 30mm socket for the rear axle nut.

We followed the boys to a Mexican restaurant and chowed down on some good grub. It was Stickboy (Derek), Tim, Donnie?, and two other riders. Everyone was really nice and Pat and I recognized the two other riders as the fast mofo's that had been lapping us all day. As we were chatting during dinner we found out one of the riders (I believe his name is Brad?) is the owner of an up-start bio-racing fuel company - Bio-Weapon. Although I don't believe he intended to, Stickboy brought up the topic, and Brad gave us all an education on fuel. I really don't have any use for race fuel, but it was apparent that Brad knows his shit, and is an excellent salesman. He was interesting and entertaining to listen to.

Pat and I found a Lowe's after dinner, grabbed a 30mm socket, longer extension cord, and power strip, for Pat and headed for the hotel. Of course when we got to the hotel I did a little internet research and discovered I needed a 32mm socket, not a 30mm...

The weather was even nicer on Sunday and we had 6 sessions of riding instead of 5. I was a bit tired, and sore, and having a hard time getting going, so I went out for the first session planning on taking it easy. After a couple of laps Tim came past and motioned for me to follow him. I ended up riding faster that I had planned, but it knocked the rust off. I put my lap-timer on and went out the second session and thought I ran some really fast times. I believe my best time was a 1:49 flat (1.33 seconds slower than on Sat). As the sessions rolled on, my times came down, and I ran a string of low 1:47's with a best of 1:46.19.

I believe I was able to make up time in a number of spots on the track. The biggest place I believe I made up time is on the brakes. I would describe CMP as a "stop/start" track that rewards a rider that it good on the brakes. As a result, it's a pretty physical track. All that holding on during heavy acceleration / deceleration really wears you out. There are four heavy braking zones on the track. Being able to accelerate hard, for as long as possible, then get the bike slowed down as quickly as possible, off the brakes smoothly, and get the bike turned is what you need to do - IMO. I was really trying to be careful to let the brakes off smoothly so the suspension would settle before I turned the bike in. I also tried to get on the throttle as early and smoothly as possible after the steering input. I was avoiding trail braking at all costs. I really do not want to repeat my lowside. I can't say it's completely out of my head yet, but really, I'm convinced it was simply a cold tire issue. I had zero problems with grip this weekend.

Speaking of grip, the rear Michelin that I flipped made it through 5 more (25 minute) sessions on Sunday without an issue. I ran my fastest lap of the weekend during the 4th session. As you can see by the pics, the rear was completely shagged and had no visible tread left on either side. Pat decided not to run the 6th session on Sunday because of his brake problems and I decided not to run it because I was beat.

We packed up, got quick showers at the track, and headed for home. Other than being tired, the ride home was pretty uneventful. We took turns driving and it wasn't too bad. The trip is 488 miles, or something like that. We drove from SC, through NC and VA and when we hit the WV state line we still had 250 miles to go. More than half the drive is done in the stretch between home and the southern WV boarder. I guess that leg of the trip feels so long because it is...

Back to snow and reality :-(



New Motovation Front Axle Sliders



Rear Motovation Axle Sliders



Left side Moto-R stator guard and Woodcraft slider



Right side Moto-R case guard and Woodcraft slider



Rear tire, flipped and shagged on both sides from 2 days at CMP

Lots of open track...

http://www.vimeo.com/9660273


Following Justin and Pat. Pat makes a great pass on Justin! I think I only got past Pat because he made a mistake going into the last corner.

http://www.vimeo.com/9662474

Nice write up, looks like there was TONS of open track. I'm going to try and get down there for the weekend in March. My fiance has a friend in Charlotte that she wants to visit, so I may only get to do one day though. Did most of the riders do both days or was one day more crowded than the other?

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Ben
#535

There were between 10-15 riders both days. Probably a few more Sunday than Saturday, possibly due to the weather being a bit nicer.

Looks good I need to get down and run CMP, also want to get out and run with you guys as it seems we are running similar pace and would be fun.

I'm still unsure why they have those white poles on the inside of every turn, seems kind of annoying.