Three good things about today were; #1 hanging out and bench racing with everyone, #2 I figured out what was causing the handling issue I had at BeaveRun in July, #3 I didn’t crash. Other than that, it pretty much wasn’t my day.
Session #1 - Went out and took it easy. I was running Dunlops for the first time in a while and took my time scrubbing in the new 208 rear tire. The tires felt good as did I.
Session #2 - I felt a bit more comfortable, but there was a lot of traffic on the track. I made it down into the 1:06’s which is pretty good for the second session of the day.
Session #3 – Lots of traffic again. Got jammed up behind 2 riders and was stuck behind them most of the session. I’d pass the 1 guy on the brakes going into #10 and I’d catch the other guy just as we were getting to turn #1 and the guy I passed would squeeze by on the brakes into #1. I never got out of the 1:07’s.
Session #4 – After lunch, as we were ready to go out for the 4th session, I took my bike off the rear stand and tire didn’t look right as it hit the ground. I pushed on it and it felt soft. I checked the pressure and it was 10 PSI. It didn’t take long to find the leak. It really would have been nice had I noticed that at the beginning of the lunch break! Well that tire lasted 3 sessions.
I spent session #4 taking my rear wheel off and running it and a Dunlop 209 take off to be swapped out.
Session #5 – I didn’t have time to get the rear tire warmer on so I took it easy for a few lap to get it warmed up. It felt like shit right away, but I was hoping it would get better once it got some heat into it. Not only did it feel like it was spinning up, but it had my back end moving around all over the place. I latched onto the back of a control rider and ran as hard as I could with bike handling the way it was. I managed to run a 1:05.8, but it was messy!
Session #6 – I took 3 PSI out of the rear tire, 2 clicks of compression out of the shock and had the tire on the warmer between the sessions. It really didn’t feel any better. The session ended early with a red-flag and I knew my day was done. If I kept riding I would wad my bike up for sure.
I’ve come to the conclusion that the handling issues I had at BeaveRun in July were caused by the Dunlop 209 rear tire. I can’t explain how it felt good at Summit and Mid-O, but that was the second time that tire felt like straight ass at BeaveRun. I’m looking forward to tossing it into the trash once I pull it off the rim!
Well that’s pretty much it for local track days for me for the next 6 months.
.
