Reflecting on Canyons

on 9/16/07 there was another fatality (possibly 2) on ACH. In a mundane corner, on a beautiful sunny SoCal day, a horrible accident took another person's life on the crest. My favorite road, my 2-wheeled home, the place where not-too-long-ago i fell in love with the sport of motorcycle riding is also the place where so many venture and fail to return from. Even if the mellow fluid sweepers of the Crest seem harmless or kind, this road bites back--and more often than it should, it bites those who don't deserve the blood and agony.

It's a fact of life that as a rider, the casualty reports will pile up every summer. You have to learn to adjust to the idea that you or your friends might not make it home from your next ride. You get used to the stories of young riders w/ no experience or gear making love to canyon walls, or the stories of riders with 15+ years of experience making a mistake and paying for it. It's a fact of life, like someone here said, riders die, and sometimes you can't do anything to change it.

So often we respond with resolutions to be more careful, or to take it to the track, or deny that our personal behaviors can lead to tragic accidents..."Yeah, i put a knee down on the street, but I'm in control" I've said stuff like that plenty of times. I've seen guys whose opinions and skills i respect say it. I've clearly differentiated my actions from those of the lowsiding masses, as if i'm not 1 pebble away from joining them. And no amount of contrition after the fact will bring a leg back, or an ankle back, or god forbid, another rider back.

It's almost cliche that the local MC community responds to a bad weekend in the local canyon by promising to be better riders. I do think it helps, but at the same time there are so many people who aren't included in the dialogue who end up wadded up against k-rails. and whether or not we become better riders, nothing is going to change the fact that all it takes is 1 tiny rock, 1 unsuspecting cage, or 1 rider coming the other way 3' over the DY to make any resolutions you made a week ago completely moot.

I don't want to give up street riding. I think that there's something to be said about spending saturday morning on the crest with some friends--but i do think we all need to question the way in which we traverse these roads. Get your thrill from the trees, the clean air, the company, and the sunshine--not the speed. Many of us always say that the street is not a race track, but how many of us actually ride that way?

We are in a precarious position. between the insurance companies, the local highway patrol, the general public/politicians, and each other--the next few years could be a crucial moment in the history of motorcycles. and while i believe that people should be free to make their own choices (and mistakes), it's a sad reality that what I do is a reflection on a fellow sportbikers as much as it is a reflection of myself. The same applies to all of us, and since we were given the task to protect the sport in a sensitive time, ask yourself what you're doing for your fellow riders, at the bike night, on the freeway, in the canyons. Whether they come with HP limits, tiered licensing (good idea imo), banning sportbikes altogether, and whether the AMA can stop it are all somewhat irrelevant...

If we don't police ourselves, don't expect the government to do it with the understanding of the important but subtle nuances that define our sport. And if we don't police ourselves, we have little right to complain when we find ourselves persecuted by grandstanding politicians who don't give a rat's ass about whether you're a geared up, responsible rider or not.

Track Report 9/8-9/9 Spring Mountain, Pahrump NV

Looking at a map, Pahrump seems like it's pretty damn far away from LA. Looking at the directions and the unfamiliar roads and freeways, it seems even further. Finally, thinking about Friday Vegas traffic makes it seem like you'll never get there, so you might as well stay home and wash your bike.

But it's closer than you think. 240 miles, which isn't all that far. beautiful, empty, desert highways with nary a soul traversing them and a bright starscape you often forget about when you're under the orange glow of los angeles, and finally a delayed departure time (11:30 pm) means that pahrump is actually less than 3 hrs away, when you put the cruise control at 85.

Made it to the hotel room (Pahrump Nugget) and laid down on the floor and went to sleep. I shared a room w/ 4 other guys and got there last, which means i get the floor. I froze my ass off and woke up at 6:30am, we got ready and made our way to the track. The best thing about a pahrump weekend is that a) you don't feel bad about spending money on a hotel room because you're far from home and can't day trip it, and the rooms are cheap and b) the track is 5 minutes away from your hotel and c) they have a casino just downstairs.

We got to the track and hunkered down, setting up pop-ups, bike stands, generators, misters, fans, and chairs and got ready for a full day at the track. I have never ridden pahrump before, so i was in C-group (which is for beginners) along with a few other guys in the group who were sandbagging.

Pahrump is a 2.2 mile track (which is pretty long) that is a decent mix of fast and technical. Turns 3, 5, 7, 9, and 10 are tough technical corners that require precision and lots of shifter work to properly negotiate. But what makes Pahrump a fun track for me is the great sweepers: turns 1, 2 and 4 are straight out of the pages of AFH. Puck destroying, long, graceful sweepers with great pavement--it's easy to build a rhythm all the way up to turn 9.

So in light of my last post, about reaching the Zen promised land of trackday riding, i didn't achieve it on the first day. Learning the track, battling poor body position, fighting a sore back and left wrist, and a stubborn bike left me distracted and tired. I eventually learned pretty good lines, but by the time i was ready to use them, it was the end of the day and i was ready to collapse.

The second day started off with more of the same. Lots of hesitation, not smooth riding, struggling with body position. But in turn 1, midcorner of my 2nd session of the day, i realized that i was still crossed up, and that i wasn't getting my butt off the seat enough. a 2" shift made all the difference in the world, and i started to get faster and faster. I ground down my pucks (Spidi pucks are made out of butter) so i had to flip them at least 3 times. I started keeping pace with faster friends, and started exploring body position that wasn't so brutal.

Long story short, I felt like i was picking up where i left off when i left my first trackday, and got back on track. I also tried to reach motorcycle zen with mixed results--it's kind of hard to do when you back is killing you and it's hot as fuck, but hey no one said it was gonna be easy.

Mechanically, the bike finally needs new tires, i need to look into a more compliant back protector, i need new gloves, and maybe need to re-gear the bike. The newest toy (penske) performed great, and after 1 trip to the suspension truck the bike felt great all day.

Unsane. Time really does fly.

Looking at this blog is frightening. I haven't posted in a good 2 months, which also means i haven't done any riding in a long time (save the HT trackday at BW). Tonight I'm leaving for Pahrump, where i'll spend the weekend in Sunny Western Nevada with Everyone's Favorite "Socal" Racetrack (TM).

Nevermind that it's not even in SoCal, Pahrump is supposed to take all of the elements that make Buttonwillow great, and take it to the next level. Nice new pavement, wide track with tons of space, and a good mix of high-speed and technical. I'm excited because i'll get to ride a track 2 days in a row for the first time, and i get to monkey around in nevada and play some craps when i'm not sweating in my power ranger outfit.

HT-West Trackday 8/5/2007
I actually have Video for this event, just sitting on my computer, and it's pretty interesting stuff. It shows me getting passed all day, which is pretty standard. I haven't edited it yet, so it needs to be shortened so that there isn't 5 minutes of footage of me sitting in grid.

I took some new things away from that day though--first, i'm not as confident as i ought to be on track. Running BW CCW for the first time, it's expected to feel a little weirded out, (Esp dealing with star mazda, no lost hills, and a REALLY long back straight for the first time in a new direction) but it took me a lot of sessions to get comfy with the track. Even when i had packed it in, i still felt "scared" if you will, of braking from 145 mph (indicated, so more like 135) to make a really gentle left handed sweeper, though i had progressively made the turn faster and faster with each lap. I still have issues with turn 2 (in a CW direction) in both directions, and well, i was slow.

I thought and thought about it, and i wondered if my lowside at BW contributes...Well, considering how consequence free it was, i don't think so. I wondered if i was distracted on the bike or simply just not 100% there, and i realized that i had forgot my earplugs. It's hard to imagine that something so simple would have a big effect on one's riding, and maybe it doesn't, but it's hard to get your thoughts straight when you're doing triple digits at 13000 rpm on a race bike with a full exhaust--it's louder than hell.

Furthermore, i woke up late that morning and was in a rush to get to the track. Whenever i do this, i always end up riding/driving like shit the whole day, and no matter how much you try to relax, the feeling of being rushed never quite leaves you, until it's too late.

And through meditation and heavy motorcycle forum posting, i've come to the conclusion that i'm riding my best when i'm completely relaxed. Focused, but relaxed. Getting in touch with that graceful, effortless, talented (ha ha) side that simply knows what to do and what measure to do it with. In these moments, time slows down, the world becomes eerily quiet (such that i can hear my own breathing over the din of a screaming inline-4), and i simply ride.

So tomorrow, i'm trying to get back to that place. Let's hope the new penske triple, new(er) supercorsas, and proper diet and fluids get me there.