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.