These pages are from my "early years of racing" and I have left them up for reference but all of my blog posts can be found on Kryptonite's blog here and here.

Road Atlanta, June 30 - July 2, 2006

My journey to Road Atlanta

I left Daytona Beach on Wednesday to head up to Road Atlanta for the WERA Cycle Jam, four days of non-stop motorcycle racing. I had been to “Road A” as a spectator on 2 separate occasions, one of them the AMA race in 2005. As a spectator I viewed the race from several different areas of the track – ‘the esses’, ‘the bridge’, the long back straightaway, and from pit wall. I can recall thinking at the time “there is no way I could/would race at this track. Ever.”

Road Atlanta is high speed, hard on the brakes, has elevation changes, and has blind turns. Definitely a track to test a racer’s skills and courage. I signed up for practice on Thursday hoping to get in maybe four (4) sessions since I had never been there before. I got two (2) half-hour sessions. Not quite enough time to really feel confident that I knew the lines and the layout of the track. After the first session I recall my words being “that section up at the top of the hill – the switchbacks – what am I supposed to do with that!??” You could say I was a bit frustrated. I typically pick up new tracks quickly and adapt, but I wasn’t feeling it in these 2 sessions. I did however learn a lot about my style of riding and what types of tracks I prefer and do well at. I tend to do well with tight, technical turns. There are no areas at Road A that are like this. So I chalked it all up to experience and getting through the weekend without an incident.

After my second practice session out I was feeling a bit better and excited about racing on Saturday to see what I could do at race pace. But first I helped out the endurance team on Friday. Mark signed on with a team called “Arnchu Racing”. Two of the guys were not able to race so it was just Mark and Randy for the 6-hour race in the 95-degree heat. For most of the race they ran in second overall to Vesrah Suzuki. It was quite a feat for just 2 riders. Mark rode 4 of the 6 hours. After about ¾ of the race they had to pit once again but this time change the front tire. The stop ended up being about 4 minutes long due to the front brake calipers slamming shut together and a delay on getting the front tire back on. In the end they finished 3rd overall and 2nd in class.

I went out for my 2 quick practice sessions on Saturday morning. My first session I did a 1:50.430. Um, I needed to speed up. A lot! I learned from other riders that most of the time can be made up going into turn 10 and getting a good drive for the down the hill, the high speed turn to the front straight and then into turn 1. I had turn 1 down pretty well, but was very timid about the down hill turn under the bridge. In my second session I did a 1:46.02. Getting better each time.

First race – Formula 2. I had a good battle with Melissa Paris going. Each of us going back and forth until in the last lap I went wide in turn 7 and off the track. Stupid move. Melissa passed me and I ended up 24th. Not a good race.

Second race – Lightweight Superstock. I got the best start I have ever had! Finally! I need to start going to the drag strip though. I am not consistent. I had 3 times to practice since we had 2 red flags and that wasn’t even enough. My second start was delayed – I have no idea what I was waiting on. Third start was better. That was an exhausting race. We went back to our pit area twice. Mentally it took a toll so by the last time out I was thankful to finish. I finished in 15th place and my best lap time was a 1:44.06.

There are the obvious times when you come home so excited to do well, whether it be finishing in the top 5 or getting your lap times down by 6-10 seconds. Then there are times you are thankful to just go home in one piece with your friends. Road Atlanta was a tough weekend. There were a number of crashes and a few friends with broken bones. There is one fellow rider who didn’t get to go home that day – Chris Stevenson did not recover from his injuries in a crash in turn 5. While I did not know Chris, the whole WERA community was saddened by the loss. It makes me thankful for the simple trip home that night.

Special thank you to my sponsors:

Jim, Mike, Catalyst Racing Composites, Pit Bull, Goodridge, D&D, X1R, Arai, Mechanix Wear, Moto-heaven.com, Ferodo, Vortex, Dynojet