puredanger.com Blog

Attention, attention – Cleezmo is moving! To be more specific, I’ve taken advantage of the ridiculously easy-to-use program known as iWeb, and have built a website for Seda and I. The new site is:

www.jeffandseda.com

In addition to my blog page, we’ll have photos and other stuff that is made possible not by my programming prowess, but by the uber simple Mac software.

Check it out! And big thanks to Alex for hooking me up with bandwidth for the last year or so!!!

Cleezmo out…

Okay, so this is a bit late, but better late than never, eh? In December I submitted an article to my most-favorite motorcycle news/racing website, www.superbikeplanet.com. They have a series called “A Face In The Crowd”, which are articles submitted by readers/fans of the site. I was lucky enough for them to post my previous submission, “The Shop”, back in February, and they liked this one, “Finding The Flow”, as well. So I’m 2 for 2!! Woo Hoo!!

The link is here.

The last track day of the season for me was a few Sundays ago on October 14^th at Gateway International Raceway. This was the final of four track days put on by the MCRA, and despite a smaller number of riders, was a lot of fun. And the weather was perfect, sunny and 80 degrees in October!

As usual, I was doing Control Rider duty in the Novice and Intermediate groups. I’ve really tried to adopt more of an instructing role in the Novice group vs. the Chaperone role we generally do with the Intermediates. This means that I’m trying to seek out guys and gals who look like they need some help with the race line or getting around the track. I then get them to follow me for a few laps, showing them the proper lines, follow them for a lap to see how they are doing, and then move on to try to find another rider in the same situation (or get in front of them again for a refresher if they don’t improve).

I felt like this was the best job I’ve personally done in terms of helping out the Novice riders. Every session I’d work with one or two riders, I talked to at least one rider at pit out at the end of every session, and I had a few riders coming over to my pit area asking follow-up questions throughout the day. It’s pretty rewarding seeing someone who was riding really rough in the morning riding smoother and more confidently at the end of the day. Also, we see a lot of the same riders at all of over events, and it’s pretty cool to have seen the progression in skill level and speed of a lot of the Novice riders from our first day in May to the last day in October. Some made really, really big strides in their riding.

As usual, we had a race at the end of the day, where I was once again on Pole position due to my early registration. I got a good launch, but wheelied a bit off the line – actually I carried the front wheel about a foot off the ground until I shifted into 2^nd gear. Nice for show, not so good for getting to Turn 1 first! Also as usual, the top 2 guys pretty much checked out from the rest of us after 1 lap, turning crazy times like 1:06s and 1:07s. I was in 5^th place for the first few laps, but by about lap 7 or 8 I caught and passed the 4^th place rider between turns 4 and 5. I was able to put a few second gap on him for a while, but he slowly caught back up to me. When I hesitated to pass a lapper (my buddy Dave on his Buell), he dove underneath us both into Turn 8, and I was cursing myself for waiting to pass. I got around Dave on the front straight, but by then the 4^th place rider had put a little gap on me, and I only had 2 or 3 laps left. By then my rear tire was fairly greasy and I had slowed to the mid- 1:11s, so I was not in a good position to chase without taking some risks.

I ended up with 5^th, so it wasn’t terrible, but I really, REALLY wanted 4^th! Oh well. The positive was that, from a lap time perspective, I was right back in the zone of 1:10s that I had finally broken into in September. In fact, my first flying lap was a 1:10.50, and 11 of my first 12 laps (in an 18 lap race) were all in the 1:10s. The last 3 or 4 laps my times dropped off (because my rear tire was spinning up everywhere) to 1:11s, and a 1:12 on the last lap, but that just means that I recognized the tire situation and adjusted my pace accordingly, so there’s no shame in that.

So now the GSX-R goes into hibernation for the winter, and I’ll try to put a few more miles on the new Tiger 1050 in the garage before winter sets in…

As most of you probably know, Seda ran and finished the Chicago Marathon on October 7. Just one more reason to say My Wife Rocks!!

She trained religiously for 5 months for this, and was in great shape to complete the run. In addition, she raised over $3500 for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society as a member of Team In Training. She really put forth a lot of effort in both her training and her fundraising, and I couldn’t be more proud of her.

The marathon itself was strange – it was actually cancelled at the 3 hours 30 min mark due to excessive heat (88 degees). Seda was able to finish, but was literally forced to walk most of the last 5 miles (see her note below).

The fun part for me (other than seeing Seda run, of course) was that my good buddy Ben was also in Chi-town to support his friend Mike in his marathon, so we hooked up and were cruising around town together, trying to get from checkpoint to checkpoint to see both Mike and Seda, who were about 30 minutes apart in the pack of 40,000 runners. This was a blast, as we hadn’t seen each other since last December. At one point we were literally running for 15 minutes, in our cargo shorts and backpacks, trying to get to Mile 17 before Mike crossed the line! Good thing we were able to catch cabs the for the other stops! We saw both Mike and Seda at miles 5, and 10, then Ben and I split up at Mile 17, as at that point Mike and Seda were far enough apart that if Ben stayed with me to see Seda, he’s miss his next check point.

It was really cool seeing so many runners – literally, the pack went on forever! Ben and I saw the pack about 1/2 mile in, and it’s just crazy, a wall of people that does not end. Ben has run Chicago twice, so it wasn’t new to him, but it was eye-opening for me. At the end of the day, I must say that I was inspired to try one. After further review, I think I’m going to train for a 1/2 marathon next year, but I’m making no commitments for a full one yet  ; )

I’m so proud of Seda for hanging in there and finishing! She Rocks!

For those of you how might have missed it, here is the email she sent out post-marathon:

Dear All,
 
As most of you already heard, the weather during the 30^th LaSalle Chicago Marathon was less than optimal. It got hot, really hot!
 
The race started nicely, I saw Jeff and Ben at mile 5 and 10, and Leyla, Ozgun and Ahmet between miles 7 and 8. Then I saw Jeff for the third time at mile 17 and he cheered me up, motivated me to keep going with a smile on my face. The heat started to get a lot of runners by then… As I passed the 21 mile mark, they announced that the race was over and we should stop running. During the announcement they also said that there were buses waiting for us at the next aid station and we would be taken to the finish line by bus. I kept hearing no more timing, no more racing, stop running… I kept telling myself that I wanted to finish it by myself. I could not believe this was happening. I continued running/walking to find Jeff – as I passed mile 17 he told me that he would be at mile 23. I passed the aid station but did not see any buses and started running slowly at least up until I found Jeff. Between mile 23 and 25 I walked with Jeff and Leyla. Since I wanted to finish the race running I started running again to finish the race.
 
I am honored to have run this race in memory of John Landin, as well as all the people whose names were on the ribbons many of you sent. It was a weekend that I will never forget. Thank you all for your support, calls, emails, thoughts. All of them helped and I thought of you all during my 5 hour 27 minutes run/walk.  
 
I am still sore and avoiding the stairs. Here is a really fun You Tube link that sums it nicely: http://youtube.com/watch?v=m-hCuYjvw2I
 
Have a wonderful week,
 
Seda

We had our 3rd MCRA track day this past Sunday at Gateway International Raceway, and it was a blast!

First off – full props to all the trackday participants. We’ve had some issues at the past couple events with riders riding over the limit, bikes coming together on track, etc. – just too many “incidents”. So the club responded by implementing a few additional rules to keep things safe for everyone. The riders responded well – we only had one red flag (stoppage of a session due to a crash) all day, compared to 4 or 5 at our last event! Big improvement.

As a Control Rider for the Novice and Intermediate sessions, I help both chaperone and instruct riders in those classes. I made a mental note to try to help at least one rider in every session I was out in, instead of just cruising around chaperoning. It worked, I think – in every session I would have 1 or 2 guys follow me for a couple laps, showing them the race line and trying to get them to follow it. Results can vary, but I saw definite improvement in a couple or riders, and that’s the whole point, so I felt good about that.

After riding every single Intermediate and Novice session until lunch, after the lunch break I sat out a bit. I did about 4 laps in the first Expert session just to make sure I got a few laps in at near race pace for our club race at the end of the day, and after that I did a few sessions as a CR, but not every one. It was 90-something degrees and I wanted to make sure I had energy left for the 25-minute race at 4:30.

I had pole position in the race – because I was the first rider to sign up for the race months ago. I actually got a great start in the race – I was 3rd exiting Turn 2, and was still with the front group by Turn 6. The first two guys – wicked-fast J. Quillman and J. Selbert – were gone within a lap. But here’s where things got interesting..

At the last two events, I was able to hang with the lead group (or, well, the group fighting for 3rd, behind the 2 fast guys who had sailed off into the distance) for about 1 1/2 laps, and by that point I’d lose touch with them and would just ride my own race. But this time was different.

After Selbert and Quillman had checked out, there was a group of 3 riders battling for 3rd – and I was right with them. They’d pull me a bit on the front straight (they were riding a 636, 750, and 1000, and I was on my 600), but I was able to close up in the corners – mostly Turn 2 and Turn 6. I stayed with them for 2 or 3 laps, and thought “I’m still with them! That means I can STAY with them!” Never underestimate the mental aspect of racing, kids. Because from that point on I was stuck to them. I had the same mental conversation at the 1/2-way flag – “I’m still here, I can stay with them”.

Despite a couple small mistakes (getting a little sideways exiting Turn 2 once, and getting in a little too deep into Turn 7 a couple times) I was able to stay about 1/2 a second behind the group FOR THE ENTIRE RACE. I was riding hard, no doubt, but I was not out of control.

At the end of the race I got 6th, but it may as well have been 1st, because it was such a huge mental victory to be able to stay with the fast guys for the entire race. I knew I’d gone faster then my best lap before, but I didn’t know how fast. I was in for a pleasant surprise. My previous best lap at Gateway was a 1:11.5 or 1:11.6. Well, a 1:11.6 was the SLOWEST lap I turned in this race! I was turning consistent 1:10.2s and 1:10.4s, with a new personal best of 1:09.9. That, friends, is progress.

It may have been the new tires, it may have been the new brake pads, it may have just been getting a good start and believing I could stay with them. But for whatever reason, I went faster then I’d ever gone before, and was completely stoked at the end of the race. Completely exhausted, yeah, but stoked.

Another bonus for me was that Seda was the one taking my lap times. She was so excited/happy for me to have reached one of the goals I set before the race, it was great having her there. It’s funny, she asked me what my goal was before the race and I said ”I’d like to get a 1:09, but if I can turn 1:10s consistently I’ll be happy”. Well, I did both, and she was almost at happy as I was! 

Thanks to the MCRA for putting on another great event. We have one more left, on Sunday October 14th – should be fun! 

Also, I thought this pic Seda took of my dad and I was great. 

I spent most of Labor Day weekend in Hastings, Nebraska, racing at Motorsports Park Hastings. Although it was a LONG drive to get there, it was definetely worth it! The weather was beautiful both days, and much fun was had by all.

There were a few STL racers representing - Dad and I vanpooled with my Buell-racing buddy Dave (his van, my trailer), and there were several other STL guys there who we pitted with, so we were among friends. Saturday was a practice day, which was great for Dave and I, as we’d never been to this track before, and it took a few sessions to get it down.

The track is really fun, a mix of all kinds of turns and very smooth with lots of grip. The front section from turns 2 – 4 is all about speed, including a right hander you take flat out in 4th gear (easily 110 MPH+), then the middle and last section are very tight, technical sections that reward precision. These two tight sections are broken up by another couple of medium-fast 4th-gear corners to keep it interesting. The technical sections really require hitting your marks – if you blow Turn 5, for example, you find yourself completely off line for Turn 6, which means you don’t get a good drive into fast Turn 7. Make one mistake in a slow corner and you just ruined your lap time! A track map is here for those interested.

By the end of Saturday I was turning consistent 1:38 lap times, which felt pretty good considering I’d never seen the track before, plus I felt really good on the bike. Then I checked the fast guys’ times – 1:32s and 1:33s. DOH! Stupid 600 expert class…

Sunday I was entered in 4 races, and did okay; 9th in GTU, 6th in HWSS, 14th in MWSS, and 9th in MWGP. In my first race I turned a 1:37.8, so I was a little faster than Saturday. My best lap time of the weekend was a 1:37.21, which I turned on the last lap of HWSS. In my final race of the day, I got a little tired, and was turning consistent 1:38s (instead of the consistent 1:37s I was doing earlier in the day) and recorded a best of 1:37.7. But I had no real drama (other than one slide in Turn 2 during practice Saturday), so I couldn’t complain too much – although it would have been nice to get a 1:36!

Not to make excuses, but I was have a few small problems with the front end of the GSX-R. First of all, the fork seals were leaking, which meant that the damping was suffering a bit – hard on the brakes, the front end would dive more than normal, resulting in the rear tire wagging around. Not the fastest way into a corner. I was also having braking issues. On the warmup lap and the first lap or two, the brakes felt perfect. But in every race, after about 3 laps, I was getting serious brake fade – I was having to really pull the lever hard to get the bike slowed; instead of just a little pressure, I was pulling it back probably twice as far towards the bar as normal. My two braking fingers were actually the only sore muscles I had on Monday!

As we were packing up on Sunday, I spent a few minutes taking to a faster rider who had followed me in a few races, and was turning 1:35s and 1:34s. He said “Basically, you’re braking just a little bit early in EVERY SECTION”. He said he caught me a few times, but it was really hard to pass me in the middle or the exit of a corner – he said the only way he could pass was on the brakes. The positive from this was that I figure with new brake pads that work the way they are supposed too, I should be able to drop my times a bit. I ordered a new set Tuesday…

Overall I had a great time – it felt really good to get back on the GSX-R and racing again. Now I look forward to our last two MCRA track days at Gateway in STL, September 23 and October 14.

After 8 years and 30,000 miles together, I finally traded my 1997 Suzuki TL1000S off on a shiny new ride. I purchased a 2007 Triumph Tiger 1050 in Fusion White from Donelson Cycles this Saturday, and yes, I’m giddy like a school boy.

After a 15-mile test ride I decided we’d probably get along okay, so I made the deal and took it home. After a 210-mile ride today, I am completely stoked on my choice!

Simply put, this bike rocks. It’s more of a standard, sit-up-straight bike versus the sportbikes I’ve been riding the last 10-12 years, and it has more suspension travel, so it’s definetely a different feeling than I’m used to going down the road. But I quickly got used to it and ended up grinning in my helmet after most every twisty road.

The motor is awesome – lots of power, very smooth, and absolutely seamless power delivery. The brakes are fantastic, better than my racebike’s. The suspension is a bit softer than I’m used to, but does a good job keeping the bike composed. I’ll probably be switching to sticker tires than what came on the bike, but for now they’ll do fine.

What really surprised me the most was the handling. Although you can’t (or shouldn’t) really ride it like a sportbike (hard on brakes, turn in, blast out), it is still really quick. You just need to take a smoother, more-corner-speed approach and the thing just floats along and rips. It turns in easier than just about anything I’ve ridden, is stable at all lean angles, etc. – just a ton of fun. Plus you’re sitting upright, so there’s no real weight on your wrists, you don’t have to move around and hang way off, etc. – lots less fatigue.

I’d say today – the first time I’ve ever ridden the bike –  I was going at 85% of my normal pace on my old bike but with 50% less effort. Exactly what I was looking for. Plus it’s so comfortable that I could easily see riding the thing all day on road trips and whatnot. This thing rips, I love it.

Here are some pics of the new addition.

Yes, it was a month ago, but I’m been slacking on my blogging! Actually, it was a pretty rough weekend, so I don’t have the usual long, detailed post.

Friday was an MCRA track day. We had a few too many “incidents” with riders coming together and crashing in the morning, but in the afternoon it was much better. I got 5th in the MCRA race at the end of the day, turning mostly 1:12s and high 1:11s on tires that were pretty much done. I had fun, but was looking forward to the race weekend.

Saturday is a practice day, and actually I was little unhappy because I couldn’t get back into the 1:11s straight way. I had new tires, better gearing, and a few tweaks to the suspension that had that bike feeling better, but I didn’t get into the 1:11s until my last session. Hmm…

Sunday was basically a wash, no pun intended. Right before my first race of the day, it started POURING. Seriously, check out the post on puredanger.com for some pics Alex took. The long and short of Sunday was that I entered 4 races, yet only raced in one because that was the only time the track was dry. Skipped first 2, raced the 3rd (got 8th place after folllowing a dude for most of the race, turned a 1:11.4 when I got around him), then it started pouring again before my 4th. Day done, major bummer.

Hopefully the next time we take the GSXR on a trip the rains will stay away!!!

Having recently decided that we would get a new streetbike this year, the TL1000S has officially been put into the For Sale category. This is the story of why it’s still in the garage (for now).

I was emailing a couple riding buddies regarding an asking price for the TL, and one of them mentioned that an acquaintence of his was looking for a bike in that price range. Email addresses were exchanged, pics of the bike were sent, and we (the friend of a friend and I) set up a time to meet so I could show him my bike in person.

My riding buddy had been under the impression that the potential buyer had owned bikes previously and was getting back into the sport. He was apparently pumped by the pics and was very interested in my bike. I’d met him briefly at a party a few weeks before and he seemed like a solid guy, so it was looking good…

So we meet up at a neutral place in IL, the guy and his wife and me and my TL. He’s looking at the bike (which of course I had super clean and shiny) and mentions that he’s never owned a bike before, but that he’d ridden some friends’ 600cc bikes back in the day (early 90s). My bike is really clean, he’s pretty excited. But my Ambassador For The Sport voice immediately kicked in…

I asked (to clarify) if he’d really never owned a bike before – he had not. I looked at my bike, looked at him and his wife, and said “Honestly, if you’ve never owned a bike before and don’t have much experience, this is not the bike for you”, of course killing the sale.

I explained the difference in power/acceleration/engine character between my 1000cc bike and a 600cc or 650cc bike. I explained that my bike (or any 1000cc) needs more commitment, more skill, and more input to ride quickly. I commented that, in my time as a Control Rider for MCRA track days, the guys and gals on 600s tend to progress faster than their 1000cc-riding counterparts. And I told him that he’d probably get a lot more confidence by riding a smaller bike vs. an intimidating (power-wise) 1000cc. Basically, I said that in my opinion as a rider of 26 years, racer for 7, and instructor for 3, I’d recommend a 600cc 4-cylinder or an SV650 v-twin as a starter bike for him, and that I wouldn’t feel comfortable selling him my 115hp beast as a first bike. I also told him he could call or email me with any questions he came up with as he continued his search.

I did this for a couple reasons. First – this is a friend of a friend, so for me to sell him my bike only to hear weeks later that it wheelied over or highsided him off or something would not be good Karma. But more than that, cheesy as it may sound, I really try to be a good ambassador for the sport. I always try to talk it up to non-riders, try to explain that we’re not all stunters scaring soccer moms, that racing isn’t about adenaline as much as it is about precision and mental analysis, etc. And I always, ALWAYS preach to whoever will listen that newbies should NOT ride 1000cc bikes – they are truly accidents waiting to happen in my professional opinion.

Every newbie who’s ever asked me about a potential sportbike purchase has gotten the same story – Start on an SV650 or few-year-old 600, buy all the riding gear and wear it all the time, build/hone your skills, and enjoy the ride. Only after you have a year or two or several thousand miles under your belt should you even CONSIDER a sportbike larger than 600cc. Until you’ve ridden a 1000 you can’t imagine/understand the difference in acceleration….

So, after years of preaching this mantra, I wasn’t about to change lanes just to take this guy’s money. I’ll find a suitable buyer or I’ll trade it in, but I won’t sell it to a newbie. Here’s hoping that Karma comes back around.

As a brief follow up, props go out to this potential buyer. After our meeting, he did indeed start looking at smaller bikes, and called me to ask my thoughts on a SV650 he was looking at. Full marks to him to listening to advice and going the smart route, not the testosterone route. Hopefully he’ll enjoy the sport more this way and stay in it! 

Well, this was a dissapointing race weekend. Dad and I made the trek to Pacific Junction, IA (about 30 minutes south of Omaha, NE) for a weekend of racing at Mid-America Motorplex on Friday. I was really looking forward to racing there, as I haven’t been there in 4 years, and it’s a really fun layout.

I had been checking the weather forecast religiously and on Friday weather.com was saying 30% chance of rain on Saturday, cloudy but no rain on Sunday. Nice. Then we woke up Saturday to pouring rain. There was probably an inch of standing water over half of the hotel parking lot. A quick check of The Weather Channel on the hotel TV showed the entire Nebraska/Iowa area covered in rain, with no prediction of letting up until after 8:00 pm Saturday night. Hmmm.

With the amount of water already on the ground/pavement, we quickly decided that, without a set of rain tires, Saturday was a no-go. Now we had to decide whether to stick around and hope for favorable Sunday weather, or simply cut expenses and head home. Over breakfast and coffee at The Cracker Barrel (one of Dad’s perennial favorites), we decided to head back.

Why head back? Aren’t you there to race? Well, yeah, but there were a few reasons for the decision. 

First, instead of practice and races Sat and Sun, this organization runs a practice day all-day Saturday, then all the races on Sunday. This means that on Sunday there was only one practice session for EVERY RACER THERE, regardless of bike, status, etc., then racing started at 9:00. So I’d only get one very crowded practice session to re-learn the track I rode 4 years ago, which, by the way, would also most likely still be damp or wet from the night before. I didn’t figure there was any way I could get up to speed in one session, so I’d basically be using my races as practice and seat time.

Second, the budget. By staying we’d have another 2 nights in the hotel, 2 more restaurant visits, gate fees, entry fees for the races, etc. Which would have been fine if we KNEW that the rain would break Saturday afternoon, the sun would come out, and Sunday the track would be competely dry and raceable. But we didn’t know that, in fact we figured it would be the opposite. After skipping one race and tip-toeing around in another in the rain at Topeka in April, I didn’t really want to throw money at a wet racetrack again. If the race runs in the rain, you do not get a refund…

So, in the end, we reluctantly turned around and headed back home. A serious bummer, but better then sitting under the canopy watching it rain, all day, or worse, banging up yourself or the bike because you pushed a little too hard on a wet/damp racetrack.

So now we wait until Gateway in June….