First Timer's Impression

A few thoughts on my first ever experience, done at Barber, Sunday of March 20. Like most things that one so eagerly anticipates, it both sucked and was awesome. As far as the "down", this was all a product of my own doing and thought, and is in no way a dig at either the STT organization or the STT people. The first thing was being so eager to get into the experience and choosing the first weekend on the year. You'd think at 52 years of age that I would be familiar enough with Alabama weather to have anticipated the fluctuation that saw mid/upper 70's the days ahead to the drop to barely hang in the mid 50's. The second thing was how I saw my first and second sessions on the track, spending the majority of that time crawling along the edges to make a path for the other participants to have an unimpeded path through. Though it was stated that these initial outings were so we could "learn the line", that really didn't transfer well to my understanding. It was only in the third session, after bringing up the point in the after lunch meet that I was able to get another bit of time with an instructor (I believe his name was Jim/Capo) who was able to bring us out into enough "clear" track that we had the opportunity to get in the time to absorb the lesson without having to interrupt the train of thought. I then asked Ogre if I could chase him around the track a bit for another opportunity to get the line. That is when things started to click for me. Those last three sessions of the day were everything I thought they would be, and more.
I will give all props to STT, you guys were fantastic with the time management. Everything ran flawlessly and made the entire day very enjoyable and stress/agitation free because there were no delays to sour anyone's attitudes, and every staff member and rider I interacted with was helpful in making that day the best it could possibly be. I'd also like to give a mention to the US129 photo people. They were very helpful in explaining their purchasing/downloading process to a major computer illiterate like me. Looking forward to seeing what they able to accomplish in making me look like I was putting in a "STAR!" type ride.
Having said these things about my first two sessions, I fully understand why it is done that way and to be strait up, I see the value of it and take away the lesson that it was a good experience in bringing a better understanding of what a track day entails in it's totality and would say to any people who are ready to make the move to do their first trackday, embrace that moment as the opportunity to learn the layout of the track, don't get caught up in any negative feeling. Every moment out there is an opportunity to digest information and there are more sessions coming that will allow you the "put the spurs to it" time that you're looking for.
For any instructors who were there and had the opportunity to observe me out there (the red VFR750 wearing the red/black/white suit and solid white helmet) and noticed anything that I might need to address in future days, please chime in and let me know.
Thats all I've got for right now and just to emphasize how much I enjoyed the experience, before I sat down to type this up, I purchase both an April and a June Sunday at Barber. See y'all then.
Regards, Roger.

 

Sorry to hear about your aliment. I figured you were doing CR duty in the Intermediate or Advanced group and had a full day of work on your plate. I'll be back for the Sunday sessions in both April and June. After hearing Ogre say that last year's August session only had 15 Novice group participants, I'm thinking of making that one as well. Less that half the number of people on the track has me very excited at the prospect of MUCHO open space to get in some speedy fun, fun, fun.