Good Gawd! Autobahn this weekend was just nuts! Between the cold, the wind, and the rain, only the truly addicted were willing to stick it out and ride that extra mile. Needless to say, I was the last guy off the track Sunday afternoon.... For the shrinking violets who went home, consider this. One of my Novice students RODE TO THE TRACK in the near-hurricane that was our Sunday morning wakeup call. Having already survived the worst weather we saw all weekend, he chose to stay and ride. In the afternoon, I was able to devote a full hour of nonstop on-track and pit lane coaching just to him, and what a difference that made in his riding! All three of my Novices learned how to slide their bikes around a bit and get away with it. How much do you think that will help their lap times at the next dry event? Later, I chased down a guy who was flat FLYING! On my rain tires I was able to catch him, but the guy was riding so well that he wasn't the LEAST bit easy to pass with any amount of courtesy. Since the rider didn't know I'd come up behind him, and since he wasn't making ANY mistakes that would give me an easy way past, I chose not to dive under the guy and spook him. When this rider decided to stop for a while, I just had to follow him into the pits and shake his hand! Honestly, I've never seen anyone ride so well in the rain on street tires. I'd have needed to pull a full-race stuff pass to get around him on my RAIN TIRES! Late in the day, I decided to REALLY see how fast I could push my rain tires. With a nearly empty course, I could rail and slide to my heart's content. Now I know how Autobahn members must feel, having their own private racetrack to play on. Eventually, I noticed that the corner workers were actually starting to GLARE at me, so I figured I'd better quit before they froze to death or started hurling mud balls! So to all the fair weather riders who stayed home, I'd just like to say thanks! Because of the low turnout, we were able to run an all-day open track, and I must have gotten in well over 100 laps. There's nothing like riding off an entire tank of fuel in one stint on a racetrack! SEE HOW MUCH FUN YOU FOLKS MISSED? My advice to you for next time is to bring or buy rain tires, and stay for all the soggy thrills!
I chickened out on Sunday .No rains , just last years slicks . I live an hour and a half away and spent the afternoon cutting up a fallen tree .(wind ) The Lithium guys did a great job . Who was taking pictures last weekend ?