My first Supermoto!!!!! There wasn't any practice schedule for Saturday at Horse Thief Mile and rather than show up completely unprepared on Sunday I drove out to Apple Valley Saturday to get a little seat time in. Saturday -------- Got up at Four A.M, finished loading the trailer and hit the road. Arrived at Grange Motor Circuit (http://www.grangeracetrack.com) a little before Eight. The only other person there was the guy running the show, Bob, but he was excited about me trying out supermoto for the first time and he told me that the track was mine. Yahoo! I hop on the bike and head out, first trying the track anti-clockwise and then clockwise. I experimented with hanging off road race style and then foot out dirt style. Foot out felt a little more natural but, that may be just because that's what I associate with riding the dirt bike - it is exhausting though. There's four right handers in a row that have me holding my leg out as high as it'll go for a long time. I didn't know anything about supermoto so, I guessed on the tires, an Avon AM20 Road Runner up front an Dunlop K180? Flat Tracking Tire in back, and the tire pressure, 25 psi. The rear's working great but, I'm getting massive amounts of chatter and pushing the front whenever I try to corner hard. Still, it's hella fun! Riding around all by myself felt pretty weird. More so when 7 or 8 people appeared in the bleachers watching me. I felt bad 'cause I wasn't putting on much of a show so I kicked the pace up a bit and, sure enough, wad it right in front of them. I scooped the bike up as fast as I could and got back at it. Telling my ailing dignity that it's not how often you fall - it's how quick you get back up. Besides, it's probably what they were waiting for anyway. ;) As I was coming down the front straight I noticed a draft on my right hand and looked down to see that I'd destroyed my pricey road race glove ...which was also bloody. Damn. I wasn't about to pull in so, I kept going for another dozen or so laps until I ran out of gas. Flicked it into reserve for a couple more and then pulled in. Check the clock and, holy smokes, I'd been out there for an hour and a half. I rock my world! Peel the glove off and wrap up my tattered pinky in gauze and the glove in duct tape. The pits had started to fill up while I was making a buffoon of myself. The CMRRA was out in force for their race Sunday, there was also six guys from the ASRA and a handful of other supermoto people. Yay! I cornered a couple of the supermoto guys and got some good setup advice which helped reduce the chatter a bit. Some of the CMRRA guys (http://www.racecmrra.com/) take the most bizarre lines though. An annoying handfull would take what I'd call a normal approach to a corner then suddenly swerve to the outside, take a tight apex and then run wide at the exit. It was way weird and not a little dicey considering how big a speed differential I had on 'em. The ASRA guys (http://scooterracing.info) seemed to take more normal lines except they'd usually run wide at the exit as they ran out of ground clearance (floor boards). I dunno, maybe it just that I haven't done a trackday in a wicked long time so, I'm not used to all that squirrelly stuff anymore. The supermoto folks were on 450's which left my poor little CRF230F wheezing behind until a CMRRA guy on an XR200 and a youngin' on a wicked fast CRF150F showed up and I finally got some good dicing in. I had one amusing moment trying to get under Mr. XR200 on the last corner of one lap. I tucked the front big time but my right foot touched down and stabilized the slide somewhat. This gave me half a second or so to begin composing my will as I slid completely out of control into the k-wall. At the last moment the tire hooked back up, forcing my leg between the foot peg and the brake pedal and then under the rear wheel as the bike began to move forward again. This resulted in the disagreeable experience of running over my own stupid foot. Pleasantly surprised that I didn't break my ankle, I struggled to regain control of the bike as it bobbled hazardously down the main straight. Climb back on, throttle, stabilize, oh yeah, wait, ouch, OUCH! ...forget it, Mr. XR200's gettin' away! I was a sore, aching, wreck at the end of the day. My hips and thighs refuse to work beyond certain narrow ranges, my pinky and ankle were throbbing and I still had to drive out to Willow Springs. ...God, I love this stuff! I got to WSIR a little before six. The security guard said that he'd let me into the facility but that the pit area for the Horse Thief Mile was locked up 'cause they'd had problems with people riding on the track after hours. Booger. Pulled up to the locked pit entrance gate, took the bike out of the trailer so, I'd have room to set up my cot, turned the heater on and tried to study some chemistry before passing out. It was a typical windy night at Willow Springs and I climbed out of my sleeping bag a couple of hours latter to check that the bike was okay and to move it into a more protected area. Sunday ------ They opened the pit gate promptly at Seven A.M. and I scored a sweet spot near track entrance. Registration and Tech was smooth and everyone was super nice. I was dogging it in the first practice session. My legs were so sore that I had to lean against the trailer just to get onto the bike. Still, Horse Thief Mile is an awesome course! I may have to put it up there with my all time favorites (Sears, Las Vegas, Streets of Willows and, now, Horse Thief Mile). This was also my first opportunity to see how these tires worked in the dirt - You come down the back straight in top gear, slam both brakes for all they're worth, drop down to 2nd and pitch it sideways into the dirt section. I was strangely competent through here for some reason. In second morning practice I decide to give up on the foot-out method and go with what I know, hanging off, and instantly feel smoother and faster than I have all weekend. Yahoo! Heat Race --------- The 4 lap heat race decides the grid order for the main and I start on the outside spot on the seventh row. I was a little annoyed to be the only person not on a high horsepower bike, spanky 17" rims and sticky rubber but, hey somebody has to come in last right? To my amazement I get a great launch, blitzing the row in front of me, and am running 18th or 19th into turn one before slowly surrendering positions for the rest of the race. I had a nice battle with another rider for the majority of the race. I could carry more corner speed (gotta be that 250p power!) and I owned him in the dirt but he'd just motor by me like I was standing still in the straights. On the last lap I'm hoping on that, if I can pull a big enough gap on him in the dirt, that I'll be able to hold it long enough to cross the finish line before he pulls ahead. I set him up, choose my line and ...whoops, loose the rear end going into the whoopses. The bike goes full sideways and I shoot off the track. I get the bike back under control and hammer the 230 for all it's worth as we go skidding onto the pavement side by side. I'm a little more willing to let the bike slide while the dirt comes off the tires and pull ahead. Will it be enough? Nope. He motored by and I end up 26th by a bike length. YEEEEEEE-HAWW!!!! That was freakin' fun! The Main -------- It starts to sprinkle a little bit and Grange Bob showed up to cheer us on. I was gridded on the inside spot on the eighth row. I get another great launch, passing most of row seven by turn one. Of course, most of them just power right by me in the steep uphill into turn two. Damn. Still, I'm riding great - knee firmly down, foot pegs scrapping (which is kind of spooky considering they're normally a foot and a half above the ground) and I think I'm the only goober trying to hide behind their number plate to reduce wind resistance in the straights. I'm making passes, getting passed back, and generally racing my little heart out. I get lapped by the lead pack on the last lap in the back straight. I manage to get briefly in front of one of 'em exiting the chicane and again in the dirt section and end up 23rd this time around. Not to shabby - I rode hard, didn't crash, didn't come in last and, yeah, I got lapped but still, a pretty darn good first race IMO. That was easily the most fun I've had in, I dunno, at least a month and all for only fifty bucks. Yahoo! ...So, get a dirt bike, put some DOT's on it and do it!