Race Day vs. Track Day, and commute day for that matter...

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Meat of Snail
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Race Day vs. Track Day, and commute day for that matter...

Post by Meat of Snail » Tue Jun 07, 2011 9:12 pm

Race Day Excitement

Throttle rolled on, warm air blasting across the neck and through helmet vents, the sounds of a high revving tuned motor and muffled wind through soft foam ear protection, the feeling of suspension smoothly soaking up the winding track in ahead and no one in sight as far as I can see. Off in the distance, I hear something and it quickly grows louder. ...a buffet of air blasts the right side of my leathers and SCREEEEAAAAAM!!! the sounds and sight of a racer fly just by my right elbow pads! Just before the chance to think arrives, SCREEEEAAAAAM!!! another passes the left elbow and SCREEEEAAAAAM!!! again on the right. The last things I see are three distinct rubber trails on the tarmac chasing these bikes as they disappear around the next bend. ...Just realized, I had not been paying attention and let the rhythm of the track over take my senses. Not sure what lap it is, and for that matter, what class I am racing.

Only one thing to do... Quick! Self-check;
- Full race suit, check, and hot as hell for that matter.
- Race bike, check. Small, lite weigh, nimble, and very underpowered, AHHH, stock 250 class, my favorite.
- Current lap and place, unknown, only bikes in sight are the three that just passed with yellow shirts. Either the race just started and I just fell off the lead position, or I had been day dreaming long enough that the last novice pack had just passed.

As the next turn passes, the last 30% of the throttle rolls on until there is no more available. Balls of the boots grind into the pegs and toes tighten up as if to grip the ends of the pegs. Heals lift, legs begin to tighten and hold my weight, head drops just below the wind screen, elbows are loose, chest and body are hovering slightly above the tank and seat. A glance is all it takes to verify no flags flying at the next blind turn, "this section of the track is all mine!" Not much can match the bliss of full race position and nothing holding back the full potential of the marriage of bike, racer, and familiar track. Three turns, four turns later, pass a small group... Five turns, six turns, I am gaining on the field. By now the tires are portraying convincing amounts of grip as they dig through turns; the bike is letting me know it is time again to be ridden at the limit of its mechanical capabilities.
Turn seven, opening sweeping turn with very little braking involved, arrives much faster. The bike and I lean. Inside knee begins to skim the ground, outside knee pulls the tank closer to the pavement, the feeling of my inside toe lets me know my boot is just skimming the pavement as well, elbows still loose, head looking three turns ahead, the rear just begins to slide as the front begins to chatter the bike and I are just drifting/skipping to the outside of the turn. (These are some of the feelings that racers always remember. It is all part of the passion of "The Race").
Two smaller packs of racers are quickly passed as we push the limits of deep fast entries/quick exits through a few more turns. The tires will not last long at this pace, about four more "GOOD" laps and they will likely begin to liquefy on the surface.
The tail of the next four bikes is seen disappearing around the next bend, a few turns later I find myself with a tight situation. The next turn is the tight, decreasing radius, off camber hairpin, and a line of four have the potential to take all my momentum. The pack's pace is such that a very narrow/risky opportunity is available. At this point, any hesitation will cause the next half lap to be spent regaining the current momentum. The choice to go in deep and out brake the pack is made with the expectation of either just passing the lead of this pack or laying just to the inside taking the apex double wide with the lead of this pack laying their weight on me through the turn. I hold the throttle and take the line deep and begin passing this pack... Four... Three... I begin my breaking, gentle at first to set the suspension, then progressively more. Two, almost to the final tip in for the apex, begin to release the brake and almost back to 100% throttle. The pack lead is on the outside and begins to tip in for the turn...

OH $#@%!!! The last three laps just flashed through my mind in the matter of a split second... The three that passed me were NOT in racers in novice shirts! They were instructors with reflective jerseys!!! Everything unfolds, "What am I doing!?!" "NOT A RACE! NOT A RACE!" This next rider is NOT expecting this type of passing, its a TRACK DAY!
I swiftly and smoothly transition to 100% brakes and attempt to give the rider back THEIR line. At this point, I don't care if I end up off the track as long as I don't cause someone else to wreck.
No luck, I gone TOO DEEP and had been TOO COMMITTED to the turn to avoid contact. I clip the rear of the rider and bike in the lead of this pack. This causes my front to tuck and high side. To make things even worse, this other rider turns out to be a fellow/respected rider in my club. To his benefit he has the skill and mind set to react appropriately and ride out the impact without going down. My sincerest apologies go out to him, to all my fellow riders that had to witness this event, and to the wonderful people whom put these track days together and allow me to attend.


What happened;
- Got caught up in the bliss of riding the track.
- Was closely passed by a pack of riders, other than that, no riders/bikes in site for the next 4-5 turns (as far as I could see to the next hill).
- Self check, I did not accurately assess the situation. With one of my favorite race style set ups under me, the only sight in front of me being a pack of racers going around the next bend at close to a race pace, I mistook the situation to be a race.
- Speed and risk acceptance went up.
- Courtesy went down.
- The closing and passing speeds of the next lap or two did not trigger the fact that it was a track day experience (I have endurance raced with the field consisting of many classes and closing speeds that varied greatly, the situation did not seem too unfamiliar).
- A switch in my mind went and I realized it was a track day, WAY too late. I should have caught this in my first self-check.
- I made contact with a fellow rider (he did not crash, but ended up with some bruising/soreness and some damaged parts to his bike). I high sided at a slow speed, and luckily resulted in no injuries and minimal damage to my bike. And I am sure everyone that was involved and saw this was a bit shaken up.


What I have done and am doing to correct the situation;
- Apologies were made to both the track day organization and especially to my fellow rider.
- I have insisted my fellow rider allow me to cover any costs incurred with repairing his bike to the previous day's condition (I was the sole reason for the damage to his bike).
- I have decided to make myself a note in the dash of my bike stating "SLOW DOWN, TRACK-DAY" or "SPEED UP, RACE" depending the day. This will be accompanied by a wide band of a specific/distinct color across the top of my wind screen (pink for track day, black for race day). If I question the situation, the answer will be right in front of me when I tuck in.
- This has been written as an apology to all my fellow riders involved and present, and as I am in NO WAY proud of this instance, hope that this may be taken and used as a hard learned lesson that others can learn from reading, without the need to learn it the hard way.

Some additional notes for the team to help others;
- Riders, come up with your own "sure fire" way to know the situation. If you have the question, it is always a great idea to have some sort of indicator (color of you gloves, note on your speedo, something...) that you can observe in the cockpit of you bike to know for certain it is a track day, race day or even commute day for that matter.
- Instructors, be aware of the situation, know that others are effected by the courtesy you display at the track.
- Corner workers, trust your instincts. If your gut tells you something, call it in, that rider may be in the wrong mind set and need a self-check. Not always easy to do, just trust your gut.

Your fellow rider,
Meat of Snail
Meat of Snail ==> AKA: Snail Meat
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Re: Race Day vs. Track Day, and commute day for that matter.

Post by fixxervi6 » Tue Jun 07, 2011 9:29 pm

While the mindset doesn't apply to me because, for me there is only 1 mindset as I've never raced or gone beyond level 1 -

The video that I saw was a GREAT example of why they don't allow inside passing. I had some people do some inside passes on me because I was behind someone parking it going into a turn at cresson and it was NOT cool, I wanted to pass on the exit but couldn't for frear of getting hit.

Maybe a link to the vid and a sticky?

I'm just glad no one got seriously hurt, everyone lives to ride another day.

It takes some serious backbone to stand up, take responsiblity and put your mistakes on display to help others, mad respects :idea:
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Re: Race Day vs. Track Day, and commute day for that matter.

Post by DarcShadow » Tue Jun 07, 2011 10:01 pm

Bummer of an incident, but very well handled. Says alot of the type of rider and person and I'm glad to have people of such character in the club.

Not something for me to worry about since I have never raced, but having a clear vivid indicator for yourself to remind you if it's a race or trackday is a really good idea.
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Re: Race Day vs. Track Day, and commute day for that matter.

Post by milesmiles » Wed Jun 08, 2011 7:34 am

I think everyone can come away with somthing positive out of this track day or not. It really comes down to the right mind set for the ride that you are on. Even if you are on the back roads alone we all too often become to relaxed due to the easy going surroundings. This just happened to be the complete opposite. We all hate to hear of things like this happening, but it is a great reminder to how we can easily be caught up in the moment and why we need to keep things in check. It's great that we have two cool riders that handled the situation as they did. I think with anybody else the outcome would not have been the same
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Re: Race Day vs. Track Day, and commute day for that matter.

Post by DemonDuck » Wed Jun 08, 2011 8:37 am

I thought there was a video but cant seem to find it for ya Fixxer. If I find it I will let ya know.
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Re: Race Day vs. Track Day, and commute day for that matter.

Post by fixxervi6 » Wed Jun 08, 2011 8:46 am

DemonDuck wrote:I thought there was a video but cant seem to find it for ya Fixxer. If I find it I will let ya know.
There was, I saw it, that was the one I was refering to, I think RC30 posted it?
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Re: Race Day vs. Track Day, and commute day for that matter.

Post by DarcShadow » Wed Jun 08, 2011 9:12 am

http://www.fwmr.net/forum/viewtopic.php ... &start=100" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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