Duke Robillard's Big Adventure; A First Race Weekend Story

On April 14, I traveled north from New Jersey to lovely (and very
cold) Loudon, New Hampshire, to learn to race a motorcycle.  This is
the story of my Big Adventure.

The story really starts last summer.  I took CLASS, Reg Pridmore's
track school for street bikes.  Half way through the first track
session, I decided I had to figure a way to get back on the track, and
as often as possible.  The track is much, much nicer than the street;
there are no cars or intersections, hardly any potholes and you get 
to see the same corners again, so you can work on them.  Oh, and 
there are no police.

So last fall I talked my wife into letting me go motorcycle racing
(this may be my greatest achievement of all), and bought a used
racebike--a 1990 Yamaha FZR400.  The guy I bought it from had been
racing it in the same place I was planning to frequent, so that
made sense.  I paid $2700, which is pretty typical, judging from
the ads in Cycle World and Roadracing World.  I got an extra set
of carbs, headers, and exhaust, too, so I can use it in several
different race classes.  The FZR400 is one of bikes that you
see the most in the lightweight classes (along with the Kawasaki
EX-500, and the Honda Hawk), and lightweight is apparently the 
place to start.

I then spent all winter getting ready.  The bike hardly needed any
work (a new chain was the biggest thing), but I needed to get a
trailer and hitch, a pair of leathers (I got Vansons), and race boots
and gloves.  I also joined the racing email list, which is the best
mailing list I've ever been on.  It's an excellent group of people who
know what they're talking about, and are eager to lend a hand.  I got
tons of good advice.  (Special thanks to Hardy Kornfeld, Laura Hardy,
Paul George, Mark Andy, Bill Brownsberger, Rich Sturges, and Ed
Mcfarland.)

Finally, on Easter weekend, my wife and I headed to Loudon.  Loudon is
the home of the New Hampshire International Speedway, a combination
NASCAR and motorcycle roadracing track.  It's just south of Laconia,
of Harley bike week fame.  The AMA Superbike Series runs a race there
at the end of bike week.

Loudon is also one of the two tracks used in Northeast Region of the
Championship Cup Series (CCS).  CSS is one of the two big nation-wide
motorcycle racing organizations for amateurs (WERA is the other one).
On the Friday before race weekends, the Penguin Racing School runs a
session for newbies.  Successful completion of the school and of a
"Rookie Race" on Saturday gets you a CCS Racing License, which means
you can then race as often as you can afford.

So, on Thursday, we loaded the car and trailer and drove to New
Hampshire (> 7 hours on Interstates), and found our motel.  Loudon is
the middle of nowhere, although it's beautful, with many, many twisty
back roads through the hills.  The Interstates were in beautiful
condition (something I was sensitive to, hauling a trailer for the
first time), and all the back roads I was on seemed well maintained
as well.

Early Friday morning, we got some breakfast, went to the track, paid
our $20 pit fee and found a place to park in the pits. If you've never
been to a track, the "pits" is a very loose term.  It seems to mean,
"all the areas where racers park their cars."  I was quite a haul from
the *real* pits, with garages and so on.

I got in line to register for Penguin racing school, paid my $150, and
soon we were all herded to the press room, for the morning lecture.
This mostly covered safety stuff, which flags mean what, how to get
off the track, etc.  The last hour or so was on racing ("what's an
apex," etc.)  The guy (Peter Kates) was very good; we had about 50
students, and he ran the session very effectively, answering questions
and keeping things lively.

A little after noon, we broke up and were told to get our bikes
through Penguin tech inspection and gather back in the garage at 1:00.
The tech inspector found a couple of spots I missed, and for which I
would be failed in a real inspection.  I went back to the pit, wired
the hidden radiator drain plug, taped the fork drains, grabbed a couple
of bites from a sandwich and headed over for the rider's meeting.
After a short review of the plans, we divided up into small groups,
each with an instructor, and headed out on the track.

The instructors led us around the track to show us where to ride
(aka "the line").  At a couple of places, we all stopped, dismounted,
and watched the expert school go by.  My instructor was Seth Hahn, a
local racer, and he was very helpful, pointing out where to start to
turn, giving tips on landmarks, etc.  The only problem was that there
were too many of us; the track was packed.  When the speed picked up,
it got really hairy, particularly at the end of straight sections, as
bikes started bunching up.  I must say I didn't get too much practice
on anything but watching where Seth's tires were going.

I survived, though, and headed back in to wait for regular practice.
Loudon runs practice from 3 to 6 on Fridays before race weekends, and
one of the sessions is for new riders.  We did three of these, and
they were much better.  The crowd was more spread out, and I could get
a better feel for my new bike.  I actually figured out the correct
gears for a couple of turns, and got to pass some guy on a Sportster
in turn 9.  I also got to dodge the remains of an accident, as someone
had overbraked for turn 3, and left his big, bright, yellow bike lying
there for me to target fixate on.  :->

Loudon is a very twisty track.  The bike track wanders around over a
NASCAR oval, sharing the front straight, and crisscrossing the back
straight.  Much of the time I spent in 3rd gear.  Even later in the
weekend, when I got a better feel for what I was doing, the only time
I ever got out of 4th was on that front straight.  There are about 15
corners, (numbered 1-12, plus 1A, 11A, and a chicane), and it's 1.6
miles.  The track record, set by Troy Corser last year on a Ducati
Superbike, is 1'14".  Really fast on a 750 is 1'20".  My best times
were in the 1'50's, which would have been good if I had been at
Daytona. :->

The only other tracks I've seen are Watkins Glen and Pocono.  Both are
much faster and more open, and both have a lot more nasty walls and
barriers at the outside of highspeed corners.  It seems to me there
are only two places at Loudon where you could hit a wall if you messed
up (or lost your brakes): turn 3 leaving the inside of the Nascar
track, and turn 10 crossing back inside.  Racers dumped in both of
them during the course of the weekend, braking various parts.

The last practice on Friday yielded the funniest moment of the day for
me.  There had been a delay because of a blown engine among the real
racers (one of the recalled FRAM oil filters blew off), so we were
running late.  The pit loudspeaker wasn't working, either, so most
people missed the call for the last beginner session.  I found out
later that since there were so few of us, those in charge decided to
let anyone out.  I was just coming out of the bowl when the experts
reached me.  It was like a wave: 4 or 5 600s and 750s roared by on
both sides.  I felt like Wiley E. Coyote when he gets buzzed by the
Roadrunner, spins around in place, and then collapses with a
thunk. :-> Fortunately, I was too startled to do anything dumb.

After Friday's practice, we newbies gathered back in the press room,
where the Sandy, the chief cornerworker, decided which of us had been
bad, and which got our school certificates.  Most of us were fine, and
even the crashers (there were 4) got a second chance.  It took a while
to sort out the paperwork, and although we were supposed to be able to
register for out real racing licenses then, by the time I got up to
the front office, they said the license lady had already gone home.

Saturday morning, we all got to the office about 7am.  It turned out
there was only one license lady.  It was taking 5 or 10 minutes per
license, and there were about 30 of us left (attrition had taken it's
toll).  Having been born in New York, I managed to get out of there by
7:45, with my temporary license in my hand.  I don't know how long the
polite people were there :-> 

Real tech inspection went smoothly.  Dan Frisbee, the head inspector,
took some time out to talk to me, tell me how things work, and make
sure I was okay.  He's a cool guy, and races an 1986 Ducati F1 (a
Montjuich, actually, for you Duc afficiandos).

(These two Saturday morning stories are actually indicative of the
system as a whole there.  Individually, every official-type person I
talked to was very nice, eager to lend a hand, and helpful.  It seems
that the overall situation is not particularly organized, though.  Ah,
well.)

Did I mention it was about 35 degrees on Saturday morning?  With a
good solid wind?  Man, that is cold.  Coming out of turn 2 in one of
the morning practice sessions, I felt my rear tire slide what felt
like 4 feet.  After each session, I'd hurry back to the pits, have a
quick confab with the classmate parked next to me, and then huddle in
the car to get warm.

I gradually got better each time, hitting shifts better, braking
better, leaning over further.  I dragged my toe sliders several times,
which I'd only ever done once or twice before.  I'm still pretty
tentative in some things; I have a terrible time downshifting at the
end of the front straight, and I brake too much, too often, but I can
feel the improvement each time.

At 1:45, the Rookie Race began.  This is a three lap race for first
timers, to make sure we all know what to do (how to start, how to get
off the course, etc).  Finishing it is the last step to getting your
real license.  It was pretty wild, sitting on the grid for the first
time, revving your bike, waiting for the green to drop.  There were
even a few people in the stands, watching us.  Very, very cool.

There was a mix-up at the end, as the leaders of the first wave lapped
the backmarkers and we followed them into the pits after their cool-off
lap, before taking the checkered flag ourselves.  Someone called it a
perfect example of the lemming effect.  It didn't seem to get us in
any trouble, though.

Later in the afternoon, I ran in "Lightweight Production," my first
real race.  It was probably my best run of the weekend.  I even got in
a good pass in turn 8.  An excellent ending.

There was a family gathering to be attended on Sunday, so we had to
take off Saturday night.  When we pulled into the motel, somewhere in
Massachusetts, I barely made it to the room before passing out.

If I had to sum up the whole experience in one sentence, it would be:
"When can I go back?"

Duke Robillard, duke@cc.bellcore.com