Bare Bone$ Racing at Loudon, Again.  Again, 2/3rd of It Wails.

Another crummy weekend for Duke.  I crashed first practice on Saturday
morning.  The track was wet (like, standing puddles wet), and I'm 
completely clueless about braking in the wet.  The physical damage was
minimal (broken brake lever), but it seems to have succeeded in 
screwing with my mind for the rest of the weekend.  I could never
get going again...I was maybe 10 seconds off my good times from last
year.  That's an eternity.

For the races on Saturday afternoon, it poured.  Doug, Tony, and I
all signed up for Lightweight GP and Lightweight Supersport.  I pulled
in after 4 laps of the GP race.  My laps went like this:  "There's a
turn coming up.  Wonder if I'll crash here?"  This was no fun, so I
got off before I broke something, or caused trouble for the leaders,
who were about to lap me.  I didn't even go out for Supersport.
Doug and Tony did much better--they ran both races, finished, and
garnered points.  Good job, boyz!

On Sunday, the weather was excellent, but I was completely clueless.
It's like the second half of last season never happened.  I'm braking
too early at the end of the straights again, and I'm terrified of being
near people.  Sigh.  During practice, I got stuck behind a guy on a
GXSR 750.  He'd come to a stop before turns and crawl through them.
I couldn't manage to get around him for some reason.  Then coming
out of the turn, he'd twist the throttle, and I wouldn't see him
again until the next turn.  Sigh.

I ran GTU (a 1/2 hour race for 600cc bikes) and Lightweight
Production.  I kept getting stuck behind people who are really slow in
the corners I seem to be incapable of passing going into turns, and
always at the wrong RPMs coming out, so I couldn't pass anyone.  Sigh.
I finished dead last in GTU (which is an incredibly tiring race, by
the way).  I did finally manage to pass one guy in Production, so I
think I was 2nd to last there.

Again, Doug and Tony did much better in Production:  9th & 10th, for
some more points.  One more weekend, and I'll be down on points.

It looks like the team has gained a new member:  Caleb Shepard, from
Newton, Mass, has joined our garage.  Caleb was in my beginner class 
last year, and we pitted next to each other a lot.  He rides a Kawasaki
EX500, but we don't hold it against him.  Caleb crashed on Saturday,
but did minimal damage.  He had to leave Saturday night, so he didn't
get the good weather.  

Next time:  Bridgehampton, Memorial Day.  Duke Racing better do better.