On Memorial Day weekend, Duke Robillard, Newbie Racer, and his
Illustrious Pit Crew headed out to Bridgehampton for round 3 of the NE
Regional CCS races.  I had quite a crew this time: Doug Pinckney,
prominent on the nj-cycles mailing list, and John Jenks, prominent on
USENET's alt.angst came along and were of tremendous help.  (Thanks
guys!  If you ever want to be a victim again, lemme know.)

Traffic from New Jersey to The Hamptons (a posh beach resort area on
Long Island) was much better than expected.  The weirdest part was the
track itself--there are no signs for it at all until you find the
driveway.  And it's kinda primitive compared to Loudon, with all-dirt
pits, and local high school kids working the gate.

Anyway, we got there while it was still light, set up camp, and chowed
down at a local diner.  Unfortunately, after we'd crashed, Team Otis
decided to camp next to us.  It was a toss up which was more annoying:
Otis the barking dog, the gas powered electric generator, the TV it
ran, or the racers' girlfriends talking to Otis.  (Actually it wasn't
too bad, and made for a good running joke).

1st practice on Saturday morning nearly did me in.  Compared to
Loudon, Bridgehampton is bumpy, blind, long, and _fast_.  I turned up
my damping (thanks to advice from a nearby racer, who got 3 2nds over
the course of the weekend), and tried to calm down.  2nd practice was
a little better (I went from 2"40' to 2'23"), but I still couldn't
find enough reference points to put together even half a good lap.
Consequently, I came in dead last in Lightweight Production.
Strangely enough, I think I got more points than I did last time, when
I beat 3 people.  Go figure.

Saturday eve we did a little tourist action.  The Hamptons are kinda
nice.  You should go if you ever get a chance.

Bridgehampton has many noise restrictions.  One is "no racing engines
before 1pm on Sunday."  This made for some hanging around before first
practice on Sunday, and a trip for diner breakfast.  Finally things
got going.  I was getting a little more comfortable, but near the end
of the 1st practice, my bike died coming into Turn 5.  Bridgehampton
has no crash truck, so I made a couple of hikes back to the pits to
grab tools, trying to diagnose it.  Nothing.  After racing was over,
we went out on the track and hauled it back in.  It turned out to be a
frayed electrical-tape thing shorting against the frame.  I missed a
practice and two races.  The saying is: "That's racing."  Sigh.

On Monday, all the racers save 3 left, and a handful of street
squids showed up for Team Suzuki's Advanced Riding School.  It was a
small class, which was a good deal.  The classroom sessions are by
David Aldana, former GP and Superbike star, and by Keith Perry,
Suspension Guru for Team Suzuki Endurance, the national champs.  Very
good.

The best part, however, was the track sessions.  We had the track to
ourselves, and got to put in about 3 hours.  The street guys'
odometers said we did 200 miles.  Because it was such a small group, I
wound up getting an instructor to myself (I think all the licensed
racers did).  He was Dave Stanton, one of the riders for Team Suzuki.

This guy was incredibly good, and not just as a rider.  He was an
excellent teacher as well, showing me all the right places to start my
turns, and explaining my braking problems.  He was positive and
enthusiastic, and gave me plenty of constructive criticism.  He got me
going much, much faster.  I had reference points everywhere, and got a
nice smooth rhythm going for the whole length of the track.  Oh, and I
finally found out what those little plastic pucks velcroed to my knees
are for.  (Dave saw me reaching, and pulled me into the pits to give me
advice on how to make first contact.)

The first session was in the rain, so I also got some to feel my both 
my tires sliding around while cranked over in corners.  That's a weird
sensation, let me tell you.  Just a touch extra throttle in Turn 5
or 10 and the rear starts to step out.  Back off just a little and 
it comes back.  Push the bar a little harder in 6, and the front 
moves sideways.  Ease off, and it stops.  Whoa.

Dave also told me that my suspension needed some serious fixing, and
got a mechanic from Team Suzuki to scope it out.  Pretty soon all the
instructors were hanging around my bike, analyzing the forks and
debating what springs I should use.  I gathered some good advice, but
now I need to spend money. :->

I highly recommend this school to all you sport-bike types.

Next time it's back to Loudon New Hampshire for CLASS, and another 
weekend of racing.  I'm itching to use Dave Stanton's lessions in
anger!  :->