Loudon.  Crash and Burn, and 1'35"

I seem to be lagging in my long-winded race reports, so here's an
abbreviated version of the fun that Rob Castro, Pit-Crew-Member-and-
Turn-One-Flagman and I had September 15-17 at Loudon:

On Friday, I used the practices to get the settings on Doug Pinckney's
Fox shock right (mine was damaged at Bridgehampton, and Doug lent me his for
the weekend--thanks Doug!  You saved my bouncing butt), and to figure a good 
tire pressure.  I ended up with 25lbs front, 27lbs rear.  Pretty low, huh?  
That's what the tire guys recommended.  It was pretty cold up there.  It 
worked well; I was sliding around front and rear with 28/30, but was much 
more stable with 25/27.

Saturday, I ran in Lightweight GP.  I was doing pretty well, high 1'30"s
(my old record was 1'39").  Then it happened:  I  passed someone just before
turn 3, but I was afraid he was going to take me back leaving it, so I
was a little anxious on the throttle.  

"When my braking ends, my throttle begins" - Reg Pridmore
"When my throttle begins, my rear wheel traction ends" - Duke Robillard

Slowly and gracefully, it slide out from under me.  I stood up and looked
at it.  It was lying on its right side....and it was on fire.  Flames were
leaping up around the tank.  I ran over and turned it off, and stepped back.
Then I thought, "Jeez, it's on fire!" and ran over toward it again to try
to do something.  Then I thought, "You putz, what are you gonna do, it's on 
fire!" and ran back behind the wall to wait for the corner workers.  They came 
and sprayed fire extinguishers on it, but missed a spot.  I ran out to tell 
them there was more, and they got it.

After that race ended, I hauled it back to the pits.  I had gone in on a 
garage rental for the weekend with 3 other racers, so there was a nice place 
for Rob and me to work.

Fortunately, the cause of the fire was gas leaking out of the tank
around the gas cap.  There wasn't much damage; just some melted insulation
and the plastic around the throttle cables (I had to replace one of those
cables).  The main problem was the fire extinguisher stuff; the powder 
was everywhere.  Jerry Wood, the guy who runs the race school, stopped by to
see who had the barbeque.  He told us to wash and hose down the whole thing;
apparently that yellow dust is corrosive.

2 hours after the crash, I raced in the Lightweight Supersport, ran a couple
of 1'35"s and took 8th out of 22.

It was a real race to get the bike ready.  In the last few minutes,
the other guys in the garage descended on the bike, bolting the final
pieces back together while I put on my leathers.  I just made it through
tech inspection and onto pre-grid.  Rob got quite a taste of what it means 
to be a pit crew member.  (Thanks again Rob!  I'd've been watching that race 
from the wrong side of the fence without you.)

Sunday morning was cold and rainy.  I wimped out, and didn't signup for
the Lightweight Superbike race.  I went out in the first practice, and
did a nice, slow lowside, overbraking for a turn.  I pushed the bike in,
straightened the bars, got through tech inspection and did two more
laps, but then decided I'd wait until next season to learn to ride in
the rain, so we left early.