Given that I'm operating on 4 hours of sleep and emotionally just not in it, solid 1:53s in the afternoon and never getting higher than 1:55s even when held up by others seems pretty decent to me.
I think I'm going to skip racing at Miller and see if I can get my head on straight (and catch up on sleep) before the fall rounds begin.
I went out today to sort out the suspension of the superstock bike. After that was done I took 2 sessions on my superbike just for fun. By the final session I was so tired I could barely hold onto the bike, but I set my fastest time of the day. This is the last ride with the #1 plate. Next month a new novice champion will be crowned and I'll be back to running 553 next year.
I got a horrible start and was about 15th into turn 3 (the first real turn at Fontana). I made up a bunch of positions in the first few turns and ended up behind Shandra who was doing very well except in a few corners where it's just not easy to go around (turns 1 and 9). This became a 4-way battle as two other riders joined us. I finally got a good run through turn 1 and passed three of them into turn 3.
I found myself behind the lead novice racer who I could likely have passed, but it was hundreds of yards up to the Neil who had checked out and ran away. Knowing I couldn't make up that much ground, and really wanting to stay upright for this race, I cruised around behind the novice racer and took second place in Expert.
Practice was good but hard work. It was very hot, so I wanted to spend all of my time laying in my car relaxing in the air conditioning, but unfortunately my bikes needed a lot of work.
I spent most of the day testing my superstock bike. I kept running out of front suspension travel, but every time I stiffened up the front, the back would start to cut loose. It became a balancing game. I got a little faster every time, but not by much.
In comparison, my superbike felt wonderful right out the door. I swapped the throttle for a 1/5th turn and that felt awesome too. I actually had to remove some stiffness from the front, but that was it. It just went go.
And I stayed upright all day, no trips on the ground this time -- first time this season. That's a nice change.
This picture was taken one session before my Infineon crash, right about where I crashed. I came through here carrying just a little more bit speed and lean angle and... yeah, don't do that.
