Monday, July 23, 2007

7/20-7/21/07 - Making progress!

First let me say HUGE THANKS to Eddy Palmer for teaching me how to ride his bike and allowing me to do what I do with patience and confidence! THANK YOU!

Friday, July 20th

Unfortunately, I do not have any photos to share with y'all this time, but I do have some good stats!

Friday night I got to run (Thank You, Eddy). I had a very good time and I'm learning more and more everytime I get on. There was a very nice couple at the track from Arkansas, the husband (young guy) who was also learning how to ride a dragbike. Much like me, he started on a streetbike and ventured his luck on a dragbike (courtesy of Mark Rissling). I really didn't get to watch too many of his runs, but from what I heard he got into the 9's. VERY COOL! :) I also heard he got a little loose on his last pass... ;)

The night started out good, my friend Jason introduced me to Matt Guidera (he rides a Prostock Bike sponsored by Mohegan Sun Buell) who happen to be doing a little testing @ his home track. Very nice guy, but he is much shorter then I thought. ;) LOL... you know I mean no harm, Matt. I got to talk to him and his crew about racing which was cool. Unfortunately, he did not really get to test all that much as he was having an "engineering problem"! ;) Hopefully, I'll get a chance to chat with him again at NHRA on Friday!

So on to my runs... I made 4 passes Friday night. As usual my first pass was decent:
  • 11.27 @ 131.4 mph with 2.11 60' and .350 reaction
  • 12.06 @ 120.3 mph with 2.00 60' and .282 reaction (this one my foot hit the shift lever and I couldn't find the air shifter button)
  • 11.24 @ 133.2 mph with 2.02 60' time and .186 reaction
  • 11.06 @ 130.4 mph with 1.79 60' time and .663 reaction

So overall, I am very pleased with my runs. As I stated earlier, I keep learning so much about what different things feel like on this bike and what I need to do or not do. I'm very excited about the progress I've made.

Saturday, July 21st

Grudge Fest! I inquired if Eddy wanted to run on Saturday and to my pleasant surprise he said sure. SWEET, I'm stoked!!! Grudge Fest starts at 6pm and there wasn't a large # of cars out and we were the only bike, except for my friend Dan (who was playin around). So I'm bound and determined to get some better numbers today. I know I can do this. I get all suited up and I'm ready to go... So we get up there do our burnout and prep to run:
  • 10.33 @ 144.0 mph with 1.76 60' and .301 reaction (WOOHOO, I'm freakin' stoked... this is my personal best E.T. & MPH)
  • 12.22 @ 134.6 mph with 2.11 60' and 1.24 reaction (tried something new and it didn't all work out, but I learned)
  • 11.05 @ 141.2 mph with 1.97 60' and .537 reaction
  • 11.08 @ 129.9 mph with 2.37 60' and .086 reaction (I was much more aggressive on the clutch but still managed to grab it again...dang it!)
  • 10.84 @ 140.6 mph with 1.93 60' and .303 reaction (Again, more aggressive - only this time it was with the throttle)
  • 11.55 @ 135.1 mph with 1.49 60' and .121 reaction (WOOHOO, again I'm stoked...my personal best 60' time) [This run was actually on the rev limiter (just a tad) and I finally dropped the clutch]
  • 11.31 @ 136.4 mph with 1.77 60' and .259 reaction

So at this point I am elated and if you could have only seen me jumping around after my 10.33 run... it was very comedic! ;) Nonetheless, I was not consistent in the 10's nor did I hit the 9's but I did learn a great deal and feel I'm better prepared moving forward to achieve those numbers soon!

In addition, to me running my personal best this night, the bike shared in that victory. The pass that achieved the 144mph is the best mph the bike has achieved to date. I hope to lay down a better number as I get more comfortable out there, but recognize that number isn't going to change too much. :)

I'll be attending the NHRA Autolite Nationals in Sonoma, CA on Friday, July 27th. I'll try to post some pics and highlights from the day upon my return.

I hope to be back at the track soon!

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