Two comeuppances in a single weekend--maybe three, eh?
I'm going to be saying Eh for awhile, having just come back from a great
weekend in Mission, British Columbia, at a very cool little track--busiest
damn track I've ever been on--and you need to pronouce that "been" as
BEAN.
On the way back today I saw a stream of white smoke well behind and
thought "some fool doesn't know he's blown a tire--oh, crap, it's me". One
of the world's heaviest twenty foot trailer tires came apart (I swear the
thing was built to haul bulldozers, though Baxter says it was a sprint
car). I had to disconnect to go get a replacement, and once it was on I
checked all the tire pressures and found almost all of them were soft. I
swear I checked before I left, but I'm the guy that goes into the kitchen,
picks up a spatula, and wonders "why am I here and what's the spatula
for?" So check those tire pressures, eh?
At the track on saturday, after telling Henry Frye to leave his muffler on
and play nice with the db meters, I got nailed for 98db. Hmmm. Not much
problem to fix, but it definitely felt like some Karma had run over my
Dogma.
And third (I guess) I didn't win this weekend. Of course I think that's a
great thing, but that's just me. I stuck myself in Group Two since the
Poopers weren't around and I didn't see anything I could really play with
in group one. On Saturday I had a great dice with Greg Campbell's
outrageously quick 356, but then he broke a shift linkage, so I slowed
down to play with the 911S gaggle that was about five seconds behind us. I
waved one past me, planning to repass him after some good dicing. Of
course he got really inspired being in first, and I couldn't get around
him for love nor money. Heck, I thought he was going to lose me a few
times.
Sunday I had a great dice with Greg, held the lead for awhile, then we
swapped a few times, and finally he made it stick for a few laps and in
the dash for the finish he got over the transponder line first, though all
my fans (my wife) say I had him by a nose at the flag (he might have
lifted 'cause he knew where the wire was).
Second race on Sunday I lead for awhile, and then it all went bad. I guess
a season and a half might be too long for a set of Hoosiers. My tires felt
like they were greased, the brake pedal went to the floor twice at really
exciting times, and I spun twice. Finshed fifth, in sight of the leaders
once I got my ducks in a row, but too far back to do anything without two
or three more laps--and maybe not then. Turns out one of my anti-tramp
bars broke on the rear end--that might have made it so loose feeling. but
mostly I think it was the nut behind the wheel.
Time to rebuild those master cylinders, buy a new set of tires, and calm
down a little. Of course I need to get it all done before Thursday since
I'm towing down to Sonoma (sears point) for the Wine country classic next
weekend.
If you ever get a chance to race at Mission, take it. It's like a go-kart
track. One very short straight, hard on brakes, and tough on the arms and
shoulders, but a lot of fun. It was my first time on the track, and I
don't think I used the same line twice in any corner for the whole
weekend. Fun though.
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