slug
Pro
Out in search of my mind...
Posts: 1433
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posted April 15, 2003 04:49 PM
Talladega trackday by sportbiketracktime.com
well, here it is, last weekend went and played on the talladega GP track, a small 1.3 mile track outside of anniston alabama. NOT the oval nascrap track mind you.
STT runs a nice trackday, barring accidents plenty of on-track time. i am beat, i rode all but one session each day, took thelast one of hte day to take pictures.
they run 3 groups, novice or school group, where they teach essential and then more advanced track skills. usually 3-5 instructors with 4-6 riders each, though this depends on the turnout. this weekend was a pretty small school group compared to the october trackday i attended.
intermediate group is where i played this time. this group consists of riders who have one the school group, all the way to some club racers. a very diverse group, i ended up getting lapped 2-3 times per session saturday by the faster ones. ron & nancy would usually pass me once too ;P
2nd session saturday, my baby tried to toss me into the dreaded highside. ended session, replaced rear tire (which had plenty of tread, but 3000 miles and heat cycles in it)
next session i started a bit late, as i was still re-assembling my bike. after 4 laps an older gentleman crashed hard, highsided,landed on head, knocked him out cold, busted collarbone etc.
was lunchtime, so while ambulance was threading its way through the traffic, we ate and chilled out, and re-hydrated.
next session, was cautious, new tires needed scrubbing. add another 2 passes each for ron & nancy.
last session was decent, i only got passed by the clubracers (one of which i had scared the poo out of with my near highside, directly in front of him. heh heh)
i was done though, and knew another day awaited, so i went into the middle to take pictures.
camped out by the track, fed ron & nancy steak dinner, they provided the veggies. (only fair,they served warm breakfast in the AM) had a nice chat with one of the STT instructors, and the people who run STT dropped by too. was a nice relaxing evening.
sunday..hehefun was had. 1st 2 sessions were decent, getting warmed up and all that stuff, track was cold, so the back end tried to leave little blackies. kidna felt like iw as on a 12r for a bit there with the back end steppingout :-)
3rd session, rode a mille (aprilia demo ride day)
wow....what a difference a top-notch suspension and a bike MADE for racetrack will do. sooo easy to move about on that thing, and with the low-end grunt was easy to stick in one gear and not worry about it. didn't get too crazy though, it WAS somneone else's 15000 dollar bike. a VERY nice ride.
lunch break, and out again, this time it clicked, i was doing MUCh better. i had the 'neighbor' camper chase me arounda bit, for some pointers, got my head down, and started playing in traffic a bit more, passed a mille, and managed to not get passed too often (except for the nutter onthe DR650 who was running wera front-pack lap times....bastard.....running curves with his foot out like motoX....)
heh
(did i mention he was passing sportbikes in full lean, and he was going to the OUTSIDE doing it.....)
anyway.. hehe
last session, nancy got her knee down for first time, and *finally* i managed to catch and pass her :-) hehe
i guess i play on the brakes more ;P
took FOREVER to catch though, every time it straightened upa bit she was gone.....that falco is fast....
anyway i again sat out the last round of sessions to get pictures.
the rest:
http://slug.nofone.org/Motorcycle%20stuff/trackdays/talladega/april2003/
      
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Zhooligan
Moderator
Post Whore Extraordinaire!
Posts: 3829
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posted April 15, 2003 06:25 PM
Cool pictures Slug. Glad you had fun.
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To those who do not count their life in years, but in how life
has touched them in the past and how much it can hold in the
future; -- Youth is forever.
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redelk
Moderator
Please... speak to the hand.
Posts: 3212
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posted April 15, 2003 07:03 PM
1.3 miles! EEK! I'd figure it would be kinda tight at that size. Was it? The surface looks pretty good in the pics. Was there any ripples or patches?
I'm sure I'd really appreciate that additional .4 or .5 mile of the few tracks I have been on, if I got on that track. Doesn't sound to 12R friendly.  At least not when piloted by posers like ME!
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There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing, and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games.
-Ernest Hemingway
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12RPilot
Pro
Posts: 1094
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posted April 15, 2003 07:38 PM
I think Monte runs a helluva good program. Always keeps the show moving so you get max laps. I agree with Slug...towards the end of the day you sometimes just wanna chill and snap some pix/video.
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slug
Pro
Out in search of my mind...
Posts: 1433
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posted April 16, 2003 03:16 AM
yeh it is kinda tight, more curves then straights. hehe
drag the 250 out and have a blast on it ;P
an aerial view of the track
http://www.sportbiketracktime.com/events/index.html
pavement is VERY grippy, and VERY hard on tires. there are a few small crowns that make it interesting. 2 banked curves, 2 off-camber curves, going counterclockwise an evil decreasing radius turn
lots of fun though.
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