Tuesday February 27, 2007
Jen Crosby's Racing BlogBlogging my first race season.... |
Tuesday February 27, 2007
First ACU outing...test day approaching!
I know, my lack on entries on the blog recently is pitiful. To be honest, there's been a lot going on in life recently, so I've just not had the time and drive to do it, so I'm sorry to those who regularly visit to read, I promise I'll get better at it again. So this Saturday I'm heading over to Lydden with Toby to do a test day. I'm looking forward to it - should be a good day, and I'm preparing myself to put some proper hard work in. I feel very unprepared for the upcoming race which is in less than two weeks time! I haven't been able to do the testing which I had wanted to during this month, so my time on the bike has been severely limited and I'm feeling that. But I'm ready to put in a full day of hard work on Saturday, and hopefully that will get my head in gear. I *can* be fast; I *will* be fast. On a separate note, my sympathy goes out to Greg P - heard about your bike troubles mate, that totally sucks :o( Hope you get it sorted soon - at least it was on a track day and not at the first round I spose. Let me know if I can help with anything. :o) ( Feb 27 2007, 10:45:59 AM GMT+00:00 )PermalinkTuesday February 20, 2007
Bemsee Rookie School - and Instructor Jen Although I'd offered to instruct at the Rookie School with Bemsee it turned out that they had enough instructors already, and so I offered to marshall instead. But at the last minute, with a few days notice, Tracey at the office rang me up and asked if I would mind instructing after all – looking after two girls attending the school. Obviously I said yes – never one to turn down a chance to ride the bike, or indeed a chance to help out. So on Saturday afternoon I packed up the van (the bike was already in as I'd been to RaceLab to get the suspension setup a few days prior) and headed off to my sister's in Coventry, ready to make the early morning trip up to Mallory on Sunday. It was a very early start – I had to get up there in time to get the bike ready for scrutineering, I'd just not had a chance to work on the bike with short notice and a busy week. I rolled up to the garages at the circuit at about 7, unloaded the bike and set to work. The wets wheels were on, as I'd had to get some different tyres put on the dry wheels at the last minute, so I had to swap those over; there was still coolant in the bike which needed draining; the brakes needed bleeding; everything needed lockwiring... I got the wheels done in time to get to the instructors briefing, but still had loads to do before technical inspection, and I was starting to get pretty stressed out! My group were the first out on circuit, so once I finally got myself down to the scroot bay and saw the huge queue I decided I'd have to jump the line and get myself to the front quick! I'd not managed to do the lockwiring (oops) much to the disgust of the scrutineer, and I'd manage to forget my dogtags – so although I was passed and my card was signed, I was given a stern warning to sort the bike out before going out on circuit. I felt a bit silly – I'm normally totally organised and I was really flustered and stressed with the rushing about!! Anyway, I managed to get the bike wired and sorted to go out in the nick of time. I could only find one of the two girls I was supposed to be instructing to begin with – both of whom were called Emma. The Emma I caught up with first was on a TZR250 – we introduced ourselves and talked a little about the session and what she'd done before. She asked me to show her around the circuit as she'd never been there before, and I had to confess that I hadn't ridden it either!! Ah well, I knew the first sessions would be slow, and would give me adequate chance to learn enough. I spent most of the morning with Emma on the TZR, before I finally managed to catch up with the other Emma, who was riding a ZXR400. The day was so manic – even for me and the other instructors, and we didn't have to go to all the classroom sessions! It was really hard to get a few moments with the girls to talk about how things were going and explain what we were doing from session to session. Still I managed to spend at least one good whole session with each of them, and I hope they found it useful. I certainly enjoyed the chance to do more instructing – I really do like doing it. Both girls did really well during the day, I'm sure they'll both have fantastic seasons Mallory is a pretty interesting track - we ran with the seemingly universally hated chicane in the middle of Gerards. I must admit, it's a pretty nasty entry – it really comes back on itself, but the exit is quite nice really. It's a shame they made the entry so tight, as I think it could have been a much better corner. Obviously running without it at all would be more fun though It was great to catch up with people too – Toby and James were both there – always great to see them So, it's less than 3 weeks until the first round. I feel unprepared, and apprehensive, but still, very very excited! ( Feb 20 2007, 08:51:06 PM GMT+00:00 )PermalinkMonday February 05, 2007
So last Friday saw me, Red, Ben and Sam pootle on up to Brands Hatch (in a hire car, the van's still not done It was a enjoyable day - saying hello to some friends I've not seen in a while, and meeting some new faces too. I'm sure I'll meet even more as the year goes on. And I did learn lots from the day too, about all kinds of stuff! At the end we were given our certificates for completing the course, along with some goodies like a Focused Events paddock shirt, and of course the all important orange instructor bib. So roll on some more track days! I'm looking forward to getting out there...just need my van back now. On a seperate note, I managed to get my forks fitted this weekend - I can't *wait* to try them out! ( Feb 05 2007, 09:06:28 PM GMT+00:00 )PermalinkFriday January 26, 2007
After hearing from the garage that it was almost certainly the big end bearings gone, which to fix would at best require a crank regrind, and at worst both that and a rebore of the barrel(s), I was faced with a number of options of what to do. 1. Get Andy Shore's (the garage where the van ended up) to strip down the engine and fix the problems. 2. Get Andy Shore's to acquire a Fiat reconditioned engine, and fit it. 3. Buy a new van, and scrap/sell what was left of the old one. 4. Find a second hand engine, get Andy Shore's to fit it. 5. Find a reconditioned engine (not from Fiat) and get it fitted. I've spent a *lot* of time boring my friends to death weighing up the pros and cons of all of these options, and there really were good and bad things about each. Getting the engine stripped and fixed at Andy's wasn't going to be very economical - the amount of labour required, and extra work where things would need to be sent off for fixing (i.e. regrinding the crank etc) really added up. The Fiat reconditioned engine was going to cost me nearly £3000 - way more than I wanted to pay, and probably more than the van is worth, but at least it would have a worthwhile warranty, and the work would be carried out by Andy, who I trust. Buying a new van - well, I had to consider this from a financial point of view, but it really wasn't something I wanted to do. We've done a lot of work in the back to make in secure and comfortable for the racing - the tie downs, the insulation, the bed, the electrics, and re-doing that in a different van would be very time consuming indeed. With races in the cold months coming up, the last thing I need is a van with no insulation and a bed on the floor. So if at all possible, I wanted to keep the van itself and somehow sort the engine. I initially decided that finding a second hand engine for a reasonable price would be the way to go, but after having real trouble finding out exactly which engine I needed, I then had trouble finding an engine at all. I found only one, after some fairly extensive searching. It had 93000 miles on the clock though, and it just seemed too risky to put such a high mileage engine in when mine had had the big end go at only 75000. So that left finding somewhere to get a reconditioned engine, that wouldn't cost what Fiat were charging. What I actually have ended up with, is finding someone who will recondition *my* engine, for a reasonable price , with a 12 month warranty. So today, in fact only an hour ago, my van got collected from Andy's on the back of a lorry, and is being taken to an engine re-conditioners in the West Midlands where it will be rebuilt and fully sorted, as well as getting the exhaust replaced, which needed doing, and being MOT'd. I just hope it all works out ok. I should have the van back in about a week or so.
It' s been a really stressful time over the last couple of weeks, worrying about what to do, and also having no transport. Not to mention being skint. I owe massive thanks to all my friends who've really helped out, and put up with me being a miserable cow too. Thanks also to Andy Shore, for really helping me out with everything, and giving me loads of advice, even though I didn't end up using his garage to do the work in the end. I will however be using them for work in the future, just like I have for a while now, and I do of course highly recommend him to others.
( Jan 26 2007, 02:28:05 PM GMT+00:00 )PermalinkTuesday January 23, 2007
It's racing, but not as we know it... So this weekend brought my re-acquaintance with the race track – although initially not as expected... After the van disaster I had to come up with a new plan for getting my bike to the circuit, and also Red's as we'd intended to go along together. Thankfully Red stepped up, and I went to pick up her van at her place having loaded up her bike and kit ready for the track day on Sunday at Brands. The original plan had been that Red, Greg and I would amble on down to Lydden to watch the Moped Madness, meeting Ben, Steve and Andy Palmer who were racing down there around lunchtime, when the racing was due to start. Red stayed over on Friday night, and we were going to set off around 9, but at around 6.30am Red came and knocked on the bedroom door to say there'd been a change of plan... Due to unforeseen circumstances, Steve and Andy had had to pull out leaving the team two riders short, so Red suggested to Ben that her and I race in their place! Ben was by then on his way up to ours, but we hadn't even loaded up my bike and kit into the van! So we hurriedly got everything sorted, and headed off, hoping we'd make it in time to get scrutineered and out for practice. Despite Red and Ben getting stuck on the M2 which was closed due to an accident, we all made it just about in time to unload the bike and run it down to the scroot bay. Now I'd seen the fabled AR80 in a clip
of video that Steve took when they were prepping it, but to be
honest, it didn't prepare me for the beast it really wasn't! It was
so funny, looking at our bike, and looking at some of the really very
tidy (and race prepped!) 125s that were out pulling wheelies around
the paddock!! On the plus side, at least I could touch the floor on
both sides while sat on the bike. That's about the best feature I
can think of The race start was absolutely hilarious – Ben was out first, and was second on the line up for the Le Mans style start while Red held the bike. They lined everyone up around paddock bend – bikes on one side, and riders on the other, and then the starter dropped the Union Jack to signify the start of the race. The riders all legged it to their bikes, and started them up – I think Ben went from second to last pretty quickly, as the bike wouldn't start up!! Finally he was off, and put in a good first stint, but then had to pull in when the bike stopped selecting gears. He brought the bike back up to the van and laid it on it's side to take a look at try to fix it, with Pat helping out too. Once he thought he'd fixed it, it was back down to the track to test it out again, but after a few more laps it got itself in top gear and wouldn't select anything else again! Back to the van again, and more fixing ensued. Admittedly, Red and I were getting less and less keen to go out with the bike misbehaving as it was, but Ben was determined to get us out there to have a go. And, after another half hour or so of fettling, and with about 45 minutes left of the three hour race, the bike seemed to be working ok, with gears and everything, so finally Red and I got to go out. Despite our initial indifference, we both actually had a really good time!! I even had myself a little race with one of the other particularly slow bikes, which was hilarious – we were practically having a conversation while riding around it was so slow! Ben did the final stint to the flag, even though by then the bike had yet again stuck in top gear and wouldn't select. Somehow, incredibly, we didn't come last – I think it was 6th from last. Not bad considering we weren't even out on the track for most of the race!! Our best lap (done by Ben) was a 1:13, our top speed a frightening 36mph, and our average speed a staggering 15mph!! It was a brilliant laugh in the end – and I was glad we actually all got to ride. The weather stayed sunny pretty much all day too, although it was bloomin' cold! After a hard day's racing we all piled over to Pat's and Steph's house in Canterbury where we went out for a lovely dinner and stayed overnight, ready to set off for Brands in the morning for the track day. Huge thanks to Pat and Steph (and Max!) for the hospitality, we had a great time! It was a pretty early start again to
get over to Brands in time to get set up, but we got there with just
about enough time to spare before the briefing. It's a bit more of a
rush when you're instructing, as you really have to be in your
leathers and ready to go straight after the briefing to do the
sighting laps. As usual I didn't have time to warm up the bike (and
it was freezing!!) but at least the sighting laps were super slow,
allowing me to gently warm it up on track. With all the sighting
laps done, all of the instructors had people to take out. I started
off with a guy on a 'Busa who was on his first track day – but
sadly he wasn't due to stay beyond the first couple of sessions (he
had double booked with something else...) which was a shame as I
think we could have done some really good work. I did a few more
sighting laps for people, and also took out another guy which Red had
done some instructing with earlier, who was also on his first track
day. That guy was amazingly good for a first-timer, really a very
good track rider and he responded extremely well to instruction,
really paying attention and putting into practice the advice he was
given. Red and I were very impressed! The only problem he said he
had was how he was going to tell all his mates that he was overtaken
by two girls on a track day By lunchtime I'd only been out with the
novices. It was a really mixed group, the speed differential between
the fastest and slowest riders was pretty big, so it made it hard to
get any good example laps in when instructing, and made it hard to
observe properly as there just seemed to be so many bikes in big
groups all the way round. I was also beginning to feel very slow,
having not really had any chance to get the bike on full throttle! I
decided to get the oil changed in the bike in the session before the
lunch break (thanks for your help Ben The inters group was a bit weird too in terms of differing abilities, but I gradually wound it up (I'd even managed to get my tyre warmers on over lunch) until I found a relatively comfy pace, and found I was overtaking a lot. My aim was to go out and get my knee down a few times, to make myself feel a bit better! I did that pretty quickly, so started on moving my braking points, working on body position, and trying to put in some decent laps. It was pretty hard as again there seemed to be large groups of bikes everywhere which stopped me from putting in a consistent good lap. Still, it felt really good to be out on the bike and stretching it's legs properly. The afternoon went pretty quickly, and I decided not to bother going out in the fast group, as I just didn't feel confident enough (there were loads of fast Bemsee racers there, I was just being a wimp really). I went out in the inters group a couple more times before I decided to call it a day and get packed up. All in all, it was a good day, and I did enjoy myself, although I feel terribly out of practice on the bike. I think if it had been any other circuit than Brands I wouldn't have felt so bad, but I always feel like I should be comfortable and consistent there, just because I've ridden it so much. I guess it's just the usual pre-season rustiness, and I'll feel better once I've been out on track a bit more. I hope. It was great to catch up with lots of people from the paddock this weekend, Pat, Greg P and James in particular. Also huge thanks to Red and Ben for making it such a fun weekend – really enjoyed your company as ever!
( Jan 23 2007, 10:25:13 AM GMT+00:00 )PermalinkTuesday January 16, 2007
Well I said 2007 felt like it was going to be an eventful year, and so far it's not in a good way. Driving up to see Red in Guildford yesterday lunchtime and the van decided to give up the ghost. I was already having just about the worst day I could have dreamt up, and was pretty much fighting off the tears even before the van decided to conk out! I called out the AA, who were thankfully really quick cos it was bloomin' freezing and I couldn't sit in the van as I was pulled over on the side of a very fast stretch of main road. The mechanics guess was that it might be the bottom end gone. Great, so that'll be a new engine if that's the case. Other possibilities could be a slipped timing belt, but of course until the garage take a look I won't know for sure. The AA mechanic called a recovery truck out, and I got taken back to my local garage in Basingstoke. I'll know more later today what the damage is. I'm feeling really down at the moment, I seriously hope that changes soon, as right now, I don't feel like I've got the motivation to do anything at all, let alone get my bike and my head ready for a good season's racing. ( Jan 16 2007, 09:10:49 AM GMT+00:00 )Permalink Comments [1]Friday January 12, 2007
Still early January, but it's about time to starting getting things ready for the upcoming season. The first race may still be a coupl e of months away, but I've got quite a bit coming up! First, I've got a day instructing with Focused Events at Brands on the 21st Jan. I had been really looking forward to this - partly because I'm excited about getting out and instructing again, but also because it's the first trip out on the bike in 6 weeks! I'm a little bit apprehensive now though I must admit, as there's going to be rather a lot of quick racers there... That whole weekend should be great fun. The day before the trackday we're heading down to Lydden for the Moped Mayhem endurance races, which is set to be a whole lot of very silly and undoubtedly ridiculously overcompetetive fun! The Lunatic Palmer Brothers will be there in force racing a beast of an AR80, so I suspect I'll be cheering them on. God help those on track with them! Before that, I need to change the oil in the ZXR after it's running in in December. Not having a garage is a real pain for this as I just can't do it while it's raining. I'm hoping this weekend will offer up some time to do it. I really ought to give the bike a good clean too. I've also got RaceLab on the case with my forks, and they should be done by the end of the month in time for me to put them in the bike and use them throughout February for testing. I've also got Ben making me some new fairings (orange of course!) so the bike will hopefully look a bit tidier come the start of the season. There's also some stuff already booked up for February - I'm going to the Focused Events Instructor training day, and also I'm helping out at the Rookie school for Bemsee. I'm really looking forward to both, but in particular the Bemsee day. It's only too fresh in my mind what it felt like to be there, how many questions I had, and how nervous and excited I was, and I'd love to help out with the new blood coming into the club. And alongside that, I've been trying to get myself into the gym as much as possible. I've the help of a good friend of mine, Keith, who is taking on the role of 'personal trainer' and generally kicking my arse into gear so I'm as ready as I can be for the season. I've also finally got myself to the physio - a fellow racer, Sam Ball - and she's given me some exercises to do to help make my shoulder and surrounding muscles stronger. So, that's what's going on...! Hopefully I'll start having a bit more to post about soon
( Jan 12 2007, 08:16:42 AM GMT+00:00 )PermalinkMonday January 01, 2007
So 2007 ... I have a feeling this is going to be a very eventful year... Best wishes to everyone, I hope 2007 is a good one for you! ( Jan 01 2007, 10:39:46 AM GMT+00:00 )Permalink Comments [2]Friday December 22, 2006
It's been predictably quiet on the bike front over the past few weeks - thus the lack of posts. But I thought I'd stop by just to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! ( Dec 22 2006, 12:26:49 PM GMT+00:00 )PermalinkMonday December 04, 2006
Well, not wanting to show off *too* much, but I thought I'd post up some pics of the trophies I've got this year. I'm chuffed to bits with this lot!!
( Dec 04 2006, 06:06:29 PM GMT+00:00 )PermalinkThursday November 30, 2006
I'd been looking forward to the end of season Dinner & Dance all year. In fact, I'd been looking forward to it since I went to it last year! I remember really well how at last years do I sat thinking how in 12 months time I'd have completed a season's racing, and I'd be sat with everyone as a club member and not just a guest. And it did feel different. I know loads more people, and listening to the awards being handed out to friends and fellow racers meant more somehow, I felt really proud and privileged to be there. One of the best things about the event
is having the chance to be all girly and dress up – not something I
get to do often at all! It's always lovely to see everyone from the
paddock all smart and gorgeous too – a far cry from the way we
usually meet: all covered in oil and in our leathers! We shared a
table with the lpracing crew and friends, and Greville, and our table
ended up being very heavily laden with trophies as the night went on!
I was so proud of everyone as they went to receive their well earned
prizes: Greville with his 1st for SBK400, Nick with 1st
for the Shootout and 2nd for the SBK400, and Greg with his
2nd for C400. And it didn't stop there – Greg P, Toby
and I also got awarded the Lance Capon Bowl for our contribution to
the club! It was a complete surprise, I had absolutely no idea about
it! I must admit, I still don't really understand why I got
it, I wasn't really listening when Dave was talking about it before
our names were announced as I didn't realise it was going to be
relevant! Still, I'm very chuffed to have got it The trophy presentations went on for aaages, followed by the raffle draw, so by the time they put the music on for us all to have boogie it was pretty late already. Which was a shame, because at 2am, when they switched the music off, it felt like the night had only just started! Still, it was a great night – fantastic to see everyone in the party mood away from the circuit. Thanks to Bemsee, and all my friends for making it such a brilliant night!
( Nov 30 2006, 01:09:02 PM GMT+00:00 )PermalinkFriday November 17, 2006
I've finally done the season review - with pics and everything! ( Nov 17 2006, 04:59:53 PM GMT+00:00 )Permalink Comments [1]Saturday November 11, 2006
I collected a spare exhaust cam shaft from Steve P the other day, in the hope that it would be good enough to replace mine. I dropped it off with Dynotech yesterday afternoon, and yay! It's absolutely fine, and has just saved me £180! Thanks very much Steve So to celebrate me not having to spend the extra, I've booked a track day at Brands! It's possible that I'm completely insane, but it's booked anyway, for December the 3rd. Could be quite chilly, but then again, so was my rookie school and first race round, so it's not like I've not done it before, and it could be useful experience as well. It'll also give me a chance to run th engine in after it's rebuild. I think I'm suffering with not having racing to plan for and look forward to. I've spent all year always preparing for the next round, and it's so weird now having this long gap. Maybe the track day will give me something to focus on a bit! ( Nov 11 2006, 08:15:24 AM GMT+00:00 )Permalink Comments [2]Thursday November 09, 2006
I dropped my bike in at Dynotech last week for it's annual refresh - basically a strip down and rebuild of the engine with anything that needs replacing getting sorted. Last night I had a call from Andy; they've taken it apart and he wanted to discuss what needed doing. It doesn't sound too bad to be fair - big end bearings, piston rings, pretty normal stuff - however he also said that the exhaust cam was on it's way out. I've got two choices - I can buy a new one, which is about £180 or I can try and source a decent second hand one. I've gone for the latter - I've got a couple of options on getting hold of one, so I'll pick them up and see whether Dynotech think they're in good enough shape. It'll certainly save me a couple of quid - the refresh is expensive enough! I'm hoping I'll get the bike back in time for early December when there's a track day on at Brands. Then I can run it in and have a bit of a winter play. [Read More]( Nov 09 2006, 07:42:04 AM GMT+00:00 )PermalinkMonday October 23, 2006
Race Report - Lydden Hill - I'm liking this wet weather thing...(mostly) ( Oct 23 2006, 01:34:04 PM GMT+00:00 )Permalink |
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I never really had a chance to try and ride at full speed all day, so it's hard to know really how the circuit feels, but it was pretty challenging for sure. I'd definitely go back and try it again.
I also got the chance to speak to some of the instructors I'd not really met before, and of course I met a load of new rookies. It was great to see everyone enjoying themselves all day! To top it all off, all the instructors got a credit note from the club to put towards race entries or practice days as a thank you. Totally unexpected, but very much appreciated!
) for the Focused Events Instructor training day. The lineup consisted of four sessions - one with Kevin Healy and Steve Plater giving us information on how to be a good instructor, and what was expected of us; one with Mick Grant talking about suspension; one with Pirelli talking about tyres; and finally a St John's Ambulance talk about first aid.
But, I'll have Red there for support too, she'll also be instructing, and quite of few of my friends will also be along., so I'm sure I'll be ok.
Then we're all off to stay at Pat Mill's for the night before heading off to Brands in the morning.
. It took Rob Pragnell passing me in the penultimate session for me to wake up - suddenly I managed to drop 2 seconds a lap, and got myself a new personal best lap in the process! I was fairly happy with that, knowing that in the race I'd be fine as long as I could tag on the back of a faster rider.
Still, I managed to get new tyres fitted, and the nice lie in was welcome.