\nGreat group of folks.\u00a0 The group breakdown was good, with the B group apparently being full with 25 bikes.\u00a0 Since I went with Mark and Janet instead of Mark and his son Aaron, they were nice enough to let her drop down from the B group into C, since Aaron has a couple of CCS championships, and this was her first trackday. Even with a full B group, with 2.75 miles of track, I didn’t really run into too much traffic on the course.\u00a0 Janet was on Aaron’s R6, and looked pretty good out on the track for it being her first time:
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<\/a><\/p>\nThe control riders were a good group, and were available to either follow or be followed to show you the lines or observe your technique.\u00a0 By the end of the day I was consistently catching up to them in the B-group, so maybe I’ll ask one to follow me next time out and see if there’s anywhere I can really improve.\u00a0 Didn’t feel like I had quite figured out all the sections until the last session, but next time I should be able to knock another couple seconds off my lap times by going all-out in a couple of the ‘coasting’ sections at two points on the track.\u00a0 A couple of the C group riders did a follow the leader stint during one of the mid-day sessions, and a couple of others got 1-on-1 instruction as well: Location: There were a couple of old jets parked inside turns 1 and 2, and Mark noticed them the first time out… while I didn’t even note that they were there until he said something back in the paddock.\u00a0 I tend to get a bit of tunnel-vision when on track, and if it’s outside the curbing, I don’t notice as much.\u00a0 Kelly could see them from the tower when I took off down the main straight though: The tower also served as a good vantage point from which to see the entry to the chicane just prior to the start-finish line.\u00a0 The first couple of sessions I was frustrated because there are a couple of big bumps in the pavement there.\u00a0 After going up to the tower and watching the A group guys take the entry much wider than I had and having the bumps not upset their suspension because they were still leaned over, but had finished turning already flipped the switch for me.\u00a0 Did much better the next couple of sessions: Saw the fastest guy there back in the paddock during the lunch break: Afternoon sessions went a little faster each time, and after the 5th I thought I had one more in me.\u00a0 I was informed that Kelly had figured out the right spot to take pictures from, and that I had to go out for another session…\u00a0 Of course after looking at her pictures, I did the last session running turn 1 very wide every time so I was ‘in the sweet spot’ for taking pictures, even though straight up the inside out of the last corner was the fastest way into and then out of turn 1: She had gotten some really, really cool images while trying to figure out the best place to stand outside turn 1.\u00a0 Best shot of the day, even though I’m not in it: Mark had a good day, and by the end of the day ‘had figured out which corners were coming up next’ as he put it.\u00a0 There were a couple in the middle that kinda looked all similar, so I can definitely see how that would throw someone off.\u00a0 Here’s a couple of shots of him dicing it up running around the first couple of turns: Like I said, I ran the last session wide through turn 1, which I think would probably cut 1\/3 of a second or so off my lap times next time I’m out there (by going straight), but it made for better pictures: Again, it was a good day overall.\u00a0 Based on there being a race in Phoenix that weekend, the pro photographer didn’t show.\u00a0 Kinda makes me wonder if I should check into what it would take to get picture hosting like Killboy does for the Dragon and see about paying the $100 vendor fee so I can be an ‘official’ photographer and get some better pictures, then sell them.\u00a0 I’ve got a couple of months until they run there in the spring, and I’ll definitely look into the Phoenix race schedule to see if that opportunity might present itself.\u00a0 We’ll see.\u00a0 Until then I’ll just have to keep riding.
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\nIt was a really gorgeous area, kinda tucked in the hills southwest of Willcox.\u00a0 There’s an observation tower near the start-finish line where you can see a good chunk of the track, and where we were able to get some pretty good pictures.\u00a0 Kelly noticed a windmill off to the north and didn’t say anything so she could take pictures of it and surprise me.\u00a0 Pretty scenic spot:
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\n(should probably have told the track crew on him though… he was pulling wheelies in the paddock)<\/p>\n
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