Happy New Years!

Hi DucatiRacerChick readers,

It's been a pretty long period of recovery for me since I fractured my patella.  My crash happened in Round #7 of my 1st CCS Novice racing season.  I can't believe that I haven't been able to ride any of my cycles since that day on Oct 5th but sometimes that's the breaks.  No PUN intended - no really.

Photo of fractured canopy after race

I've been cleaning the house and trying to organize of all my riding / racing gear.  This is no simple task given how many tools and other racing paraphernalia I own.  This is especially true given how small my home is.  Pulling the 848 Racer out of my storage room let me get my first real close look at the damage.  A friend of mine tucked the bike away after my injury and finally this is the first significant assessment.  Unfortunately, there was considerably more damage in the front end than I had previously understood.

Photo of broken faring stay 

 
After I unbuttoned the race skins from the chassis, I discovered that my stock faring stay was toast in several areas.  These factory stock stays are just complete crap and crack if you look at them wrong.

Broken faring stay removed from bike

Funny how the set of race skins where actually holding the stay in place and preventing the gauge cluster from becoming dislodged.  Naturally and in true DucatiRacerChick style, I have a replacement racing part in stock.  This doesn't surprise you, does it?  This one is definitely designed to handle a little more tension and flexing than the stock unit.  It never ceases to amaze me just how many design problems have already been encountered and ingeniously solved by some of the after market parts designers for the 848. 

Right hand guard after turn 3 lowside

I really like the new unit, it's super light and looks like you could just bend it back in place after an incident.  Very, very cool!

Replacement faring stay before assembly

Back to the whole physical therapy situation.  I guess that this injury is a bit of a reality check for how much longer it takes a 49 year woman to bounce back from an injury versus a 21 year old woman.  What changes am I going to make to try and tilt the odds in my favor?  I'm not sure although I've been contemplating it quite a bit. Certainly a review of all of my safety gear choices and making improvements to anything that may be lacking.  I spent sometime researching new crash suits which include airbag systems however that's just not in the cards.  Especially not given my level of expertise.  It's possible that I may only do practice sessions next season and really try to focus on my cornering.  Maybe enter only a few competitions towards the end of the season after my confidence is restored.  We'll see.  :)

 

Front end revealed for inspection

Physical Therapy is going pretty well now.  Most days I can walk up and down stairs with very little discomfort and I just feel like I getting stronger again.  My rehabilitation specialist, Audrey, issued a whole new set of exercises this morning to augment my routine.  Can you say 'Ouch!'?  Other than the new items being pretty intense and challenging even my non injured muscles - I'm feeling pretty good.  I'm hoping to significantly strong next season when riding starts again.

Looking great and ready for winter storage!

That's it for this last post of 2013, all in all it was a fast paced year of learning, fun and challenges.  I'd like to avoid the injuries next year but 2013 certainly allowed for many personal growth milestones.

If you're gonna ride, remember to Twist It!!

Happy New Years everyone!

-diz

Season's Greetings

LRRS / CCS Racer Practice Group 3

Easy on me guys, it's my first video post

Still Smiling

Note the smirk painted on the Duc

Next week I strip the Duc down to her essentials and haul her out for winterizing.  Looking forward to designing the new race skins for next season.  I'm sure it will be awesome.  Don't you love the Ray-Bans and Chickie Smile?

Dragging Knee

Dragging knee in the apex of turn #4

Working on customizing the DRC blog template

I just never get tired of seeing this picture.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Cluster F@#$ Entering T-1 @ Loudon NH 2013 Round#1

2013 Rookie Season Highlight!

best action photo of my first season as a racer

LRRS Awards Banquet

Phone photo of the LRRS Awards Banquet

I had a really great time last night at the awards banquet.  I shared a table with my friends from FTF Cycles.  The program was a little long for my current stamina with my injured leg but it's fun to get dressed up and show your fellow racers that you're a person outside of the track.  Plus a big bonus, I didn't have to wear heels this time because of my leg. :)

If you're going to ride, remember to Twist It!

-diz

Celebrate the little things!

Well, it was around 1:30 PM on October 5th that I low sided in turn #3.  It knocked the wind out of me and I was pretty certain that I'd sprained my ankle.  Weird, the way adrenaline can drive you to escape a dangerous situation.  Incredible actually! 

I stood up with the help of Loudon's awesome corner workers and started to walk towards my cycle.  I made it all the way to the bike before even noticing that my knee was likely injured.  The bike slid much further than I had and it came to rest at the wall of tires.  Looks like the canopy was damaged from that tire impact and not the lowside.  Glancing down at the bike and seeing it was pretty much OK, lent me the opportunity to do my own self assessment.  Naturally, I found I was coming up a little short by comparison.

Dan from FTF Cycles rescues my ride.

My friends and paddock mates were all awesome.  They made sure that anything I could possibly be stressing over (other than making the 'go to the hospital' decision) was taken out of my way.  They were still up against their own race schedules but it's as though they took turns making sure that I was well.  I really owe them all a debt of gratitude.  This is really what racing is all about.  These guys rally around and support you in the paddock.  They'll help you make your machine purr, teach you about proper technique and befriend you.  Of course, when the green flag drops, we're competing with one another but that's racing too. 

I really love my racing family.

I've had a lot of time to replay the series of events that lead to my lowside.  Mostly, I suspect that I was pushing too hard.  It was my last race weekend of my rookie season and I wanted to meet or exceed certain goals that I had set for myself.  That's really my mistake, pushing too hard instead of minding my experience level.

During the race, I really executed well from launch to race pace.  I didn't run into trouble until my lap times started approaching speeds I'd never rehearsed before.  I think I would have been just fine if I hadn't encountered traffic and adjusted my lines to make the passes down the back straight off of turn #2.  And I passed 4 riders, way too many tangents for me to calculate with my level of experience.

What am I celebrating today you ask?

Dana's left leg with the brace adjusted to 70 degrees

I'm celebrating my privileges!

If you're gonna ride; remember to Twist It!

-diz

Every last detail...

Attention to detail

I feel like I did a great job evolving the Ducati during Season 1

 

 

-diz

Why Racing Superbikes?

Why Racing Superbikes?

I've never really been much of a sports fan.  I've probably made that clear in a number of ways.  But mostly because I'm just "sports clueless". When I was first introduced to superbike racing - Wow! It just did it for me.  It wasn't really because of any one rider.  Back then it was because everything was so graceful.  The radius of the turns and the lean angles of the bikes and riders.  I could just watch them for hours.  I'd only ever heard classic drag cars up until then.  Occasionally, some funny cars but the superbikes where just something totally different.

Stick with me, remember - I'm not a sports person.

I really love math and I'm constantly playing little geometry games with everything I see.  I'll glance through the room and determine intersection angles, volumes, areas, tangents.  Shove them together and look for some interesting patterns.

It's probably a little bit autistic really. And jeeze, I'll notice if you move nearly anything in a room that I've been in a few times.  But I probably won't notice that you've shaved your beard. 

Unless we're really close, then I'll notice almost everything.  ++ 

Getting setup to flick the bike

 

Riding on the race track is just like that for me but beyond what I can process in real-time.  In fact, I'm just now learning to listen on a bunch of new inputs from the bike.  Unlike reasoning with people, the track offers more constants to interact with.  I have developed a wonderful desire for pushing my understanding of the track.  Doing a year and a half of track days really fanned the flames of those desires.

Racing introduced many new variables into the challenges.  One of them surprised me quite a bit: I'm super competitive.  I know how to lose with dignity but I don't like it.  I realized that slowly but steadily during LRRS Round #2.  The first time that 'I' passed someone during a race was energizing.

In my last race before I had the low slide (which I'm still on my ass more than not), I started lapping the racers in the wave after me.  That was really really exhilarating.  It most likely contributed to my slide.  I'll have to learn to turn those feelings up and down if I want to continue to competing successfully. 

Why do you follow racing?  Why do you race?

If you're gonna ride, remember to Twist It!

-diz

The girls are home

Well I thought of few of my readers might have wondered how this racer chick is feeling a few weeks after her accident.

I'll try my best to make sense of my current thoughts for you.

Well, where to start?  I know, as you can see in my x-ray above, my patella is broken into 5 or so pieces. There was a good amount of pain during my first two weeks but I managed it with the pain killer that my Dr. prescribed. 

I spent 2 weeks in an immobilizer brace.

I'm finally getting around reasonably well with my partial mobility brace.  It's a lot more comfortable than the immobility brace that I wore for the first two weeks.  I'm definitely experiencing noticeable weakness in my injured leg and my good leg is really feeling the extra burden.  My brace is set to 40 degrees of motion and in about 1 more week, I can advance that to 70 degrees.  I hope to start physical therapy then and get my range of motion and strength back. 

This was my first real broken bone - ever! and that fact is not lost on me.  Unlike simple sprains or other injuries that I just ignored when I was younger, I don't know what a nominal healing baseline measurement should be for me. 

That's kind of weird?!

Makes me feel a lot more innocent somehow

The girls are back home again!

 

Now, from my analytical voice...

I've looked at my telemetry data, studied the photos, obsessed over practice videos and inspected my tires.  There's not nearly enough evidence to support my having learned the bike too steeply.

I must have unsettled the chassis when I was between turns 3 and 4.  There's simply no other reasonable explanation other than that. 

Now, I just don't remember putting pressure on the right bar end. 

I think that I have a vivid memory of how I executed that last lap.  If I smooth the data just a little, it can justify what I believe I may have done wrong. 

Here's what I'm thinking...

I was getting on the throttle at the apex, not loosing much rear traction but perhaps lightening the front contact point.  That would explain my memory of driving out and then feeling the front tuck.  I think I chopped the throttle then, that's not the right decision.  I should have continued to accelerate smoothly and let the bike stand up.

What to you folks think?

Work items...

Well, I was already planning on retiring my race skins from the bike after each season. 
I thought that it would make a great artifacts to hang around the workshop.

Here's the extents of the damage that my crash in round 7 incurred.

Naturally, my GP Canopy has seen betters days. 

I will replace the fairing stay with a new one I had in stock.

My GoPro totally took a shock.  I thought that all the safety wiring I did

may have been over the top.  I feel differently now.

Looks like I'll need a few parts for the rearset and

maybe I'll replace the engine guard impact plate too!

Round 7 Race Report

The 848 prepped for round 7. 

What a marvelous machine and Ulli is an awesome photographer

Well, it's the end of my first race season and I'm sitting on my couch writing this race report with a broken knee cap, sprained ankle, bruised ribs and a remarkably wide smile.

Dana looking on at Ducati w/ smashed canopy

I was originally planning to ride LRRS practice on Friday, race Saturday and Sunday and top my dessert weekend off with a session of Tony's Track Day on Monday.  Unfortunately, my weekend ended after my first race on Saturday. 

DMZ Racing #358 sets the pace for the Novice race 

My launch in race 1 was really strong and I rode a strong wheelie nearly 2 scoreboard's distance.  My first lap was a 1:31 which is about 3 seconds faster than my fastest lap 1 times.  I kept on the throttle all the way through turn 2 and the back straight.  I ran a little deep in turn 3 but recovered my speed by really get off to the side of the bike up the hill.

Dana making last minute adjustments

I found a slightly deeper entry into the bowl (turn 6) and it allowed me to get all of my pointing done quickly and push a good radius all the way through to turn to the flip through turn 7.  I felt really smooth and ran solid 1:28's for the rest of the race.

Which ended carving through turn 3 in lap 4.  :(

Dana gets her first ambulance ride

 

note the damage to the rear set, not really a bad slide

 

And wins her first race!

1st Place Rookie race

I'll be healing for a few weeks...

If you're gonna ride - remember to Twist It!!

Details coming soon!

Looking at a dirty bike tomorrow...

If all goes well, this little girl will join the family this weekend.

 

2003 Yamaha YZ-125 (purr, purr, mmm)

If you're gonna ride?  Remember to Twist It!!

-diz

2014 Racing Season

I am seriously considering spending my next racing season focusing on my rudimentary skills with a lightweight bike.

Honda CBR 250

 I've been a percussionist for a very long time and I've taught a lot of students in my day and one thing I have noticed is that one particular method seems tremendously successful...

Kawasaki EX 300

Hyosung  GT250/R

 1) Dive in deep; maybe over your head a little and find out if you've really got the passion. Passion makes anything challenging: fun. At first, trying to 'will your way out' of boundaries will build persistence and an ability to measure small improvements. Even if there may be a few minor bad habits forming.

2) Once you find that you love the 'art' of something; tear down what you've learned and seek out skilled instructors. Focus on basics while you continue to enjoy expressing more primitive 'play time'

3) Make a commitment to 'reset' both behaviors starting with the rudiments again but this time, play with them too. Realize that it will seem like negative improvements for a while and resist strengthening the hold of the stuff you faked to push out your limits.

4) Rinse and repeat from #1.

Kawasaki EX 250

 I think practicing and riding in the Formula 300 class might be a really great means to reset some of the habits that the 848 has allowed me to use to power through. I do have concerns, one of which is as a Novice, I don't get many races. How difficult is it to consistently beat the 1:45 bump requirement? I would prefer to do a season in which I don't run medium weight until I see measured improvement in my lightweight venture.

Yamaha WR 250 X

 Any thought or opinions? Play nice please.

Turn 3 at Loudon

 

Really awesome shot carving into turn 3 during one of my races in round #6

Bike is all ready for round 6!

I changed her oil, adjusted the rear set and shifter.

Added a shiny new sprocket guard

 

Added 1" longer clip ons

 

And a touch of bling to the front fender

 

 

I think I just got bumped to Amateur!

Can this be?  Did I just get bump to Amateur?

What an awesome race weekend!!

Well DiZ racing fans, I'm finally happy to state that I'm really gaining some serious strides this season.

I had a great set of practice sessions and set my all time best lap time 1:29.  I was stoked, I felt really comfortable, my body position was working really well and I jut enjoyed it.

Then my first race came and I nailed it with a career best time of 1:27.831.  That's really, really respectable for someone who has only been riding as long as I have.

Picture of me just before my first race on Saturday

Race report to follow shortly!

And remember, if you're gonna ride - remember to Twist It!!

-Diz

Time to prep my bike for Round #5

Stripping the race skins before I change the oil make a few other select improvements

Interesting ride today...

I've put a little over 700 miles on the track this season, that's a dream come true for me. While I have been modifying my track 848 a lot, I thought I might be moving through my mods a little faster than I really understand them. That had me a little concerned.

I also started questioning if I enjoy riding my street 848 around Cambridge. So I really haven't been riding that bike very much at all this season. I've got a couple of weeks till my next Loudon round so I really felt like riding today. I got out on the street 848 and really noticed that my riding position has changed. At low speeds the bike felt sluggish, I felt the preload too soft. I made a quick stop home and started clicking the forks. A few twisty spots to fine tune the damper and it felt a lot better.

I got on some nice back roads I enjoy and really appreciated all the training I've been getting from Penguin and other riders. Everything, even the way I scan traffic and make a few plans on the road seems to have improved. I noticed that I was grabbing the bars a little and started reminding myself to only use my hands to steer. You know T&F.

All of sudden it dawned on me, I really love riding. And it's so much more fun when you're riding deliberately. Riding well and using your bike as a tool. Not just letting it take you for a ride.

Can't wait for the 16th to arrive.

-diz

No races in July. Back on track in August

Even though I'll be traveling and won't be able to race, it hasn't been a slow few weeks at all.

Trimming out the van and getting it ready for the races 

I've been having trouble loading the pick-up by myself and the last track day was a real eye opener.  None of the people I normally ride with were around and everyone was really divided off into their own clicks.  I tried a few times to get some of the stronger guys to help me get the Ducati into the bed of the truck and they just goofed around and never helped.

How do I improve this?  Offer them beer and BJs? I don't think so!  I bought a new van and I'm converting it to carry my tools, gear and bikes.  I've already installed the winch and set most of the 1/2 inch plywood.  Once that is done, I strip the stands back out and install grey low pile carpeting.

This will be so good for many reasons.  I've got all the parts to install a shore power hookup and have a/c power,  I've also started laying out all the parts for a house battery and power inverter.  I've purchase a battery isolator and plan to wire that who system during the evening after work this week.

Once that is all done, I've got to start preppy the racer for her next LRRS round!!

Can't wait to tell you about all the server I'm doing since this is just about her half way through the season check-up.

Remember, if you're ride - Twist It!!

-dana

Is this 'Sexting?'

Have you ever met Peter Kates?

I swear this guy is the 'Bike Whisperer'.

When I was struggling with 1:34's at the track he dropped over to my paddock to see if he could help me out a little.  He noticed that I was reaching the end of travel on my front end because my zip ties were left at the bottom.  Asked me to drop the bike off of the stands and then the next few moments were really interesting to watch...

He bounced my cycle like it was a basketball...

Next, he began adjusting the preloads, dampers and recoils,  Stuff was clicking like crazy and he just said, "tell me if that feels any better after your next run"

In my next race entering the turns without shedding so much speed seemed so much easier and I started to really 'Like' turn 3!

I did a quick check of my laptime and I was running a consistent 1:31.  That is a terrific improvement,

Pete made one more set of adjustments before my next race and I brought my lap times down to 1:30s.  That's a really respectible time for a Novice.

After Round #2 finished, Peter brought my bike home with him to GMD Motosports.  This is his company and his gig is refining bike's geometry and doing serious suspension modifications.

James, who is an awesome racer who also happens to work at GMD send me this tease photo yesterday.

Pic of the new triple clamps for the 848

 

If you're gonna ride, remember to twist it!

 

-diz



Fun crop

Wow, what an intense look!

Getting happier with my form

Solid Knee Plant