Well, I made it up to the track on Saturday, and ToR was great!
Big props to Mo for loaning me a suit, and to all the volunteers who make ToR happen.
I had recently put some new Pilot Powers on the SS, and since all I had ridden was back-and-forth across town, no real twisties, they had huge chickenstrips.
No more! The Michelins are now scrubbed in to the edge (well, the rear is, anyway), like tires on a proper Ducati should be.
Nobody went down, so our 20 minutes on track was uninterrupted! Very cool. I think there were only 12-18 riders, as well, so "traffic" was light... Mo, do you remember how many there were?
My lines were mostly abysmal (I'm sure), and it took several laps before I had the foggiest idea how to get around turn 4. After 6 or so laps, I finally was able to see the shiny streak that is the racing line, and was able to navigate T4 much more smoothly thereafter.
I was lapped by the fast group (all the guys clustered behind the leader) once, about 2/3 of the way through the session. Was passed within the first few laps by a couple guys who started behind me and worked their way up. I lapped that green Ninja 636 twice. I remember lapping Chuck once toward the end. I lapped the cruiser 3 times: Twice on the end by turns 1-5, and once coming out of T9. He did a great job staying out of faster bikes' way, so I think we all had a lot of fun.
Peak speed was ~120 indicated down the front straight. Peak back straight speed on one lap was 115 indicated. The bike had more, but I'm closing in on the 12k valve service, and didn't feel like wringing the motor out any more. The front straight went by plenty quick at 120 mph, anyway... before I knew it, I'd come up on the brake markers for turn one, sit up straight, and start whaling on the brakes & downshifting. I don't think I ever took T1 as fast as I could have, but that was my first time on PIR, the sun wasn't out (cooler track), and I really didn't feel like pushing the SS to its limits. I'll explore the limits of motorcycle tire adhesion on the CBR when I get it out there for trackdays next year.
So anyway, big thanks again to Mo and everyone involved with OMRRA for putting on Taste of Racing!
That was a blast!
