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Virginia International Raceway
August 9, 10, 11, 2002 |
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 Motorcycle Corral during the AMA Superbike Races on the North Track |
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This was my first real chance at getting to ride on a track. I had ridden the Aprilia's before, and already knew that the Mille and Falco are two of my favorite bikes. After the 6 hour ride to VIR, I figured it might be best to wait until after lunch to get on the track. As I watched I couldn't believe how fast these ladies were riding on the track and I was a bit intimidated. But my reluctance wore off as soon as I got my first ride on a Mille. All I had to think about was riding - no cars, gravel, trees, cliffs, 18-wheelers, or mini-vans. This was fun!! The track, 1.64 miles in length, had good double apex curves and even a blind cork screw. The straight-away was plenty long and speeds over 100 mph were easy to handle, so long as you slowed down enough to make that first big hairpin! If you missed the curve you might end up in the North Track were the AMA Superbike Races were being run. The twenty minute sessions were enough time on the track. I was ready to take a break when the checkered flag appeared. Saturday we spent at the North Track watching the races and running a Tail of the Dragon vendor space. Next year we will skip the vendor space, as the races are fun to watch and there is plenty of other things to enjoy. We managed to meet up with Dragon regular Bobby Hilliard. Bobby won the WERA Motorcycle Roadracing National Challenge Series - 600 Superbike Division in 2000 and has now moved up to race with the big boys on his GSXR 1000. A crash on Friday took him out for the rest of the weekend, but we managed to have a good visit and he gave us some insight as to what it's like to race with the AMA Superbikes. It's brutal and expensive!! Sunday was Ron's chance to try a track day. We brought one of the FZ1's and I managed to find a Falco to ride. Since this was our "official" first time Track Day, we stayed in the Novice Class. We had the luxury of both 20 minutes of track time and about 20 minutes of class time. The class time was definitely worth it with Monte covering all the techique basics. By the end of the day, most of us were getting our asses off the bike seat and some were even dragging a knee. Every four riders had one instructor riding with us on the track. He would show us the correct line to follow and offered pointers on improving our technique. Mark Sheldon was our instructor. Mark is a familiar Dragon rider and gave us some great advice. By the end of the day we were running just as fast as the intermediate group. Ron and I both agreed that the track day instruction is a must and feel that it will also improve our road riding skills. On a final note, we have always been hesitant about doing a track day. We didn't want to crash our treasured FZ1's, didn't have full leathers, didn't want to go thru the bike prep, didn't want to race.... etc. Well, let me tell you - we have learned that track days are far safer than any day on the road - especially the Dragon. SportBikeTrackTime.com has leathers to rent - brand new Joe Rocket two piece suits in just about every size. The bike prep took about 20 minutes and only amounted to taping all your lights and mirrors. A track day is for riders of all abilities. It's a great way to develop and improve your riding skills. It was unbelievably fun too!! We'll be back to the track, that's for sure!
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