All kidding aside, about half the field will typically be AMA regulars, if it's like it was last year.  It's no easy task to do well at this event (see last year's recap for more details), but it's a great deal of fun and a great measuring stick.  I won't whine about how much I was looking forward to this one as well … oops. 

Cheers,

eddie

The last couple weeks have been a struggle, I won't lie.  Being held up in this rig has been anything other than fun.  It's a wave of emotions – highs and lows.  I know what to expect with a significant injury like this, as it isn't the first one I've had, but it doesn't completely make it easy to block out the negativity that is often trying to push its way through.  Fortunately having Gina around has made things so much better.  In sickness and in health right?  It's not as much for helping me with basic things – sure she does that, but let's be honest – I've done this before and she's not about to overdo it with sympathy and follow me around.  And given what I'm doing – I certainly don't want that, especially with her being pregnant.  It's more about being there and the little things that make us laugh and help the time pass.  That's worth more than anything and it's funny how those little things can help you forget about throwing a season away and losing most of you worked for the winter before.  I do think her biggest complaint right now is that I'm hogging the bed with all the extra pillows.  Sorry G.

It will be three weeks since surgery this coming Wednesday.  Things are going as planned I suppose.  Constant movements and work to get the fingers moving, make a fist, etc., in order to stretch out everything that was tightened up from the surgery.  It's getting better each day but with that – I'm quickly finding the limitations in day-to-day stuff.  Every part of the wrist hurts when I do too much.  It's a pretty sharp pain.  Left side, right side and front are all vulnerable.  I messed it up quite bad with multiple breaks and some crushing of bones.  The idea with the rod is that it holds everything in place so bone can grow back and fill the gaps of where it broke more severely.  I think in the end, the wrist will be good – I probably just won't have the same range of motion I previously had with it.

Working out hasn't been happening and that can spiral into bad eating habits.  I learned my lesson after shoulder surgery, after gaining weight, and I'm not letting that happen again.  I've started doing a little core work and want to get back into a spin class soon – even if it is one-handed.  Running is a little tough with the movements, but hopefully in a week or so I can get back to that at least.  Lots of calcium and vitamins and while I've lost some muscle, I'm almost happy that I haven't lost as much as I thought I would have by now.

All things considered, and how bad things could be .. it's the summer .. and for the most part, life is good.

Cheers,

eddie

Meet Terra.  He's been accompanying us to the race track this year (some may know the meaning of this by the Yamaha commercials between Edwards and Spies recently).  He was a gift and has become quite the fan of our race team this year (who can blame him right?).

Right now we're heading into the core part of the season.  The WERA Grattan National is this weekend, followed by the WERA/AMA Roadrace Grand National Championships at Mid-Ohio, followed by the AMA Pro weekend a day later.  Then we have a short gap and we're off to Virginia International Raceway for the the WERA Cycle Jam.  All of these are big events with big competition at all of them – some of the best in the country.  It will certainly provide a good measuring stick of where we're at.

This is the time I'm really looking forward to.  It's not just a couple guys that help me step up my game, but a deep field across the board that forces the issue and the times to drop.  After our last visit to Grattan, we've figured out some things and we'll be ready to go and push the envelope.  As for Mid-O, I'm really looking forward to it.  I haven't been there yet this year, but we'll have a lot of time to get back up to speed and push towards new, fast lap times.  With all this excitement packed into the next couple weeks, VIR is a fair bit off in the distance, but it's an event that we did quite well at considering our lack of experience last year and the technical nature of the track.  It'll be even more work to take the next step and build on what we learned there previously.

Without getting to far ahead of ourselves, Grattan is where the focus is.  With names like the Bostrom's, Jason Disalvo, Dane Westby, Clinton Seller, Taylor Knapp and Kurtis Roberts, this event will be stacked – not to mention the host of other fast names that will be in attendance.  If this isn't enough to get amp'd up about, I don't know what is.

Two seconds is what we need this weekend.  Three if things go real well.  We know what doesn't work around Grattan, so the only option now is to go with what works and put the hammer down.  It'll be fun.  And Jeff is feeling much better so I'm looking forward to him being back in action. 

Ultimately, I'd like to rely on Terra for some help over the next few days, but I'm confident the hard work we've put in lately will pay dividends.  Around Grattan, it has to eventually.  And now is as good a time as any ..

If you're in the area, stop by our pits, grab a Monster and hang out for a few.

Cheers,

eddie

edit: We might be having Friday practice now.  Odds are looking better ..

I've been trying to fit in more outdoor pedaling with the warmer weather here.  I squeezed in 25 miles over the weekend around Stoney Creek which was a good ride.  Lots of hills and elevation around the place which makes for a great workout.  I don't know all the details regarding how all the cardio "zones" work, but I'm typically in the 3rd zone for nearly all the ride, and in the 4th anaerobic zone for good sections of it.  I'd like to spend more time pedaling, but with bike preparations and real life, it's hard to fit it all in.  Of course I'm timing myself and seeing if there's anyone I can pedal against while I'm there, which keeps it interesting.  The full-suspension bike isn't great for road riding, as it saps out a lot of the efficiency in each pedal stroke.  I'd like to try a hard-tail just for comparison's sake, as I think it would be a bit easier (and drop my times of course).

Other than that, dad and I spent some time over the weekend working on the R6 and tweaking the geometry a bit, which should make the bike a bit more stable when leaned over.  Everything else is prepped and ready to go for a fun weekend.  Pin it and hold on!

Cheers,

eddie

Memorial weekend is a little different for everyone.  For some, it's remembering war stories; having been a part of it and serving our country.  For others, it's simply being thankful for the freedom that we have today.  I'm of the latter – and the way I decided to spend the holiday weekend was to head up north with Gina and spend the weekend with her family at her parents' cottage.  With her parents living in Arizona during the winter and up north during the summer, she doesn't get to see them much so we spent a few days enjoying the weather and relaxing a bit.

The relaxation was a nice part of the weekend for everyone – well, almost everyone.  As her family knows, I have a hard time sitting still – and to avoid doing that for too long, I spent a good amount of time pedaling around the lake her parents have a place on - Cedar Lake, near Oscoda.  The rides were made easier by listening to some of Armin Van Buuren's latest mixes every morning and afternoon.  Things were going great until I got a flat on day two, about 7-8 miles into one of my rides around the lake.

Of course I didn't have a spare tube with me … Hey, cut me some slack – I've been spinning all winter and flats aren't an issue.  :)  Fortunately I did have my cell phone.  I dialed in for some help and the family version of AAA came out and gave me a lift back.  A trip to the local K-Mart and they had spare tubes, but not the ones I needed for this wheel, which requires a thinner valve stem.  Arg.  And with the holiday weekend, the local bike shop was closed.  Being up north, there wasn't too much else around, so I was out of luck.

Needless to say, I'm picking up extra tubes tomorrow along with some other trail necessities.  Lesson learned indeed.  Hope everyone had a good holiday weekend and remembered what the extended weekend is all about.

Cheers,

eddie

WERA North Central Round #2: The Race Weekend That Almost Wasn’t

Excited to get back on the bike and trying to make sure preparation is done, I decided that the last thing I should look at is a set of new spark plugs in the old R6, sounds pretty harmless.  Remove the gas tank, remove the air box, pull the coils and loosen, that simple; except now.  This simple task turned into quite the adventure for me.  It appears that one of the plugs had some carbon build-up on the tip that proceeded to tear up threads as I pulled it out of the aluminum head.  This is not a good thing anytime, let alone 10 days before the first North Central event of the year.  Frustration was beginning to mount; I am not mechanical enough to rectify this situation on my own.  A few phone calls and off to the engine builder we go…Thom Godward who has worked on this motor previously also crew chiefs for an AMA Superbike team and has a race in California the  same weekend as mine.  Despite that fact Thom worked diligently to make sure I would have the motor back.  What a relief…Thanks for the hard work.  Crisis avoided, let’s go racing.

Friday Practice: What a relief to finally be at the track.  I had a set of Dunlop mounted earlier in the week and was ready to start finding the speed that hopefully would make me competitive on the weekend.  For today I was running an N-Tec rear tire that had some laps on it but still seemed to have plenty of grip at the pace I am running.  The relevance of this comment will show up later. 

As the day proceeded I was picking up speed as I had hoped. The two previous trips to Grattan for track days left me wondering if the switch to the Yamaha R6 was a mistake.  My lap times had still not caught up to my best laps around Grattan on my SV (1:26.4).  The R6 has quite a bit more horsepower and all the trick suspension and I can’t break into the 26’s? 

That trend was finally broken as I chased some of the WERA NC regulars and fast teammates Eddie Kraft and Jeff Wrobel around all day.  It is amazing how riding with faster company can help drive lap times down.  I ended the day with a best of 1:25.4 which not only surpassed my previous fast lap around Grattan but also met my goal for the weekend and the racing had not even started.  My confidence was building and goals were adjusted for the remainder of the weekend, 1:24’s were in my reach.

Saturday, Race Day: As practice opened up I was able to get back to the low 1:26’s with that same set of tires that now had almost 80 laps on them.  My confidence was high and due to a few regulars not running transponders for practice I looked fast on the morning time sheets as well.

Lunch time had arrived and new Dunlop 211 GPA’s were being mounted for the MW Solo.  I again was feeling good until…When I go to pick up the tires I find out from the Dunlop vendor that the 211 GPA is 7mm shorter than the N-Tec I had been running, 7 mm not a big deal right?  In motorcycle geometry and set-up it can be.  I did not have time to make any ride height changes to compensate and wondered again if 7 mm would really make a difference.

As the green flag fell on the Solo 20 I found my answer, it did.  The bike was not terrible but was very difficult to get off the corners, always wanting to run wide on exit.  This is not a good situation when you are facing 20 laps.  It took me a little while to figure out how to make this geometry work but I found a style that allowed me to push towards the middle of the race and improve a few positions.  I had started 13th and finished the race in 9th, not a bad result for the first time on the R6 at Grattan.  More importantly I had learned a little about how changes can affect the overall handling of the bike and what type of riding can overcome some issues.  The best lap of the race was a 1:25.6 which was a little disappointing, I was hoping that I would pick-up time during the races.

The good news is that my Witchkraft Racing teammates had posted good results with Jeff winning the race and Eddie finishing 4th.  Jeff had actually run off track about mid race and bent the wheels on the bike and damaged the shock and still managed to push forward for a victory, he is an ironman.

Sunday morning practice was looking good, I had added 2mm of ride height adjustment to the rear of the R6 to bring the geometry back where the bike suited my riding style a little better.  Once again I was toward the top of the practice time sheets for those with transponders sitting 5th amongst the 600 group with a best time of 1.25.9.  These 1.25’s aren’t so tough!

A fresh set of rubber was mounted up after morning practice and we were ready to go.  My first race of the day would be MW Senior SB.  I was gridded in the middle of row 7.  The MW bikes were behind the HW Senior group, so there were multiple classes running.  As the green flag dropped I got a good start and learned from previous start that it was best to get to the inside for those first couple of corners.  As the field strung out I got by bike #194, Gene Burcham who was leading the MW class and put my head down to try and open a gap.  As I would come onto the straight I could not find any of my team giving me signals.  I felt like I had pushed the pace pretty well and started lapping well up into the HW field.  As the white flag came out I had found a void in traffic so I relaxed a little and just wanted to bring it home safely.  Unfortunately, I had relaxed too much.  Gene went deep on the brakes into the “Bus Stop” and was attempting to go around the outside of me.  As we exited I had one chance to turn down on him and pinch him off at the little kink but thought better of it.  That is just not the kind of racer I am.  Gene got a good run up the hill and I tried to draft back by to the line but ran out of room.  The margin of victory, or in my case, loss was .032 seconds.  I was angry at myself for not pushing harder on that last lap.  Lessons were learned though and the positives were: leading 5 of 8 laps and finishing 4th overall in a HW/MW field.  Best lap was a 1.25.5, I can’t be disappointed with that but I ran a faster lap than that on Friday in practice.

B Superbike would be my last race for the weekend.  My confidence was still high going into this race, the competition would be tough but I felt like a “Top 10” was in my reach.  Again I got off the line well and pushed hard on the first lap to clear as many bikes as possible.  I knew that the front group would get away but if I could just keep a carrot out in my sight that could help pull me along I thought it would help and boy it did. I got in a group with #17, Jacob Teutsch and #18 Nik Van Goor and we pushed each other.  I swapped spots with Nik on a couple of laps but he bested me in the end.  It was fun to race with others who had a little more experience and gain experience on the R6.  I ended up finishing 9th in that race. More importantly I had upped the ante and met my “new” goal for the weekend with a best lap of 1:24.6.

Weekend Accomplishments: I led the MW Senior Superbike Race. I reached my first goal by getting into the 1:25’s. I reached the second goal by dropping an additional second into the 1:24’s.  I learned a lot about the geometry on the R6 and how it affects handling.  I had a safe competitive weekend with friends.

Perspective and Thanks: Although I still have a long ways to go to be competitive near the front of a 600 field I feel that this weekend was a big step.  I got the monkey off my back by getting beyond my SV times and running in a more competitive class.  I know it is not going to happen overnight but I am not getting any younger and have a few personal goals that I set when I started my racing career that I hope to meet this year.  These require persistence and a steep learning curve on the R6.

The people on the Withchkraft Racing Team do a great job of driving me and motivating me in a constructive way.  Whether it is Doug, lead technician dialing a few suspension knobs or Eddie talking about lines, they all help to make each trip to the track a new learning experience.  I only hope that the assistance I provide them give them the same benefits.  With new teammate Jeff Wrobel there to lighten the mood as Joe Kraft dials in some more speed it is like a family.  Thanks for all the help guys.  Also thanks to Jonas McCluskey for all the inspiration he provides and of course my fiancé Kim who gives me the latitude to pursue my passion.

Lucky parking spot.  Hopefully it's a sign.  As we head to Grattan tonight for Round Two on the WERA schedule, dad and I are all packed and ready to go – except that he's having knee surgery today on both knees.  It's arthroscopic and he's hopeful that he can race on Sunday … the eternal optimist.  I'm just hoping he's good enough to walk around the pits, turn knobs and tell me to go faster.  We'll see how that pans out.

We have a slew of spring changes to try on Friday.  Three rear springs and 1-2 different front spring configurations to try.  After nearly riding out of control to do 1:20's, there's something in the setup we've been missing.  After some discussions between Joe, myself and Mike Fitzgerald – and with Mike's help, we have a good direction to go in to do the lap times easier.  Needless to say, I'm excited at trying these things out.

Tom, Aaron, Jeff, Matt, Doug, Marion and Eric (Johnston) will all be making the trip out this weekend with Gina, my mom and family making the drive up on Sunday.  With warm and sunny weather predicted, it should hopefully be a good weekend all around.  The work starts tomorrow morning and hopefully we'll have a little fun while we're doing it.

Cheers,

Eddie

Nelson Ledges is coming up this weekend.  It's our first official race of the season.  Sammy and the other Northeast guys have already gotten a couple race weekends under their belt, so we'll be trying to play catch up a bit.  Either way, it's a race weekend and I can't wait to get out there and compete.  The season is finally here and hopefully we're ready and prepared for it.

Cheers,

eddie

Friday night we went out to Justin's place to weigh the bike.  Justin races cars dirt-track style and recently purchased some high-end scales for setting up his car.  We hooked two of the scales up and put the bike up on them to see where we were at.

It was a good learning experience.  We measured the overall weight, weight bias front-to-rear and then did the same measurements with me on the bike.  After that, we made preload changes to see how that affected weight, along with dropping the forks a significant amount to see how that affected the front-to-rear bias.  We also measured the differences in weight when I was in a full tuck on the bike, compared to when I popped up, setting up to enter a corner.  Some of the info was surprising and it was all good information worth learning.  I will divulge that the overall weight of the bike was 350 pounds.  :)

Other than that, we're off to Nelson Ledges this weekend for the MotoSeries kick off, which is our first unofficial race weekend of the season.  We're going in preparation for our first WERA event a couple weeks after which is our first event on the WERA schedule.  I need to get in some laps, as Sammy and the other Northeast guys already have two full race rounds under their belts - already racing at VIR and Summit Point this past weekend.  The schedule definitely puts us a bit behind the eight-ball, but that's how it goes.  If the weather at Nelson looks sketchy, we will likely head to Grattan instead to turn some laps.  Wherever we can go to find track time …

Cheers,

eddie

Grattan went well.  As well as it could go for the first time out of the year.  I really missed not doing Jennings or something during the winter to stay a bit fresher.  Truth be told, I still felt pretty decent.  The times weren't there, but they did drop pretty quickly in the afternoon after some significant realizations.  Team Chicago put on the day's events, so there weren't many racers there overall.

Starting off the day, Gina and I arrived around 8am.  Doug, Marion and Aaron were there and we setup shop in the lower paddock.  Cool and very windy, we skipped the first session and went out just before lunch.  The new bike was good.  It felt different early on, but I thought that was just rust on my part.  Turns out in the midst of all the last minute preparations of getting the bike ready, we didn't check the suspension settings on both the shock and the forks (we did check sag, go figure).  So my first few sessions on the bike didn't feel good at all, and the times were showing it.  Turns out after I checked the shock, it was about 5-6 clicks softer than we had run last year.  Ugh. 

I set the shock to where it was supposed to be, went out, and droppped 2.5 seconds right away.  Phew.  The rear end worked again.  After that session, I put the front to where it was last year.  Next session, another second dropped.  Now we're going in the right direction.

Overall the bike felt nearly the same as the '08 did.  Problems:  The quickshifter wasn't working.  It would try to work – lurching, but not shifting unless I rolled out of the throttle.  Aaron, Doug and I talked about how you don't realize how much you like a quickshifter until you don't have one.  That's one thing to fix.  Levers, shifter positioning and the standard seat "bump pad" I normally use are about all we have left to finalize on the bike.  Other than that, it's a matter of finding an overall better setup for Grattan, as I still struggled there last year once I got into the faster times.  I need to do the times without having to work/fight the bike so much.

Good things were the new helmet, gloves and boots.  The new Arai felt great.  The new Handroids are awesome gloves.  And of course the Alpinestar boots speak for themselves.  The fresh new motor on the bike felt like a rocket.  I'm not sure if that was just having ridden the fifty too long over the winter, but it felt extremely quick.  Jamie did a great job building the motor and Steve at Honda East did a stellar job of mapping the bike on Saturday, just before we hit the track yesterday.

Now that I've got the first (ugly) ride of the season out of the way, I'm ready to get right back on the track.  Time can't move quick enough …

Cheers,

- eddie