[Neutered Sputniks]

errm, unless it's cold... which i found out the hard way lol
but! it's gonna be warm, and that's gonna be a huge confidence builder!
Round 1 was in between bouts of snow, and it was cold, and i know i was overly paranoid from my get-off two weeks prior due to cold rubber and a freezing track, and a too-aggressive lean for the conditions.

Stop being a *****.

GL KK

[kat_kitten]

today was pure awesomeness!

Firstly, I FINALLY consistently hit redline in 6th down the front straight (when I was lucky to redline in 5th before), I wore the remaining 1/4" of chicken-strip off my rear, I got my knee down for the first time on the big track through two corners, and I didn't get off the track or crash.

Unfortunately the timing system was down for practice today, hopefully it'll be back up tomorrow, or races will just be manually kept track of.... which sucks balls for all involved.

Still got a gnarly head-cold, and running off of very little sleep. Probably gonna hit the sack pretty quick here so I can start tomorrow's racing off well.

thanks for the support everyone, it really does make a difference =)

[Psycho1]

Good luck tomorow and kick some azz girl!!!!!!!!!!

[kat_kitten]

Welp, today was race day. And what a race day it was!

The start of my first race presented my very first wheelie, which was really not half as bad as I thought it was going to be. I had an awesome start, and wound up in the middle of the pack going into corner one... then, I dunno, something happened. I fell behind. The front pack just took off, and I spent the rest of the race playing catch-up. Nothing exciting happened in the first race, 'cept a guy passed me on the inside going into corner 1, and drifted wide and went off the track in front of me.
My second lap was one where EVERY corner felt wrong, and death defying. To be completely honest, I'm surprised that I didn't eat it in multiple corners. But, I didn't crash, and I didn't go off track. I was just, well, out there doing laps. Which was a really lame feeling.

My second race of the day, I wheelied again, hard, and then the bike came back down harder, and it kinda blew my start a bit. However, I caught back up at the end of the straight, going into corner 1, and I was determined not to get left behind.
I stayed with the front pack for multiple laps. If they got away from me, I'd always catch them in the carousel (a gnarly hairpin corner filled with bumps and concrete walls).
I was flying down the front straight, and the pack slowed down before I was even getting ready to, so I had to go hard on the brakes, and my tires started chirping, and I had to hold onto the tank for dear life. I made it through the corner safely, and carried on about my business.
I made my first pass of the day going up and over a hill (it's blind there, and it's always a mind-phuck), and then my second one, I dove in hard into the carousel and nosed a rider out. THAT pass was epic awesomeness.

Anyhoo, I cut my best lap time of 1:42 by 6 seconds (or so the unofficial timer said). I *think* I pulled 7 & 8 places for the weekend (will have to confirm). Much better sounding than 14 & 11th =)

oh! and, I hit a gopher, and the dude behind me said that it looked like it just exploded. Man, I wish he had an on-board camera!

[Psycho1]

Way to go KK!!!!!!!!! Will be awesome if you did lock down 7th and 8th place. Sounds like in race 2 everything just finally clicked for you, so you were on a mission. Hopefully someone got the pass in the carousel in a pic, that would be epic cool. Sounds liek the other racers better take notice, or they might be in trouble in race 3 and further into the season.

[superbike]

Congratulations on a pair of really fine finishes. It's good to hear that you are so much more comfortable on the bike, around other riders and the areas of the track that you were once apprehensive about. Sounds like you have become acclimated to the routine of the race weekend system as well. I really enjoyed the brochure you posted last week with all of the weekend's events. Nice. All of KR should be proud, I sure am!

[Woodmysta]

Great job!!

[HS2020]

Great Job KK. See we all told you that you would find your grove and do better. It is racing after all. It has is highs and its lows. Keep up the great work.

[Rican Katgrl]

Great Job!!!!

[BadLuck]

Good job KK. It sounds like your are consistently improving. Dont get down on yourself for a bad day, thats racing and happens to everyone.

Good luck at your next race.

[kat_kitten]

you can check out the rest of the event photos at www.stevenszabophoto.com

[600Kat4EB]

pics r great kk!

[jimmylewrench]

I was great watching you yesterday. Happy, happy, joy, joy.... but, I sh*t you not when I saw that pass(attempt) you made on the hill I nearly crapped myself!!!! Thought you were going in there pretty hot. I couldn't see if you made it or not from where we were sitting in the stands until you came around the last corner beside the wall and you in front. Keep up the great work, we are all behind you!! Nationals here we come!!!

[curseboy]

I like the paint scheme....very "flying tomato". Pics look good,

[kat_kitten]

Seems i forget my body positioning in a race. Looks like I'm about to lose a toe or two. I'm also not off the bike nearly as much as I usually am. Much to work on.

I was great watching you yesterday. Happy, happy, joy, joy.... but, I sh*t you not when I saw that pass(attempt) you made on the hill I nearly crapped myself!!!! Thought you were going in there pretty hot. I couldn't see if you made it or not from where we were sitting in the stands until you came around the last corner beside the wall and you in front. Keep up the great work, we are all behind you!! Nationals here we come!!!

I felt like I was going in there pretty hot too, 'specially since I didn't know how she cut that corner, and that wall is pretty dang close to the race line.
And don't get ahead of yourself - I have no intention of running the nationals next weekend. I think I'll save that for next year