22nd July 2001 - Cadwell Park

A slightly earlier start this today which was a shame as I could have done with a lie in - I really must work on my fitness. All the usual crowd were out and about by the time I got there and Mandy was back ready to give it another go after her crash yesterday. To top it all the weather was a little warmer than yesterday and there was less wind - maybe Summer was here after all.

Race 1 - Rookie 600

Started from the front of row 7 again and ended up fighting with Andrew Miers yet again through the first couple of corners. Was sure I could pass him going up the hill to park corner except that he tried to overtake someone going up there also so I ended up riding on the white line on the outer edge of the track which is very scary at well over 120 mph. Did get by but then had some real braking problems at the corner where my brakes went from nothing at all to almost locked up - May be it wasn't the new pads yesterday but some other problems.

Needless to say Andrew came passed on the way through the corner and although I was quicker on some sections there was nothing I could do to get by him. I made a couple of very scary mistakes at the Gooseneck which saw me lose more time and let a couple of bikes come by. Managed to regain my composure and set about hauling them, and Andrew in. By the last lap I was right behind Andrew as the two guys had both managed to get passed him but another mistake, this time at the Hairpin, took all my remaining confidence and energy so seeing that I had a good gap to the guys behind I went fairly gently round the circuit to finish in one piece.

Managed a 1:44.23 lap which was very slightly better than yesterday but disappointed that I lost those three places. I also managed to lose any confidence I had with my brakes as I just didn't know whether they would work or how quickly they would stop me.

Race 2 - Rookie 600

Over lunch Colin, Andy & Glenn all berated me for not doing better and forced me to unbolt the brake callipers and check them out. Turns out my new pads were completely glazed over, hence the dramatic all of nothing effect, and half the pistons weren't working on the callipers themselves. On one side this wasn't so bad as they were an opposing pair but on the other side it was a pair on the same side, i.e. my discs were only being clamped from one side - No wonder the pads glazed over. After a frantic half an hour with my toothbrush and some brake cleaner doing a temporary fix to the callipers and some time spent filing the glazed area off the pads I went out for the second race.

For the first time ever I made a really great start. Over the last couple of races I had been raising the number of revs. I used at the start and finally I got that, and the release of the clutch spot on. The red lights went off and I was moving before the green ones even came on - Top stuff! Tucked in behind a guy from the row in front who made an equally good start but chickened out of taking another five places up the inside in the first corner but managed to make up a good five over where I started.

Took it fairly easy on the first couple of laps as I had to reevaluate my braking markers to cope with my new found ability to stop on demand. Picked up the pace and pulled up to the back of a train of five or so bikes but made a couple of minor mistakes and they gradually pulled away. Another mistake in to the Gooseneck, anyone spot a pattern forming here ;-) and another train of five bikes had caught up behind me. Once guy tried a pass on the outside coming out of Mansfield but I wasn't having any of it and he soon pulled back in behind me.

It continued like this for the next couple of laps until I went to change down a gear and found something in the way of my foot. Managed to change gear and thought nothing of it for a couple of corners. Soon found I had problems getting my foot on the gear change and even then sometimes it wouldn't go in to gear. On the next lap I looked down and realised that the remote reservoir for my rear suspension had come loose and was hanging down by the side of the bike. To make matters worse it appeared to be dragging on the ground around the left hand corners - not what you need when you are trying to race.

The remainder of the race was really frustrating as my gear change problems and my concern of whether the problem would get worse meant that gradually one after another of the bikes behind came by. By the end we were still in a five bike train but I was at the back rather than the front. A huge disappointment and I threw my stuff down once I got off the bike and went off for a bit of a walk to calm down.

What should have been a 15th place ended up being a 20th because I hadn't done some simple maintenance. A hard lesson but one that I won't be forgetting in a while. Still managed a 1:44.29 which was pretty good and ended up in the same position where I started which wasn't too bad.

An interesting induction to riding at Cadwell Park. I can see where I can make up a huge amount of time if only I can get the confidence to take advantage of it. Before the next race by brake callipers are going to get overhauled again so I can stop where and when I want and, even more importantly, I can get some feel from the brakes as to what they are doing Two 19ths and two 20ths from the weekend which I am fairly happy with. A few frustrations from some silly mistakes and some bike problems but am quite pleased that I am now finishing in the top 20, just about, even when I feel like I'm doing badly.

Roll on Brands Hatch and brakes that work - Just a shame that despite running a page listing all the track days I am so disorganised that I don't book any up until it's too late. As a result I'll be racing at Brands without any practice and you'll note my last visit to the Indy circuit was something of a nightmare back in March when I managed a best of 1:07.xx - I fully intend to better that and am aiming for an improvement of around ten seconds all being well.