justalonewolf007
Member
- Apr 30, 2007
- 657
- 0
So...in the past three months I broke my collarbone...again, sold my big black 125, and picked up a 2005 supermini.
I was being very well behaved and not breaking doctors orders in the least...took the supermini out for one little run at the farm where I was left with a pretty huge smile.
Shortly before my fun was over, I let the dad take it for a quick ride...and heard an almost girlish squeal of surprise as the little machine did it's thing...he's a fairly good rider...so that made me smile too.
Then, I was bitten by the withdrawl bug.
I had been a whole month without riding, and somehow the paychecks worked out so that I found myself in a position to barely afford a 6 hour trip to New Richmond WI. The new little bike seemed very happy to hear my idea of visiting it's home track, so I packed up my car on friday night.
I got up at 6:04 am to finish loading and packing, and picked up my co-pilot at about 7:45. She was a friend from school, and married, and I figured that she would be a safe pick even if she did suck at navigating. I know which way is north, and she only needed to read me directions that I had printed out already.
After a quick fill on gas, which is not as expensive at the moment, we were on our way.
The drive was a very nice one actually, and the sun was shining very nicely in the face of winter weather advisories. The wind was in my favor, and even with the trailer I was getting about 27 miles per gallon. I had a pretty good feeling about this adventure so far!
I've never travelled in a big city before, and making my way through and across Minneapolis/St. Paul was my biggest worry. I found that going slightly faster through the traffic made me feel more confidant, and my stereotypically female ego enjoyed all the stares drawn by my new little bike.
It's a guy magnet!! :)
Having left at 8:01 am, we made good time, and reached the Sandbox at about 1:37 pm. I picked a parking spot nearest to the building as I could find, and ventured timidly inside.
As I walked through the doors, I was greeted by the old familiar "Braaaap!" of minis on the track, and the wonderful smell of 2-cycle exhaust and race gas wafted over me.
I had made it, and the usual pre-race excitement began to show on my face. The sight of the track, as intimidating as the large jumps appeared to be, brought the same expression to my face as that of a small child in a candy store.
"OhMyGOSH!!!! IT'S HUGE!!!"
Registration brought forth a few concerns. I began hearing horror stories of the disorganization of the last race, and heard that the pits were already packed.
"Last time, we didn't start until well past 6, and they had to shut us down for an hour because the carbon monoxide levels got too high. We didn't get out of here until midnight!!!"
This news was very worrysome. I certainly couldn't afford a hotel, and the thought of sleeping in my car in the cold, with the freshly admitted lesbian...who was also freshly admitted to being "crazy over" me even though she's married.
(What is it with me and all these crazy lesbians?!? Seriously. Stay out of my car, and off my bike, and out of my personal space too! I do NOT want to cuddle with you. Ever.)
Now that my rant is over, I'll go back to my story...
Registration was fairly painless, and now being granted access to the pits, I went to check things out. The website said they had room for about 300 bikes, so I had expected there to be plenty of room. What I found was bikes packed handlebar to handlebar, with no room for chairs.
Having seen the pit conditions, I scrambled to unload my little bike and squeeze it in a spot as soon as possible. My co-pilot helped by carrying the stand, and opened the doors so I could get into the pits.
Having found a tiny space in a corner, I backed the bike into place, and promptly realized that I had no idea how on earth to lift it on a normal stand, as I don't have a triangle stand for it yet.
I stood there staring stupidly for a moment, trying to figure out where to try grab on the frame. Then a random big guy came and did it for me. Thankyou!!!
It got pretty smoggy and tight and cold up until the driver's meeting. Practice had gone without much trouble, and I realized what a month without riding, and a year without riding hard, does to one's skill and speed.
Er...not that I was trying to go very fast anyway...
(TBC)
I was being very well behaved and not breaking doctors orders in the least...took the supermini out for one little run at the farm where I was left with a pretty huge smile.
Shortly before my fun was over, I let the dad take it for a quick ride...and heard an almost girlish squeal of surprise as the little machine did it's thing...he's a fairly good rider...so that made me smile too.
Then, I was bitten by the withdrawl bug.
I had been a whole month without riding, and somehow the paychecks worked out so that I found myself in a position to barely afford a 6 hour trip to New Richmond WI. The new little bike seemed very happy to hear my idea of visiting it's home track, so I packed up my car on friday night.
I got up at 6:04 am to finish loading and packing, and picked up my co-pilot at about 7:45. She was a friend from school, and married, and I figured that she would be a safe pick even if she did suck at navigating. I know which way is north, and she only needed to read me directions that I had printed out already.
After a quick fill on gas, which is not as expensive at the moment, we were on our way.
The drive was a very nice one actually, and the sun was shining very nicely in the face of winter weather advisories. The wind was in my favor, and even with the trailer I was getting about 27 miles per gallon. I had a pretty good feeling about this adventure so far!
I've never travelled in a big city before, and making my way through and across Minneapolis/St. Paul was my biggest worry. I found that going slightly faster through the traffic made me feel more confidant, and my stereotypically female ego enjoyed all the stares drawn by my new little bike.
It's a guy magnet!! :)
Having left at 8:01 am, we made good time, and reached the Sandbox at about 1:37 pm. I picked a parking spot nearest to the building as I could find, and ventured timidly inside.
As I walked through the doors, I was greeted by the old familiar "Braaaap!" of minis on the track, and the wonderful smell of 2-cycle exhaust and race gas wafted over me.
I had made it, and the usual pre-race excitement began to show on my face. The sight of the track, as intimidating as the large jumps appeared to be, brought the same expression to my face as that of a small child in a candy store.
"OhMyGOSH!!!! IT'S HUGE!!!"
Registration brought forth a few concerns. I began hearing horror stories of the disorganization of the last race, and heard that the pits were already packed.
"Last time, we didn't start until well past 6, and they had to shut us down for an hour because the carbon monoxide levels got too high. We didn't get out of here until midnight!!!"
This news was very worrysome. I certainly couldn't afford a hotel, and the thought of sleeping in my car in the cold, with the freshly admitted lesbian...who was also freshly admitted to being "crazy over" me even though she's married.
(What is it with me and all these crazy lesbians?!? Seriously. Stay out of my car, and off my bike, and out of my personal space too! I do NOT want to cuddle with you. Ever.)
Now that my rant is over, I'll go back to my story...
Registration was fairly painless, and now being granted access to the pits, I went to check things out. The website said they had room for about 300 bikes, so I had expected there to be plenty of room. What I found was bikes packed handlebar to handlebar, with no room for chairs.
Having seen the pit conditions, I scrambled to unload my little bike and squeeze it in a spot as soon as possible. My co-pilot helped by carrying the stand, and opened the doors so I could get into the pits.
Having found a tiny space in a corner, I backed the bike into place, and promptly realized that I had no idea how on earth to lift it on a normal stand, as I don't have a triangle stand for it yet.
I stood there staring stupidly for a moment, trying to figure out where to try grab on the frame. Then a random big guy came and did it for me. Thankyou!!!
It got pretty smoggy and tight and cold up until the driver's meeting. Practice had gone without much trouble, and I realized what a month without riding, and a year without riding hard, does to one's skill and speed.
Er...not that I was trying to go very fast anyway...
(TBC)
