Something a little different

[Metastable]

So I will be visiting NZ later this year and I'm tooling around on KB. Do you guys mostly do trackdays in the summer months, or do you guys go out year round?

Here is a little write up of a recent trackday, I hope you guys enjoy it.

Up here in the land of the cold, it is definitively a seasonal thing, unless you want to head down to the southern US. Which is exactly what a group of 17 of us riders did. We headed down to Florida for some February riding. My bike was heading down in a friend's trailer, so thankfully we weren't towing anything.

So we headed off in a panic trying to outrun a MASSIVE storm that was coming through the middle of the US. We didn't do too bad, but still got a good chunk of crap weather, good thing for snow tires. However, if we had waited any longer it would have been MUCH worse. However, because we were leaving early, we took our dog along, which was unplanned. So that's 1 infant, 1 +45kg dog, wife and I in a hatch full of baby stuff.... for a 24hr Cannonball trip to Florida.

The first day at the track was kinda cold.... first session was probably around 5-6C and the day never warmed up past 10C. The track was Jennings GP and the temperature is usually more like 19C.... oh well. Thankfully the grip levels were very good. The following day, Sunday was a much better 14C. It was beautiful actually and we were even getting a little warm. It was really cool because we had a few AMA and Canadian Superbike pros in the advanced group. I was in intermediate.

Riding during winter months (for us) = priceless! Here are some pics.

In Kentucky near 1/2 way down...
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m10/GTIMK4/IMGP1229.jpg?t=1268540416

We got there a few days early because of the storm, so we went to Jacksonville beach and a balmy 8C. The dog loved it!
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m10/GTIMK4/IMG_6280.jpg?t=1268540480

Little Canada, there were over 20 Canadian riders there from the Toronto and montreal areas .... 17 where from our group and we knew the others, but just didn't know they were going. :D Little Canada
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m10/GTIMK4/IMG_6389.jpg?t=1268540585

This Duc was actually on Fire a while before.... another one of our crew.
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m10/GTIMK4/IMG_6368.jpg?t=1268540709

Metastable having some fun
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m10/GTIMK4/SBP_7161.jpg?t=1268540764

and even more fun
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m10/GTIMK4/SBP_7137.jpg?t=1268540810

[FROSTY]

ya know it looks like a trackday here in NZ

[Mental Trousers]

There's track days all year around here, although there's fewer during the winter months. But some grooved intermediates or wets are a good idea during winter.

That track surface looks interesting. Is it concrete?

[R6_kid]

With temps like that you'll be sweet in NZ - that's about as cold as it gets in the North Island in winter.

[Metastable]

Good to know about the trackdays during the winter months. Ya wets would probably be a good idea up here too, we can have some really frustrating days where it rains, you get a dry line then it rains again... and it just repeats all day long.

The track surface is asphalt, but it is very coarse. It has lots of little stones in it, so the grip levels are just incredible. You know it's funny, you talk to the locals that are use to nice track surfaces in the southern US and they complain how this track is bumpy. We on the other hand were like "WOW! it is nice to ride on a smooth track for a change." :D There were a couple of little dips and one little bump, but man, we get all that x5 in one corner up here.