Goblin
28th June 2006, 21:34
Since I had months to stew about it I was rather nervous to say the least. Had made plans to ride down with mates & have them come watch & help out. A few days before, the plans turned to custard due to snow so it was good timing that HDTboy wanted to take the bikes rather than ride(thanks to his bad experience the prevoius weekend). Thursday night I kissed my kids goodbye & said see ya Monday. Woohoo!! 4 days freedom! Got a text from HDTboy asking if I wouldn't mind helping him deliver a car to Hamilton on Friday before we left. I was ready first thing in the morning and wanting to get on the road ASAP. The weather had picked up somewhat so decided to ride to Hams to drop the car off. Had a good ride over but my bike was struggling 2up on the way home. Got the van, loaded up & we were off.
Since I had no kids to worry about and wasn't driving, I thought why not crack a bourbon. So many firsts were ahead of me & I was buzzing like a kid at xmas. The Doomaluckas had disappeared & the Ohakune road was open so we made good time on the road. Arrived at Sugilite's around elevensies & chilled out with a well needed cuppa & bed for the night.:2thumbsup Huge THANKS for the hospitality.:rockon:
Off to the track & the scenery just blew me away. The wind farm was friggin huge!!! (another first for me) Lucky I wasn't driving & got to take it all in. The Manawatu gorge was pretty cool too....next time will be on two wheels. Got to the track & unloaded the bikes, signed the dotted line & listened intently to Mr Harris & Mr McEwan on the walk. Split into appropriate groups and ended up being the first bike onto the track. Took it real easy at first as I DID NOT WANT TO BIN! Found the exit to turn 5 extremely slippery so tried to change my line. Fell in love with turn 2 after a couple of laps. After reading a few negative comments on the surface & seeing it at walking pace, I can only say that it's no worse than most of the roads I ride anyway. I thought the sessions could have been 5 mins longer as I was just warming up when it was all over.(maybe that's just a female thing) Was told it was lunchtime so HDTboy & I toodled off to the supermarket & I missed one session. Light rain came & I was too chicken to get wet. Once it stopped I ventured out in the "all in" session. Felt really cool to be on the same track with all the "Fast" people, not to mention Mr Stroud himself fly past me. As the track dried out my confidence grew but I still had the "DONT FFS BIN!" firmly in my mind. Was the coolest first trackday I could have hoped for and know I can push it a fair bit harder on a dry track. Roll on Taupo!!! I was the last one off the track too...hehe.
Packed up & headed for the Motel. Watched the young ones doing young ones things......:laugh: and had a bit of a munch. Cool to yak with Girlygirl, awesome chick,:niceone: your a lucky man stiffy! All the people I met were awesome! Was too knackered to stay up late so buggered off to sleep...funny when everyone crept in all quiet....then Gareth_d starts snoring like a freight train.
Sunday morning & I was feeling fine! Although I am a good driver, my sense of direction is hopeless. Thanks to HDTboy's directions we had a good drive home. Hitting black ice was another first for me. We'd just past a 4wd on its roof so had slowed down considerably. Freaky feeling having NO control whatsoever!:gob: Came across another upsidedown 4wd & counted my blessings. Got back to Vegas & unloaded, said thanks:spudwave: to HTDboy. Veged out on KB for a wee while then got the text to pick up kids :doh: Had tea with them & got the text from gareth/texmo & co....could only offer them a couch & floor, sorry guys, I couldnt even feed them as I hadn't even shopped for us. Was a pleasure to help out & glad you all got home safe!
All up, the weekend went off! This has been the start of a long time ambition to race. I have even secured a bike(1990 ZXR400) and my first sponsor. Look foward to seeing you all again at Taupo.:rockon:
Since I had no kids to worry about and wasn't driving, I thought why not crack a bourbon. So many firsts were ahead of me & I was buzzing like a kid at xmas. The Doomaluckas had disappeared & the Ohakune road was open so we made good time on the road. Arrived at Sugilite's around elevensies & chilled out with a well needed cuppa & bed for the night.:2thumbsup Huge THANKS for the hospitality.:rockon:
Off to the track & the scenery just blew me away. The wind farm was friggin huge!!! (another first for me) Lucky I wasn't driving & got to take it all in. The Manawatu gorge was pretty cool too....next time will be on two wheels. Got to the track & unloaded the bikes, signed the dotted line & listened intently to Mr Harris & Mr McEwan on the walk. Split into appropriate groups and ended up being the first bike onto the track. Took it real easy at first as I DID NOT WANT TO BIN! Found the exit to turn 5 extremely slippery so tried to change my line. Fell in love with turn 2 after a couple of laps. After reading a few negative comments on the surface & seeing it at walking pace, I can only say that it's no worse than most of the roads I ride anyway. I thought the sessions could have been 5 mins longer as I was just warming up when it was all over.(maybe that's just a female thing) Was told it was lunchtime so HDTboy & I toodled off to the supermarket & I missed one session. Light rain came & I was too chicken to get wet. Once it stopped I ventured out in the "all in" session. Felt really cool to be on the same track with all the "Fast" people, not to mention Mr Stroud himself fly past me. As the track dried out my confidence grew but I still had the "DONT FFS BIN!" firmly in my mind. Was the coolest first trackday I could have hoped for and know I can push it a fair bit harder on a dry track. Roll on Taupo!!! I was the last one off the track too...hehe.
Packed up & headed for the Motel. Watched the young ones doing young ones things......:laugh: and had a bit of a munch. Cool to yak with Girlygirl, awesome chick,:niceone: your a lucky man stiffy! All the people I met were awesome! Was too knackered to stay up late so buggered off to sleep...funny when everyone crept in all quiet....then Gareth_d starts snoring like a freight train.
Sunday morning & I was feeling fine! Although I am a good driver, my sense of direction is hopeless. Thanks to HDTboy's directions we had a good drive home. Hitting black ice was another first for me. We'd just past a 4wd on its roof so had slowed down considerably. Freaky feeling having NO control whatsoever!:gob: Came across another upsidedown 4wd & counted my blessings. Got back to Vegas & unloaded, said thanks:spudwave: to HTDboy. Veged out on KB for a wee while then got the text to pick up kids :doh: Had tea with them & got the text from gareth/texmo & co....could only offer them a couch & floor, sorry guys, I couldnt even feed them as I hadn't even shopped for us. Was a pleasure to help out & glad you all got home safe!
All up, the weekend went off! This has been the start of a long time ambition to race. I have even secured a bike(1990 ZXR400) and my first sponsor. Look foward to seeing you all again at Taupo.:rockon: