Tales of a Masochistic Troubadour

Snow Report 2005/6 - The End of a New Beginning

I took a day off work on Friday to head up to Blue Mountain for my 19th riding day of the season.  I've been hoping to make 20 days this season, but with the warm weather we've been having since March break, the hills have deteriorated rather rapidly.  So unless we get a sudden cold spell with a lot of snow, I think that's it for my 2005/6 riding season.

Last season, I started to run out of things to do on my board.  I've hit a certain point with my riding skills that improvements were coming very very slowly.  But this season, I've done so many new and different things on my boards that it's like starting all over again.  It's been quite a fun season; no regrets about ending it one day short of my targeted 20 days.

   

Freeriding across North America and getting my CASI Level 1

My Salomon 450-152 is my first snowboard and I've been riding it for somewhere between 4 to 5 years (I can't remember how long I've been riding).  It's starting to show its age with parts of the leading and trailing edges of the top sheet starting to de-laminate.  But man is this board fast.  Rarely is there a boarder or skier that can keep up to me on flat areas with this board.

Coupled with Burton P1-MD bindings and my Burton Ion boots, this board is very responsive and perfect for freeriding.  It's a bit short for me now (I could use another inch or so of length) but I have no intention of getting another freeride board until this one falls apart.

This year, the Salomon has spent a lot of time with me on buses and on planes.  It travelled with me to Tremblant in Quebec where PDiddy and I got stuck on a bus for 16 hours sitting out a a ridiculous snowstorm and a broken down bus, arriving just as the Tremblant staff decided to go on strike.  It travelled with me to Jay Peak in Vermont where I turned a novice rider into a black diamond rider in one weekend.  And then it travelled with me to Whistler-Blackcomb in British Columbia where I discovered what it feels like to be riding on a real mountain.  While at Whistler-Blackcomb, I also had three new riding experiences: sitting in a big huge snow covered, I understood what a caged animal must feel like when let out into the wild; jumping off Whistler Bowl I learnt what a real black diamond run is and why snowboards really weren't designed for that sort of craziness; and sitting in a cloud on Blackcomb I experienced true vertigo where you didn't know which way was up or down.  I also learnt at Whistler-Blackcomb that regardless of where I'm travelling to, I should ALWAYS sharpen my edges before travelling.

The Salomon also saw me through my CASI Level 1 program, making me a fully qualified snowboard instructor.  Now, if I really wanted to I could quit my day job and teach snowboarding full time.  Except there's no snow right now.  And let me tell you, there's a big difference between being taught by a qualified instructor vs. being taught by a friend.  Newbies, save yourself the hassle and go take a lesson; it'll save you a lot of frustration.

   

Taking the plunge and becoming an alpine rider

Uncle Howie has been working on getting me to become an alpine rider for a while.  Last year he lent me his board and I got to try it a few times.  This year, I decided to take the plunge and get my own set of alpine gear.

The good folks at yyzcanuck.com set me up with a set of beginner freecarving equipment: a Donek Pilot 157 race board equipped with F2 Race Titanium bindings and Raichle SB 413 boots (Raichle is now Deeluxe).  Riding an alpine board is COMPLETELY different from riding a freeride/freestyle snowboard.  The stance, control, timing... everything is different.  I felt like a total beginner on this alpine board, spending most of my season on the green hills trying not to fall.  But even when I did fall, I was still cooler than everyone since I'm now an alpine rider!

It's going to take me a few more seasons to get decent with an alpine board, after which I'll probably need to upgrade to a longer board (perhaps a Coiler).  But I got a taste of what real carving can be like on Jays Peak.  Practicing on a green run after popping a bottle of Mountain Dew (I LOVE THAT STUFF), I experienced the hairiest edge transition I've ever done on a snowboard.  While holding a toe-side carve, I did a quick flex/extend to unload the board for the edge transition (as per Uncle Howie's lessons).  Instead of just gradually transitioning from one edge to another, the board actually jumped off the ground and landed on the other edge.  Without any sliding, the board cut right into the snow and whipped me into my next turn.  Freaky fun!

   

Investing in a freestyle board and taking my first jump

There's not much left for me to do in Ontario on a freeride board, so I knew that if I was going to spend time teaching I needed to find someway to entertain myself that didn't require me to drag around my Donek and my Salomon every time I headed up to teach.  I tried teaching on the Donek, and that didn't work too well.  So I started to think about getting a softer freestyle board that would allow me to muck about in the park when I got bored of teaching.  I've been avoiding parks for my entire riding career 'cause, quite frankly, I'm getting old and a bit risk adverse.

NP got a new Burton Custom for his birthday this year from his wife, so he was now stuck with an extra board that he didn't know what to do with.  His K2 Juju 156 was exactly what I was looking for so he let me have it.  I still owe him some money for the board but I think I'll just pay for it using my board tuning services.  Combining it with my old Burton Mission bindings (repaired with a new latch), this was exactly what I was looking for.

Switching between the K2 and the Salomon, I finally realised what a big difference a soft setup vs. a hard setup makes.  While the Salomon with the P1-MDs responds immediately on command (and also makes you fall immediately if you screw up), the K2 with the Missions is much slower and more forgiving.  It's so soft that while riding down Avalanche at Beaver Valley (which is reputed to be the steepest slope in Ontario.... Pshaw!), I could feel the board flex and collapse under my weight.  I needed to consciously straighten the board to pull it out of a turn, lest the board keep slipping under my load.  This setup is definitely not built for speed.  Definitely not for carving either: the Missions won't hold me up for a nice pencil line toe-side carve.

But this board is great for doing stupid things like riding moguls and jumping.  After spending a really frustrating evening at Horseshoe Valley trying to teach AG and R how to ride (teaching in powder sucks), I played around in the moguls and was amazed how much easier it was to ride this board on moguls compared to the Salomon.  And at Beaver Valley, I did my first jump and discovered that I really like jumping (sounds like: crunch crunch crunch swoosh thunk crunch crunch).  The K2 is so forgiving!

   

So what's going to happen next year

Who knows?  Maybe I'll spend more time teaching.  Maybe I'll perfect my carving.  Maybe I'll learn how to ride a half pipe.  But with so many options, figuring how to fit it all in is going to be a big challenge.  After all, I only have two feet that I can use to strap on to a board!

Teaching on fresh powder sucks

Now that I have my CASI level 1, I've been conning - I mean encouraging - friends to be my guinea pigs - I mean students - and learn how to snowboard.  So far I've gotten LL to do linked beginner turns after one evening of riding, and JL from a 3-session-only beginner to a Vermont Black Diamond rider after one weekend.

However, my past weekend's experience with AG and R wasn't quite as successful.  For the whole bloody season, I've ridden on crap (packed powder at best).  And on one of the few times I'm actually trying to teach, I get a dumping of fresh powder.   There was a good 10cm or more of powder on the beginner hills at Horseshoe on Saturday evening.  None of the teaching techniques worked because the boards wouldn't move and or would sink very quickly.

I managed to get them to do a beginner turn by the end of the evening, but that was primarily because none of the other lessons worked.

Ack...  so much more teaching practices required....

On a positive note, NP's board rides great in the powdery stuff.  But I'm so used to my Burton P1MD bindings that my original Burton Missions are uncomfortably soft.  Also, I like the cowboy stance...  +15 lead food, -6 rear foot.  I may switch my freeride stance to this at some point in time.

Do you need snowboarding lessons

I just got my CASI Level 1 instructors today.  I can now start my career as a professional snowboarding bum.  Does anyone need snowboarding lessons?

Id gonna be a chilly ride

With all the travelling I have to do over the next few weeks, this weekend is probably the last opportunity for me to go riding on the Chameleon before it gets too cold.  So I got dressed up in my thermals and did a good long ride down to Sifu's house for Ving Tsun research class.

The one advantage about being a snowboarder: you've got a lot of technical gear.  So with an underlayer of capilene, track pants, a T-shirt, a fleece vest and glove liners beneath my riding gloves, I was more than warm enough for single digit temperature riding.

For some bizarre, I was rather amused by the phrase <Mexican Accent> "Id gonna be a chilly ride." </Mexican Accent>.  So I was repeating this to myself while I made the chilly ride.

Good bye Karting Season 2005

Karting season is finally over.  Even though I only raced for half the season due to an errant engine, it's still quite the commitment so I'm glad to get my weekends back.

The final karting event at the Simcoe Kart Club is the Rocket Robbie Charity Enduro.  Robbie was a member of the SKC until he graduated to bigger and faster machines.  Unfortunately a freak accident in a midget now has him permanently confined to a wheelchair.  So every year for the past 5 year, SKC ends off the season with the charity enduro.

This is my first year racing in an enduro, which is an hour long kart race.  I was scheduled to race in the Senior Lite class with AF as my co-driver, and in the 2-stroke class with EL as my co-driver.  EL's leash tightened up at the last second so he was unable to go.  I ended up racing with JP instead.

It would be fair to say that this season ended with a bang.  The Senior Lite field was huge and the racers were ridiculously aggressive.  Before I even got a chance to take over from AF, he got taken out permanently by another racer.  He actually got taken out three times: the first two times I was able to fix the kart on the track; the last time involved breaking a throttle control permanently, so we were SOL.  The 2-stroke class was much better.  I still wasn't able to get my engine running properly (it's now at Camden for the winter) so I ran with EL's instead.  It was an eclectic class consisting of one Yamaha, two 80cc Senior Shifters and our Rotax.  JP and I came in second in the race.  We weren't able to beat KF's 80 Shifter primarily because he was 60 lbs lighter than us!  But it's good to know our Rotax was probably the fastest thing on the track for it's weight class.

With the season over, now the debate begins again as to whether I will continue racing next year.

Dirt Biking 2005

I really gotta stop writing such long winded blog entries.  They take so long to write that I can never finish them in time...  Here's a short one.

 

Every year around September, a group of crazies at Bell get together and go dirt biking near Peterborough with the Trial Tours group.  We met Steve and his crew almost seven years ago and we instantly bonded when our fearless leader, NS, decided to wipe out within the first five minutes of the day and break his collarbone.

Counting this year's trip on September 2nd, I've been on a motorbike three times in my life.  And since I seem to have no talent for dirt biking, I've always stuck with the beginner group.  I blame my lack of skills on my love of biking; my problems are usually biking related:

• PROBLEM: Leaning too much on the handlebars.
  SYMPTOM: Loss of throttle control and too much tension.
  CAUSE: I rely on my handlebars a lot while biking, something I fixed this year with the introduction of the Chameleon
• PROBLEM: Standing on the pegs with my toes as opposed to the arch of my foot.
  SYMPTOM: Difficulty in shifting and braking.
  CAUSE: You push and balance with your toes on a bike.
• BIGGEST PROBLEM: Using the front brake wayyy too much.
  SYMPTOM: Locking up of the front, thereby causing the rider to perform an endo (end over the handlebars)
  CAUSE: Right hand brake on a bicycle is the rear brake, but the front brake on a motorbike.

My two most spectacular wipeouts of the day involved a huge tree trunk (bike couldn't make it over, but I did) and a fork in the road (couldn't decide which way to go, so I went straight towards the bushes and ended up doing an endo when I hit the front brake too hard).

Apart from NS' collarbone incidence the first year, we usually come of out dirt bike day dirty, tired and in need of a beer only.  In my case I always end up severely bruised.  This year was an exception.  DG was a first timer and by some fluke occurance of events, he managed to break Trail Tours' record for injury sustained in a single event.  DG lost control of the bike while going downhill on a singletrack (hit a rock) and somehow he landed very badly when he ditched the bike.  In a fantastic proof of the numbing qualities of adrenalin, DG managed to get up from the fall, kill the engine, take his helmet off and lie down.  At first we though it was just a broken collarbone (typical biking injury), but upon further examination at the hospital, it turned out DG not only broke his collar bone, but he fractured his shoulder blade, cracked four ribs and partially collapsed his lungs.  He's still in the hospital right now, apparently hallucinating from all the drugs they've been giving him for the pain.

Anyhow, I'm going to visit DG tomorrow and hopefully he'll be out of there soon.  His wife wants to murder all of us, so I have to sneak in before she shows up.

Will I go dirt biking again?  Hell ya.  Not only that, I'm stupid enough that I still want to get a motorbike (Ducatti Monster... mmmmm).

BTW, carrying a 200 lb guy in a strecther down a hill is not fun.

Event Report: Woodbine Grand Prix (05/08/19 - 05/08/21) - WOW! WHAT A RACE

That was, like, the most amazing kart race I have ever seen in my life!!!

And because it was so incredibly awesome, you will now have to be the unfortunate witness to my long-winded ramblings on exactly how cool the Woodbine Grand Prix was.

Now who's responsible for this incredible event?

At the end of the day, you can thank two people for making Woodbine Grand Prix happen.  The first is of course EC from Simcoe Kart Club and 3S Go Karts.  He was instrumental in inviting Stars to Toronto as a way of showcasing karting to the people of Toronto.  Then there was GK who - while he always downplays his role in this - facilitated the availability of the Woodbine Race Track for Stars.

Three other groups worked really hard to make race day happen.  There was Woodbine Entertaining, who set up all the facilities and put quite a bit of money towards advertising this event.  Then there was the Stars of Karting who are probably the most professional group of race organisers I have ever seen.  And then there was Simcoe Kart Club who added the local flavour to the event.

THANKS!

Tell me about this awesome track

This track is a karters' track true-and-true. Apparently designed by EC and a driver with feedback from Stars, this track was designed with one thing in mind: kart racing.

You'll have to excuse the crude modifications I made to the map. Unfortunately I don't have any skills with any of the image editing tools, so I just used Paid. I didn't realise until I looked at the map while posting this image that they had to make changes to the course compared to plan.

The whole tack was framed by straw bales. I got very familiar with the straw bales over the weekend.

Let me describe this track for you:

1. Turn 1 begins at the end of the long straight (where I have crudely drawn in a curve on the map). This was quite an exciting turn since it starts out fairly wide (about 4 - 5 kart widths) and then collapses into about 2 kart widths at the exit of the U. When running by yourself, there is enough room for you to let the kart drift out and carry the momentum through the turn. But as the first corner after the start, boy was it crazy. Imagine 36 karts trying to make it through the corner at pretty much the same time.
   
   On Saturday, not one of the classes made it through the first corner without a crash. But on Sunday, not one of the classes had an incident while making it through the same first corner. I was surprised the first time the JICAs made it through and thought it was luck. But after EVERY CLASS made it through, I knew why these were the best karters in North America.

2. Turn 2 was a very sharp hairpin, and this is where gutsy would try to make a move. A dive bomb with very late brakes and you'd get ahead of the person in front of you. However, this was not a guaranteed move since there was a good chance you'd hit another karter or a straw bale (which happened often enough) or lose too much momentum to hold on to the lead by the time Turn 3 came along.

3. Turn 3 was a ninety degree right hander which meant a really late apex if you wanted to make it through.  This is not a corner where you can make a pass unless your opponent has made a mistake in the previous corner and has lost too much momentum.

4. Starting from Turn 4 until about Turn 6, passing was a matter of engine power.  On practice day, a lot of karts slid too wide exiting Turn 4 (left handed sweeper U) and Turn 6 (right hand sweeper), ending up in the straw bales.  By midday Saturday, there was enough rubber on the racing line that the karts were able to exit hard without sliding into the straw.  There really was only one line through the corners - with lots of very slippery marbles off line - and with the corners as wide as they were and all the engines being equally powered, there really wasn't many successful passes in these corners.
   
   But boy, did the racers carry a lot of speed through this area.  And when they nicked a straw bale, the accidents were always spectacular.

5. Turn 7 was similar to turn 3, another narrow ninety degree right hander.  The karts had to brake quite hard to make it through this corner.  Becuase the karts are carrying so much speed, some racers did try a dive bomb maneuver.  Not very often though since if your opponent didn't let off, you would both end up hitting the straw bales.  And the karter doing the dive bombing would have been in the wrong and DQ'ed for aggressive driving.

... to be continued ...

Crazy racing weeks

It's 1921 on a Tuesday evening and I'm sitting in front of my computer at work waiting for Capoeira class to start.  I'm probably not going to join the class today; I think I caught a cold while racing on Sunday and it didn't help that I got the crap beaten out of me in Ving Tsun last night.  So here I am, trying to write an update to my blog while my body is exhausted and my mind is addled from the combined effects of illness, exhaustion and pain.

I've been really busy for the past few weeks racing, so it's been hard for me to find the time to write in my blog.  And these haven't been simple races either.  I've had to do quite a bit of prep work for these races...  I'm still convincing myself that it was worth it...

   

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July 29th - July 31st: Honda Crystal Cup

I started getting ready for this race on the weekend before, changing out the gears for a wide track and moving everything into RP's trailer.  RP and JP have been great help to the team and we're most appreciative of their support.

While Shannonville is an awesome track, the attendance was a bit of a hit-and-miss due to the SRFKC Grand Nationals (otherwise known as the "Bear Hunt") being hosted the same weekend.  We were expecting more racers but some last minute shenanigans by one of the organisers stole one of the clubs away from us.  I won't go into details since it's a bit hard to follow unless you're part of the intimate circle of Ontario kart racers.  My Friday Sr. Rotax race had 7 people and pretty much the same people raced on Sunday in the TAG class as well.

Friday's race was haunted by the ever persistent handling problem on my kart.  My kart is notoriously loose in the back and on a track like Shannonville where the track consists mostly of long wide sweepers, you want the kart to be very tight to the point where its almost understeering a bit.  That way you can keep the power on throughout the turns.  In the previous years that I've been at Shannonville (first two years in my Yamaha, then one year in a Rotax), I usually run middle of the pack.  But with my handling problems, I needed to keep my throttle partially applied throughout most of the turn for fear of spinning out.  I finished a disappointing last place, but then what could I do with handling so sub par.

Did have one racing incident though on Friday.  The kart in front of me lost control right after the start in the finals.  He hit my right side and warped the whole mounting bar.  The metal was grounding away on the track and it took about three laps before it wore out enough to let me drive properly.  According to JP, I had quite the rooster tail from the sparks generating from the grounding metal.

Sunday's race was even worse than Fridays.  #86 was racing that day, so I thought I could actually beat someone.  3S Go Karts didn't have any Dunlop SL4s to sell, so I decided to run an illegal set of Vega Yellows that have been sitting in my basement for the past two years.  We had to modify the tires a bit so no one knew they were Vegas (mainly to avoid complaints), and hoped that they were able to fix my handling problems.

During the practice run I was doing much better on the Vegas.  My time was a whole second faster than on Friday, putting me only one second off the pace of 42.8s.  I qualified in front of #86 so I was pretty satisfied.  However, as the day progressed, the Vegas deteriorated rapidly.  Because my kart was so loose, I put a lot of heat into the back tires and after about three laps they were completely useless.  Sliding all over the place, I quickly lost a lot of time.  To add insult to injury, my engine malfunctioned during the finals and I was pulling only 12500 rpm vs. my expected 14000+ rpms (figured out the problem at the next race in Sutton).  I pulled in after being lapped by a lot of drivers.

Racing is always fun and I'm proud of the fact that for the most part, I was self sufficient.  But it was a tiring weekend.  Travelling to Shannonville on Thursday, racing Friday, travelling to Toronto for JK's b'day bash on Friday, travelling back to Shannonville on Saturday, racing on Sunday, and then back to Toronto on Sunday evening.  I easily put 1000 kms on the White Rocket that week.

BTW, I also slept at the track on both nights I was there.  I love the guys in the club and was happy to be able to share the camaraderie with them at Shannonville.

    

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August 6th: SKC Race #7 at Sutton

Back at my home track, this should have been a much better race.  I managed to get new tires for this race, so that should fix some of my handling problems.  But I was still plagued by the engine problems from Shannonville and haven't had an opportunity to fix it yet.

I made an assumption that the problem was battery related.  It has happened before on a Rotax; with a low charge on the battery, you wouldn't be able to hit the 13K+ rpm range.  The problem I experienced at Shannonville was much worse than what I've experienced previously, but what the heck, it's a hunch and easy enough to test.

Practice went decently.  My handling problem is almost fixed (I can still use a bit more grip on my back end) but the new battery didn't fix my engine problem.  So for the qualifying run, I tried another battery just in case I was still using a faulty battery.

The new battery didn't fix the problem either, so that proved that it wasn't a battery problem with my engine.  Even with my kart pulling such low rpms, I was still able to qualify ahead of #86 & Strong Man.  I was pretty happy with that result but was still annoyed that my engine wasn't fixed.

BTW, I was a whole 3 seconds off the pace.  Usually that's pretty bad but the pace kart was a JICA who was using our race as practice for the Stars race at Woodbine.  A JICA kart has the same or more horsepower than a TAG but weighs at least 80 lbs less.  Yeah, he better be faster.

CSifu tried to convince me that I had a jetting problem and that was why I wasn't able to get the rpms I needed on my engine.  I use the MaxJet tool to set my jetting on the Rotax and while some people disagree with the readouts it gives (especially where it tells you to use an IW34 spark plug), it's been able to consistently give me at least 14k+ rpm on this Camden re-worked engine.  Willing to try anything, I used this CSifu's setting just as a test.  It didn't make a difference.

I lost a position in the pre-final to #86, but that was due to the engine.  I actually started the race in second place since EC put the JICA at the back of the grid to give him passing practice.  Kinda useless since he passed us all in the first lap.

On a hint by EC, I finally found the problem.  My power valve had collapse and it wasn't opening up to allow the exhaust gas to flow at the high rpms.  So for my second race at Sutton, I now had to do major surgery to my engine.  There was very little support available since most of the folks at 3S have very limited experience with the Rotax.  Some guess work and wet'n'dry surgery later, I had one working power valve.

For the final, my engine was working like it should.  I finished behind #86 again because I made three stupid mistakes: i) I set my power-valve incorrectly so my rpms took forever to build up; ii) anticipating heat build up in my tires in a 20 lap race, I put in way too little air and lost all the traction benefit I gained during the day; and iii) I made a very aggressive passing move and ended up climbing onto and damaging StrongMan's kart (sorry!).

But once again, I was happy to finish and happy to figure out the problem with my Rotax.

   

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August 13th: SKC Race #8 at Gamesbridge

This one race has caused me quite a bit of stress for the week working up to race day.  SKC made a decision that the only exhibition classes they would race at Woodbine are the 4-stroke classes.  The race at Gamesbridge was going to be my acid test; if I sucked I wasn't going to race at Woodbine.  It wasn't just a question about Woodbine; my ability on a 4-stroke would also define whether I was really a bad karter or whether I was just having technical trouble on my Rotax.

In the Gilman Racing team, we have two karts that are ready for 4-stroke racing.  #12's kart was set up for StupidKid to race in Senior Lite but it's not ideal since it's a torsion designed for the higher horsepower 2-stroke engines.  #11's kart is perfect for 4-stroke but it's missing quite a few pieces (stolen for use on #12's kart) and the seat was damaged.  Nevertheless, I decided to get #11 back to racing condition.

So for the week working up to Gamesbridge, RP & JP helped me get #11 going.  We had to rebuild the seat since #11 put major holes through it and was essentially unusable.  We had to rebuild the brakes twice since there's a phantom leak in the gasket.  And we needed to get the gears set, engine mounted, etc.  I spent every free night up at RP & JP's house working on #11 and didn't have it ready until Saturday afternoon.

Because of all the crazy races, I've had to skimp out on my Capoeira and Ving Tsun training.  I need to pick it up as soon as the Woodbine race was over.

We started the day at Gamesbridge with a wet track for practice.  The practice really freaked me out since I was pretty much unable to control #11 in the wet.  I thought that this was it, I really sucked at karting.

Then the weather got better and I switched to slicks and a dry race setting.  Due to some scheduling changes, I almost missed my qualifying.  I went out and my driving was not bad at all.  Even with my lack of experience, I was only a second off the pace.

The pre-finals and finals were much much better.  As usual the grid very quickly split into the top group of racers with the really good karts, and the rest.  In both races, I actually put up a really good fight.  I was in passing position quite a few times but backed off because of lack of passing experience in the 4-stroke.  I received quite a few positive comments: most of the racers said that I did not look like a 4-stroke newbie at all.

Running a 4-stroke is a very different experience from a 2-stroke.  It's just as tiring if not more so than a 2-stroke.  It's very evident whether you are driving well or not; with the limited horsepower coming from the 4-stroke engine, the kart just won't accelerate if you're not smooth and have the steering wheel straight.  The kart is a lot less violent and with the absence of throttle steering (not enough horsepower) I found that it was easier to focus on really putting the kart on the right line.  It's also a lot more difficult to pass since you can't use horsepower to get you out of a late-brake situation.  Hopefully I'm able to take my experience with the 4-stroke and use it to improve my 2-stroke racing.

I paid my race fees for Woodbine at the end of the day. ;-)  See you on the track.

Event Alert: Honda Crystal Cup @ Shannonville (05/07/27 - 05/07/31)

Simcoe Kart Club will be hosting the first ever Honda Canada Cup @ Shannonville this year.  This is one hell of a track, with the shifters hitting top speeds of over 190 km/h.

I have finally made a decision and I will be running in the Rotax Senior race on Friday and the TAG Senior race on Sunday.  I'm going to be heading in on Thursday night, racing on Friday, coming back out Friday night, going to the beach with the Capoeira group on Saturday, heading back in on Saturday night, racing on Sunday and then returning finally on Sunday night.  It's going to be one crazy-ass long weekend.

Race Report: SKC Race #6

(Always save your blog posts on a regular basis.  I didn't.  I suck)

Last weekend's race was my first race this season.  After waiting wayyy too long for my engine to come back from the shop and finally finishing the set-up last weekend, I was ready to run!

Sunday was one of those days that reminded you why only the hardcore race.  It was one of those days where the weather and mechanics conspired to make you show your mettle by making you work like a dog.

The 0545 wake up time wasn't too bad since Careca wore me out the day before in Capoeira and I slept very well on Saturday night.  Expecting the probability of rain, I spent the drive debating whether I would race or not.  I had my rain rims in my trunk so it wasn't a matter of equipment but whether I had the will to run in the rain.

Once at the track the racing bug bit.  So race it was.

The track was still wet from rain from the night before.  There were puddles of standing water and the track was still moist, so while I could run slicks I needed to change the kart setting for a wet track.  Widened my front end, narrowed my back end, upped my gear, filled the Red Beast up with fluid and started her up.  Two and a half hours after arriving at the track (okay so some of that was spent setting up the trailer, shooting the sh*t, etc.), the Red Beast was good to go.

... and just as I was pulling into pre-grid for practice, the started failed to turn.  Suspecting that it was a battery problem (the Rotax battery is notoriously shoddy), P and I switched it out and it seemed to fix the problem.  So yeah, I got to race.

SKC was running the Sutton track in reverse configuration (clockwise) on Sunday.  It was my first time running reverse so I was concentrating purely on learning the track.  The reverse configuration is a lot of fun.  While the chicanes and the corners at the end of the straightaways are slower than the regular configuration, your entry speed (and therefore ultimate top speed) is much faster.  With the wet track the kart was a bit tailhappy but nothing I couldn't fix by smoothing my driving out.

Then it started to rain.

So now I had to switch to a full rain setup.  This meant buying rain tires, mounting them, switching them onto the kart, flipping the airbox to rain setting (and creating a new airbox brace since I couldn't find my old one) and mounting a water blocker for the brakes.  I was able to complete this work just in time for the qualifying session.

... and the starter failed to turn again.  This time switching the battery didn't work (I suspected it wasn't a battery problem in the first place since the original battery still had a full charge).  There was no way I could have made it out to the qualifying session and I predicted there was going to be a lot of work to do to find and fix the problem.  There was a good possibility that my race day was over after just one practice.

At first I thought there was a break in the wire between the starter switch and the starter motor.  Unfortunately I left my spare wiring harness at home.  Fortunately it turns out I just had a bad reading on the multimeter.  Unfortunately this meant that the problem was in the starter itself.

To get at the starter motor on a Rotax, you need to take the engine off the kart.  To take the engine of my kart you needed to: disconnect the wiring harness from the engine, disconnect the exhausted, disconnect the airbox (since it was hard mounted to the chassis for the rain) and since I was not thinking straight, I disconnected the carburetor and the fuel pump as well.  With the starter motor out, I first tested for engagement (successful) and then powering the motor directly from the battery (failed).  Taking apart the starter motor, it turns out the brush on the positive node was disconnected due to a break in the wire (fatigue).  A problem that's easy to fix with a sodering iron.

Unfortunately a sodering iron is not one of the tools in teh standard arsenal of a kart mechanic.  Fortunately ONE person at the track had a sodering iron and soder wire (one other person had a sodering iron but no soder wire).

I was able to repair the brush with the soder.  While re-assembling the starter motor (with P's help) some parts fell out; and not knowing what they were I just chucked them into my spare parts bin.  It's an electric motor, so a missing seal here or there shouldn't be a problem.  Completing the assembly, I tested the starter motor with a direct connection.  IT SPINS!!!

So now I have to re-assemble everything.  Not only that, the weather has changed dramatically since the qualifying session so now I have to reset everything back to dry weather racing condition.  Mount and replumb the engine, connect the chain, reconnect the wiring harness, strap down the wires and hoses, flip the airbox, change the jet and pin setting on the carburetor, change the sparkplug, flip the airbox, narrow the front end, widen the back end, change the tires and add more fuel (I was underweight).  I missed the pre-finals, but at least I was able to make the final race.

My race results were mediocre, which was okay considering the lack of practice time.  My front end was probably too tight since the kart was a bit twitchy and I was running two teeth too high on the gearing.  But I was happy: I found and fixed a major problem without any help and still manage to do decently after nearly ten months of absence at the track.

The next race is at Shannonville for the Honda Crystal Cup.  I'm still deciding if I want to go but hopefully this time I won't have so much work to do!

Achieving human fision

This past weekend I uncounciously tried to overexert myself, seeking to achieve the blissful restful sleep that comes with being physically exhausted.  Unfortunately, I seemed to have tuned my body to the point where I am able to sustain a ridiculous amount of activity.

 

Let's look at Alan's weekend:

 

Saturday AM: Woke up, did 100 push-ups, 120 sit-ups and 240 punches on the sandbag.  Then ate big breakfast and shopped for karting supplies (Canadian Tire).

Saturday Early Afternoon: Drove from Richmond Hill to Mississauga for Capoeira class.  Slightly more than an hour and a half of Capoeira in the heat.

Saturday Late Afternoon: Lunch and hanging out at Careca's.

Saturday Early Evening: Shopped for bike lights, went home, hand washed and dried the White Rocket, mounted bike lights.

Saturday Late Evening: Went for a 2 hour bike ride in the dark.  Biked from home to #36's, then over to the restaurant for dinner with folks.  Only stopped for maybe 15 minutes.  Got honked at 4 times (people really don't know the rules of the road for bikes).

Saturday Near Midnight: Dinner

Sunday Morning: Got up, packed White Rocket for karting, headed over to #36's, ate brunch, drove up to track.

Sunday Afternoon: Got the Red Beast ready running for the first time this season.  Only problem was a leaky radiator pipe (fixed with Teflon tape) and a busted starter switch (need to buy from Radio Shack).  Did a gradual engine break-in over three 15 lap session: 15 laps at 7000 rpm; 15 laps at 12000; then 15 laps at full speed.  Had the engine running very rich but it was still able to pull 13500 rpms.  Then I did a endurance training session of a continuous 40+ laps at race speed , staying within half a second for about 80% of the laps.  Water is not enough for re-hydrating in such heat when physically active.

Sunday Early Evening: Packed trailer, went home for dinner, started laundry.

Sunday Late Evening: Dinner, finished laundry, spent 20 minutes with basic Ving Tsun practice.

 

I am going to be ridiculously difficult to keep up with this snowboarding season.

I got a new bike!

A few week back, Cranky Coder and I did the Ride for Heart on the DVP.  We did the ride in slightly under 2 hours, which isn't too bad considering that the Cranky Coder was out of shape and I was riding probably one of the oldest bikes in the place: the Blue Steed.

A bit about the Blue Steed.  The Blue Steed is a Raleigh Elkhorn that was purchased during one of the "Buy it before they institute the GST and make everything cost 7% more" sale.  Which would make this a Christmas 1990 purchase.  The Blue Steed also has a sister that is currently sitting in my unaccessible shed and has basically never been ridden.  The Blue Steed's gears have never shifted properly since the summer of '91 when a "buddy" decided to wipe out on the Blue Steed and break the rear guide wheel.  Currently I can only shift to about 3 of the 7 rear gears and about 25% of the time the chain will fall off if I shift the front gear.

See the Blue Steed in the corner.

Nevertheless, the Blue Steed has gotten me through my high school and university years, and then some.  It has been stolen once (and found very quickly) and I have taken an incredible number of wipeouts on it.  There was one summer during university where I did some pretty decent damage to myself and the Blue Steed.  In the same summer I: i) shredded my leg when I wiped out while making a right hander in the rain (I was rushing to ballroom dance class); ii) bounced the bike off my helmet when my rear wheel got hooked on a curb I was jumping outside of the RIM (Research in Motion) offices; and iii) shredded my knee when I jumped off a curb, made a left turn and realised the kickstand came down during the jump (I NEVER ride with a kickstand anymore).  The Blue Steed is sun bleached, has a plastic bag permanently tied to it (for keeping rain off the seat) and a seat that has foam poking out of it.

Back to the Ride for Heart.  Cranky Coder and I didn't really exert ourselves that hard during the ride, but we did keep peddling non-stop and managed to pass most of the people on the ride.  However seeing how old Blue Steed was compared to the other bikes on the road, I really wanted to get a new bike.  And since I'm semi-retired from Kart racing this year, I actually have time to ride.

For the past few weeks I have been deliberating about what type of bike I should get.  I've had my heart set on something with a front fork and a hard tale 'cause I love to tinker and a suspension system sounds like such a wonderful thing to play with.

I don't intend to do much offroad riding, but I didn't feel comfortable riding something as single-purpose as a road bike.  So I started looking at hybrids which I've been sort of attracted to since I knew about their existance.  BTW, P mocks hybrids by calling them the "station wagon of bikes," and I promptly remind him that he loves his WRX wagon.  Performance hybrids don't have a front suspension, only recreational hybrids do and I was NOT going to allow myself on anything with the term "recreational".  So I was kinda humming and hawing over my decision to get a hybrid.

Then A starts telling me about these things called cyclocrosses.  A cyclocross is essentially a beefy road bike that can also ride on mild crap.  Now this looks interesting since it looks really aggressive, can probably go like stink, and they were cool enough that I was willing to forsake the lack of suspension.  But these things are rare and they start at $1500, a bit too rich for my blood.  P was once again chastising me for even thinking about getting a cyclocross.

P finally convinced me to get a front suspension mountain bike and equip it with fast offroad tires.  So this morning I went shopping.

I went to Silent Sports since it's close to home and has a fairly decent reputation.  I knew my price range ($1200) and for that price, P has assured me I could get something really nice.  I was also determined to buy Canadian only.

There were two bikes that I focused on: the 2005 Devinci Chameleon and the 2005 Rocky Trailhead.  I started off really liking the Trailhead since it is the lighter of the two and featured entirely Shimano parts.  However the ride itself just didn't feel right no matter how much I wanted to convince myself that it was okay.  The reach felt too long and I was leaning too much of my weight on the handlebars, a common complaint of mine on the Blue Steed.  The Trailhead is a blast to jump though since it was the lighter of the two.  The Chameleon is quite a bit heavier than the Trialhead but the bike was just that little bit smaller and ride felt so much nicer.  And I loved the action on the Sram X-7 shifter.

So I am now the proud owner of a 2005 Devinci Chameleon.  Despite the searing heat in Toronto, I'm going to take it for a ride tomorrow.  But now what am I going to name it?  Perhaps I should just call it the Chameleon?  Or maybe Leo (for Leonardo de Vinci)?

What the hell were they thinking?!?!

In a way, I can understand why F1 did what they did.  After all, if I show up on the track and I forget a piece of safety equipment, well sucks to be me but I'm not racing that day.

But then again, people aren't exactly paying to see me race are they?

What the hell was Michelin doing providing a clearly sub-par tire?  F1 shouldn't have changed the tire rules, but what the hell was Ferrari thinking when they voted against adding the chicane?

You know, this probably is a result of me forgetting to tape the race...

My father drives too fast

The White Rocket is a very fast car.  The White Rocket is probably in the top 2% of production cars in terms of 0 - 100 km/h times.

A week after my father drives my White Rocket for the first time, he goes out and purchases the Silver Sedan.  The Silver Sedan is faster than the White Rocket.

I have no issues with my father driving a faster car than me.  HOWEVER, unlike me, his driving skills have been degrading with age.  I'm constantly refining and aware of my driving skills; he's constantly remarking about how his Silver Sedan is so refined that he can't feel the speed.

See my concern?

So for Father's Day, I've signed him up for the Mercedes-Benz Defensive/Performance Driving Program.  Hopefully he may FINALLY accept that he really shouldn't be trying to keep up with me in my White Rocket.

Event Alert: Stars of Karting @ Woodbine (05/08/19 - 05/08/21)

On August 19 - 21, 2005, Stars of Karting with Bobby Rahal along with Simcoe Kart Club will be hosting one of the top kart races in North America at Toronto's Woodbine Race Track.  They will be converting one of the parking lots into a full fledge kart track.

This race features the top Kart drivers in North America.  The shifter karts they run are able to hit over 190 km/h (especially with the layout they have planned).  SKC is still determining the club race schedule accompanying the event; with any luck, I will be running the Red Beast at that race too!

Kart racing is the first rung in the racing ladder that can take drivers all the way to F1.  All the top F1 racers today started off in Karts.  So if you want to see a good race or is just interested in what real Karting is about, take some time out that weekend and make it to Woodbine.

See you there!

Average HP per car per household

Being a car nut, I have a large number of friends who work in the automobile industry.  They are always "jokingly" suggesting that I buy a new car.  My latest proposals include:

• Subaru B9 Tribeca:  Suggested by Rally Driver.  I am tempted just because they're using Kansas' "Dust in the Wind" in their advertising programs and that is one of my favourite songs to play on the guitar.
• Oldsmobile Alero:  Suggested by S 'cause I keep on telling him how I think my sister's Alero was great value and he wants to get rid of his.

My response to them is that it would lower the per car horsepower average in my household and them - being car nuts as well - all agree that it wouldn't be a good thing.

Now the kicker: We have a disgusting average of 340 hp per car in my household ;-).  I don't know whether to include the Red Beast or not since that only has 27 hp, but then again it only weights 365 lbs with me in it.