My very first (but not last) race report.
Really long and very spontaneous. . .

Short Version
Racing a $1000 zip tied together 91 Suzuki GS500 junker with no plastic and
a motor of unknown dependablity was much more fun than I could have possibly
imagined!  Heck - I didnt even place last, and I didnt crash.

FRI
I had to work on Friday so I missed out on Friday's practice.  No
big deal though since I had done a Bargy practice day the previous Sunday.
Friday night Tim Langley and I made an attempt to get a bellypan made up.  I
used 24 square feet of fiberglass cloth and 3 quarts of resin and had a
"bellypan".  The pan had to weigh 10 lbs though - but it was plenty sturdy.
At a half inch thick we probably went a little overboard.  We made up some
brackets and went to sleep.

SAT
I woke up Sat morning at 4:30 to get out to the track.  I met up with Henry
and we stopped at McDonalds for some early morning nourishment.  Henry
promptly informed me that he didnt think Jeffro was coming and I knew our
first race weekend would be a really long one with no mentors to show us the
way.  We finally got to the track a little before 7AM and claimed our pit
area with Louis "Fisheye" Gagne.  We promptly went to register with our
Bargy school certificates.  We got to registration and there were at least
35 people in line.  This is precisely why Jeffro always preaches the
preregistration thing - I "see" says the blind man.  I registered for
Formula II, Lightweight Twins, and Clubman - all Sunday races.  Henry signed
up his Hawk for FII, LW Twins, and D Superbike.  It was good Henry and I got
to race in two out of three races together.  We are racin' - come hell or
high water!!!!  It was close to 8AM before we were done with registration
and all of the stinkin' paperwork.  Practice starts at 8:30 and we hadnt
even unloaded the bikes, gone thru tech, or set up the pit area!!  We were
running around without much of a clue of what to do.  We sure wished Jeffro
was there - nothing like a sickness to keep a guy from racing. I had no idea
what of a headache that first morning would be.  Henry
helped me remove my hi-tech bellypan brackets and zip tie that honker of a
bellypan on the ole GS.  Oh no! - I havent safety wired my exhaust header
bolts!  Oh no! - I am missing an exhaust header bolt and another is about to
fall out!!  I ran around (literally) asking a few fellow poor guy racers if
they had a similar 6mm bolt.  No luck!  Finally one of the guys told me to
go ask the racers with the $100,000 race trailers - they have "everything".
I scanned the horizon for the biggest trailer I could find and made a
beeline for it.  I went up to some dude who was working on one of his 3
GSXRs and asked him if he had any spare bolts.  Sure enough he pointed -
"Ninth or tenth drawer from the top - take what you need - no problem"  I
thanked him profusely and opened up the holy grail of spare bolts.  He had 4
bolts of everything I could imagine - all organized into little trays with
lids on them.  I found the exact match and thanked him again.  He asked what
type of bike I had, I responded, and then he quickly replied with a smirk,
"First race, huh?
. . Have a good time out there and be sure to locktite those bolts!". Cool
dude and I dont even know his name - he saved my weekend (or at least my 2nd
morning practice).  By this time I had missed first practice.  I wired the
bolts and took off with my gear for tech.  Tech inspection at the races is a
lot different than tech at track days.  He looked over everything very
closely and then pointed out a couple of things which I needed to correct,
like correct numbers on the bike, safety wire this and that.  I went back to
the pits, fixed them, and finally got tech to pass off on everything. It was
10AM or so by this time and our second practice was just getting started.
Chris Vonderau and Tim Langley showed up so at least we had some much needed
help.  I suited up and headed out for practice.  I did a couple of laps at a
really relaxed pace and then wicked it up some.  I passed a couple of guys
in turn two and felt really proud of myself  (too bad they just entered the
track on cold tires).  I was rounding turn five just before the back
stretch, going just a little too fast with the bike and myself on the edge
with my knee, pegs, and bellypan all dragging and I noticed out of my
peripheral vision that an expert was next to me on the outside within inches
with his bike grinding some stuff too and I just had this big grin on my
face - trying to figure out how to leave this expert with a little room at
the exit so I didnt force him off the track.  I understand now why "showing
someone a wheel" is very important. The rest of practice I got really used
to passing and being passed at full lean and it really is fun.  There is not
just one line thru the corner either.  Sometimes I would just dive a little
deeper or wider and try a different line to get around somebody.  The track
is a lot wider than you think it is when you take the conventional line.
The end of practice came and I suddenly was kinda let down that I didnt
register for a Solo 20 on Sat.  Henry and I tried to get signed up, but the
officials just kinda smirked and said we were WAY to late to register for
Sat races.  I
couldnt believe I had to wait until the next day to get back on the track.
Oh-well.  We watched the afternoon races and I went home and slept a well
needed 10 hours.

SUN
We got to the track on Sun morning (thanks for the ride, Henry) all ready
and pumped to go racin'!  We ran into Jeffro first thing and got him set up
with us.  Everything was going smooth as silk this morning.  Henry and I
removed the frost from our bikes, got them warmed up.  I was dragging my
pegs pretty bad on Sat so I borrowed Jeffro's hacksaw and whacked off about
a third of my pegs and headed out for the first practice.  I pushed it a
little harder in practice today and I felt really good on the bike.  Second
practice was much of the same except I really started pushing it - now my
belly pan was really dragging.  I pulled in at the end of practice and had a
bit of utter fright when I discovered the zip ties on the front right
securing point for my belly pan had ben ground completely thru and the pan
had lowered about an inch - kinda just dangling.  Not good - but nothing I
cant fix with more zip ties and some safety wire this time.  Preston from
Atlanta let Henry and I borrow his lap timers and we got them all secured to
the bikes.  Tim showed up with plenty-o chicken.  Hunter, Scott Padgitt, my
parents, Alex, Zack, Lloyd (with his grill), and others all were there to
cheer us on.  It
really means a lot to have people there to help and encourage.

Henry and I were both gridded in the second race of the morning - Formula
II.  There was only one wave at the start, which we were thankful of.  Henry
and I made up the last row, which I was also thankful for - I didnt want
some hopped up bike running me over when I stalled the bike at the start.  I
was really nervous (almost shaking) when we took our warm up lap and then
started to grid up.  I know now why all of the racers write their grid
positions on tape on their tanks.  I totally forgot where I was supposed to
line up.  While we were on the grid it started raining a little and that
just made me that much more nervous.  We all got settled and the 2 min board
was shown and everyone popped their bikes into first gear.  The 1 min board
was shown and everyone started revving the motors up and wham! green flag.
I got a great start and passed a couple of guys in front of me.  The
nervousness just fades right away at the green flag - I was just reacting
now.  I also didnt realize how bunched up everyone would be at the first
corner.  I had to really hit the brakes to avoid rear-ending a couple of
guys in front of me going into turn one.  I had guys on both sides of me and
there was a group 3 or 4 wide right in front of me.  One of the guys in
front of me just didnt fit and when right off into the grass on the inside.
Yeah - I'm racing!  It felt like total mayhem with bikes within 3 feet on
all sides.  I came out of turn turn two just two wide and it calmed down a
bit by turn 3 because we were getting a little more room.  I wasnt expecting
the racing to be so tight at the start, but I was loving it.  I got in the
zone and just rode that little bike as hard as I could.  The "just finish"
mentality went right out the window!  Lets go get a couple of these guys!  I
passed two guys at once on the high speed sweeper on the outside - what a
feeling!  I got passed and then repassed the rest of the race.  I forgot it
was raining and whacked the throttle (easy to do routinely on a GS) and the
back in broke loose VERY quickly, but soon got back in line.  What fun!! It
was only eight laps, but it felt like a heck of a lot more.  The
concentration I had was unbelievable.  I didnt look behind me (one of my bad
habits) at all. A guy outmotored right past me just before the finish line,
but I never got lapped and I placed 12 out of 20.  It felt great, and I was
immediately hooked!  I never got to duke it out with Henry, I got him at the
start and never saw him again, but I didnt want to rub it in because we had
another race together and I had a feeling he wasnt going to let me do that
again.

My next race was Lightweight Twins
Henry was gridded two rows in front of me (who knows why - I registered
right after Henry).  This was a 3 wave race and we, of course, were in wave
three, and we had riders behind us.  I had another good start and I was two
or three places behind Henry going into turn 1, but I was determined to
track him down.  I got by the riders in front of me and was right behind
Henry on about lap 3.  He was being held up a little by a bike(?) with a
really strong motor.  We both would catch the guy in the corners and then he
would pull ahead on the straights.  Henry and I both attempted a pass at the
same time - Henry on the outside and I took the inside in turn 5 (which is a
really long and tight 180deg turn.  I got on the throttle early and I got a
really good drive coming out of the corner.  The racer we were passing saw
me and swung a little wide while on the throttle at the exit - apparantly to
give me a some more room.  He didnt know Henry was there and just about ran
Henry right off the outside of the track!!  Henry dropped his throttle to
avoid contact and I got past.  What a BLAST!  I swear Henry had an inch of
pavement left - amazing save.  Henry finished right behind me within a
couple of bike lengths (at most).  I finished 16 of 20.  Great racing and it
was a lot of fun dicing it up with someone I know.  Man, those SV650's are
really powerful compared to the GS and the Hawk.  Yeah, we got beat by a
girl on a beautiful SV.

My final race was Clubman
Since Henry was not eligble for this class, he ran D Superbike, and I ran
Clubman.  This was also a three wave race -   First wave 125GP bikes, second
wave Clubman expert, third wave clubman novice.  I got an OK start, but I
got a little wheelie off the line which slowed me a little.  I had a good
time in this race, but I really ended battling with one rider most of the
time.  I had an EX 500 that I would zip past going into the curves and he
would just leave me again on the exit or the straight.  It was frustrating,
but I got a lot of good passing practice in at just about every curve.  With
a few laps to go, I was running thru the high speed sweeper with my knee
down, thinking about how quick I am running thru this turn, when the leader
of the 125GP bikes laps me on the 30" of pavement on the inside like I was
standing still.  I swear they dont have brakes - they carry unbelievable
corner speed.  I passed the EX and started following the 125 into the next
turn and
found it was not good to try to do what he was doing.  I ran in way too hot
and found myself near outside pavement edge at the apex.  I just held on and
made it thru, though the EX passed me in the curve.  Did I say I had a
BLAST!?

Thanks to those who came out to the track to watch and help.  Special thanks
to Tim Langley who spent many, many hours in my garage helping put together
a motor - then crashed the weekend before the race and hurt himself.  Thanks
for the use of the lap timers, Preston.
I swear it had to be the most fun I have ever had on a bike, and I am
totally hooked.  Now if only the next race weekend wasnt so far away - 6
weeks - here I come Roebling.

Ryan "Gadget"
Bells Angels Racing