The last weekend of the 2009 AFM season brought up a lot of different emotions for me. I was disappointed that the racing was over for the year, but also relieved that I'd made it through. And as the weekend progressed, my juxtaposing feelings became more and more apparent.
Friday practice with Red Shaft was helpful for me, with some quality guidance from their elite league of AMA champion instructors. Combined with the skills I had learned from my recent California Superbike School experience, I made quite a few improvements in my riding. Chuck Sorensen elaborated on his recommedation that I make my moves more "violent", saying that I needed to shorten the time in which I input directions to my motorcycle. The time it takes for me to brake, start and complete a turn needed to take less time. In April Chuck had just called this "being more violent", but my Superbike School instuctor Lonnie, and Keith Code's classroom instruction, made this idea much clearer to me. And I think I was successful at shortening my input time in at least a couple of places (namely 2 and 11).
I went into Saturday practice feeling comfortable and confident. Though practice went relatively well, I wasn't getting my times down to where I wanted them to be (the story of a racer's life). Saturday ending up dragging on due to some unfortunate incidents in the clubman races in the afternoon and all of the races were pushed to Sunday. This was a bit frustrating after all the waiting, but I usually ride better on Sundays anyway, so we still took our Formula AFemme year end photo with a phenomenal 14 entrants (probably the largest female road race in the history of US Road Racing). It was great to see all the girls out there and made thoughts of next year even more enticing.
Sunday morning came and my morning practice session was faster than all of Saturday had been. Very exciting. I was ready to kick some lady butt in Formula AFemme. Sadly, amazing fast lady Deb Barton high sided her 125 in turn 2 on Saturday, so she was holding out to win her Formula III championship, which she did! However, the grid was still huge. Shelina lined up after her 3rd place finish in Clubman Middleweight and at the drop of the flag she was up the hill into Turn 2 taking the hole shot. But Joy was on her ass and got around her into the carousel, never to be seen again. As I started gaining on Shelina, Christie Cooley came around me out of turn 6, just to put the pressure on. We went back and forth over the next lap and I resigned myself to strategizing my moves: I'd wait until the last lap and then get her Turn 9. I knew I had her there, and I should be able to hold her off til the finish line, but she was flying through the carousel, so if I passed her before the last lap, she'd probably just pass me back (how is she going through there so fast?!). So I was biding my time, but I knew she felt me back there, and poor Shelina heard those two twins scratching at her heels. Before I knew what to make of it Christie blew turn 11 and I was back in front of her. I knew she'd make up her mistake quickly, but I was coming up on some lappers and I took everyone to my advantage. Back on Shelina's tail, she headed into 7 and went under a Clubman lightweight rider. I knew if I had to weight him out through the esses she'd gain a major gap on me and Christie would catch back up, as 8/8a is one of my fastest bits, so in that split second I too went under him into the second apex of 7, but he knew I was coming and had opened up for me which was very kind of him. Though I was right on Shelina, she wasn't letting up one bit! Back to back races seems to do her good. Though I saw her start to tire, it was to no avail as the last lap was approaching and my little SV can't compete down the line to the finish, so I held third place which thankfully kept me in second overall for the season. Vice-Champion Formula AFemme.
This race was a great way to end the inaugural year of Formula AFemme and really made me excited for next year. But the day was not over yet, in fact, it had just started. Open Twins was next on my list and I was ready to take on the big bikes. Shelina and I had pushed ourselves in AFemme and we were both at consistent 1:51-1:50s for the whole race, so 1098s beware! I recently switched to GP shift and made a very stupid mistake on the start, trying to shift up from first into... first. So that got be into turn 2 about dead last. But by turn 4 I was up somewhere around 15th and turn 7 got me up to 10th or 11th. Unfortunately a couple of 1098s felt it necessary to pass me on the straight away but I was confident I could get them back (we were only doing 1:53s at this point). Staying in front of those guys would have gotten me a top ten finish and that would've been nice; however, there was a red flag and the race was not restarted due to the long day we were already going to have. So I ended up in 12th.
Next up was 650 Twins, finally some bikes who couldn't completely out-motor me. But whilst we were battling out the first lap, going five-wide into Turn 9, someone hit Dave Sapsis (to my left), causing Mickey (right in front of me) to swerve towards me to avoid hitting Dave. Though I was somehow uninvolved in that carnage, my master cylinder reservoir decided it wasn't happy with its current position and wanted to move a little to the right to pinch of the hose going to the master. So when I let up on the lever to turn into 9 the pressure wasn't letting up in the brake lines and the pistons continued to extend, clamping my brake pads onto the rotors. The last decision I made was to turn in kind of tight to avoid Mickey, and before I even got the chance to turn I was across the track narrowly avoiding Frost's Twin Works SV. One can imagine how the day went from there. Though Deb managed to sufficiently cheer me up with one too many glasses of Perrier Jouet, I was quite annoyed at my brake failure. Apparently I am not supposed to use "zip tie" and "brakes" in the same sentence, so I won't elaborate on the issue.
As aforementioned, my weekend was full of completely opposing emotions resulting from all the highs and lows that occured, including but not limited to my managing to lock up second place in the AFemme championship, as well as my front brakes.
I do want to say thanks to everyone who made this year possible for me:
Motion Pro
JST Racing
Big B Racing
Bridgestone Tires/Forward Motion
Suomy Helmets
Catalyst Reaction Suspension Tuning
Proactive Chiropractice
And the Lenz's for taking care of me in P-town.
And thanks to all of the Formula AFemme Sponsors:
Bridgestone
Michelin
Viets
Hands on Track
Pacific Track Time
Keigwins at the Track
Race Ready Motorsports
Military, police, fire personel who help protect us
All the ladies who came out to race with us!
Thanks to anyone and everyone else that I may have forgotten to mention. Can't wait for next year.
September 24, 2009
August 8, 2009
August 6, 2009
On the Eve of Infineon
Back to Sears Point this weekend. My head's in a better spot than it was last month, so hopefully it'll stay that way. I have decided to ride how I ride, because otherwise it's no fun. And what's the point of racing if it's no fun. So I'm getting excited and running through the track in my head as I lay here anxiously awaiting the morrow.
What also has me buzzed is this Laguna 600 race. I need to find me a 600 though. I also need a 600 for the lady race at Barber in October. No point in trying to be competitive when I've got half the horse power. Come to think of it, there's a lovely 675 in my garage, though I'm not sure I'd dare ask my roommate to ride it. There is also that old hunk of junk R6 that Chuck Sorensen rides on Red Shaft days... I wonder really if that's more competitive than my SV? It may not be. Our garage is getting sadly thin on bikes these days. We've gone from 10 to 7 in the past couple weeks, and I fear it's soon to be 6...
Anyway, it's 9:49 which looks like bedtime to me. So see you all at the track. And feel free to offer me a race ready 600 for the upcoming months, if you happen to have one lying around.
What also has me buzzed is this Laguna 600 race. I need to find me a 600 though. I also need a 600 for the lady race at Barber in October. No point in trying to be competitive when I've got half the horse power. Come to think of it, there's a lovely 675 in my garage, though I'm not sure I'd dare ask my roommate to ride it. There is also that old hunk of junk R6 that Chuck Sorensen rides on Red Shaft days... I wonder really if that's more competitive than my SV? It may not be. Our garage is getting sadly thin on bikes these days. We've gone from 10 to 7 in the past couple weeks, and I fear it's soon to be 6...
Anyway, it's 9:49 which looks like bedtime to me. So see you all at the track. And feel free to offer me a race ready 600 for the upcoming months, if you happen to have one lying around.
July 17, 2009
At the Gates of ThunderHell
It felt like the incendiary pits of hell at AFM's Round 5 on July 11th and 12th. With three digit temperatures and not a cloud in site, the water never quenched the thirst and even peeling leathers off wasn't much of a relief. I am usually not bothered by such heat, but with my head full of fears, it tooks its toll. Don't worry, I didn't suddenly start to fear motorcycles. What I feared all weekend long was another complaint against my riding from some pesky little boys who don't like getting passed by a chick. I feared getting a fine I couldn't pay or getting suspended or disqualified from an AFM event.
I tried to ignore the fear that was holding me back, and I tried to focus on riding. I recently read "Twist of the Wrist", Keith Code's guide to racing, and I was trying to apply the little bits of information I extracted from that book. Mainly I worked on reference points, and since the repave, Thunderhill is seriously lacking in good reference points. My goal was at least three for each turn, hopefully six. Unfortunately, turns 4, 6 and 8 left me hanging with only one or two points for each. Though I cannot express how much glee it brought me to see the white strips recently painted in turn 8. While I did find many new reference points for the rest of the track, I was still going slow. Granted it was just practice, but come on... why no improvement?
As Friday came to a close, I was still hopeful for Formula AFemme, my weekend hadn't gone down the toilet quite yet. I even talked to rider rep, Jason Butler about the exact definition of "passing too aggressively", now it's just a matter of opinion whether or not I'm actually doing this. However, as Saturday progressed, some of my fears materialized. I was in lovely practice group 2, not getting at all frustrated with the people in front of me, and being very good at passing nicely, when all of a sudden, this guy passes me and moves right back in on my line and brakes for the corner. I almost smash into his rear tire, but luckily my ZX6 brakes are pretty badass. So whatevs, not a big deal, but coming out of the corner and dude is going slow: probably worked so hard to pass me that he messed up his line. So I pass him back. Don't think he liked that. This goes on for like two laps. Every other turn he tries to pass me, can't make the pass stick, I pass him back. It was only frustrating because he kept on coming back into my line after he passed me which would cause me to almost hit him. Quite rude, especially for practice. My soft take off was sliding pretty often at this point: through most of 2, most of 3, always over the top of 5, definitely in 8, and usually in 14... So I came in and when I came down the front straight and stuck my hand up, dude pulls in front of me and sticks his hand up too. Like he couldn't even get off the track behind me... Anyway, I went over to him to say "hi, please don't complain about me, p.s. it sucks when you cut back in onto my line" and he ripped into me! "A little aggressive for practice, don't you think?" Um, me? Don't I think? You were the one passing me, I was just passing you back cause you couldn't make your passes stick. Was I supposed to just back off and let him have the pass because he had the balls to try it? I don't think that's the way it works... but AFM does have some interesting rules. Maybe when someone shows you a wheel you're supposed to let them have the turn... If that's really the case I need to go back to Supermoto.
Anyway, this incident upset me greatly. Because if he were to complain, I'd be the one getting a fine. So more stress got piled on and my head got into an even worse state than it had been in. Furthermore, apparently one of the little mosquitos ran out of gas in 12 and caused Jenn to avert disaster by hitting the hay bails and doing a number on herself. So poor Jenn is a mess, Christie and Deb have to work, and the ladies' race is slowly fading away to nothing. Luckily we had new girl, ex-drag racer Stacy to come and play. Her start in her Clubman race was amazing, as it was in Formula AFemme, and after half a lap and one 750 down, the 600s were out of site. Every lap I came onto the front straight and saw them going into Turn 1. And it was the first time in my racing career that I had really really wished for horsepower.
Alas, Sunday was upon us and my head was still hindering my riding. I raced like I had never raced before. Not in a good way... but like I had never been in a race before. I'm not even sure I passed anyone, so great was my fear of the AFM's wrath. This left me far at the back of the pack where people are scary. Someone almost hit me going into turn 10 and the two guys in front of me were almost comical to watch. One guy really, really wanted to pass this other guy, but he couldn't get it together. Every turn he'd go for an inside pass and every time, right at the last minute he'd realize he wasn't going to make it so he'd pull all the way across the track back to the outside to get a better line and better drive out. If he had just stuck his normal line to begin with he would've a) not been in danger of smashing into me, cutting me off or slamming on the brakes right in front of me, and b) probably gotten the other dude on drive out of the corner. So I almost feared to get too near to these two because it seemed overly dangerous. However, after being frustrated and depressed about it all morning, I was determined to have a fun afternoon.
I waited for a few more hours in the blistering heat, tired, but unable to sleep, thirsty and dry mouthed, with all the water I could need. Finally, time for Open Twins. The race that can only be fun because I am so underpowered it's comical. And I was starting in front of GoGo, so that would boost my ego. Second call and I'm getting my gear on. Brian's checking my tire pressure. Check's the rear. Check's the front. What's wrong? Third call... Why is the rear pressure dropping? Go out and race? With the pressure dropping so visibly? Can I do that. I don't think so... Tire off, sprayed down, where's the leak? We can't find it. Bridgestone boys can't find it... oh, there it is. And it looks like there's something inside my tire. Something in my brand new tire with 18 laps on it. And after Brian digs it out with a knife we see that it's half of a little master link clip from a 125. And it punctured a hole in my tire. To top my weekend off and remind me how much money I just threw away.
So on the drive home when I was thinking about why I did this if it wasn't any fun, I resolved to have fun. Even if it means the AFM fines me or kicks me out. There's no point in racing if I'm not having fun. So Infineon, here I come, ready to kick some ass, pass some boys and have fun with all the girls.
I tried to ignore the fear that was holding me back, and I tried to focus on riding. I recently read "Twist of the Wrist", Keith Code's guide to racing, and I was trying to apply the little bits of information I extracted from that book. Mainly I worked on reference points, and since the repave, Thunderhill is seriously lacking in good reference points. My goal was at least three for each turn, hopefully six. Unfortunately, turns 4, 6 and 8 left me hanging with only one or two points for each. Though I cannot express how much glee it brought me to see the white strips recently painted in turn 8. While I did find many new reference points for the rest of the track, I was still going slow. Granted it was just practice, but come on... why no improvement?
As Friday came to a close, I was still hopeful for Formula AFemme, my weekend hadn't gone down the toilet quite yet. I even talked to rider rep, Jason Butler about the exact definition of "passing too aggressively", now it's just a matter of opinion whether or not I'm actually doing this. However, as Saturday progressed, some of my fears materialized. I was in lovely practice group 2, not getting at all frustrated with the people in front of me, and being very good at passing nicely, when all of a sudden, this guy passes me and moves right back in on my line and brakes for the corner. I almost smash into his rear tire, but luckily my ZX6 brakes are pretty badass. So whatevs, not a big deal, but coming out of the corner and dude is going slow: probably worked so hard to pass me that he messed up his line. So I pass him back. Don't think he liked that. This goes on for like two laps. Every other turn he tries to pass me, can't make the pass stick, I pass him back. It was only frustrating because he kept on coming back into my line after he passed me which would cause me to almost hit him. Quite rude, especially for practice. My soft take off was sliding pretty often at this point: through most of 2, most of 3, always over the top of 5, definitely in 8, and usually in 14... So I came in and when I came down the front straight and stuck my hand up, dude pulls in front of me and sticks his hand up too. Like he couldn't even get off the track behind me... Anyway, I went over to him to say "hi, please don't complain about me, p.s. it sucks when you cut back in onto my line" and he ripped into me! "A little aggressive for practice, don't you think?" Um, me? Don't I think? You were the one passing me, I was just passing you back cause you couldn't make your passes stick. Was I supposed to just back off and let him have the pass because he had the balls to try it? I don't think that's the way it works... but AFM does have some interesting rules. Maybe when someone shows you a wheel you're supposed to let them have the turn... If that's really the case I need to go back to Supermoto.
Anyway, this incident upset me greatly. Because if he were to complain, I'd be the one getting a fine. So more stress got piled on and my head got into an even worse state than it had been in. Furthermore, apparently one of the little mosquitos ran out of gas in 12 and caused Jenn to avert disaster by hitting the hay bails and doing a number on herself. So poor Jenn is a mess, Christie and Deb have to work, and the ladies' race is slowly fading away to nothing. Luckily we had new girl, ex-drag racer Stacy to come and play. Her start in her Clubman race was amazing, as it was in Formula AFemme, and after half a lap and one 750 down, the 600s were out of site. Every lap I came onto the front straight and saw them going into Turn 1. And it was the first time in my racing career that I had really really wished for horsepower.
Alas, Sunday was upon us and my head was still hindering my riding. I raced like I had never raced before. Not in a good way... but like I had never been in a race before. I'm not even sure I passed anyone, so great was my fear of the AFM's wrath. This left me far at the back of the pack where people are scary. Someone almost hit me going into turn 10 and the two guys in front of me were almost comical to watch. One guy really, really wanted to pass this other guy, but he couldn't get it together. Every turn he'd go for an inside pass and every time, right at the last minute he'd realize he wasn't going to make it so he'd pull all the way across the track back to the outside to get a better line and better drive out. If he had just stuck his normal line to begin with he would've a) not been in danger of smashing into me, cutting me off or slamming on the brakes right in front of me, and b) probably gotten the other dude on drive out of the corner. So I almost feared to get too near to these two because it seemed overly dangerous. However, after being frustrated and depressed about it all morning, I was determined to have a fun afternoon.
I waited for a few more hours in the blistering heat, tired, but unable to sleep, thirsty and dry mouthed, with all the water I could need. Finally, time for Open Twins. The race that can only be fun because I am so underpowered it's comical. And I was starting in front of GoGo, so that would boost my ego. Second call and I'm getting my gear on. Brian's checking my tire pressure. Check's the rear. Check's the front. What's wrong? Third call... Why is the rear pressure dropping? Go out and race? With the pressure dropping so visibly? Can I do that. I don't think so... Tire off, sprayed down, where's the leak? We can't find it. Bridgestone boys can't find it... oh, there it is. And it looks like there's something inside my tire. Something in my brand new tire with 18 laps on it. And after Brian digs it out with a knife we see that it's half of a little master link clip from a 125. And it punctured a hole in my tire. To top my weekend off and remind me how much money I just threw away.
So on the drive home when I was thinking about why I did this if it wasn't any fun, I resolved to have fun. Even if it means the AFM fines me or kicks me out. There's no point in racing if I'm not having fun. So Infineon, here I come, ready to kick some ass, pass some boys and have fun with all the girls.
June 24, 2009
PIR and AFM Round 4
I know I'm way behind here in updates, but that makes my life easier cause most of you know what's going on anyway... So we'll keep it simple.
PIR May 30th and 31st.
My awesome idol Peter Lenz went into to turn one with no brakes and wound up the bionic boy, putting a rough edge on the weekend. I was having run riding though and was doing alright in my first race. Until I made a silly mistake and got a little greedy on the gas while leaned over way too much. Out came the rear and there I was sliding across the track and into the dirt... no big deal... until the lapper I had just passed found no where else to ride but over me. So I wound up incapacitated at the Lenz's house for a few days where I was very well taken care of.
After a couple weeks I was ready, in spirit at least, for the first Thunderhill race of the year. By the end of Friday practice I was back to last year's race pace and feeling like I was riding at a turtle's pace, so that seemed promising. However, over the course of the weekend, I did not improve as I was planning to. I really feel like I'm at a bit of a stand still and need some one on one coaching to let me step to the next level. Hopefully I'll figure out a way to make it to the California Superbike School, but they're not back at Infineon for months, which makes me sad. You can read all about the rest of my AFM weekend here: http://www.roadracerx.com/news/rem-omrra-pir-race-report/.
After the weekend wound down and I was thinking about how frustrating it is to still have to start so far back on the grid because of the beginning of the season's mishaps, I got dealt another hard hand. A nice little letter from the AFM warning me to calm down on the track because other riders have complained about me "passing too aggresively". I have yet to respond, but I'm making time to do that this week because the letter left me crestfallen and confused. I race motorcycles. How is there any way in the world for that to be not aggressive? I'm unclear what is aggresive passing and what is not aggressive passing, adn by whose definition? Furthermore, I don't know why aggressive passing (in my understanding of how the AFM sees it) is wrong. If I don't come into contact with anyone and I don't cause them to fall down, go off track or even almost fall down, I don't understand how that still falls under "too aggresive", but it must because I have a letter saying so. I am going to respond to the AFM and ask them to explain this to me, so that I know what to do and how to ride without getting into trouble, because it is very upsetting to me to think that other races think I'm not in control or not being as safe as possible (keep in mind, racing motorcycles is not safe, we just ride as safe as we are able to).
Hopefully I'll have such good news next montht that I won't be able to contain myself and you'll hear from me soon. In the mean time, starts "following" me, so that it looks like I have more than two friends!
PIR May 30th and 31st.
My awesome idol Peter Lenz went into to turn one with no brakes and wound up the bionic boy, putting a rough edge on the weekend. I was having run riding though and was doing alright in my first race. Until I made a silly mistake and got a little greedy on the gas while leaned over way too much. Out came the rear and there I was sliding across the track and into the dirt... no big deal... until the lapper I had just passed found no where else to ride but over me. So I wound up incapacitated at the Lenz's house for a few days where I was very well taken care of.
After a couple weeks I was ready, in spirit at least, for the first Thunderhill race of the year. By the end of Friday practice I was back to last year's race pace and feeling like I was riding at a turtle's pace, so that seemed promising. However, over the course of the weekend, I did not improve as I was planning to. I really feel like I'm at a bit of a stand still and need some one on one coaching to let me step to the next level. Hopefully I'll figure out a way to make it to the California Superbike School, but they're not back at Infineon for months, which makes me sad. You can read all about the rest of my AFM weekend here: http://www.roadracerx.com/news/rem-omrra-pir-race-report/.
After the weekend wound down and I was thinking about how frustrating it is to still have to start so far back on the grid because of the beginning of the season's mishaps, I got dealt another hard hand. A nice little letter from the AFM warning me to calm down on the track because other riders have complained about me "passing too aggresively". I have yet to respond, but I'm making time to do that this week because the letter left me crestfallen and confused. I race motorcycles. How is there any way in the world for that to be not aggressive? I'm unclear what is aggresive passing and what is not aggressive passing, adn by whose definition? Furthermore, I don't know why aggressive passing (in my understanding of how the AFM sees it) is wrong. If I don't come into contact with anyone and I don't cause them to fall down, go off track or even almost fall down, I don't understand how that still falls under "too aggresive", but it must because I have a letter saying so. I am going to respond to the AFM and ask them to explain this to me, so that I know what to do and how to ride without getting into trouble, because it is very upsetting to me to think that other races think I'm not in control or not being as safe as possible (keep in mind, racing motorcycles is not safe, we just ride as safe as we are able to).
Hopefully I'll have such good news next montht that I won't be able to contain myself and you'll hear from me soon. In the mean time, starts "following" me, so that it looks like I have more than two friends!
May 26, 2009
Zöe Rem Finally Crosses the Line at Infineon Raceway
After an engine blow up at AFM’s first round in Buttonwillow, a clutch explosion at Round 2 at Infineon, and a front brake lock up this Friday practice, Round 3 at Infineon actually ended up amazingly event free for me and my Motion Pro SV650!
The weekend started with AFM’s ladies class: Formula AFemme, which is always great fun. It’s quite exciting starting on the first row, and good preparation for my future! It was exhilarating to see Shelina Moreda blow by me between 2 and 3 on her ZX6, but also disappointing to see Christie Cooley down in turn 7. When Cassie and Jenn both passed me at once into 7 I realized I needed to get back in the game, which I proceeded to do, passing them both back and finishing fourth. The podium is in sight.
It was an amazing relief to actually finish all of the races I started, even though it was bit frustrating having to start from the back of the grid with 40 or so bikes in front of me. Despite the disadvantage of starting in position 40 in Formula IV, I worked my way up to 21st by turn 2 and then peeled off a handful more in the next seven laps, finishing 16th.
Still figuring out my Pirelli tires gave me some trouble in Open Twins when I should’ve been a pound down in the rear. I was, therefore, sliding all over the place coming out of every turn, most notably and frighteningly, turns 5, 6 (the carousel), and 8/8a. But I held it together and finished the race, though behind some of the 1098s that I’ve beaten in the past.
With that pound out, I entered 650 Twins with my game face. Starting on the last row all the way on the inside (yuck!), position 45, I put my head down and hit 19th by the first lap. Every couple laps I dropped a couple of positions, finishing up in 13th. I don’t remember passing all these people, but it was probably because I was taking them in twos and threes into turn 9, which was working quite well for me. Not only did I make up a bunch of much needed points, but I got a new fast lap time as well: 1:51.6.
My weekend certainly wouldn’t have been possible without all my fantastic sponsors: Motion Pro, JST Racing, Catalyst Reaction, Pirelli Tires, Suomy Helmets, Amsoil Race Oil, City Girls Guide, Munroe Motors and Lockhart Phillips. I was unimaginably blessed this weekend with a guest appearance of Peter Lenz’s mechanic Brian Ens, who made my brakes work. So super special thanks to Big B Racing!
Zöe Rem
AFM #925
zoegoesracing.com
The weekend started with AFM’s ladies class: Formula AFemme, which is always great fun. It’s quite exciting starting on the first row, and good preparation for my future! It was exhilarating to see Shelina Moreda blow by me between 2 and 3 on her ZX6, but also disappointing to see Christie Cooley down in turn 7. When Cassie and Jenn both passed me at once into 7 I realized I needed to get back in the game, which I proceeded to do, passing them both back and finishing fourth. The podium is in sight.
It was an amazing relief to actually finish all of the races I started, even though it was bit frustrating having to start from the back of the grid with 40 or so bikes in front of me. Despite the disadvantage of starting in position 40 in Formula IV, I worked my way up to 21st by turn 2 and then peeled off a handful more in the next seven laps, finishing 16th.
Still figuring out my Pirelli tires gave me some trouble in Open Twins when I should’ve been a pound down in the rear. I was, therefore, sliding all over the place coming out of every turn, most notably and frighteningly, turns 5, 6 (the carousel), and 8/8a. But I held it together and finished the race, though behind some of the 1098s that I’ve beaten in the past.
With that pound out, I entered 650 Twins with my game face. Starting on the last row all the way on the inside (yuck!), position 45, I put my head down and hit 19th by the first lap. Every couple laps I dropped a couple of positions, finishing up in 13th. I don’t remember passing all these people, but it was probably because I was taking them in twos and threes into turn 9, which was working quite well for me. Not only did I make up a bunch of much needed points, but I got a new fast lap time as well: 1:51.6.
My weekend certainly wouldn’t have been possible without all my fantastic sponsors: Motion Pro, JST Racing, Catalyst Reaction, Pirelli Tires, Suomy Helmets, Amsoil Race Oil, City Girls Guide, Munroe Motors and Lockhart Phillips. I was unimaginably blessed this weekend with a guest appearance of Peter Lenz’s mechanic Brian Ens, who made my brakes work. So super special thanks to Big B Racing!
Zöe Rem
AFM #925
zoegoesracing.com
April 28, 2009
Round 2 -- over and out
As the weekend came to a close I was in unusally high spirits considering the events, but I think that was due to the beer consumption which started shortly after I pulled off in the middle of the 650 Twins race.
Let's back up: Saturday brought the inaugural run of the Formula AFemme Ladies Class and a switch to Pirelli tires (they squish a lot!). With eleven women signed up, it was a pretty exciting event. Angie Loy came all the way out from Arizona to show the girls how to "git 'er done", as shot out front on her GSXR 750 and smoked the field running :48s! After a short gap was Deb on her little RS125 also rippin it up. Joy Higa was alone in third and in my sights for the entire race was Christie Cooley! I battled a bit with Cassie, and every time I'd sneak away from her and up to Christie there'd be a poor, innocent Clubman Lightweight rider in my way! Quite frustrating. So Cassie gave me a run for my money and Christie stayed in front of me as I blew turn 11 on the last lap, but managed to stay in 5th. It was an exciting day for us all. Though I was three seconds off last year's race pace and didn't feel on it, I still managed to have some fun and was eager for Sunday.
Sunday morning I was feeling decent though there were some unfortunate crashes in the first race. After a helicopter ride and a couple of hours, racing was back on, though there was a heavy weight in the air. My first race was Open Twins before lunch, then I was scheduled for 650 Twins and Formula IV after lunch. Open Twins is one of my favorite races because the pressure's down and I have a pretty good excuse if when I get passed by a 1098. My goal is always to pass BDub #143, but what was unexpected and unacceptable was to get passed by Michael Adrian! This is my race, what are these other 650s doing in Open Twins? I'm not allowed to get passed by 650s in Open Twins! It's just not supposed to happen. I hung onto Adrian and watched him knock plastic with what looked like an RC51, opening up a hole for me to get back by. I passed the RC51 too and hoped that I had put some space between us, but it didn't take long for Adrian to pass me back. Grr, it was on now! I thought I had him coming out of 7 but then Mickey Fibres came out of nowhere and stuffed me on the brakes! What is going on here? I kept up with Mickey and Adrian for a bit, but they slowly started to pull away and before I knew it they were a turn ahead and I no longer had a carrot in front of me to chase. I have yet to check if my lap times dropped for the last two or three laps, but I wouldn't be surprised if they did. Every lap I saw people behind me in turn 11 and I wasn't sure if it was Open Production coming around, or Open Twins guys trying to get by, but I managed to stave them all off, finishing in 13th place. Not bad for my little SV.
After lunch I lined up for 650 Twins and was feeling good, albeit being gridded in something like the 8th row! I saw Jenn and Christie ahead of me (with points from Buttonwillow) and I knew I had some small targets. My start was acceptable and I pulled around the outside, though turn 2 is always sketch with 40 bikes trying to pile in there at once. After the first half a lap the crowd started to thin out and I started to pick people off. It took me a while to get round Christie, but I managed it. Once again I got passed by Adrian and Mickey but I wasn't letting them get away again! They were right in front of me with someone else too, and there was an annoying guy on a red and blue bike who kept trying to pass me but kept blowing his turns. It was a little frustrating because I kept having to check up on my lines because of his mistakes. Then before I noticed anything, Frost blew by me and snuck in right behind Mickey. Grrrrrr. So Frost, Mickey, Adrian and mystery rider were a clump ahead of me, but I was right on their asses and snuck up on them in 7. Next lap, I thought, I'll get at least two of them into 7, and if not then certainly into 9. But as I came down to 11, I slammed down three gears and heard a hideous sound in my motor. "Oh no", I thought as it sounded like someone was shaking a coffee can full of screws. I didn't freak out for long as I upshifted out of 11 and continued down the front straight, but then it was time to downshift for 1 and nothing was happening! Step on the shifter, nothing! Slam on the shifter! NOTHING! AAAhhhh, I'm going really hot into 1, this is scary! But okay, I made the turn. And now I am bogging up the hill to 2 in 6th gear with my hand up. I finished the lap and came in as practically the whole grid passed by me. I promptly threw my bike on the stand and ripped my helmet off in a fit of fury.
After a once over by Chris V we determined that something inside the clutch must have gone and we should check it out. So we had the bike leaned over on its side against the trailer when Chris realized that the radiator drain plug is part of the clutch cover. Ever read the warning labels on your radiator cap? "Don't open when hot! Contents under pressure! Danger! Will explode in your face and give you hideous burns". So we couldn't do anything while the bike was hot. Boo. With Formula 4 about an hour and a half away we determined the best course of action was to start drinking. Which I promptly did.
Can't wait for May where I will be starting with no points on row 456. Like I need another challenge.
Let's back up: Saturday brought the inaugural run of the Formula AFemme Ladies Class and a switch to Pirelli tires (they squish a lot!). With eleven women signed up, it was a pretty exciting event. Angie Loy came all the way out from Arizona to show the girls how to "git 'er done", as shot out front on her GSXR 750 and smoked the field running :48s! After a short gap was Deb on her little RS125 also rippin it up. Joy Higa was alone in third and in my sights for the entire race was Christie Cooley! I battled a bit with Cassie, and every time I'd sneak away from her and up to Christie there'd be a poor, innocent Clubman Lightweight rider in my way! Quite frustrating. So Cassie gave me a run for my money and Christie stayed in front of me as I blew turn 11 on the last lap, but managed to stay in 5th. It was an exciting day for us all. Though I was three seconds off last year's race pace and didn't feel on it, I still managed to have some fun and was eager for Sunday.
Sunday morning I was feeling decent though there were some unfortunate crashes in the first race. After a helicopter ride and a couple of hours, racing was back on, though there was a heavy weight in the air. My first race was Open Twins before lunch, then I was scheduled for 650 Twins and Formula IV after lunch. Open Twins is one of my favorite races because the pressure's down and I have a pretty good excuse if when I get passed by a 1098. My goal is always to pass BDub #143, but what was unexpected and unacceptable was to get passed by Michael Adrian! This is my race, what are these other 650s doing in Open Twins? I'm not allowed to get passed by 650s in Open Twins! It's just not supposed to happen. I hung onto Adrian and watched him knock plastic with what looked like an RC51, opening up a hole for me to get back by. I passed the RC51 too and hoped that I had put some space between us, but it didn't take long for Adrian to pass me back. Grr, it was on now! I thought I had him coming out of 7 but then Mickey Fibres came out of nowhere and stuffed me on the brakes! What is going on here? I kept up with Mickey and Adrian for a bit, but they slowly started to pull away and before I knew it they were a turn ahead and I no longer had a carrot in front of me to chase. I have yet to check if my lap times dropped for the last two or three laps, but I wouldn't be surprised if they did. Every lap I saw people behind me in turn 11 and I wasn't sure if it was Open Production coming around, or Open Twins guys trying to get by, but I managed to stave them all off, finishing in 13th place. Not bad for my little SV.
After lunch I lined up for 650 Twins and was feeling good, albeit being gridded in something like the 8th row! I saw Jenn and Christie ahead of me (with points from Buttonwillow) and I knew I had some small targets. My start was acceptable and I pulled around the outside, though turn 2 is always sketch with 40 bikes trying to pile in there at once. After the first half a lap the crowd started to thin out and I started to pick people off. It took me a while to get round Christie, but I managed it. Once again I got passed by Adrian and Mickey but I wasn't letting them get away again! They were right in front of me with someone else too, and there was an annoying guy on a red and blue bike who kept trying to pass me but kept blowing his turns. It was a little frustrating because I kept having to check up on my lines because of his mistakes. Then before I noticed anything, Frost blew by me and snuck in right behind Mickey. Grrrrrr. So Frost, Mickey, Adrian and mystery rider were a clump ahead of me, but I was right on their asses and snuck up on them in 7. Next lap, I thought, I'll get at least two of them into 7, and if not then certainly into 9. But as I came down to 11, I slammed down three gears and heard a hideous sound in my motor. "Oh no", I thought as it sounded like someone was shaking a coffee can full of screws. I didn't freak out for long as I upshifted out of 11 and continued down the front straight, but then it was time to downshift for 1 and nothing was happening! Step on the shifter, nothing! Slam on the shifter! NOTHING! AAAhhhh, I'm going really hot into 1, this is scary! But okay, I made the turn. And now I am bogging up the hill to 2 in 6th gear with my hand up. I finished the lap and came in as practically the whole grid passed by me. I promptly threw my bike on the stand and ripped my helmet off in a fit of fury.
After a once over by Chris V we determined that something inside the clutch must have gone and we should check it out. So we had the bike leaned over on its side against the trailer when Chris realized that the radiator drain plug is part of the clutch cover. Ever read the warning labels on your radiator cap? "Don't open when hot! Contents under pressure! Danger! Will explode in your face and give you hideous burns". So we couldn't do anything while the bike was hot. Boo. With Formula 4 about an hour and a half away we determined the best course of action was to start drinking. Which I promptly did.
Can't wait for May where I will be starting with no points on row 456. Like I need another challenge.
April 22, 2009
April 21, 2009
April 20, 2009
Awaiting Infineon
I'm getting ready for AFM Round 2 at Infineon on April 25th and 26th. Lots of exciting things to come: a) My rebuilt (again) motor will hopefully work and I will be able to race! b) Formula AFemme Exhibition, for the first time ever the ladies will have the track to themselves (almost... we're a wave in the Clubman Lightweight race) to battle it out.
This round should be very exciting. I missed the WERA round in Vegas because my motor wasn't ready yet, so that was quite disappointing. Not only does WERA have a women's class that I'd love to race in, my favorite racer ever was there: Peter Lenz. He just rode at Phoenix this past weekend and came away with 3 1st places and a 3rd (the 3rd was in the 250 class and he's riding a 125). He's my hero and I can't wait to see him in MotoGP in a few more years.
Anyway, back to me: picking up bike tomorrow, getting quick turn throttle from Motion Pro because they are the best ever! And anxiously awaiting Formula AFemme which will be on Saturday, some time after 3pm, so come check it out! We are still working on class sponsors but it may look something like Trackside Moto, Pacific Track Time, Viets Performance, AFMotorsports (Michelin), Pirelli, Tim Scarrot in memory of his friend who passed away in Iraq, and our very own Joy Higa. When we know more we'll have official press stuff supporting all the people who are supporting us!
I should be working right now, so I'll see you all at the races!
This round should be very exciting. I missed the WERA round in Vegas because my motor wasn't ready yet, so that was quite disappointing. Not only does WERA have a women's class that I'd love to race in, my favorite racer ever was there: Peter Lenz. He just rode at Phoenix this past weekend and came away with 3 1st places and a 3rd (the 3rd was in the 250 class and he's riding a 125). He's my hero and I can't wait to see him in MotoGP in a few more years.
Anyway, back to me: picking up bike tomorrow, getting quick turn throttle from Motion Pro because they are the best ever! And anxiously awaiting Formula AFemme which will be on Saturday, some time after 3pm, so come check it out! We are still working on class sponsors but it may look something like Trackside Moto, Pacific Track Time, Viets Performance, AFMotorsports (Michelin), Pirelli, Tim Scarrot in memory of his friend who passed away in Iraq, and our very own Joy Higa. When we know more we'll have official press stuff supporting all the people who are supporting us!
I should be working right now, so I'll see you all at the races!
March 23, 2009
AFM Round 1: Tornado at Buttonwillow
The first race of the year managed to creep up on me, but I went down to the distant, smelly land of Buttonwillow feeling fairly prepared with all of my equipment; my mind had yet to follow. After the tedious drive down and the 45 minutes it took to blow an air mattress up with a bicycle pump, I wound up comfortably asleep beneath an EZ-Up.
Friday morning found me realizing all that I still had to do before my bike was ready to race, but when I finally got on the bike all of my nervousness drifted away and I set in to exploring my freshly built motor and remembering how to ride a road bike. As the afternoon ended, I set up pit with the ever so generous and helpful Chris Van Andel from Motion Pro.
During Saturday practice, the bike felt great again and I was starting to feel more comfortable on it, yet still trying to master the uneven surface and combination of technical turns and speed sections that BW offers. Catalyst Reaction had done wonders to my suspension and Buttonwillow felt like a road course instead of a motocross track! Chris V gave me a tremendous amount of help dialing the bike in, as well as the Peter Lenz crew. Pitting next to 11 yr old 125GP racer Peter Lenz just made me feel like a better rider. Check him out at www. peterlenz.com.
As I came around the sweeper and into the esses after the checker was thrown on my session, I was excited and pumped to get my race face on. But as I was leaned over in the last turn of the last lap of the last session, turning the throttle on, my bike started to bog. I stood up and looked down to see the RPMs dropping. Confused, I thought perhaps I had mis-shifted, and I dropped a gear, but they were still going down and I was still on the gas. I tried revving again and my little SV wouldn't go above six grand. As I pulled into the exit lane, I got off the gas and pulled the clutch in and the engine just shut off! I coasted to the pit, confused and a little worried. After getting my leathers off and trying not to stress, I came outside and told Chris what had happened. He tried to start the bike and it made a hugh "kachunk" noise. Now I was starting to worry a lot! Chris tried turning then engine over manually and it wouldn't go passed half way. Something was seriously wrong. After talking to Gregg Spears, it dawned on me that tomorrow was no longer race day for me. My motor was blown.
I was a little more than upset as I watched Peter smoke everyone in his clubman race. As I calmed down and thought about my options, Chris V mentioned that a racer was renting out Ninja 250s. I laughed at first, but then started to actually consider it. I'd get to ride a bike, which would be fun, regardless of the bike, and wait: I qualify for Formula IV, one of the classes I'd race on the SV! That means I could get some points for Round 2 at Infineon. It was a done deal. I rented the Ninja from Rich with racebikerentals.com and I was back in the game (sort of).
Saturday night brought 65 mph winds and torrential downpour which destroyed the EZ-Up nest under which I was attempting to sleep. After finally falling asleep just before dawn, I was awoken by my 6am alarm. I heard the rain and rolled over to go back to sleep. Seven o'clock brought a bit of blue sky to dry up the rain and figured it was time to get up though I was hesitant to leave my haven. The realization that I needed to register the Ninja 250 was enough to get me up and ready for the one practice session I'd get on the Ninja.
The first practice session was hardly a practice: it was more of an observation of where the puddles were on the track. Fortunately, the shotty Buttonwillow surface was particularly good at staying dry and the track seemed to be okay. So I gridded up for 250 Production, the first race of the day, ready to get all I could out of that lawn mower.
The flag was down and we were off, and I got a pretty good start! I came into turn 1 in fifth place. I confidently creeped up on a Ninja, and then it was fourth. Before I knew it, third place was mine. But by this point, first and second place were already a few turns ahead of me. I tried to catch up, but they just seemed to be pulling away from me. Before long, I couldn't see them anymore and I couldn't hear any one else behind me either. I rode alone into a third place finish and just enjoyed being on a bike and on a track when hours before I hadn't thought that possible.
Formula IV was a Ninja's nightmare. I did not get a good start, which is the only thing I had going for me. So after one pass and one lap, I was again alone. But I didn't come in last and I got points for Round 2, and that was my goal.
Out of a horrendous situation, I came away with an awesome trophy and a better starting position for one of my three classes in Round 2. And I wont be the only one at the back of the grid. Buttonwillow turned out to be an anti-SV weekend with two blown engines, two blown transmissions and a couple big crashes as well. And that's racing.
Friday morning found me realizing all that I still had to do before my bike was ready to race, but when I finally got on the bike all of my nervousness drifted away and I set in to exploring my freshly built motor and remembering how to ride a road bike. As the afternoon ended, I set up pit with the ever so generous and helpful Chris Van Andel from Motion Pro.
During Saturday practice, the bike felt great again and I was starting to feel more comfortable on it, yet still trying to master the uneven surface and combination of technical turns and speed sections that BW offers. Catalyst Reaction had done wonders to my suspension and Buttonwillow felt like a road course instead of a motocross track! Chris V gave me a tremendous amount of help dialing the bike in, as well as the Peter Lenz crew. Pitting next to 11 yr old 125GP racer Peter Lenz just made me feel like a better rider. Check him out at www. peterlenz.com.
As I came around the sweeper and into the esses after the checker was thrown on my session, I was excited and pumped to get my race face on. But as I was leaned over in the last turn of the last lap of the last session, turning the throttle on, my bike started to bog. I stood up and looked down to see the RPMs dropping. Confused, I thought perhaps I had mis-shifted, and I dropped a gear, but they were still going down and I was still on the gas. I tried revving again and my little SV wouldn't go above six grand. As I pulled into the exit lane, I got off the gas and pulled the clutch in and the engine just shut off! I coasted to the pit, confused and a little worried. After getting my leathers off and trying not to stress, I came outside and told Chris what had happened. He tried to start the bike and it made a hugh "kachunk" noise. Now I was starting to worry a lot! Chris tried turning then engine over manually and it wouldn't go passed half way. Something was seriously wrong. After talking to Gregg Spears, it dawned on me that tomorrow was no longer race day for me. My motor was blown.
I was a little more than upset as I watched Peter smoke everyone in his clubman race. As I calmed down and thought about my options, Chris V mentioned that a racer was renting out Ninja 250s. I laughed at first, but then started to actually consider it. I'd get to ride a bike, which would be fun, regardless of the bike, and wait: I qualify for Formula IV, one of the classes I'd race on the SV! That means I could get some points for Round 2 at Infineon. It was a done deal. I rented the Ninja from Rich with racebikerentals.com and I was back in the game (sort of).
Saturday night brought 65 mph winds and torrential downpour which destroyed the EZ-Up nest under which I was attempting to sleep. After finally falling asleep just before dawn, I was awoken by my 6am alarm. I heard the rain and rolled over to go back to sleep. Seven o'clock brought a bit of blue sky to dry up the rain and figured it was time to get up though I was hesitant to leave my haven. The realization that I needed to register the Ninja 250 was enough to get me up and ready for the one practice session I'd get on the Ninja.
The first practice session was hardly a practice: it was more of an observation of where the puddles were on the track. Fortunately, the shotty Buttonwillow surface was particularly good at staying dry and the track seemed to be okay. So I gridded up for 250 Production, the first race of the day, ready to get all I could out of that lawn mower.
The flag was down and we were off, and I got a pretty good start! I came into turn 1 in fifth place. I confidently creeped up on a Ninja, and then it was fourth. Before I knew it, third place was mine. But by this point, first and second place were already a few turns ahead of me. I tried to catch up, but they just seemed to be pulling away from me. Before long, I couldn't see them anymore and I couldn't hear any one else behind me either. I rode alone into a third place finish and just enjoyed being on a bike and on a track when hours before I hadn't thought that possible.
Formula IV was a Ninja's nightmare. I did not get a good start, which is the only thing I had going for me. So after one pass and one lap, I was again alone. But I didn't come in last and I got points for Round 2, and that was my goal.
Out of a horrendous situation, I came away with an awesome trophy and a better starting position for one of my three classes in Round 2. And I wont be the only one at the back of the grid. Buttonwillow turned out to be an anti-SV weekend with two blown engines, two blown transmissions and a couple big crashes as well. And that's racing.
March 10, 2009
Pre-season '09
Trying to scramble things together a bit last minute. How does this always seem to happen? I'm well on my way though, don't worry. Just waiting to get body work painted and initial suspension set up from Catalyst Reaction. In the mean time, I've been dirtbiking as much as possible to try and prepare for the season. In addition, I've got myself on a rigorous work out schedule, so my guns are getting pretty loaded. Unfortunately, I love eating too much to reign myself in all the time, so I'm not as fit as I'd wish to be, but I'm getting there.
First race is March 21st and 22nd at Buttonwillow, so less than two weeks to finish up my preparations. I'll also be entering as many WERA races as possible, so you can find me in Vegas on April 11th and 12th too!
Thanks for reading, and feel free to contact me if you realize that your business could benefit from having a female motorbike racer as a company representive.
First race is March 21st and 22nd at Buttonwillow, so less than two weeks to finish up my preparations. I'll also be entering as many WERA races as possible, so you can find me in Vegas on April 11th and 12th too!
Thanks for reading, and feel free to contact me if you realize that your business could benefit from having a female motorbike racer as a company representive.
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