AFM Round 3: Infineon

It was a windy weekend at Infineon with gusts blowing people off everywhere, especially at the top of the blind rise of 3a and down the carousel in turn 6. Despite the wind, we made some big changes on the 848 that ended in a new best time of 1:48.2.

The ladies race had another great turn out on the grid, though that sadly shrunk with the loss of Christie and Shelina. Christie went down in 3a on the first lap right in front of me and in the split second I had to think I hoped and prayed that she would slide to the left and thus out of my path, which she did. I would've really hated to run her over, so thankfully that wasn't necessary. It was unfortunate though, after her showing last month I wanted to see Christie put the hammer down on Joy! But after the first two laps I, myself, lost sight of Joy and spent the remainder of the race imagining Shelina breathing down my neck. I didn't know that turn 6 had taken Shelina and as each lap passed I couldn't believe she hadn't pulled a move yet.

I had made a last minute ride height adjustment which helped in most areas, but had developed a little sketchy wobble over the hill into 9. On the fourth lap, I came over the hill into 9 not quite far enough to the left of the track and the little wobble turned into a nasty tank slapper. But I practically let go of the bars and it sorted itself out. With my heart in my throat after that incident, I just kept my head down and tried to pass lappers as kindly as possible (though it is quite terrifying with the speed differential-- I wonder if that's how the leaders of Open Production felt passing me on my SV650 in Open Twins).

I heard after the fact that Stacy and Sarah had quite the battle throughout the race. They pushed each other so much Sarah dropped 5 seconds off her best time! That's amazing improvement. Go ladies.

Sunday morning was thankfully less windy and therefore quite a bit warmer. After a short practice I gridded up for 750 Superbike. Apparently there had been a revision of the grids because a bunch of people were wandering around in the wrong spot and poor Jason Butler got sent to the back row. I got an acceptable start, but got battered down in turn 2 and backed off a hair in an attempt not to get someone's front tire plowed up into mine. I need to realize that if I don't back down they will! Once things settled down a bit after the first couple turns Christie Cooley passed me and I resolved to at least stay with her. She's got me in 5 and 6, but I catch right back up on the brakes into 9, and I was instantly up her bum into 1 and 2. I got my opportunity going into 7, though in my haste to leave her behind I almost blew 9 and expected a pass back. I was lucky and it didn't come. I rode well for the rest of the race, getting my best time in the last lap.

I was still struggling a bit with turning the bike, due to the lack of trail, I believe, and I couldn't hit my marks for 8 which inevitably ruined my entry and exit for 8a, and that effected my drive down the hill to 9 where I never felt that I was getting to full throttle (a Motion Pro quick turn throttle might've helped here too).

By the time Open Twins rolled around my arms and legs were still aching from 750 SB. But I had a great grid spot: second row, all the way on the outside. I got an awesome start and was 5th into Turn 2. Jason Butler and Nickers Hay-Man passed me in between 2 and three and I sat in 7th for a couple laps. Arm pump was settling in from muscling the bike through 8/8a and I felt like my left leg was going to fall off in the carousel. Then Scott Miles took my position and I had renewed adrenaline influenced energy. I stuck with him and realized that I could totally keep pace. In fact, I could pass him back! And then the adrenaline wore off and I remembered that I couldn't move my arms. My pace slowed again and Steve #711 (with whom I had battled at the last round) got by me too. He passed Miles too, and I watched them sit just out of reach as I listened to the groan of my body parts and groaned myself at the half way flags wondering how on earth there were still four laps left. On the last lap in turn 9 I saw a flurry of dirt and bike parts on the ground. I didn't see what happened, but I heard later that an Open Production rider had come into contact with Steve and/or Scott. Unclear on the details myself, but Steve made it through and unfortunately, Miles didn't. That left me in 8th place crossing the line, my best finish yet in Open Twins.

A hard weekend, but a good one overall, with a new best time and a new comfort on the bike that I hadn't felt before. Thanks so much to Mountain Militia Racing without which I wouldn't be ripping 48's on the 848, and Super Plush Suspension, giving me that super plush feel that I didn't even know I was craving.

I almost forgot: the absolute highlight of the weekend was Saturday afternoon when I was pedaling along on my bicycle and spotted Chris Van Andel. I stuck out my right hand to give him a high five and realized that I was moving to quickly. With my left hand on the brake, I pressed.... a little too firmly. "Press" is probably too light of a word. "Grab" would probably be more appropriate. Before my hand met Chris' I was head over handlebars on the ground with the bike upside down on top of me! It took me until Sunday afternoon to realize that the left hand brake is the front one. Whoever invented bicycle brakes did it expressly to confuse motorcycle riders.

Don't forget to keep yourself updated at zoegoesracing.com

TTX eGrand Prix-- Race Day

Saturday morning we got a new controller for the bike which solved the problem of the throttle cutting out at full open. Unfortunately, it wasn't installed into the afternoon qualifying at 4pm. I had much improved lap times from Friday, but not enough to make much of a difference: I was still gridded last.

Sunday morning was a cold and windy one. In time for the 9am practice Pril Motors Team Owner, Alex Prilutsky, had added two more batteries and played with the settings on the new controller. It ripped in practice (relative to the day before, mind you). After the petrol bikes got in their morning practice we were ready for the race.

Even though there was one bike doing similarly slow times to mine, I feared that with his bike being faster he'd gap me on the start and it wouldn't matter even if I did go faster than he. However, when the green flag dropped I shot like a rocket... well, like a remote control car perhaps, and passed the Team Wild Square bike to my left, and Jenn on her Werkstatt Marizen. It looked like Jenn had an immediate issue with her bike and I didn't see her for a while, but after a lap or two she came back and passed me into 11. Dito Milan with gotbluemilk.com got a great photo of the exit of 11, where I completely had Jenn on drive, but unfortunately the Ninjette tapped out on power before we were straight up and down and of course the Marizen continued to zoom ahead.

A similar pass was made by Spencer in turn 9, I had him on drive out of 9, but the little Ninja just stopped producing power far too quickly. Moral of this story: great torque! Which means, with a million more batteries and another motor or two, we could have a real race bike on our hands.

We ended up sixth overall, in a tortoise and hare situation, and it was a well deserved effort on team owner, Alex's part. Alex put in a tremendous amount of effort and always came to the table with a smile and a great attitude. I can't thank him enough for giving me the opportunity to be a part of history and find out what electric bikes are all about. I'm tremendously excited for their future, and am eager to continue to be a part of the TTX GP series.

TTX eGrand Prix-- Day 1

So here we are, Friday of the AMA-TTX eGP weekend. Alex, team owner and chief mechanic of Team Pril has been working doggedly on the eNinja XR1 (that stands for eXperimental Racebike #1) to make some improvements after Wednesday's trial. With an awesome quick turn throttle that plugs in instead of using a cable we solved three problems! No more lag in the throttle, full turn was cut down to 1/5 turn, and a huge issue we had on Wednesday was a problem with the cable catching and not allowing full throttle to be reached, and without the cable, that's no longer a problem either.

There are some super fast guys here and a couple super fast bikes, but I'm pumped for this historic event. I just saw a '69 Norton with RS125 wheels and Kawi forks, and one of the new Mavizen bikes that looks pretty pimpin'.

I heard a rumor that you have to beep your horn (yes, a horn is required) when passing someone because there's no noise to be heard, but rest assured, that has been proved false. I'll see what other crazy rules they bust out in the riders meeting.

Regardless of anything that does or doesn't happen, it's great to be here and be a part of this race, and I get a prime spot to watch Nick Hayman race my Mountain Militia Racing Ducati 848 in the AMA races. Read all about his debauchery at www.munroemotors.com.

For more TTX info check out www.egrandprix.com.

And get out here this weekend to watch the racing!

TTX eGrand Prix at the AMA Nationals

The first electric bike race is about to take place in a few short days at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California. I was approached to be a rider for a bike running in the TTX eGP and I was excited at the opportunity of being a part of this historic event. Though excitement was mixed with nerves as well; the idea of riding an electric bike made by "some guy" as opposed to an Italian factory was a bit daunting.

The bike, a former 1995 Ninja 600, had just been replaced with new batteries that dropped one hundred pounds from the total weight. One hundred pounds! This brought it down to a measly 400 pounds, lighter than the original motorcycle. This was promising. There were some throttle issues, but they seemed fixable.

My other big concern was the tires. I'd never really ridden on a track with tires that had such large grooves in them. Even my supermotard tires were smoother. But I was assured by many accomplished racers that at the speeds I would be going, I'd have nothing to worry about. This in itself was worrying.

We showed up to test the bike at the track, the only way to determine whether it can be raced, and I had a few expectations, but not many. Unfortunately, my expectations were slashed beyond what I thought possible. I knew it would be different, but I was excited for the prospect of this new idea. However, the throttle problems were more than we thought and the poor little motor didn't seem able to haul the 400 pounds around at all. On my out lap I actually feared that I would start rolling backwards down the hill up to Turn 2.

It turns out that the throttle wasn't actually opening all the way, despite the full double grabs I was turning. There is also the possibility that the older (heavier) batteries were producing more power (current? watts?).

So we're making some changes and testing again in practice this weekend.

I'll update further with how things go, but come check out for yourself at the AMA Moto Jam this weekend, featuring not only the TTX eGrand Prix, but AMA National Road Racing, Supermoto, Motocross and Flat Track.

P.S. One unrelated perk that came from testing was that Moto Marin was demoing some bikes at the track and I got to ride the Aprilia RSV4 around Infineon. It was amazing! Go buy one. Better yet, buy me one.