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Scott,
You are fine. You are not the only person to start out slow. You were about 140% slower than the front of the pack last weekend which, coincidentally, was not that much slower than where I was my very first race. You will build confidence and you will get faster. You will start learning tracks faster and there are a lot of people willing to help you out and work with you to get there.
A vote for "no" to lap time minimums. Should the guys running 1:40's at TWS move to exclude the the guys running 2:20's? Of course not.
Scott - it's a great sport/hobby and a great group of people. I hope you stick with it. You clearly have a passion for it to overcome the obstacles you posted. If you ever need help from anyone (me included), just ask.
We all know to watch for a yellow shirt and its up to us to make a clean pass and/or allow for the possibilities a new racer MIGHT make as we pass them.
I am cool with the idea of a rider keeping the yellow shirt for the season if they feel they need to keep that "warning" out there either by their own accord or the suggestion of mentors/officials. Is that allowed/encouraged?
Scott,
It gets better. Thanks for jumping in on the thread. Welcome to the club. If you need some help or have questions just let me know.
As I said the first day this was posted, You did nothing wrong man. Please don't let this situation discourage you. I was out on track with you in practice and you were fine man. You might have gotten a little spooked but that is to be expected and other riders should have the situational awareness to know you are coming up and to not target fixate on who they are racing.
Ya gotta look around a bit and not have tunnel vision as it seems happened here.
Coming from someone else who had (prior to NOLA) tracks around to ride on and TWS and Barber being the closest, I know what you mean. If you don't own a Busa or stretched GSXR you aren't riding around here either. No where to ride but flat straight roads.
I started riding motorcycles also as an adult and when at tracks for the first time am also one of the slowest out there for a bit. I'm by no means fast now but just know that not everyone is Ty or Brandon. If you are pitted too far away come pit by me at the next race.
There kinda should be a mentoring program to help with this part of the learning process. The first weekend between listening to the calls, where to grid, what the calls are, pit in, pit out, warmers, fuel, it is all overwhelming and a lot to take in.
It would be easier if there were some senior members that had signifiers at their pits to designate who you can come to and ask at any time any questions. Or every rookie gets assigned a senior rider for two weekends. You need practice time and missing the calls can prevent that.
Hope to see you back on track soon man.
This sounds like a racer to me. Your head is in the right place. You can learn as much in a tough weekend as you can during one that is more successfull.Quote:
Originally Posted by Scott Finning
Yes, it is allowed...and we do tell riders that in Registration when they complete their requirements.Quote:
Originally Posted by Staton Shed
Yes, we do have a mentor program: http://www.cmraracing.com/showthread...Mentors-NeededQuote:
Originally Posted by Dustin Ducote
Not sure what all is discussed in the Prov Nov riders briefing each morning, but I'm pretty sure that the leaders of the meeting tell the new racers that they are available to help.
I guess what I was saying was making it more of a requirement. Basically a couple of solid expert racers who have the time to take out of their race weekend and have the rookies pitting with them or near them and take them under their wing and help them with everything.Quote:
Originally Posted by Nancy Selleck
Thank you Nancy. I thought so. I appreciate the confirmation and reminder.Quote:
Originally Posted by Nancy Selleck
Not a requirement because some new racers come with more experienced buddies. As you can see when you click on the link that I provided, there are a number of experienced racers who have volunteered to help.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dustin Ducote
Agreed. Tough weekends can teach you a lot. Keep your head in the right place, Scott, it'll get better. I can relate to not having much track time..coming out of mid Missouri, about the only track time Becka and I get is when we travel to race events, and we try to maximize our track time when we're there.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ron Mears
Scott... Don't get discouraged by this... No one in any mini class has the right to dictate anything to anyone... The simple fact if the matter is if the novice racer that a$$ packed you had more experience, he would have been able to predict what was going to happen and never put himself into the position to run into you...
You are dipping your toes into racing in exactly the manner you should...
Disagree, Both riders in a situation like this must take responsibility for their actions. It's as much the responsibility of the rider being overtaken to hold their line as it is the responsibility of the other to make a clean pass.
This is not a responsibility issue... You come up on a rider wearing a yellow shirt and obviously off pace, you should be aware enough to realize they are not necessarily going to do the "right" thing... Expecting a Prov Nov to react like anything other than what they are is silly...
It absolutely is a responsibility issue. Every time you throw a leg over a bike to race you have a responsibility.
Have you watched the video John?
8:45 to 9:15 minutes in
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qtPy3Q16Do#t=553
Yep... I watched it several times... I even just watched it again after you posted it... Scott reacted like I would expect a prov nov to react...
Would I expect an expert to react like that?
No
would I expect an experienced racer to take into consideration what that big yellow shirt means?
absolutely
in my mind, this is on the dude that ran it into the back of him... If an expert racer had done the same thing, my dollar says he would admit that he should have been more aware of the Prov Nov and just take his lumps instead of making this thread...
**** happens, that's racing. Sometimes people make mistakes, all part of the game, and we know it. No one did anything malicious either during or after the race, so, let's just go racing!
Chris, that's a bike issue not a rider issue. I've ridden F3 and practice with you, you've got speed and you're smooth. You need an SV or ninja 250/300. You're just rolling oddball bikes that don't quite fit anywhere. With 28ish bikes on the 250 grid, you'll find plenty of people to race. The 300 grid is light, that's why I dropped out. Not a soul in sight after a lap, but LWE is always fun too. Come to the Kawi dark side my friend, we've got whiskey.Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris Pearson
Oh, and yeah let's club all the slow riders like baby seals. This is a good plan I like. Personally I've rolled off and lost a position when coming up on a yellow shirt while setting up to pass. One spot was well worth the potential to take myself, and an innocent bystander out. Club racing folks, you're not taking home a paycheck from this. The rules work, the yellow shirts work. Environmental awareness. And for the record, I've seen experts check up just as hard in a race when they get startled. Is there potentially one or two riders, out of 700, that are too slow to race? Yup. That's less than 2/10's of a percent. Deal with it.
Scott.....I for one was very glad to see your slow butt at TWS. You ran a what 3:02 well I smoked you with a 2:47 and greatly increased my track cred with the non-yellow shirt crowd. As the unofficial ESS and F4 back marker at TWS this season let me say welcome to the club. I too am new and very slow. And I too love this thing we are trying do that is racing. All you can do is ride the race line and keep your head in the game, we all have our awe sh** moments. Speed will come in time, at least that's what everyone keeps telling me. Yes my first weekend was pretty chaotic too. (not as crazy as yours tough)On serious note I have to say that I have also met some of the nicest people through this organization and I haven't had anyone tell me to get lost when I've asked stupid questions. On the contrary I have been offered good advice and even supper and more than a couple of cold beers. Bottom line... hang in there. I wont be wearing my yellow shirt any more but I'll be glad to duke it out with you in the back of the pack at TWS Halloween weekend.
I'm starting to feel sorry for the front-runners now... the 3 of us duking it out for the back of the pack could make passing interesting! (I haven't done TWS on the 250 yet, so that will be interesting) So far it has been pretty lonely at the back for me (when Chris doesn't show up on his Buell Blast).