NOLA rain

I don't rant often but this one rubbed me all kinds of wrong. Rain coming in for SBB, I completely understand it being called a rain race and taking a short break so riders could prepare. I tossed my rain tires on for race 12, and then waited, and waited, and waited. We literally waited an hour for the track to dry before SBB ran again, so i had to rechange my tires before my race. I clearly remember and i quote "Unless it's a hurricaine, or we have lightning stirkes within 5 miles, we race." I live in a hurricaine area, and have been through multiple bad ones, that was an afternoon shower. So why the hour long delay? I'm not just crying to vent, i need to know for next time so i don't make the wrong decision for tires and mess up. I was lucky to have a spare set of rims with rains on them so it only took a few minutes to swap, that's not the case on my big bike. I'm not questioning the decision, i'd just like some clarification so i can make a more informed tire choice next time.
:headbang:

Kasey, the delay was due to having to clear some very large puddles. A wet track is one thing but 2 inch deep puddles are another.

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Originally Posted by Ryan Rutkowski

Kasey, the delay was due to having to clear some very large puddles. A wet track is one thing but 2 inch deep puddles are another.

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I'm going to be a little argumentative on this one, because i distinctly remember hitting lagoons in the SBA race, while it was pouring, behind other bikes. Through the back S's especially. That second shower seemed similar to the first. So i'll take your word that it was much much worse after that first shower.

I ruined rain tires on a mostly dry track.

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Originally Posted by Howard Spurgeon

I ruined rain tires on a mostly dry track.

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That's the point i was making. Some guys have rain tires that need to be mounted, some have wheels with rains on them ready to quick swap. I think Napier fried his as well. I was lucky enough to talk to Brandon about the track conditions and took his advice about putting the DOT's back on. And very lucky to have a rain bike for the last race i was in. Otherwise i wouldn't have had time to swap back.

We basically were asking the "WTH?" when the bikes did not go out while the track was still wet...as we had rain tires mounted...then we saw the trucks blowing through large puddles. We don't mind wet races, but NOLA is fast and a 2" puddle at some parts there is like having an 8" puddle at other tracks. We got it and understood. It was frustrating, but we understood and agreed with the call on it.

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Originally Posted by marcus mcbain

We basically were asking the "WTH?" when the bikes did not go out while the track was still wet...as we had rain tires mounted...then we saw the trucks blowing through large puddles. We don't mind wet races, but NOLA is fast and a 2" puddle at some parts there is like having an 8" puddle at other tracks. We got it and understood. It was frustrating, but we understood and agreed with the call on it.

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Did you race any after that? I only ask because there was standing water, lots of it in race 18. Or so i felt anyway. Maybe some others that ran that one can toss their 2 cents in.

Yes...right after the "break" and the rain in race 18...there was still bad puddles.

I read the new RRW and Josh Hayes article stated they practiced at NOLA in May I believe and he commented how the track "held" water in his article.

Kacey, If you are going to quote me then I suggest you get it right.

My words were this. "We will not stop for light rain. We will stop in the event of a torrential down pour, cloud to ground lightning within 5 miles of the track, hail, extremely high winds, or if at any time the track becomes impassable."

FYI I rode out to the turn 6 and 7 area just as the so called afternoon shower was coming in. The B Superbike race was gridding up when the heavy rain started coming down in T4 thru T7 area. I decided to abort the race and declared the event wet for the remainder of the day. We then took what I had hoped would be a short break to allow time for those that wanted to change tires do so. During this break the heavy rain overwhelmed the drainage in the T8 thru T11 resulting in water as deep as 8 inches in places. At that point the track was no longer passable regardless of tire choice. We brought out the blower to clear the deep water but by the deep water was clear the majority of the track was dry or drying. The showers later in the day never overwhelmed the drainage so while there were puddles the track remained passable.

Sorry Casey, yeah it was so dry I cooked my rain tires also.

Im guessing they were hoping it would stay dry for the remaining of the day for some more great racing, it was really nice until the rain came, I know i was really ready for that race and on the sighting lap the bottom fell out at the back of the track.

Alright Walter, my crybaby rant is over. Hugs n kisses all around.

And i'll bring a tape recorder next time so i get it right! But hey, i was there at the riders meeting at least give some credit for that.

It was a tough call on which tires to chose after that first shower. It's really alot of luck in a situation like that. I do think that the CMRA did a good job in keeping us well informed. But I still grabbed an official a time or three to make sure we were in the loop. And we changed tires 6 times for 7 races. lol In the end, it wasnt the rain, but the puddles that was the cause of the delay. I am glad they asked the riders and especially listened to the 3 riders on the front row and delayed the race.

I changed to rain tires twice as well. :) Though based on my riding, I probably could've saved the energy and stayed on dries the whole time.

The real issue with the B race was there was a down pour on the back half of the track and the front half was dry. Either tire choice was not going to work in that situation. Thank you to the officials for the delay to allow the track to gain some consistency, try to remove the large puddles, and allow riders to make tire changes. While DOTs seemed to work for the b race, the A race at the end of the day was a different story. It was crazy how fast the rain tire guys were. I would gladly burn up some rains if it means not nearly crashing every corner for 3-4 laps. Those were the longest laps ever!

That Chris guy had to have grown up in the UK. He's more at home in the wet than a fish. ;)

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Originally Posted by Harold Lambert

The real issue with the B race was there was a down pour on the back half of the track and the front half was dry. Either tire choice was not going to work in that situation.

I would gladly burn up some rains if it means not nearly crashing every corner for 3-4 laps. Those were the longest laps ever!

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It was just the length of the delay that irked me, but from Walter it was too unsafe even with rains to race. The rain tire shuffle swap on my end must have looked hilarious. I ran my rain bike, and i saw a lot of guys on rain tires that didn't go very fast at all. I'll give Newton a pass after his wrecks, i'm not sure about the rest. My bike felt planted and solid so it must have just been a confidence issue. That is why i keep a rain bike though, i'm not too worried about wadding it up, and it was nice to actually be out front for once. Gonna do my rain dances from now on!

Kasey, please no rain dances! ;)

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Originally Posted by Ryan Rutkowski

Kasey, please no rain dances! ;)

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Alright, alright! No rain dances.