June 9-10 - WERA, Summit Point: Having spent nearly two years getting ready for this day I was a little anxious. Arriving on Friday night, I couldn't find anyone there I knew (typical for a WERA weekend). I pitted with some very friendly vintage guys, then someone I DID know showed up. I ended up pitting with my ole friend Jim Hamilton and his leaky Norton Commando 850.

Being so jazzed, I couldn't sleep the next morning and actually got up early enough to take a shower! (Bless you Mr. Scott for replacing the water heater). I really had only one eligible race on Saturday, so I entered it - Lightweight Solo 20. Going out for my first practice ever on this bike it was obvious that the steering was too heavy. I could hardly get the bars to move. The level of arm pump was incredible. If it stayed like that there was no way I would last through a 20 lap race.

Jim suggested that it was the steering damper, but I was thinking back to installing it and I was pretty sure that Kevin and I had over torqued the steering head nut. I had visions of steering head bearing reduced to dust and a steering head bolt with thoroughly stripped threads. I removed the steering damper, and - low and behold - the steering was light and easy again! Assuming Jim was right, I re-installed the damper. Steering once again became impossible. So I started backing off the damping. First a little at a time and testing the results. The adjustments seemed to have no effect. So I started spinning the damper adjustment counterclockwise like a top. Still no effect. That's when I noticed that the bottom damper plate was pressed against the top of the steering stem nut. I once again removed the damper and inserted a single tiny washer between the damper and the mounting bracket for each bolt. Voila! Problem solved.

I also wasn't crazy about the clutch adjustment, so I played with that too. Now, feeling so good about myself, I finally realized that I had never checked the tire pressure. By this I mean that, I had never checked the tire pressure since the tires had been mounted. A quick check revealed 50psi rear and 60psi front. Talk about totally wrong, I was surprised I hadn't crashed already. I reduced both to 28.

Afternoon arrives, Rider Meeting over, I check the grid sheet. There are so many Lightweight bikes that LW Solo 20 is split into Expert and Amateur. I'm on Row 5 in the first wave! Getting up early can pay dividends.

Lightweight Solo 20: 5 Minute Board and I start my warm-up lap. I run as hard as I dare (OK, I admit it - that's not very hard, but I'm trying). The steering now feels twitchy (remember above, I had backed the steering damper totally out). I grid, race starts. I have alot of weaks spots racing, but my starts are OK. I get down to 1 in pretty good shape. Some guys pass me between 2 and 3, but I also get by some others. I have a couple more go by in 4, but I get by one too. I'm going down the chute thinking "I could do pretty well if I keep this up."

I enter 5 - and never exit. Getting a little too ham fisted with the throttle I push the front out and I'm on the ground. I have now caused my first Red Flag. The bike and I are both lying in the middle of the track at Turn 5. Funny thing is, I left the horn installed. The crash pushed the clip-on against the tank, which pressed the horn button. So there's my bike, lying in the middle of the track with the horn blowing. I get up and scamper off and the first person I see is the Track Safety Director, Wendy Leland. Talk about embarrassing. This is the person that convinced me to come out to the track and start cornerworking and has been very helpful in my getting into racing. The last thing she said to me that morning was "Hope I don't see you." Oh well, if wishes were fishes we'd all cast nets.