Ann and I had a great time up at Thunderhill yesterday. It was mid 80's and sunny, with very little wind. We got there early enough to park underneath the large permanent canopy in the paddock, which helped immensely (we don't have our own canopy yet). I met a friend up there who has ridden with us a few times (Kim Cardin). Kim had a partially interesting, mostly frustrating day as his Bandit crapped out after a lap or two each time he went out on track.

I used the XT Racing laptimer for the first time yesterday, and it worked perfectly. There were supposed to be 2 beacons up on the wall, but coming in after my first session, I received zero laps on the device. Ann was there with a stopwatch (the XT Racing X4), so there was a backup to accurately record my ineptitude on the track.

So, I went out to look at the beacons, and both of them were in place, but turned off. I got mine out of the car, hooked it up to the battery, and installed the tripod a few feet from the other beacons. I kept it a foot or two behind the pit wall, to try and gain some distance from a bike passing close by and the beacon. Ann was there to help make sure that my beacon was on and nobody was messing with the other beacons (nobody messed with the other ones all day; not sure who set them up and why they left them off). But the good news is, I didn't miss a single lap the rest of the day; the beacon/receiver worked absolutely flawlessly. There was one time where I was directly to the left of another bike when we both passed the beacon, and I was sure I'd lose that lap, but it recorded it without an issue.

Just uploaded the laps onto the PC, and have a permanent record of times that I hope to be embarassed about a few years from now. I plugged the battery I was using into the battery tender when I got home, and it was still at 90%+ charge (tender was blinking green immediately), and took less than 10 minutes to go full green again; so I'd guess the battery would power the beacon for days at a time between recharges.

My times were OK, and while I was more consistent this time, I haven't dropped my times as much as I had hoped for. :( Here are some of the pics from the day. I ended up not buying the GotBlueMilk CD of pictures, as they all looked the same as my last CD of pictures. :D

There's still a couple of these left this year, and if anyone is interested, please get out to those websites and sign up; they are a complete blast. Here's a link to the other trackday thread: Click Here (http://www.montgomerybikers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21)

http://aciurczak.smugmug.com/photos/26435467-L.jpg

http://aciurczak.smugmug.com/photos/26435509-L.jpg

http://aciurczak.smugmug.com/photos/26435590-L.jpg

http://aciurczak.smugmug.com/photos/26435625-L.jpg

sounds like a good day....and i like the nifty chairs with the umbrellas! where'd ya get those?

the bike is up on a front stand?

We've had the camping chairs for awhile. Late Sunday night, we found out our buddy bswigg had mixed up dates, and was not in fact going to be up with us on Monday (he's signed up for next Monday). So, we were canopy-less. We tried to find a canopy at Walmart, but there was nothing suitable, and all Walmarts within driving distance were sold out of the EZ-Up canopies. They did have these nifty $5 umbrellas that hook on to camping chairs though, so we splurged and got 2. :) Turns out that the huge metal canopy was better than anything we could have brought, so I'm just going to make a point of being at the gate as close to 7 AM as possible each time so I can park underneath of it. We're only in the sun in those pictures since the sun was still very low in the sky that early in the morning...

The bike is up on front/rear pitbull stands. Makes it easier to check tire pressure, along with looking appropriately blingish. :biggrin: I only put it up on a rear stand once later in the day to lube the chain...

OK, so the gadgets were way cool and I had too much fun taking lap times, not just for Alex, but for random folks I met. There was one 17 year old kid - his father was sitting with me where I was timing laps (between hot pit and front straight) - who was doing his first track day EVER and getting times of 2:11!!! Anyway, not to embarass Alex.... but yes, to embarass him, here's a nifty graph I put together.

http://aciurczak.smugmug.com/photos/26566914-L.jpg

The x-axis is labeled as Day.SessionIDLapID, that is the number to the left of the decimal denotes the day. 1 for May 23, 2 for June 27. The first number to the right of the decimal denotes the session - 6 or 7 each day - note that for Day 2, the first session ID is "0". The second number to the right of the decimal indicates the lap for each session - about 6 recorded laps per session on May 23 and 5 recorded laps per session on June 27. The difference in number of laps is due to the start/finish timing location. The black line is a moving average - 6 period moving average for May 23 since Alex did about 6 recorded laps a session on that day and a 5 period moving average for June 27, again since Alex did about 5 recorded laps a session on that day. This is why the white squares, which are the session averages, are almost on top of the black lines. The blue line is the average for each day.

What do we learn from this graph?

The post-lunch drag coefficient is a real effect. Alex, next time DO NOT EAT LUNCH.
Alex tends to start the day off horribly - notice the first lap on Day 2 is WAY above the legend at a time greater than 2:43. Alex, maybe next time we should just skip timing the first session to help you save face.:D
Day 2 is better than Day 1 - a GOOD thing. Looking forward to Day 3 (July 23) to see if the trend continues. :)
Slight improvement within each day - well, if you ignore the post-lunch effect.
Day 2 has less variation than Day 1 - another GOOD thing as it shows consistency and better control, although I don't think it's quite six sigma quality. Perhaps Day 3 will bring us closer to entitlement... OK, maybe too geeky for anyone, but Demming fans may understand.

OK, so the gadgets were way cool and I had too much fun taking lap times, not just for Alex, but for random folks I met. There was one 17 year old kid - his father was sitting with me where I was timing laps (between hot pit and front straight) - who was doing his first track day EVER and getting times of 2:11!!!

Talk about random folks I met... OK, so the father that I was sitting next to whose 17 year old was riding in B group with Alex was David Sadowski. He introduced himself as "David Sadowski", which confused me, because I wasn't sure why he told me his full name. I just said "Hi, my name is Ann," and wondered if I was supposed to end that with Ciurczak since he was being so formal himself.

Anyway, he saw me with my timer and asked if I could time his son, which I did. I entered into my timer the name "Ski" per the father's request. He was perfectly pleasant - asked who I was timing and what Alex's lap times were, etc.

Anyway, we just looked him up and turns out he won the Daytona 200 in 1990!

Here's an interesting article on him:
http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2005/May/050525ski-interview.htm

I guess I need to brush up on my Who's Who in motorcycling before I go back to Thunderhill... Now that I think about it, Dave was probably thinking Alex's lap times were pretty slow... puts a whole new perspective on my conversation with him.

David Sadowski!!? I'm surprised you didn't recognize the name right away....he was a commentator for the AMA races on SPEED....and (or rather, because he was) an accomplished racer (as you've already learned).

No wonder his kid was so fast! He's probably been riding for 15 of his 17 years...

Yeah, Dave's son has been riding forever. I asked him if his son rode dirt bikes when we was a kid and he answered yes, his son has been riding ever since he was "this high". Actually, the link to the article I have in a previous post has a part where he talks about his son "Davey" and him riding dirt bikes, etc. The 17 year old that was riding on Monday, his name is David as well, so I assume "Davey" must be the same kid.

I also thought about some other things that were said... and the nasty look I gave at one point... oops. Hope he never finds this forum and reads this. :eek: I gave him a nasty look when he was asked by one of the trackday workers to hop on the back of the trackday worker's bike to ride to a downed rider's bike on the track. When he hopped on the back of the bike, he made a comment about feeling like a girl. That's when I turned around and gave him a nasty look :mad:. I'm pretty sure he saw the look.

ann, you can always be counted on to defend the XX chromosomes in male-dominated arenas!

i guess dave sr. is known for speaking his mind, so his comment isn't surprising. it's "color commentary."

looks like you two have the trackday routine down to a well-oiled process, and post-hoc data summary is getting quite advanced. i saw an ad for a suspension logging device, i wonder when that will be added to your arsenal! ann may have a potential second career opportunity as a race-team data specialist!

alex, i figured the front stand had a bit of bling motivation and couldn't resist... :biggrin:

good weather, new umbrellas, fancy gadgets and a brush with moto-celebrity, what a day!

In Roadracing World June 2006, page 20, there is a short blurb on David Sadowski, Jr. - aka Davie. There's a picture of him too! The caption under his picture says:

"Imagine Our Surprise when, while researching the Young Guns feature in this issue, we learned that the 2006 Daytona 200 was the first sanctioned road race entered and finished by David Sadowski, Jr., the 18-year old son of former Daytona 200 winner David Sadowski. That means that Sadowski did not meet the minimum requirements for inclusion in the Young Guns feature, but he did finish 35th in the Daytona 200. When not racing, David Sadowski is a movie stunt man. Go Davie!"

Pretty funny, huh? Wonder what movies he's done? I'll have to look him up in imdb.

Also in the same magazine were pictures and a few articles on Elena Myers. She no longer has a pink bike and leathers!!! Umbrella Girls is no longer a sponsor, which is probably why no PINK! I'm disappointed in her new colors, but I still think she is so cool!

I saw that and though of you, Annie.

I think there's an article BY Elena in one of the racing-oriented magazines, too.

I saw that and though of you, Annie.

I think there's an article BY Elena in one of the racing-oriented magazines, too.

Yes, the Article BY Elena is in the same issue. I thought it was a good article! BUT, this is also where there is a big picture of her on her bike with the new colors (Yellow and Blue).

I checked out imdb... couldn't find anything on Davie. I also checked out Elena's website and nothing that mentions the departure with Umbrella girls. Nothing on the Umbrella Girls website either. OK... I know... I just need to get over it! In my defense, PINK is not just a color, it's a way of life!