Sunday, September 21, 2008

Eagles Canyon Raceway Trackday - 9/20/08

The weather:
With a forecast calling for mostly sunny skies with temperatures in the mid-80's could you really ask for a more perfect day for a track day? Yeah, I didn't think so.

I loaded up my tools and trailer the night before then called it an early night. I woke up at about 5 am and was on the rode by 5:30. The morning was crisp with a light fog as I made my way up to Denton in the Windstar. I kept hoping to find a good place to grab a quick breakfast but I just couldn't seem to will a Taco Cabana into appearing anywhere on the way. I finally pulled over in Sanger to top off the gas can, pick up a bag of ice for the cooler, and a cup of coffee and slice of pound cake for me then made my way to Slidell. I'm still craving a couple of bacon, egg and cheese breakfast tacos.


The track:

I'm not sure what I was expecting but Eagles Canyon really surprised me. First, I wasn't expecting so many double apex turns and second, what's with all the patches??? That aside, it's just a beautiful layout with lots of elevation changes and complex turns and combinations. My first session with cold tires and a green track left me a little anxious but as the day wore on, the track really grew on me. By the end of the day, I was loving every lap and could feel myself constantly improving.


Setting up in the morning:
I knew Misfire and GravelHatesMe from SBN were planning to attend but we didn't talk ahead of time about where we might want to pit so I rolled in with the sun starting to rise hoping to see one of them. I pulled into the first area and went to the end without seeing anyone so I turned around and made my way back. Misfire spotted me in the minivan about half way down and flagged me down. I pulled in next to him and set about getting ready to go.





Session Pictures:
As I already mentioned the first morning session left me a little anxious but as the day wore on and my confidence in the bike and the track went up, my laps got better as did my turns. Misfire was nice enough to ride in Level 1 and we eventually tracked down GravelHatesMe who was also running Level 1. At one point Misfire led me out to show me the lines they were using for the intermediate group. By turn three he had pretty much left my butt behind as he worked his way through traffic. He's a much better rider, but I also think I'm not quite as aggressive passing slower riders. Probably because I'm too used to street riding and maintaining safe spacing with other cars and bikes. Eventually we did have a session where I was able to track him through an entire lap and that was really helpful. Eagles Canyon is definitely the kind of track that makes you think all day trying to really get a better understanding of how to put the pieces together. Can't wait to get out there again.











At the end of the day (a very long day):
We eventually called it a day around 5 pm and packed up to head home. It really was great to meet up with Misfire and GHM. The Daytona was like a razor blade on the track and really gave me some great confidence it what it can do. Though I still have a lot to learn and may never reach the limits of what that 675 can offer, I feel like I started to use some of it's performance.

Getting a chance to ride with good riding buds is always nice, but doing it at the track is something else altogether. I only wish I could get the rest of the Hombres Malos out to a track day. Maybe in 2009...