Can it ever get too hot for a track day?

Well... almost.

I cut most of the afternoon sessions a little short and called it an early day. 105 just seemed like a bit too much. No amount of water or gatorade seemed to help keep my head temperatures down.

This time out we had a more family friendly plan for my track day. We left early Friday morning and headed to a bed and breakfast in Granbury. We got there around 10am, unloaded the trailer, then headed to the downtown area to wander around and get some lunch. We even spent some time at the beach in Granbury. Apparently they trucked in tons of sand to make a beach on the lake. It really was a nice area but it was soooooo hot. The day overall was very relaxed and the girls all had a good time. Around 6 or so, we headed out to Cresson so I could go ahead and get my easy up out so I could sleep in a little bit longer on Saturday.

When I woke up Saturday morning it still felt like I was getting up too early even though I had called it an early night. The dull headache sure didn't help matters any. Regardless, I grabbed a shower and was at the track by about 7:15. I unloaded and while I went to register and go through tech inspection my wife was kind enough to go grab me a breakfast sandwich and some drinks and ice for the ice chest.

The day itself was really interesting. Having run that track several times but always counter clock wise, I knew it would be different going CW, but I had no idea HOW different it would feel. Sections that had grown to be my favorites gave me fits all day. Gradual uphill turns that before gave me a great sense of the track ahead of me, were now blind sections. Portions of the track eventually started to make sense like wagonwheel through the rattlesnake, but others like tombstone - boot hill - horse shoe never completely came together.

Next time I get out and run the 1.7 CCW I'm going to have to really look closely to try to determine if it really is much less of a mental challenge that CW or is it just that I'm that much more familiar with it. Even with the impossible heat, cutting my afternoon sessions short and calling it an early day, I still enjoyed the day and feel like I learned some things and improved my confidence with technical right hand turns which have always been a weakness.

Chris (sp?) from DFWSportBikes.org forums stopped by at one point. He was planning on doing the lunch time parade laps. I lost track of him after that but hope he enjoyed it.

Below are some pics from Hart Photography, http://www.hart-photography.com/. They do such a great job. The only flaw I can find with their pictures is that I'm not anywhere near as good of a rider as their pictures deserve.