Today was the final day for Hot Laps at the I-76 Speedway in Ft. Morgan, CO. I really wanted to get out for this as I have always wanted to run The Blackhawk on a dirt track, PLUS it was free for bikes to Hot Lap! How can I turn that down?!
And I'm glad I didn't because it was an awesome time! I did get a tank slapper going into turn 1 on my 2nd lap ever!
But my experience knew how to handle the situation and I kept riding on.
The second time on the track it was just me and my buddy Jason head-to-head. I led the the first 4 laps I think, and then I let Jason around as I wanted to chase him for a while.
It was a LOT of fun because our riding skills and bikes are pretty evenly matched, but I think I can come out of the corners a little sooner and a little harder next time out. After getting back to the pits, I noticed I still had about 3/4" of tread that I can turn on that wasn't even hitting the dirt.
Did a total of 18 laps on the 1/2 mile dirt track ripping in 2nd gear.
So, my bike officially has 9 miles of racing on it! Woooo Whoooo!!!!!I did almost exactly 180 miles of actual riding today, about 165 of which were freeway averaging speeds of 70-75mph with burst of 85-90mph for fun.
We also took a break about every 40 miles or so. Other than the tranny missing the occasional 3rd gear and the loop of false neutrals trying to downshift, the bike didn't miss a beat! I on the other hand am wore the fuck out. 20-30mph cross winds and the lack of a second layer of clothing really took a toll on the body, very sore and crampy now. Not to mention the nasty headache from listening to those crosswinds thrash my ear drums for 3 hours or so. But you know what? The 3 hours or boring prairie cruising was totally worth the 15 minutes of fun on the track! It was kind of funny and sketchy on the way back home, the ride back turned into a game of Dodge The Tumbleweeds! Interesting to say the least as one was blowing right in front of you about every 30-60 seconds for about 45 miles. All in all, another amazing day on an amazing bike.
Also, I got a lot of thumbs up and what not in the pits. Seems like people were excited to see me ripping up the track on a Vintage RE/Indian, the owner of the track in particular. On our last time out on the track, the flag official comes up and starts admiring my bike while waiting for our turn and I asked him "You know what the difference is between this bike and a show bike?" he replies "What?" And I tell him "This bike actually gets ridden. And I ride the fuck out of it!" He chuckled and smiled and sent us onto the track shortly there after.
Here is the route to and from the speedway
https://www.google.com/maps/dir/39.6805314,-104.7683604/18931+E+Baltic+Pl,+Aurora,+CO+80013/E+84th+Ave+%26+Interstate+25,+Thornton,+CO/40.2628535,-103.8403338/39.8852551,-104.8478984/39.885709,-104.7718467/39.7402018,-104.77219/39.6793825,-104.7680753/@39.9381241,-104.4913178,10z/data=!4m30!4m29!1m0!1m10!1m1!1s0x876c89e409029823:0x2fa5a2df8b4fa691!2m2!1d-104.7686818!2d39.6807606!3m4!1m2!1d-104.7787232!2d39.7049129!3s0x876c626a904993af:0x8bdeee3ab519de27!1m5!1m1!1s0x876c7709c23b3a91:0xb3ed728fffc1d9f0!2m2!1d-104.9846334!2d39.8456413!1m0!1m0!1m5!3m4!1m2!1d-104.7720465!2d39.820884!3s0x876c65c6d16e9409:0x991cfb76d011c461!1m0!1m0!3e0?hl=enScottie J