Day 140 : May Task - A Favourite Place

Eastern Creek has been one of my favourite places for a long time now, I've raced it in its old configuration on 2 and 4 wheels and have done more track days there on the bike than I can recall. The proximity of Eastern Creek to Canberra is probably the deciding factor for me that makes it my favourite, if Philip Island was closer it would probably take the gong.

The track itself has been undergoing a transformation over the last 18 months and it's now got a new section that has added a tighter, more technical section to it. They've also renamed it (very imaginatively I might add) Sydney Motorsport Park.

I'm yet to experience the full 'new' circuit so I'll reserve judgement on it until I've had a chance to sample it for myself. Despite the rubbish new name, I'm sure it will still be one of my favourite tracks to ride.

Day 116: Girl Racers

On my way home this morning I stopped back in at Eastern Creek to see Richard & Stacey, a couple of my mates, who were doing what I did yesterday; riding their bikes around the race track. I arrived just before they were heading out for their next session so once they'd geared up and had rolled out to pit lane I headed up onto the roof of the garages to check out their style.

In today's photo the rider at the top of the pic is Stacey and the rider at the bottom is her friend Leanne. I managed to capture Stacey taking turn one at the exact moment that Leanne was leaving pit lane to enter the track, just another flukey photo that has turned out pretty well despite my lack of skill as a photographer.

Stacey has recently started racing her bike and she's been improving very quickly, Leanne has substantially more experience and today she caught up to Stacey and then 'towed' her around the track for a few sessions.

The towing phenomena is an interesting one, essentially the act of following a faster rider can improve the pace of the slower rider in a shorter timeframe than if the slower rider were to just practice on their own. I've experienced this myself and I think it really comes down to seeing someone quicker than you using a different line through a corner, brake a little later or just hold more corner speed and that gives you, as the slower rider, the confidence to push that little bit harder.

It was great to see how Stacey had improved since the last time I'd seen here ride and it's also great to see that she's got the support of her partner as well as the support of many friends encouraging her to keep improving.

Day 115: A Bit Like Church

I spent today riding my bike around Eastern Creek with my mates Andy & Pete. Now, I'm pretty far from being a religious man but spending a day riding my bike around a race track gives me a feeling of peace and joy that would make any cashed up Hill Song groupie green with envy.

The weather held out pretty well for us during the day too, with the only bit of rain falling at the end of one of our sessions and then stopping in time for the track to be dry before our next session. Today, since the weather was good, we parked in the open carports instead of the garages that open on to Pit lane. The main reason for this is that out in the carports you can hold a conversation between sessions without having to yell over the sounds of the other groups bikes echoing through the garages as they  scream down the main straight, the other advantage today was we could put our chairs in the sun to soak up the remaining heat as it cooled a little in the afternoon.

We all had great day on the track without injury or incident, except for Pete burning his arm on Andy's exhaust when he had to catch the bike as it was falling off its stand. Andy was very appreciative of Pete's sacrifice to save his bike from damage. Despite the burn, Pete enjoyed his first track day on my old bike with the enormous grin on his face at the end of each session being a fair indication of just how joyous Pete was feeling today. I even managed to do a little bit of sneaky lap timing so I could compare the new bike against the old. Turns out I'm close to 3 seconds a lap quicker on the 675 which gave me even more reason to be joyous.

If church was as good as a day like today, I think the three of us would be incredibly devout.

Day 114: Ask And You Shall Receive

I'm house sitting for Belinda's parents tonight and tomorrow, well actually I'm really just bumming free accommodation for the nights before and after a track day at Eastern Creek... but it sounds much more benevolent if I call it house sitting.

When I arrived this afternoon I was greeted with a note, a fresh pack of Earl Grey tea and a Bottle of Chardonnay in the fridge. The bottle was left for me after I butted in on a skype call Belinda was having with her parents when organising the 'house sitting' and asked if they could leave enough leftovers for 2 nights and a bottle of wine in the fridge for me. I'll take this opportunity to add that my request was made in jest and was taken that way, but I'll also add that it was a very nice surprise to be greeted by the small list of instructions accompanied by my favourite tea and wine.

I reckon I've got some pretty good in-laws.

Day 99: A Successful Meet

This weekend was Round 1 of the St George Race Series for 2012 and it was also the first time I'd been to Eastern Creek to spectate instead of riding. I only had a half day spare this weekend to go out and watch my friend Mark racing his Yamaha FZ-1.

The race meet was a two day event and I'd been keeping an eye on Natsoft for Mark's results. He'd done exceptionally well yesterday and had won both races in the class he'd been concentrating on and was consistently in the top 3rd of the field in the second class he'd been running. Today he chose to only race in the one class because competing in both classes involved back to back races which really takes a toll both mentally and physically.

In this race Mark finished second and I found out later (through the live updates on Natsoft) that Mark had finished second in his second race and first in his last race which was enough for him to win this class outright for the weekend.

I was only able to watch one of his 3 races today so I made the most of it with Belinda's Nikon and her longest zoom lens. Of the 200+ photos I took today this is one of the handful that was actually in focus and captured the subject that I'd been aiming for. I've developed a new appreciation for the guys who do this for a living or even as a hobby, there is a lot of skill involved in taking photos of subjects moving upward of 200km/h.

I also dropped in on some other riders in the pit area, I'd done a few races last year with the BEARS and it was good to catch up with a few of the guys I shared garages with and hear some encouragement  to come back and race with them again.