Annie and John talk about the race weekend! There was a lot to talk about, so this is a longer podcast, and the transcript iis pretty lengthy, too! You can listen to the podcast below or read the transcript beneath that or both.
TAnnie: All right, it’s back
John: And we’re back.
Annie: And we’re done. We’re done for the weekend.
John: Until April.
Annie: Yeah.
John: All right, well, as we were talking about earlier, we have a lot to talk about.
Annie: We certainly do.
John: Yeah, certainly. We certainly have a lot to talk about.
Annie: A lot to talk about. Yeah.
John: Yeah. So Annie no longer can speak. So. All right, so we got there. Friday night. Annie: It was dark. It was dark and cold. Cold? Yeah, it was cold.
John: It was painfully cold. It was in the 20s.
Annie: Yeah. Yeah, that was unfortunate.
John: That was unfortunate. So we did the tent heater.
Annie: Oh, thank God for Doug. Yes. Well, thank God for Doug.
John: Thank God for Doug. No matter what.
Annie: Yes. We always thank God for Doug.
John: We always thank God for Doug because Doug loaned us a tent heater. Which took the edge off.
Annie: Yes. My feet were warm.
John: And so were mine, actually. So that was a joy.
Annie: You have heated socks.
John: Yeah, but I didn’t wear them to bed.
Annie: So anyway, our feet were warm.
John: Our feet were warm. The tent was not quite as painfully cold. And they also let us keep the bike in their trailer. So that the bike didn’t freeze, which would have been a pain in the ass.
John: So Friday night, got there, did the thing, made us made dinner. Lit a fire.
Annie: Lit a fire?
John: No, we didn’t light a fire.
Annie: No, we were too tired.
John: We went to bed. Got up at zero dark 30 Saturday morning. Got the bike through tech.
Annie: And then started race school.
John: Had breakfast. Oh, you didn’t have breakfast.
Annie: I didn’t have breakfast.
John: No. You didn’t eat breakfast? I had breakfast.
Annie: I forgot about that.
John: She forgot about breakfast and started race school. So the first part of school was in the classroom? So how was that?
Annie: I mean, I already knew everything. It was just flags, mainly.
John: Oh, so it’s all the stuff you’ve dealt with. It’s all the stuff you did in mini school.
Annie: It was just me and one other person at the beginning and then they brought in the two other people. From the Groms, which is so funny.
John: I wonder if they they just did that because they needed their like they didn’t have enough people to do like a separate Grom class and they were already doing race school because I can’t imagine them doing mini school.
Annie: My mini school was bullshit.
John: I know I taught it.
Annie: I know but I think they actually paid for race school.
I think yeah, because he made a joke about the $90 T-shirt. No, I think they actually paid for race school. Yeah, because I don’t think they realized that they didn’t have to to get a mini license. Okay, more power to them, right? They can be the orange shirt novices in the mini class.
John: Wow. I didn’t even think about that. That’s going to look different.
Annie: Oh. It did. Although the guy in the Suzuki colored leathers didn’t wear his, because he wore the tutu. That was a huge tutu!
John: My God, man, what a huge tutu you have!
Annie: It was really funny because…
John: I think it was wings.
Annie: No, it was a tutu. It was so big that what happened was like the way the wind moved around it. It went up his back, and it actually shaped into butterfly wings. Wow. I was like, hell yeah, bro, you got wings, you got wings, you got wings, you got wings.
John: So classroom race school was whatever.
Annie: We had our first practice, which was started as a lead follow. And then he let me go. And then I don’t think he followed me that much because I think he just ended up hanging out with one of the kids on the Groms.
John: The kids had asked. Yeah.
Annie: No, because I had asked. I had asked him and me, and I was like, hey, can you follow me around? So I was a little bit a little bit salty. Yeah. But you know what? I don’t I’ve had one on one coaching, you know.
John: Yes. You’ve had one on one coaching. Thank you, Andy Bals.
Annie: Yes. And so it’s nice for others. It’s nice for other people to get it too. And to be honest, I think everybody watches me on the track so much that I have, you know, I have like 20 on one coaching at any point in time.
John: I don’t know what you’re talking about. Me. Doug.
Annie: Yep. Literally everybody who came by and said, you nailed that one.
John: The officials. The guy we were talking about talking to at the end of the day is an official.
Annie: He was the race school teacher. The guy who runs the crash truck loves me.
He took pictures of me at Barber that one time, He’s like gotta take pictures of my people. He’s a great guy. Love him.
John: But anyway, we probably should learn his name.
Annie: So then went out for practice. Both practices. Went out for one minis practice, which I was glad that I did, because I went out for the minis practice first before I did the practice for the bigger bike. Yeah. And that was nice to get, like, to get around the track on a bike that goes about all of 12 before actually getting on the big bike. So I got to see the track before I had to think about, like, other parts of me. The body position still isn’t 100% natural yet, either. So, there’s more there to think about, So it was nice to get out on the Benelli and just do a couple laps there. Did the first practice felt good. And then went back to the classroom. And we went over the track
John: Oh. You did?
Annie: Yeah, yeah we did. In the most back ass weird way. Like it just it was just kind of because it was the the guy who does all the announcements and does the the racer meeting.
John: The race director?
Annie: Yeah, the race director. I don’t know his name.
John: Frank Harmon.
Annie: Yeah. It was him. And then it was the guy that we were talking to just kind of talking about, like, different points in the track that they think about. But it was just really, weird. I don’t think I got anything out of it. I’ve also thought about that track so much, because you printed a track map and I’ve heard so much. So it was probably information that I just already knew and therefore didn’t think about that much. But I’m sure it was helpful for other people. And then we went out for practice number two, and that also felt really good.
John: And by the way you were four seconds a lap faster in that practice. You ran 1:21s in the first practice and you ran 1:17 in the second practice.
Annie: And then we had lunch. Got my race license, technically. And then we went out for the mock race.
John: And what happened to the mock race, Annie?
Annie: Wellllll, I was doing so good.
John: Yes you were.
Annie: I was doing so good.
John: Yeah. You picked up another second.
Annie: Yeah, I ran a 1:16 and that’s good.
John: That’s competitive for that bike.
Annie: That’s a good time for a for a starter. And then we get three laps in and you know, this really interesting thing happens when it gets cold. You don’t you don’t have traction, especially after about three laps. Your tires get cold. So that happened. And so I was hauling ass through turn one. Because you’re supposed to haul ass through turn one. I nailed that corner. Like everybody has attested to the fact that I did it perfectly. Then all of a sudden, I was on the ground, because I had lost the front end. I slid on my face, and then I tumbled, and then I was upright and it was fine. And, I picked up my bike pieces. I took a bow. I waved to the crowd, and then Beasley brought me back. And we spent the rest of the day putting the bike back together.
John: Beasley is the chaplain. Well, one of the chaplains.
Annie: Both of the chaplains were here.
John: Yes, which is not unusual at Tally for some reason. They’re usually both here.
Initially, we didn’t start putting the bike back together because I was looking at the thing going we are not getting that motorcycle back together.
Annie: Yeah, it didn’t look great. No. I mean, really, the left half is really bad.
John: It’s only got about two thirds of the tail section now. And you know, it’s got a big dent in the tank and it had half a windscreen.Yeah.
Annie: Which by the, for the record, is all reasonably rideable. But the issue was the clutch lever
John: The shifter rod. We broke a shift rod, and it pulled the wires out of the out of the quick shifter sensor, so things were not looking good there.
Annie: Let’s pause for a minute on recovery. How did you feel watching your kid crash? John: I was pretty panicked, to be honest with you, because I’ve seen some gnarly damn crashes in that corner. Most notably Emily Prince, three years ago, who crashed in that corner. Now, obviously she was on a bigger bike and moving much faster, but crashed in that corner and had to get airlifted. I was momentarily panicked, but you stood up almost immediately. And I was like, okay, she’s up. Then when you took a bow, I was like, we’re fine.
Annie: Well, I had to let you know I was okay. Yes. You know what better way to do that than take a bow? I gave you a thumbs up first.
John: You did. The thumbs up was like she feels okay. The bow was like, she’s fine. But that was a little hard. Heart wrenching, I gotta admit. As I mentioned on the way here, watching you do this thing just because I’ve done it and I’ve encouraged it and I’m paying for it doesn’t make it any easier for me to watch you do it. It might even be harder for me because I know the dangers. Because I’ve done it many, many times, frankly.
Annie: Your tone has changed a little bit. You said you were less freaked out than you did going there than you have than you said coming backm which is probably because I crashed.
John: I think that might have something to do with it. So back to recovery. When you get the bike back, I was sitting there going, there’s no goddamn way. That thing is not happening. And then I decided to put a clip-on on it, just just to be able to load it. Then all of a sudden Doug Parker comes out of the woodwork going, yeah, we can fix that shift rod! He’s like, I’ve got one and we can make one. And I’m like, oh, okay. And then all of a sudden, all of a sudden we had a bike. Yep. You know he, he you know he made a new shift rod essentially. I put it on the bike. And while he was making the shift rod, I kind of put bodywork back where it needed to be and taped it up – you know, duct tape and zip ties, and got it where it would pass tech! And we yanked the windscreen so that, you know, because that was not going to pass. Doug Parker shows up with a shift rod. And I think the thing that got me was the fact that he had not one, but two left-handed thread taps in the paddock.
Annie: Because he’s prepared.
John: I don’t even own a left handed thread tap.
Annie: I would bet money you do.
John: I do not. I know this for a fact. I do not own a left handed thread tap. And he has two in the paddock. He’s prepared for everything.
Annie: Because he also had the peg.
John: He had a foot peg, too, because Annie only had about that much foot peg left, so he had two spare foot pegs from which to choose.
Annie: Which is funny because I one of my first thoughts when I got back out on the bike was my foot pegs are different.
John: Yeah. Because you had the whole thing. I was gonna say, I don’t think you’ve had a whole foot peg on that bike because I ground them off. I ground them off on both sides. I didn’t even think about that. But you’re right. So yeah, Doug shows up with a with all the tools to make a shift rod, including the rod itself. We sit there and make a shift rod. I put it on the bike. We eliminated the quick shifter because that was done. There was no way to make that happen. I got everything taped, and the bike looks like it’s permanently turning to the right because the fairing stays bent. But it passed tech, which has become my new motto. Yeah. It passed. You want to do this? No, it has already passed tech. You want to fix that? No, it has passed tech. It’s fine, it’s fine! I think McConville was a little disappointed that we didn’t let him mess with it more, because he wanted to play with it. No, no it’s already passed tech! You know because we might fuck something up. We don’t want to fuck anything up. We’ve passed tech. So so we passed tech. And the other thing was, is they basically waived the fact that you crashed in race school and let you race anyway, so you got your permit, you got your provisional novice license!
Annie: I think it was part because Joe Fischer was mad because he crashed because of cold tires, so he just kind of felt bad for me.
John: He felt bad for you. And I think part of it was also because that crash was a cold tire crash. Yeah. It wasn’t your fault. There was nothing she could have done with that. So we got the bike back together. Yeah. And it passed tech. Yeah. And so we had dinner and went to bed at, like, 8:30.
Annie: Well, at about 6:30, we were looking at each other going, okay, is it bedtime? I know because it got dark so early. So we just sat by the fire for a while, waited for the fire to burn down? We didn’t talk. We didn’t talk to anybody because we were both tired of talking to people. Yeah. Because, I mean, everybody knows everybody. Everybody comes and checks.
John: Everybody came and checked on you, and it was hugely appreciated. We’re both are introverted and, you know, so by the end of the day, it’s exhausting. But it’s cool. We still love all of you and appreciate always appreciate the concern hugely because damn. It just meant that we were tired. It just meant that we were tired. But yeah, we went and knocked off at like, 8:30. Yeah. You know, I went right to sleep. I don’t know about you.
Annie: I have no idea. I was, I think I was awake until like ten, which was still really early.
John: Yeah. I took two Trazodone, but I always do and just knock myself out. I was asleep in 15 minutes. I did woke up naturally at about 6:45.
Annie: I woke up at about seven.
John: I got up in the middle of the night to pee a couple of times and made sure that McConville’s generator was running, which I’m glad I did, because this generator at one point wasn’t running, which he would have been disappointed by.
Annie: It was cold
John: It was cold.
Annie: It was cold
John: Oh, God was it cold! I even turned the heater up twice, but it was still cold. The heater was a joy. Yeah, but it was cold, especially when you’re trying to start a generator in the dark, in the cold. When I got back in the sleeping bag, I was like, I’m never leaving here again. Then two hours later, I’d pee again. But it is what it is.
So we got up this morning. You had breakfast.
Annie: I had breakfast this time. Yeah, it was great. Started a fire. Sort of. Kind of. It took us a minute.
John: Then it didn’t last very long.
Annie: No, it didn’t, but it still made us warmer. And then skipped the first practice because it was too damn cold. Very few people went out. Well, nope.
John: Mcconville went out. He was the only one that went out for for practice one.
Annie: So very, very few people went out, just like for the first sessions at all because the track was cold.
John: You know, most everybody had been there the day before. So then then we went helmet hunting. And Lee Eshelman overheard me asking other people nearby if they had a helmet, and he just yells out what size? And I’m, like, large, and he just hands me a lid, which he has let us keep until we get another lid for you. It is a nice lid, since we haven’t crashed in that one yet. It’s back there. That was amazing.
Annie: That was really, really incredible.
John: Little aside here. Without the racing community this weekend we wouldn’t have had a weekend. Yeah. I mean, we would have just done the minimum if you didn’t get a lift from Lee. Yeah. No, I really wouldn’t. You wouldn’t? We wouldn’t have had a weekend. Without Doug and Jim McConville loaning tools and Lee loaning us a helmet, and Beasley giving you a ride back from the crash so you didn’t have to ride in the crash truck. And just all the people who came by to check on you. I’m sure I’m forgetting some people in there.
Annie: I’m sure there’s people we don’t even know about because Doug was walking around the paddock looking for a cutoff wheel or a hacksaw. Whoever’s Dremel he ended up using…
John: Thanks to you, Dremel guy. We don’t know who you are, but we love you. So that was just amazing. So, yeah, helmet hunting was successful thanks to Lee Eshelman. What did we do then?
Annie: Adian Cook had one, too, so we had a couple options.
John: Adian had an XL that we would have made work, but it just wouldn’t have been the right fit. We had options. I mean, racing people are the people are the best. I love the racing community. They’re the best damn people on earth. And as much as I love racing, like, they are a lot of the reason I just keep doing it over and over and over again.
Annie: I mean, the people are the reason that you still enjoy coming to the racetrack even though you’re no racing. I mean this would suck if you didn’t enjoy coming with me.
John: Oh my God. Yeah, right. I’d be, like, sitting in the paddock by myself going, this suuuuuks. No, because I’m just hanging out with my friends. 90% of my friend group is here at the racetrack, and the ones that aren’t at the racetrack are people that I’ve met through racing and track days, mostly. So then you went out for regular race practice on the 300.
Annie: Yeah. Didn’t feel great.
John: No, you didn’t look great when you came back. You actually looked mildly terrified.
Annie: Yeah. I think that was a good way to put it.
John: Talk about that experience a little bit.
Annie: You know, it was still cold, for starters. And knowing that I had done everything perfectly, I still had a cold tire crash. It kind of put it in my head… It just made me very cautious and very nervous because even though I had done everything right, I still fell off and it still hurt. I knew it was bound to happen. Crashing sucks. Everybody does it.
John: You know something we’ve not addressed about your crash? How are you? How are you physically and mentally?
Annie: I mean, I’m good. Honestly, I’m a little banged up, but l think I definitely got lucky for how fast of a crash it was that I ended up as okay as I am. I got a few bruises and bumps, but it’s not anything bad. It could have been a lot worse. Grateful that it’s not. John: Yeah. Me too. Me too! Yeah. Yup. Dad’s definitely still grateful, too.
Annie: Physically I’m pretty okay. Racing takes so much. There’s so much to think about. The thing is the minute you’re thinking about something else you start to fall apart. You miss everything, even body position. Body position is not a natural thing for me yet. I still have to think about that. So my body position started to go out of line. My lines were bad. Like, I just was not into it. Like. And it was. And the cold, it was still cold because the sun hadn’t really come out yet. Just the feeling of the cold was kind of biting at me a little, because, now I’m hyper aware of it. Because I know that it sucks and I know that it is changing my track conditions. That is another thing that’s on my mind. That is keeping me from thinking about what I should be thinking. I did not really have a great first session.
John: But you got out there.
Annie: Yeah, I did.
John: You got on the bike?
Annie: Yeah.
John: You rode around in circles?
Annie: Yep I did. And I’m glad that I did. Unless I got injured, I don’t think there was going to be something that stopped me from doing that.
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Annie: We’re back. The cold was biting at me and I knew I wasn’t going to have a great session. And I didn’t. That’s okay. Then I went out on the mini, and I felt better on the mini. Obviously, it still wasn’t 100%.
John: But when you came back in you looked at me and said “I needed that.” Yes. That’s because you were having a battle with Doug and Owen!
Annie: Well, that and the fact that I’m familiar with that bike. I know how to do this track with it. It was the first track I ever rode on the bike that I rode it on.
John: You’ve already crashed that bike, so it doesn’t matter. You got that over with. Annie: Yeah, and is was a worse crash. It was just kind of one of those I needed to get out there and get on something that I know how to do and I don’t I don’t need to think about nearly as much, you know. So then, you know, it was lunch and the mini race. And did I do as well as I normally do on the mini scale? No.
John: You looked like you’re having a good time.
Annie: I mean, I still had a little bit less fun than I would have if I was at, like, full confidence, but that was also because I was getting passed and that was annoying me. But I wasn’t 100% confident to take those passes and go after them. Except for when Amy passed. That made me so mad. We’re coming out of the carousel, going down that back straight, and she passed me coming out of the carousel. And I knew that I wasn’t carrying enough speed through there. Right. I was like, shit, this blows. She was the one person last year who was the person that I was not quite fast enough to chase down. You know, but she was kind of like the next level up. Then it became, I want to beat Amy.
John: Oh, I knew when she crossed the line in front of you, I knew you were going to be mad. And actually, do you know what was funny? All the race officials looked at me and said, oh, Annie’s going to be pissed.
Annie: So yeah, she got by me. And I got past her again on the back straight. And then I just, I was running in, like, a slightly farther in line going into the farmhouse, and I hit the brakes more than she did, and she just went around me. Yeah. And just got me. And she was carrying more speed. So I wasn’t going to catch her. Oh, that pissed me off. It really did. That was not a good one.
John: So that won’t happen again in April.
Annie: No, Amy’s not beating me this time. I still ran faster in the race than in practice, which was good.
John: You dropped, what, two seconds?
Annie: Just one. I also ran faster than I did the last time that I raced. Four seconds faster. Oh, wow. I was running, I was doing 1:42s. So even on a bad day, I was still running faster.
John: You said to me that you felt like riding the 300 was going to make you faster on the mini as well, just because of the perspective shift about the speed.
Annie: Yeah, right. And it’s also changed my body position on the mini as well. Because the body position feels so unnatural on the Benelli. And then when you get on the bigger bike, you have to have good body position, or you are not going to go as fast. That is simple as that. My body position has gotten so much better that it’s really changed on the Benelli just kind of through getting on the 300.
John: Each of those bikes has something to teach you, right?
Annie: Yeah. because the Benelli taught me that corner speed is important, and the 300 taught me I’m not going that fast on the Benelli. And the 300 taught me that going fast in the straights is actually a skill. So the mini race happened. Got second. And then had a while before race 11 since mini was race one. So we had some time. Packed up some gear. My mom and my aunt came out. That was cool. And then went out for race 11 and was still a little nervous, for sure. Oh, by the way, the one thing that I did do on the Benelli, yes, that I was proud of was I went through one wide open, which I have never done. I did it once. I scared the piss out of myself a little bit, but I did it and that was important. I did manage to do that and that did inspire me a little to have some confidence back on the 300. So then we go out for the 300 and everybody goes by me. And I’m slow, and that’s okay.
John: Well, they also gridded you in the back, which is unusual.
Annie: It’s because I’m a provisional novice. So everybody goes by me, and I just kind of take a second before the race where I realized that I had put a lot of pressure on myself to do well on the 300, you know, because, like, I wanted to. I wanted to do well and I wanted to win races and I wanted to do all of that. And then I kind of had to take a step back and go, I’m not looking to do a career in this and I’m not experienced. I have all the time in the world to gain all of this experience. This is not the last time that I’m ever going to get to do this. I’m here to have fun and if I put pressure on myself, then I’m not going to have fun. I was upset that I wasn’t doing as well after crashing. I had done really good, I put up a 1:16. I put up some really good laps the day before. I was kind of pushing myself to get back there. I said no, take a step back. You don’t have to be as fast as you were yesterday. It is. It’s probably going to take you some time to get back to where you were, because you did have a hard crash, and that is going to mess with your head, so give yourself a break and go have fun. So I ran a race entirely by myself in the back. I got lapped and I didn’t care because I was out there and I had fun and I was doing it again, even though something bad had happened. That was just as much of a win as the trophy that I took. So I did, however, win the race. Kind of.
John: Should we talk about that?
Annie: Sure. Because I’m apparently me and four races are going to be a thing. There were only two people in my class. It was me and a young, young kid.
John: When you say young guys, we’re talking 12.
Annie: And he went down the fifth or sixth lap. He went down coming out of two. They red flagged the race because it was him and somebody else that went down. They red flagged the race, and because he went down he got DQ’d and I won.
John: You had the slowest possible race, essentially, for yourself and you won your class. Rock on with your bad self!
Annie: I’m really happy. At the end of the day, you know what I did this weekend? I set a personal best anyway. I got my first crash out of the way. I won the very first race that I actually finished. Because always we always go back to “To finish first you must first finish.” I got off the bike and I felt good. I wasn’t horrified like I was the first time. I was breathing, I was fine, I was tired, but I was happy. That’s what we’re here for.
John: I was gonna say, happiness is the end goal. Yes. Race wins are nice, but they’re not the end goal.
Annie: At the end of the day, even if you’re the slowest person out there, you’re still out there. And that’s what’s important.
John: Right. As I’ve often said to people who ask me on the weekends that I’m not getting results, how are you doing? I’m like, I’m great. I’m here at the racetrack. What else do you want from me? This is my happy place.
Annie: This was a this was a good reminder that we’re out here to have fun.
John: Even I had fun. Weird being a pit bitch. But I did discover something. If you are somebody’s pit bitch, you are then everybody’s pit bitch. I had more people ask me to do more things while you were on the track or off doing something else than you can shake a stick at. It was hysterical. I helped McConville… I don’t mind doing it, by the way, I’m not complaining… I just thought it was funny because I’m sitting there going, oh, I am now everybody’s pit bitch. I helped McConville adjust his cameras and I did a couple other things for him. I helped Braden again. Braden came back with his bike and we made a couple adjustments on it.
Annie: That’s hilarious. You know, I mean, I would like to point out that you’re probably just noticing it more and you’re also more available. You were everybody’s pit bitch before, you just called it pit dad before. Everybody showed up at our pit anyway. You’re just not in leathers anymore.
John: I’m not leathers because I’m not racing. I have more time to do more shit for other people. Exactly. God, the cops. Holy crap. Georgia State Patrol has decided that they are going to out in force. We’ve seen at least four of them. That’s the authenticity part of the podcast.
Annie: Yes. Talk more about how your weekend was since we talked a bunch about me.
John: Yeah. Well, I mean, you raced.
Annie: How did it feel to watch me actually complete a race?
John: It was great. I was so excited for you. I was just like, hell, yeah. And then when I realized that the kid that the kid had crashed was in your class and you had won, I was like, well, once we knew he was okay…
Annie: Yeah. Once we knew he was okay.
John: He stood up.
Annie: Yeah, I know, but they still rolled ambulance.
John: Yeah. He highsided, so it was a hard crash for sure, but he did stand right up. The 12 year olds bounce. But it was great watching you race. The crash thing was hard. Yeah. I was very excited for you all through race school. It was fun watching you in the mock race until you crashed and then seeing your lap times, I was like, all right. I said this to you earlier, too: I thought you did well at Jennings, but I don’t know Jennings well enough to know a good lap time there on the 300, because the last time I rode Jennings was on the 250. But, I’ve probably run 10,000 laps at this track. I’ve rented it several times. It was funny because when I said that. The reason your mom was grinning is because I think I rented it four times when she and I were still married and she’d been to that track many times for those days. So I know what this track is like. I know what a competitive lap time is here. I know how to help you improve.
Annie: So what do you think I can improve? We actually haven’t had this conversation. John: No we haven’t. We were going to, but I guess we can have it on the podcast, right? Your entry into one is a little off. Actually, it’s not your entry. Your entry is right. You’re apexing too early. You need to take a wider line longer. You look good in two from a lines perspective, but you can just carry more speed there. You need to be a little more confident in three, because watching you in three, you’re taking the correct line. You might be a little too inside, maybe six, eight inches, because that tar snake, you should be on it. You went in and I saw your bike do this, like you’re wobbling the bike. The track there, if you hit that right, the track there at exit is really wide. It’s crazy wide. You have more track there than you think you do. Of course, the unfortunate part is that you have more track than you think you do until you don’t, because I have off roaded there once or twice. Your carousel entry is good. I couldn’t see your line through there. Where are you on the track through the carousel?
Annie: Kind of all over the place. I’m probably not doing that correctly. But that’s also, I think, a commitment thing. You really got to commit to that corner. I think I was doing it better yesterday. I think what’s happening there is I’m not carrying enough speed because I’m not.
John: I know you’re not. No, I can tell you you’re not. I think you’ve got at least I think you’ve got an easy three seconds. That’s what I’m saying. Not just in the carousel.
Annie: You don’t need to agree with me so vehemently!
John: Oh, fine. Sorry. Sorry, sorry. Okay. Anyway, you think you can carry more speed through there?
Annie: I know I can. I know I need to carry more speed through there to run the correct line. Yes. I think I need to enter probably a little later.
John: Where are you entering? Are you entering at the sign?
Maybe.
When you look at the entry marker, it is always in the same place. Enter when the front wheel hits the entry marker sign, essentially. I mean, don’t literally do that because then you’d be off the racetrack, but front wheel hits the entry marker sign, drop in. You can follow almost any line through that segment as long as you don’t cross over the middle. Because that section of track has a crown. If you get across the center line in there you’re in an off camber corner. You’re reverse banked, and it’s really easy to lose traction back there. I can tell you that because I’ve done it. As you’re coming out, just about the time you hit the corner station right there, you should you should grab a gear up. You should be wide open throttle. You can carry a shit pile of speed through there. You should be on your knee the whole time pretty much. Then just wind it up. The other place you can gain a ton of speed is farmhouse.
Annie: Farmhouse confuses the shit out of me. Actually, farmhouse doesn’t confuse the shit out of me. Farmhouse looks tighter than it is.
John: Yes. And you have to get over that.
Annie: I do have to get over that.
John: Yes. Because farmhouse looks like it’s a 90 degree turn, and it’s absolutely not. It’s really because farmhouse, like we were talking about before, is technically three corners. But it actually kind of makes one big soft left. Start your break marker around two on this bike because if you start too much later, if you start any later, it really just upsets the chassis a lot, and you’re not going to make a good entry. There’s a pavement patch there. About two thirds to three quarters of the way on that pavement patch, make your corner entry. You go in and you’ll hit the apex. You’ll follow that inside line, essentially the corner, It’ll do this but don’t change line. Stay straight on line and go right on to the front straight. At the last apex or shortly thereafter you’ll grab one more gear up, which you have to practice because you’re still going to be leaned over. You’ll hit the rev limiter if you don’t. And then from there when you enter turn one you enter all the way right. and there’s a big patch of asphalt right there. You hit the far corner of it, the far right corner. You hit that and there’s a tar snake at the at the exit. Hit it or come inside it, and then you’re just WFO into two. Thank you for the John Cloonan tour of the racetrack on the 300.
Annie: I mean, that’s great. I’m glad we have this on our recording so I can come back. So I’m going to forget about a third of that.
John: If you if you work on farmhouse, you’ll gain almost a second in farmhouse, I think. Annie: I know that I break early there.
John: You should break at the two. Harder.
Annie: Yeah, that makes me nervous. In general, things that I know that I can do better besides specific corners. Later breaking for sure. Yeah. I need to work on shifting properly and timing on that, because I find myself generally a gear higher than I should be.
John: Which means you’re killing your acceleration.
Annie: And just committing to carrying more speed through the corners, through all of the corners.
John: That’s something with the 300 that you have to do, because the 300 is a corner speed bike. You know, anything below about a 600 is a corner speed bike.
Annie: Some of that will come with experience, of course, and I’ll get faster.
John: This was your first race weekend on that motorcycle. Barring the crash, I think you had a pretty successful weekend. Yes, you have room to improve, but you’ve done one race weekend. Yeah. I think you, you know, I think that’s to be expected.
Annie: I’m also aware of it. I will say that Doug Parker gave me a compliment that I appreciated. He said I was very hard to pass because I use all the racetrack, which was not something that I used to do. That made me happy.
John: He mentioned that in practice when you and him and Owen were going at it, he was not letting off, and you stayed in front of him because you’re hard to pass. That was fun to watch. Yeah, that was really fun to watch. Yeah. So good stuff. All right. Do we have anything else we want to talk about?
