Let me start by saying that I am not a fast rider. I can do okay, but I am not a retired racer, nor have I ever taken ’track lessons’.
I used to ride with a bunch of dentists who called themselves the ‘molar rollers’ and there were some fast guys in this group! Most of these guys rode Ducatis or 1000cc sportbikes. David Edwards (ex Cycle World editor) called Wiley the ‘world’s fasted dentist’. I’m not sure so about that, but he is fast on the street. I am not as talented as some of the doctors are, but when would keep them in sight when they are ‘on it’, I was a happy camper.
One year we all decided to ride from Seattle down to the World Superbike race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, in Monterey. I started to have charging system problems with my CBR600F2 and stopped at the Honda shop in Eureka, California to see what the problem was. I told the guys to keep on and that I would catch up with them later. I don’t know if you have ever ridden Hwy 1 from Liggett to Ft Bragg, but this road is a “10” in my book. It has great pavement, beautiful scenery if you look, and very TIGHT corners that work their way through the coastal range.
Once I left the Honda shop, I found myself cruising along at the speed limit +10 or +15 with a big smile, in and out of the sunlight; the world was perfect. As I came through a straight stretch of the big redwoods 5 riders were pulling on to the road and tucked in behind me. I think “Great, someone to ride with.” I look in the mirror and these guys are right on my tail. Okay, so they want to go a little faster – I can do that. The 15-20mph corners are behind us and now the 30mph corners are ahead – which you can do at another 10-15mph safely. When the pace picked up, I checked the mirrors again and there are only two with me - the others have dropped back.
Again I got the feeling they want to up the ante so as Emeril Lagasse would say “let’s kick it up a notch”. Now we were on it to where the tires were starting to be the deciding speed factor and I checked the mirror again – now there is only one guy back there. One more glance to see if he is thinking about passing and I notice he was crossing the line in some of the corners. At this point, I do not want to be part of something that could get ugly, so when I came up behind a truck, I timed it so I could get around, but he couldn’t. I backed it off a little and pulled into the first gas station I see in Ft Bragg –where the molar rollers are having an ice cream.
Several of them come over as I am filling up. . Now let’s sidetrack for a second. During this story I was in my late 40’s and the Molar Rollers are 5-10 years my senior. As we‘re chatting, the 5 ‘fast’ guys pull into the station. One of them, the last guy behind me (who’s maybe 20), walks over and says to two of my friends and myself “It is nice to see some of you ‘old guys’ riding sportbikes”. We’re just smiling as we all say “Thanks.” Even though in my mind I was thinking “didn’t I just show you how it’s done? You should ride with these guys because I’m not the fast one here.
The moral of the story. Don’t judge a rider’s ability by his age.
No comments:
Post a Comment