So far in the summer of this year, 2015, I'm on track for everything I planned. I expected to get two days in with Penguin Racing School and I've done one and have the second coming up early in August. The first went really well and that put Jo-Ann at ease since I crashed last year and she had a valid point. It cost several thousand dollars and I could have been hurt badly. As it was I only got a little banged up but my middle finger on my right hand will never be the same. I am close to buying a racing suit and gloves. I bought boots but the size is wrong so I'm going to have to buy new ones and that's a big expense I wasn't expecting. I keep having the usual up and down feelings about everything but motorcycling has made a huge difference in my life, the most obvious difference being that I'm about ninety pounds lighter than I was four years ago.
The Long Island Sport Bikes Meetup Group is going well and today we had thirteen bikes out for our Sunday Ride. Three years ago there were no rides almost all summer long. Its great to have a group going so well and I'm really proud. A lot of credit goes to my Coorganizer Scooter. He's amazing and people really love him. I gave him a helmet communicator as a token for his work and he gracefully and thankfully accepted. A lot of the credit goes to Jo-Ann for helping me to understand how to get along with people and to stay cool and not jump in and make a problem where none needs to be.
Back to racing. I'm finding out that I'm not the biggest, baddest, and especially the fastest on the block. I'm just your average run of the mill rider and no one is much faster or slower than me. That's after practicing my tail of the past three years. I am riding smart. I've crashed or gone off the road a half a dozen times and I just don't want to do that anymore.
Now that 2015 is coming to a close, in December, it appears that it was a very mixed bag for me with my motorcycle and racing. I spent a crazy amount of money on my bike and I had a pretty bad incident on my second track day with Penguin, I cut someone off and he crashed without injuring himself badly, but, causing about $1,500.00 worth of damage to his bike. Fortunately Eric Wood was tough but understanding about this and helped me to move forward. He gave me the opportunity to recover and handle myself appropriately in the next session. I also lost my head and started racing a demo bike which I almost crashed during the incident so I am very grateful to Eric for talking me through it and giving me another chance. Some of the riders wanted me kicked out of the School but Eric intervened on my behalf.
On the other hand I did finish two Schools and was a Track Marshall for the MotoAmerica Championships where I learned a "ton" and met a bunch of great people. I am looking forward to a good 2016 year where I will get my racing license and do my first race!
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