March 28, Finally….We go racing again!

This has been about the longest 3 weeks, ever. I mean, do you think that maybe the calendar pages actually turned slower than normal the past 3 weeks? It seemed like there was more than one Wednesday per week, this past 3 weeks. I am sure I can count at least 5 Wednesdays since the last time I was racing.

Combine that with a really horrible race the last GNCC race for me, and it feels like I am starting over. I told Scott that my goals for this race are just like starting the season over. I want to have a clean race. I hope to only stall my motorcycle a few times, maybe only 1 crash and I just want to finish. If I can be in the top 10 in my class at the end, that will be good. It truly feels like the first race of the year again.

The last 3 weeks at home have brought more winter and cold weather. It snowed at least 12 inches in the last 2 weeks. Although it has warmed up in the last few days, the snow has finally gone off the yard, but not from the woods yet. Ugh. The winter that would not stop. I be that the guys that live down south were able to ride a ton in the past 3 weeks. Not us. I have my practice bike all built and ready to ride at home, but no way. Oh well. More time on the trainer and more time in the gym the last few weeks.

So I picked Scott up this morning, and we went into the office for a bit before catching our flight to Charlotte. When I picked him up at his house, the first words out of his mouth were a big YES!!!!, we are going racing today! All right!

We had a target of getting out of the office at 12:30, Scott was running a bit late so we were on a rush to get to the airport. On the way there, Liz called me with a flat tire in town. I walked her and Ali through changing that and then we busted through the airport to catch our plane. It was a whirlwind, but then a magazine and a few songs later on the ipod, and here we are in Charlotte.

The van and trailer were just where we left them and all in perfect shape. That was a big high five between Scott and I. We both harbored a fear of arriving to a trailer and van that had been ransacked with huge chunks of our gear missing and a bike that had been vandalized. But, alas it all was fine. I like to think that is because people are basically good inside.

We needed to stop at a grocery store, and a gas station and somewhere to buy oil etc… for the bikes and the van. We ended up at Walmart. Scott calls it Wally World. I have come to the realization, that Walmart is a necessary evil for guys like us. We need food, we need van parts, we need a sleeping bag, we need a tire, we need oil for the van etc… There is no other place that has all of that stuff. I wish that I could say that I was not going to give in, but when you are here and need that stuff… there just isn’t a choice. I draw the line at sleeping in the parking lot though.

Not 2 hours on the ground, and we have seen our first confederate states flag. Front license plate of a 1989 pick up truck, right there in the Wally World parking lot. Fly it high, fly it proud. Makes you think that Lynyrd Skynyrd is going to ride again. Oh wait, they do still play, at thing like the Republican National Convention. I bet that is a happening event. A bunch of Bush cronies, with confederate flags listening to Lynyrd Skynyrd playing. I wonder if the Skynyrd guys need walkers to get on and off the stage?

So the GNCC pits is a happening place!

This is how lit up it is at 10pm. There are kids all over the place on bikes, quads all over the place, radios playing etc… It is quite a zoo.

It is warm here. When we left 3 weeks ago, there were no green leaves on the trees or green grass. Now, it is all green. Leaves on trees, grass that needs to be cut already. Wow! Spring will come!

Ok. Enough till tomorrow. Photos from the Quad race, and around the pits.

Welcome back to the south. Accents and all.

 

Joe