Mega Day
Nice , short breifing , then straight into.......................a puncture on my mate's bike
It had deflated in between the breif , and us signing on ( ie paying ) Nightmare !
However the organiser ( Chris ) was able to point him in the direction of a used ( well used ) Diablo for £cheap.
A quick call to his missus , and the paddock stand was on it's way. There were a couple of guys offerd to lend us one , but they were the bobbins type.
With the faffing about , I missed the Yellow group , so went straight into Green ( intermediate ) for my first experience on Track. Nice.
Only a dozen or so on track , so plenty of room for all .The first session was a procession , following an instructor, like a line of ducklings waddling about.
2nd session , and I was into it
The intention being to find my way around , & gradually build up speed throughout the day. That lasted about a lap.
Stunning to give it full throttle without worrying about trucks , cars and pedestrians launching at you
Pretty quickly found that I hadn't really been concentrating on the right lines , and had a " not going to make it " experience at the chicane just after the Start/Finish. Resolved it by going grass tracking , which was interesting.
Sie ( my mate ) missed the first 2 sessions , and re-joined for the last 6 sessions.
I got Shaun ( an instructor/ racer ) to have a look at me. His assesment was along the lines of " Smooth , steady & quick "
Well , what he actually said was, try and be smooth & steady , that way you'll be quicker " . Ah well. He said that I was getting a bit ragged , because I was trying too hard!
Which makes sense , but it's hard NOT to give a handful when you can see someone just ahead of you , and even more so if you're aware of a guy behind closing in.
Got the bike further over than I've ever done before , but it's still loads more capeable than I am. At the end of the last session my rear tyre was shagged , so I blagged another ex-race one. Sweet , rode back with it round my middle ,
Scariest bit was riding home , following a school bus , which stopped to let some kids off. I stopped , but my mate was off in a dream world ( one hand on his knee ), all I heard was a massive roar as he grabbed the brake , and shot past me all crossed up on the other side of the road, Ooops.
Fortunateley , nothing was coming the other way
Thoroughly enjoyed it , top day , and can't wait to go again
Link to the track is
http://www.darleymoor.co.uk
Stu
, make and fit some gaskets for the car exhaust 
, pick up a freshly painted bellypan 
