RGN2 THE ROAD RACE

If Dirt Track is chicken wings, PBR and Old Gold’s, RGN road racing at Road America is champagne and bonbons. On the inside of RA’s gates there is a country club like feel, with green spaces & fairways that seem to be more suited for golf balls flying around than motorcycles flying around. The pits are peppered with race rigs that are bigger than my house and most likely cost more. The state of the economy doesn’t seem to touch the regulars in this game. 

The day started at 5am for me, as Juan told me I had to be there at 8am.  Sign up, tech inspections; I didn’t want to miss practice again. So I rolled out of Madison on time, and had an amazingly beautiful drive through the backlit hills
of America’s Dairyland. I was uncharacteristically on time. I roll into the sleepy RA pits at 7:15 and there are mini bikes everywhere. Yes I called them mini-bikes… they are not pit bikes anymore. They are race bikes. NO THEY AREN’T! If you are over 12 years old you should get a life, spit out your pacifier, and go buy a big bike or stay home and watch Scooby Doo or something. These things should be reserved for the little track in your mommy’s back yard.  Wow I just broke RGN rule #1.

I do realize they pay entry too and help Glen and company keep the show rolling up there, but RIDE BIG BIKES! The above rant doesn’t reflect on official RGN policy, this is my personal opinion if your disagree with my comments disagree with me not RGN
Enough with that rant.

Juan and Dave hooked me up with some gear oil like coffee upon
arrival we have a look at the schedule and its mini this Northwood’s mini that, mini, mini, mini freaking mini. Are you kidding we don’t practice until 12:30. Hmmm I sure am glad I got here early. The mini races weren’t as boring as I thought they would be, but it was close. As we were getting through all of that, and in TB80 Style, I miss the riders meeting, while eating bon bons with Slow and René while visiting up at the big track with Andy, Rick, Wes and Doug Pollen (NAME DROPPER) . This would affect the out come of my day.

Having just taken off my ice tires off days before, my riding skills were as sharp as… well, my 5-year-old ice tires.  The night before Kromroy set up my suspension for dirt track, Practice went OK; I rode scared, slow and steady. Got through that session, Second sesh kicked off a lot better for me with a little bit more speed and a lot less fear. I sat back and watched Dave Kilkenny back in into turn one as he flew passed me. It is a thing of beauty… poetry on wheels, as he exits smoke pours of the tire and he is gone. Then Ronny comes through a
different style yet just as pretty, (almost fairy like). Ronny seems to keep the tires in line, very aggressive and had that thing hooked up like he and Carrie almost were.  I think the last time he rode at Road America he was riding.... Never mind. How old is Ryder? Never mind.

We were informed that RGN was going to be a two moto format. The rider with the highest average of the two races being the winner, with a tie going to the person who did better in moto two.

We are called to start, do our sighting lap and hit the grid. Which, by the way, was laid out completely arbitrarily by a complete stranger. The grid was almost perfect as if this person was under some transcendental psycho transpond-receiver broadcasting unit.  (I think this might have be one of Jacks secret
engineering projects at H-D, however I don’t think the bugs were worked out yet cuz he was on the 3 row with me. ) Nice try Jack.

 
The official starts the starting progression and all these cards start coming up…5, then 2…. Then I thought, I guess I should have asked how this start works since I missed the riders meeting while on bonbon patrol. The card turns sideways and we are off.. Well everybody but me, worst start of my life. I ended up right behind the ginormous KTM rolling fuel depot in the kink, damn I’m screwed, I here somebody breathing down my throat immediately, it was Silver Fox Racing’s Lindsay Muak charging past me and the battleship in one fell swoop. The large gunboat was protecting the inside line so I was going to have to go around the outside of this 8000 pound guerilla. I was scarred of being collected by it because it looked to me as he was riding that transformer to its limit. He was pushing a bit too hard. He pushed to the outside and I snuck underneath him. Time to put my head down to go and get the Yellow 250 of Lindsay. I was making time when on her when she low sided coming on to the front straight. She was riding fast. I was bummed to see her go down.  As the race went on everybody was setting into the champagne cruise mode cept for Dave, Ronny and Stu. In that order in the end of moto one.

Second moto was schedule for 5pm, it rained, hard. Many rode some didn’t people crashed. I ate bonbons.