Forget it!
OK. Take my last post and cross out all reference to being able to be crafty during race weekends. IT AIN'T GOING TO HAPPEN! EVER!
First of all, I made this silly promise that our stuff would be packed and ready to go by 9:00 am Friday morning. I made the deadline, pretty much, I guess we left at 9:18am not bad really. But in order to prove Jody wrong and be ready by 9:00, I was unable to get my felt and embroidery thread in order. So all I had when I left was a sketchbook and some crochet work. And I could have worked on the crochet work in the truck but I was fighting the edge off a hangover that wasn't listening to me tell it that I didn't have the energy for a hangover. Note to self - don't pack with a glass (or two, or... ) of wine.
That said the weekend went pretty well. Except for the monsoon on Friday night. Holy cow! I know we really needed rain but did we need a years' worth in one blow? We went in to Bowmanville to pick up a turkey (yep we actually cooked a 12 lb tukey in a motorcycle pit) and the rain came down. Instant flood. in the 15 seconds we spent running to our truck (I at least had a tinfoil roasting pan to hold over my head, hmmm human lightning rod) we were soaked through. We waited out most of the rest of the storm at a Kelsey's restaurant. If you've never been to a motorcycle race then you may not know that it is not a pleasant place to in a rain storm, or on a windy day for that matter. There is just no real place to go to get out of the weather, unless you want to seal yourself into a motorcyle trailer until the weather passes, which could mean hours. By the time we got back to the track, our canopies were fairly buckled and there we enough water in them to take a proper bath. Jody and hubby used a couple of sticks and pushed the water out. Instant bath, really, it was a Kodak moment with Lina and Kayla laughing and screaching and pointing at Jody while he stood there dripping, water pooling around his feet.
Saturday's weather was an improvement even though it only improved in that there was little rain. Hubby spent the day dealing with engine trouble, finally diagnosed as a bent valve. Seems to be a habit in our pit. He and Jody changed out the engine at least three times, finally they took the top end off one engine and the bottom end off another and that seemed to hold together. Jody did well and was top five in both of his heat races. Hubby did not make it through his first heat race and those continued problems kept him from getting out in his second heat race. But the evening ended well with 8 or 9 of us enjoying roast turkey for dinner. We cooked garbage can turkey for the second time, first time at a race though. It was a hit! You should have seen the looks and peoples faces as they walked by sniffing "Is that TURKEY?" Yah - we cooked it in a garbage can behind the motorcycle tent!
Sunday was a scorcher. Man was it hot! During the first final of the day, Hubby's shifter broke, it was a site to see watching him reached down and pull on the shifter by hand forcing him to go round the track using only 3rd and 4th gear. Jody was out of that race due to a flat rear tire - thank goodness it wasn't in turn five, he might have been badly injured. Second race of the day saw Jody win second place after his battle with Michelle Roby (see picture link below). I am not sure how hubby did in that race, there were 4 classes running at the same time and it is quite hard to figure out who is who. I'll have to wait for the results to be posted on the VRRA website.
I spent my time volunteering as a runner (taking gridsheets to race control, the announcer, timing and scoring, the pre-grid, the starting line and posting gridsheets for the racers, picking up results and assisting registration enter them into the computer), cooking all the meals for our pit, entertaining Lina and acting as a rooky grease monkey for Jody and Hubby as they handled the weekends mechanical emergencies. I spent 75% of my weekend on our Honda 50 running here there and everywhere.
And here is a link to a few photos from the vintage race. Hubby is number 602, he is riding a CB350 (don't know the actually age of the machine - built sometime in the early 70s though - "give or take five years on either side" - um forgive me, that's a vintage racer joke) Isn't he handsome in his race togs? You should see him on his 954, yum!
http://www.pbase.com/don_empey_photography/image/48016514
http://www.pbase.com/don_empey_photography/image/48018276
Here is Jody (riding a CB350 as well) plate number 692 and the number 1 plate holder Michelle Roby battling it out - they had blast during their last race When I got back to the pits Jody was all a glow, laughing and giving his play by play of the battle.
http://www.pbase.com/don_empey_photography/image/48018278
Last race of the season is here at home in North Bay. I am looking forward to being able to sleep in my own bed for that race. Jody's bike was leaking a bit of gas in the bike trailer on the way down and our air mattress was pretty much right on that spot. Even though I put plastic down under the mattress, every time I shifted I got a faint wiff of fumes. Healthy eh?
Oh and since this was our last camping race of the year, I have to say, after racing together for 2 years, the five of us (Lina, me, hubby, Jody and his daughter) know WAY to much about each other. Both the trailer and the pits are very intimate (cute way of saying there is no privacy). I've seen Jody in his underwear - way too often, Kayla and Lina know that grown men fart every morning in bed, and I don't think twice about putting my bra on under my shirt while starting the bar-b-que to cook breakfast. In fact, if I think about it, I've seen way too many racers in their underwear. I mean this is VINTAGE racing, even though we are in our 30s, there are a hell of a lot of VINTAGE men racing these machines, and many of them look like they've givin up on keeping fit if you know what I mean. I 'll have to give my head a shake, it is starting to feel normal to stand there talking to someone who is NOT your husband while he scratches his butt wearing nothing but his skivvies.
I am going to miss these weekends when racing is over for the year.
First of all, I made this silly promise that our stuff would be packed and ready to go by 9:00 am Friday morning. I made the deadline, pretty much, I guess we left at 9:18am not bad really. But in order to prove Jody wrong and be ready by 9:00, I was unable to get my felt and embroidery thread in order. So all I had when I left was a sketchbook and some crochet work. And I could have worked on the crochet work in the truck but I was fighting the edge off a hangover that wasn't listening to me tell it that I didn't have the energy for a hangover. Note to self - don't pack with a glass (or two, or... ) of wine.
That said the weekend went pretty well. Except for the monsoon on Friday night. Holy cow! I know we really needed rain but did we need a years' worth in one blow? We went in to Bowmanville to pick up a turkey (yep we actually cooked a 12 lb tukey in a motorcycle pit) and the rain came down. Instant flood. in the 15 seconds we spent running to our truck (I at least had a tinfoil roasting pan to hold over my head, hmmm human lightning rod) we were soaked through. We waited out most of the rest of the storm at a Kelsey's restaurant. If you've never been to a motorcycle race then you may not know that it is not a pleasant place to in a rain storm, or on a windy day for that matter. There is just no real place to go to get out of the weather, unless you want to seal yourself into a motorcyle trailer until the weather passes, which could mean hours. By the time we got back to the track, our canopies were fairly buckled and there we enough water in them to take a proper bath. Jody and hubby used a couple of sticks and pushed the water out. Instant bath, really, it was a Kodak moment with Lina and Kayla laughing and screaching and pointing at Jody while he stood there dripping, water pooling around his feet.
Saturday's weather was an improvement even though it only improved in that there was little rain. Hubby spent the day dealing with engine trouble, finally diagnosed as a bent valve. Seems to be a habit in our pit. He and Jody changed out the engine at least three times, finally they took the top end off one engine and the bottom end off another and that seemed to hold together. Jody did well and was top five in both of his heat races. Hubby did not make it through his first heat race and those continued problems kept him from getting out in his second heat race. But the evening ended well with 8 or 9 of us enjoying roast turkey for dinner. We cooked garbage can turkey for the second time, first time at a race though. It was a hit! You should have seen the looks and peoples faces as they walked by sniffing "Is that TURKEY?" Yah - we cooked it in a garbage can behind the motorcycle tent!
Sunday was a scorcher. Man was it hot! During the first final of the day, Hubby's shifter broke, it was a site to see watching him reached down and pull on the shifter by hand forcing him to go round the track using only 3rd and 4th gear. Jody was out of that race due to a flat rear tire - thank goodness it wasn't in turn five, he might have been badly injured. Second race of the day saw Jody win second place after his battle with Michelle Roby (see picture link below). I am not sure how hubby did in that race, there were 4 classes running at the same time and it is quite hard to figure out who is who. I'll have to wait for the results to be posted on the VRRA website.
I spent my time volunteering as a runner (taking gridsheets to race control, the announcer, timing and scoring, the pre-grid, the starting line and posting gridsheets for the racers, picking up results and assisting registration enter them into the computer), cooking all the meals for our pit, entertaining Lina and acting as a rooky grease monkey for Jody and Hubby as they handled the weekends mechanical emergencies. I spent 75% of my weekend on our Honda 50 running here there and everywhere.
And here is a link to a few photos from the vintage race. Hubby is number 602, he is riding a CB350 (don't know the actually age of the machine - built sometime in the early 70s though - "give or take five years on either side" - um forgive me, that's a vintage racer joke) Isn't he handsome in his race togs? You should see him on his 954, yum!
http://www.pbase.com/don_empey_photography/image/48016514
http://www.pbase.com/don_empey_photography/image/48018276
Here is Jody (riding a CB350 as well) plate number 692 and the number 1 plate holder Michelle Roby battling it out - they had blast during their last race When I got back to the pits Jody was all a glow, laughing and giving his play by play of the battle.
http://www.pbase.com/don_empey_photography/image/48018278
Last race of the season is here at home in North Bay. I am looking forward to being able to sleep in my own bed for that race. Jody's bike was leaking a bit of gas in the bike trailer on the way down and our air mattress was pretty much right on that spot. Even though I put plastic down under the mattress, every time I shifted I got a faint wiff of fumes. Healthy eh?
Oh and since this was our last camping race of the year, I have to say, after racing together for 2 years, the five of us (Lina, me, hubby, Jody and his daughter) know WAY to much about each other. Both the trailer and the pits are very intimate (cute way of saying there is no privacy). I've seen Jody in his underwear - way too often, Kayla and Lina know that grown men fart every morning in bed, and I don't think twice about putting my bra on under my shirt while starting the bar-b-que to cook breakfast. In fact, if I think about it, I've seen way too many racers in their underwear. I mean this is VINTAGE racing, even though we are in our 30s, there are a hell of a lot of VINTAGE men racing these machines, and many of them look like they've givin up on keeping fit if you know what I mean. I 'll have to give my head a shake, it is starting to feel normal to stand there talking to someone who is NOT your husband while he scratches his butt wearing nothing but his skivvies.
posted by ria at Monday, August 22, 2005
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