August long weekend at Bogie
Leaning into the uphill right hander of corner 6
We spent the August long weekend at Bogie, could there be a better way to spend time off work? Johnny got to go up early again, I made my way up Friday night, rode Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. Riding a track 4 days in a row, that was a first. It wasn’t quite as tiring as I had thought, I guess after a while you start getting used to this.
Making a straight line out of 12B and 13
First time back at Calabogie with my new suit. Being able to actually move freely on the bike made such a difference. I was still having some issues with the plastic shoulder details hitting my helmet and preventing my head from turning as far into the turns as I would want to. I found that dropping my inside shoulder would help with that.
One of my favorite corners rightly named Temptation
Johnny had his new GPS Starlane lap timer so I got to use his hand-me-down AIM timer. Here I was all happy that I would finally start getting an idea of what sort of lap times I do and we couldn’t get that damn thing to work. We tried propping it up on the bike all sorts of ways, and eventually gave up. I ended up using Sandy’s unit (thank you Sandy for letting me borrow it!) so I did end up getting my lap times after all. My times were consistent at around 2:30 and dropped below that a few times. My best time of the weekend was a 2:28 which I was very happy with.
Photos from the weekend, taken by 303 Imaging
Calabogie, oh how I’ve missed thee!
Jun 5 and 6 Turn2 and ARC
Jun 7 Pro6
Made some big revelations about my suit.
Track weekend extravaganza!
We spent the Saturday riding the RDT with Turn2. At the end of the day we packed up and hit the road. Oh what a road trip that was.. We eventually made it out to Renfrew in the Ottawa area early Sunday morning. We bummed out and chilled for the day with George and Michelle and took the trailers and bikes over to Calabogie some half hour away. We came back to the track early the next morning and spent Monday and Tuesday riding. Once again I was on a Turn2 GSXR 600 and the event was organized by Pro6.
Long weekend at Calabogie
This almost felt like a mini vacation. I took Monday off work and with Tuesday being Canada day this turned into a 4 day weekend. We drove up to Calabogie on Sunday and spent Monday and Tuesday riding the track, returning home very tired late Tuesday night.
Once again I got to ride a GSXR 600 from the Turn2 rental fleet. The track day was put on by Pro6.
Yeeehaw! I finally get to see AND ride the Calabogie track
This weekend I took a trip up to Calabogie Motorsports Park. I’ve heard so much about this track it was great to finally see it. Not only did I get to ride the track, I got to ride it on a beautiful GSXR 600 rental bike from Turn2. This was my first time riding a 600.
Riding the pretty Turn2 GSXR-600 around the breath taking Calabogie Motorsports track
I pretty much spent most of the morning feeling completely intimidated by the bike’s size. I practiced getting on and off the bike, balancing it and making sure it stayed upright. I eventually mustered enough courage to do a few laps around the pits. I was used to stopping the way I was taught at RTI with my left foot on the ground so that I could use my right foot for the brake if I had to. Unfortunately this totally did not work on the Gixer as I was then stuck, with my left leg barely tippy toeing and struggling to support the weight of the bike. I was unable to shift over and put my right foot down on the ground so that I could then use my left leg to put the kick stand down. A couple times I came in from my practice pit round and had to yell out for help for some one to come over and put my kickstand down and in some cases put the bike in neutral for me. Thankfully it only took a couple times for me to break out of that habit.
Coming through one of the blind corners
Towards the end of the morning sessions I finally managed to get out on the track and once I did I had a great time riding the 600. It was a complete pig in comparison to the slender 125 I was used to, but at the same time it felt more stable and confident in the corners. It took a little bit more effort to get the bike to turn but when it did the feeling was linear and predictable unlike the very light and sudden tip over and dropping feeling of the 125. And the straights… oh those were fun! I was giggling silly in my helmet.
Staying at the back of the school pack, about to be passed by faster riders
I had an absolute blast on that bike on the track, however every time it was time to come back into the pits I was a nervous wreck just thinking about having to stop, maneuver, and dismount. Getting used to the bike was only a part of the day’s challenge. Learning the layout of an unfamiliar track was another. Calabogie is a high speed 5.05 km long track consisting of multiple elevation changes and 20 challenging corners, most of them blind, of increasing and decreasing radiuses, on and off camber. This is a relatively new track, it was open towards the end of 2006, and the track surface is still in pristine condition.
George of Turn2 enjoying a munchie break
This was a great way to end my first season of riding with such a positive experience. My 125 is definitely history, it’s so gone! It’s just a question of what will I replace it with?
