How true...

Find your own pose!

So way back when, the middle of October, 2005, we took a family trip to Houston, TX to visit all friends and family who live within 4 hours of the 4th largest US city. We had to fly out on Logan's birthday, which was a bit of a bummer, but a necessary evil. I think everything turned out ok since he got his gifts early which included some things to do on the plane.

We were to stay with our dear friends Brandon, Christy, and their new baby Casseia for the first night, then hotel it for our remaining nights. They were leaving for a wedding in CA the next day, so we didn't get very much time with them, which was a bummer. It's always so far and few between short visits that I often wish we were all in the same city again. I got to stay up late and chat with Brandon about pretty much everything. It was good to see my friend again.

In the morning we saw them off to the store before their trip with a little football toss with Logan and the short version of how Kelli and I came to be. We ended up following them to Target since we needed vacation supplies anyway. How I enjoyed beating on the Buick Rendezvous rental. Next time, B, the Pilot's going down! Plenty of straight in TX to drag race on! =)

When we planned the trip, Hurricane Rita hadn't come around yet - our initial plan was to leave for Orange, TX, a couple hours away, to visit grandma and grandpa. Weather struck and Kelli's grandparents were forced to flee their home for about a few weeks. They were at a hotel with other refugees just outside of Houston, about 30 minutes from where we were in The Woodlands (north of Houston). Just before we all left for the store Friday morning, we were getting the run down on how to lock up when we left when Brandon and Christy offered our family their home.

Completely stunned, we graciously accepted. We saved a good deal of money in hotel expense, the boys had plenty of room to spread out, media room, Replay TV, BBQ, and we got to watch the dog while they were gone which saved them a trip to the kennels. I hope to return the favor with an equivalent gesture someday - beyond the large box of Lucky Charms we sent them.

After Target, we came back to the house to unload and decided to look up the aquarium with Ferris wheel we saw from the freeway on the way from the airport. Downtown Aquarium turned out to be pretty sweet! We decided that would be our activity for the day, so we headed out. On the way, we burned the tires off when we saw Lupe Tortilla, a Mexican restaurant we'd been eyeing from I-45. It was very well worth the rental car abuse. We had an amazing queso, quality margaritas, and to die for fajitas, all in the open air cantina area that leads out to the sandy play area full of toys for the boys. I told my amigo that it was Logan's birthday. They brought out flan, sang a little song, got a picture with a sweet sombrero, then dabbled some whipped cream on his nose. Quite funny, quite fun, and overall a very good dining experience.

Off to the aquarium - cool place that guides you along the inside maze of different themed areas. It was so much better than your run of the mill, cement wall, fish tank place. They had a cool open top aquarium that you could touch different rays and other seafood, er, creatures. There was a viewing area for chilluns underneath - a glass bubble allowed them to look up into the habitat. That made for a funny picture. So did the giant white tigers that came to sit next to the glass with Barrett touching the other side. I was out of space on my memory card and it was pretty dark, so I couldn't get the shot I wanted. Oh well - we did get a family shot of us being attacked by a giant white tiger coming out of the wall. Totally corny. We tried out the restaurant, which I don't know was that spectacular. Basically all I want for every meal of every day is Lupe Tortilla. Mmm...

GoDaddy support soaked up the remainder of my evening while Kelli and the boys watched movies at the house. Greg was trying to host .xhtml pages, but GoDaddy had the wrong MIME type associated so it kept breaking. Apparently customers aren't allowed to talk to escalated support directly, so it was very, very frustrating repeating myself to someone who didn't have a technical understanding of what I was trying to accomplish.

Kelli's dad, brother (& Laura), and grandma came over for a bbq dinner. We got to experience a grocery store like it should be - meat displays the whole length of the store, with a center isle of more meat in a frozen form. Awesome. I picked up some Fryin' Cheese - just slice it and toss it in a pan. I love Texas. Then there was a hot sauce isle that about brought me to my knees. I love Texas. While we were there, I did get a very sad message from Brandon. Their rental car was broken into and his laptop, PSP, Christy's Blackberry were all stolen. After I got home I'd learn that their keys were also taken, so they couldn't get into the house. I still feel terrible about not calling, but simply replying to the message. We could have left the garage door opener out for their return. =(

It was nice to cook for family - I think everyone had a good time visiting and eating. The next morning we hooked up with Unca Ian and Laura and headed towards Houston to return some birthday sandals Kelli's dad got everyone. I got a new cowboy hat (new, though Grandma thinks it's funny 'cause it looks used), then we hooked up with Kelli's dad and ate at Whataburger. We then went to the hotel Kelli's grandparents were staying in to visit with Grandma, finally see Grandpa, and visit with Aunt Anna. We watched baseball and talked about the hurricane and the kind of damage it did. It was really comfortable being around family.

On the way back, we stopped at Pappadeaux's Seafood Kitchen for dinner. It always has been my favorite restaurant in Texas, and remains. I want to eat Pappadeaux's for every meal of every day. Sorry Lupe Tortilla. Perhaps I could switch off and do every other meal. They have awesome Cajun flare to their food, and the catfish I had was no exception. We had a seafood gumbo that rocked. We chatted with Jimmy, our server, for quite a while during and after the meal. It was a really good experience. We even bought 4 pint glasses as souvenirs.

The morning felt rushed, getting all of us packed up, fed, and the house back to the way we found it (I hope that was the case!). We really wanted to leave a basket or gift or something for the wonderful hospitality, and resolved in the car we should have taken a couple minutes to leave a note. It was Monday morning, and we had to make it through Houston to get to the airport. It was a little stressful - sorry Brandon & Christy - we really do appreciate what you did for our family trip! I missed the exit to the airport, and we ended up turning around at NASA. "Houston, we have a problem" - duh, that's here! Next time we'll be visiting the space center. I totally didn't think of that before. At the airport, I got some Pappasito's, another of the Pappas restaurants. Of course it was brilliant, just like all their food. Nachos and quesadillas were special there - even at the airport. I miss Texas already.

Or at least the food...

//bikerscum

I finally made the show! I'm a 2Fast staff member now!

The 2006 schedule is up! $1,000 gets you signed up for all but the Seattle 100 date!
 
March 22 (Wed)
April 19 (Wed)
May 17 (Wed)
June 21 (Wed)
July 29* (Sat)
August 16 (Wed)
August 30 (Wed)
* Seattle 100 Charity Event
 
//bikerscum

This post is a couple months tardy - bear with me, read the previous post to see what this is about...
 
5:30am - wake up time. What once was a nice, dry night had turned to a very rainy morning. I slept a perfect sleep even though I was in the back of my truck. I was ready to find out what I needed to do for my first day as a 2Fast Track Days and Instruction marshal.
 
I walked over to the 2Fast trailer where I found Kelly Heath, a friend who I met through Mike Correll at Bellevue Kawasaki. He had been marshalling for most of this season, and would be head marshal for some of the day, posted at the track entrance at the top of T9. The marshal meeting commenced and we were given our assignments. I would share the T8 flag stand with another new marshal (and WMRRA novice), Jake Frame. We'd swap every 2 hours in the flag stand while the other was on the track.
 
After enough people made fun of my hair, I managed a 2Fast staff hat. I was pretty excited to officially be part of the team. We took to the track on a flatbed trailer with brooms, radios, flags, and track dry to drop off at all the stations. Kelly brought his blower which turned out to be pretty useful for getting the gravel out of the bus stop. We made our way around the track cleaning up any oily spots, sweeping away debris, and dropping stuff off at each of the flag stands.
 
It was to be Chris Powers' first track day on his new SV650S. He called, thinking he wasn't going to make it because of the weather, the fact that he had just waken up, etc. I told him he'd better hurry then. Sure enough, he made it in time to get through tech and for the start of his class. Thanks to Mark Allen for assisting in bike prep. I was unable to help since I had to get out to my post in T8.
 
It was raining steadily, and I found the flag post to be in ill repair, with regard to the roof. I wasn't able to wear my jacket because it's bright red, and apparently looked like a red flag from T7. I had a nice collection of oranges, waters, almonds, and some other food type items to keep me entertained between sessions. I got my first flag action in the 2nd session of the day. A girl on a yellow SV touched the paint on the inside of T7 and lost the rear. She didn't go down very hard, but I had to throw a red since the bike was laying in the middle of the track. Rider was up and ok.
 
There was lots of activity on the radio, and I got to shake the stick at a few bikes for doing a poor job at taping off their lights. Overall, it was a fun experience being involved in the safety of others. It was a good morning.
 
My time was up, and I saw Jake running towards the flag stand. We made the switch and I returned to the pits. I had done nothing to prep my bike yet, the rain still raining, and DOTs still mounted. I had Rick Salmon swap my street tires on my B rims for the Michelin Pilot Rains I got from Greg Bouwens. President John Diefendorf came over to say hello, and helped Kelli prep what they could of the ZX-10R.
 
I was fiddling around, not really hustling. I hadn't ridden rain tires before (except for 1 lap on a bone try track), and wasn't really wanting to get soaked, then go sit at the flag stand for 2 hours. Basically, I got my calipers mounted about the same time I needed to head out to relieve Jake. Kelli and I rode 2 up on the TTR in sideways rain out to T8. I went fast - it was funny.
 
President Diefendorf and Jake Frame were moving along pretty good in the 300 level. There was a guy on a Repsol replica CBR1000RR who came out behind John. Prez D was starting to turn it on, and I could see after a couple laps the RR guy making mistakes trying to keep up with him. I had mentioned it to Kelli, then a minute later I heard a "ziiiing - smack!" - I peered down the track, flag and radio in hand, to see if I'd be covering it or the T5 flag station would. Another red flag, both the crash truck and the meat wagon rolled. Diefendorf was the first to roll by me; a sigh of relief. Then I saw Jake, and knew for sure what had happened. The Repsol guy hot rodded it through T5 and high sided himself to kingdom come. This was confirmed on the radio.
 
The ambulance was down there for a while. They loaded the crash truck while the rider was being checked out. He had taken a pretty good blow and was a bit dazed. Another broken collar bone. He was well enough to ride back in the crash truck versus the ambulance though, which was a good sign. Looking at the bike as it went by, I'd say the hardware got the brunt of it. That'll take some dollars to reassemble...
 
The rain ceased to a light sprinkle, that is until Jake came running out to the flag stand to relieve us. It was finally my turn to ride. Not a bit of dry track all day - why start now? Thinking ahead, I brought my 1pc Fieldsheer textile suit that I commute in. Turned out to be a good thing, because it was raining pretty good by the time I got on the track. Typically we have a dead track at 4pm because of the Wednesday Night Drags, but they were cancelled due to the weather. 2Fast took the opportunity to extend the track day to 5pm, the last hour being open track. Most folks had left by then, leaving Diefendorf and a few marshals.
 
My first few laps on rains: sketchy. They feel a lot different than a DOT race tire. Squishier, and I had to adjust my braking technique. Testing the limits of the tires, I went blazing through T1 and found myself lifting the rear of the deck at 120mph on my way into the T2 braking area. Holy cats! With that kind of confidence, I was really able to push it, and have a blast!
 
I only got to do a couple laps with Chris and Mark before they took off. I followed Chris for a lap, then passed him before the kink. I did so with plenty of room, and even a gear too high as to not scare him. Of course when he mentioned the pass, all he said was "dude, you scared the piss out of me!" - apparently the Akrapović screams a mighty scream when under load. Oh well. That's not the first time I've heard high RPMs are loud as I go by on that thing, and I'm willing to bet it's not the last.
 
After I passed Chris, I picked my way through a couple more bikes and found Mark. I followed for a half a lap - he was held up by another bike that was about the same pace. Once I realized he wasn't going to pass him, I figured I'd do my signature smack down pass in T8 like I like to do. Get a good run up the hill out of T7, then bend into T8 and let the bike push out wide on the throttle. I got around them both, then smacked down two gears into 1st. The oh-so-rad slipper clutch kicked in, the rear chattered out a little, and set me up perfect for knee draggin' fun through T9. (That is, if I were flexible enough to get my knee out far enough to drag). That was the furthest I'd been heeled over on rain tires - then the fun began.
 
Wheelies every time out of the bus stop, chatterin' the rear left and right down the hill into T3 (I could hear Mark DeGross drag his puck all the way through T3 and T4), then it was a big wheelie-fest out of T4 all the way to the hill into T5. I think Diefendorf was the only paying customer on the track, then 4 of us marshals. I finally got hooked up with John - we were doing 1:47s and 1:48s - in the pouring down rain. 6 seconds off my personal best. Rains rule! We were scootin' pretty good. I was right on top of John on the brakes into T5. I was a little further inside than he was when we got back on the gas. I found myself in the exact same position as the Repsol RR guy was. There's a little bit of a bump/crest/hill way in close to the curbing. When I went over it on the gas, the rear unloaded and spun - FAST. The rear shot out to the right, then swapped back to the left. I swear I could see my axle nut the rear was so far around. I thought "here we go - this is what it's like to highside". I was staring straight at John, ready to bear hug him as I took him out. I was a mess and headed straight for him.
 
Then the weirdest thing happened: the rear swapped a couple more times, then hooked back up. I was relegated back into the seat from on top of the tank. Didn't miss a beat. John raised his hand on the way through T7, so I followed him off the track. He had run out of gas and decided to call it a day. I was absolutely amped in my helmet, screaming, fluttering, wondering how in the hell I've managed to stay upright(ish) throughout my motorcycling experiences. I told him the news, and he thanked me kindly for not crashing him. I look forward running the Pridmore STAR school in April with John. Should be a blast!
 
I went back out and followed Matt on his Ducati for a while. That thing sure sounds cool. He's a very smooth rider and fun to follow. He then took Jake Frame's GSX-R out for a bit. I got behind him again and stayed there. I had had my fun for the day and didn't want it to end in some sort of tragedy.
 
The suit kept me relatively dry. I got packed up, had a beer or two with the guys as we went over how the season finale went in general. It was a good day for me. I did everything right, marshalling-wise, and learned some new things on the bike (fancy that - happens every track day!). The worst part was I couldn't head to dinner with the crew because I had to go to school. It was fun pulling into campus with my trailer of toys, but that was certainly the highlight.
 
A very long day, but a good one overall.
 
//bikerscum