Archive for August, 2007

Honda Day - Englishtown, NJ: 2007 Superchallenge in Review

(Disclaimer: All opinions stated in Life-N-Times are of the sole opinion of the bloggers and do not reflect the views and/or opinions of The Speed Lounge or Alphamedia Group. Also, the opinions stated here are just opinions and should not taken to be fact; it’s just an account from one person’s point of view.)

Honda Day 2007…….well……yeah…….

I don’t even know where to begin with this day but I should probably go back about two or three months ago. As soon as I encountered the heat here in Jersey I could think of one place that I’ve exeperienced some of the most brutal heat ever; Honda Day! Despite all of the problems and miscommunications that have occured over the past few that I’ve attended, the temperature is always the worst! So as I pondered what kind of temperatures we would see this year I noticed something, or should I say a lack of something; namely information ABOUT this year’s Honda Day. While the date was up on Englishtown’s website, no other information seemed to exist. I couldn’t find a flyer about it anywhere and despite the speculation found in various forums like ClubRSX or Honda-Tech (or ours), no one really seemed to know what was going on. “Is there going to be a Super Challenge this year? What are the rules for it? What’s the payout? What’s the payout for any of the events? How much would it cost to enter? How hot do you think it will be this year?” Alright, that last question was mine.
Continue reading ‘Honda Day - Englishtown, NJ: 2007 Superchallenge in Review’

Published
by
jp182
on August 12, 2007
in Intel
.

The Life of a Bike Junkie: Part 1

morning session with TPM

4:30 am

Alarm goes off. Still dark outside, but I’m wide awake. I actually had a pretty decent, albeit short, sleep. I’m very superstitious and I’ve noticed I ride much, much better with less amount of sleep.


5:00 am

Meet up with Craig at Dunkin Donuts. Poconos is just under 2 hours away if you’re driving 60-70 mph. With no cars on the road, we do 70-80.


7:00 am

We arrive at the track to see a few people already setting up. The club we’re running with today had a track day here yesterday, so a few people who ran left their bikes here over night. There’s a very nice gentleman pitted next to us. His tow vehicle is a Range Rover. His bike is an MV Augusta Brutale. For those of you not into bike marques, if Ducati is Ferrari, Aprillia would be Lamborghini, and MV Augusta would be Bugati.

The guy has money.


8:30 am

Rider’s meeting. Typical safety talk, but the club president has a hint of irritation in his voice and speaks about the previous day with blunt animosity. You get the feeling that a LOT of people crashed and/or rode dangerously. He reminds us this is only a track day, not a race.

Can’t win a track day, but you can certainly lose one.


9:00

First of 4 groups hit a damp track. The rotation is Intermediate, Beginner 1, Advance, Beginner 2. I’m still in the Beginner group with this club, and to be honest, I kinda like it. In the other club I run with I’m in the intermediate group, and, well, I get passed by a decent amount of people. In the Beginner group, I do most of the passing.

Pocono is a weird place. It can be a hurricane one minute, then clear and sunshine another. I’m not exaggerating either. I had a day here last year where the morning was so wet, my canopy collapsed because of all the water. After lunch, the sun came out and dried the track within an hour.

The forecast for this weekend was thunderstorms, and from the looks of the water patches on the track and the cloudy skies, most of us were expecting rain. I actually love riding in the rain. Forces you to be smooth.

So far no sounds of thunder in the distance. Only the screams of 30 sportbikes being ridden in anger.
Continue reading ‘The Life of a Bike Junkie: Part 1′

Published
by
GoodKnight
on August 4, 2007
in Intel
.