Seven weeks and 8,376 miles of driving and I’m home. At least till the next race. I had to rush to get to VIR on time after the Shube race but I made it with two minutes to spare. I pulled into the pits at VIR at 7:58 am on Thursday to help with parking that started at 8 am.

My job after parking was Buell Pace Bike rider. There are three Buell Pace Bikes, I’m the second one. I ride one of the 1125’s. The riding is fun but the sitting around in leathers all day can get a little warm.

I’m doing some work on customer bikes in my shop and getting ready for my next race trip, New Jersey Motorsports Park Sept. 4th to 6th.

I raced at Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia this past weekend in the Parts Canada Superbike Championship Honda CBR125R Challenge. Last time I did this, at ICAR I was 5 seconds off the leaders pace but this time I was only 2 seconds slow. I coached the kids again, this time Honda set up a school on Thursday just for the 125 riders so we got plenty of track time and had lots more fun than everyone else.

Now I’m on my way to VIR for another AMA race weekend.

The AMA race weekend at Hartland Park went well. I rode one of the Buell 1125 Pace Bikes. Alex Lazo had his best finish in Supersport, 9th.

This weekend I’ll be at the PCSC race at AMP working with the Honda CBR125R Challenge riders.

This post is short because I have to get some sleep. I drove for two days from Topeka so I can catch an early flight tomorrow from Newark NJ.

I worked with Alex Lazo and his Dad, Ed (good name) at Hartland Park this weekend. I last raced here in 1990 in a WERA 6 hour, it was a fun track then and it still is, now with more stuff in the pits.

On Saturday, after the track dried Alex rode and we made a 10 mm change to his front ride height that helped. Today I did lead/follow with Alex to work on lines and that was useful but then we came up with the idea of “Passing Practice” and that was really useful and fun. After lunch we made a 10mm change to the rear ride height on Alex’s R-6. This change combined with yesterdays change gave Alex lots more feel. Look for Alex to have his best race yet at next weekends AMA Supersport race.

Tomorrow Alex and I will repair the Mid Ohio crash damage to his other bike then just hang out till it’s time to go racing. I will not be racing, I’ll be riding one of the Buell Safety Bikes.

I’m at Hartland Park Raceway with Alex Lazo for two days of testing but for now (7:42 am on Saturday) we are just sitting around waiting for a storm to pass.

Peek-A Boo. I’ll be sure to call my wife today, it’s our 11th anniversary.

It’s a beautiful Monday at Mid Ohio. I worked with Dale, an intermediate rider in today’s Sportbike Track Time track day. The track is nice and clean and the air fence is still up.

I did some work on Dale’s bike, adjusted the sag and damping and moved the clip-ons. I watched him from a few spots and we debriefed after each ride. Dale improved his lines, where he was looking, his throttle control but most importantly he had fun and rebuilt his confidence which had been damaged by two crashes last year.

Dale improved his laps times by 36 seconds from the first session to the last and he rode from start to finish of each and every one.

On Tuesday you can hire me to do the same for you.

I’m working for the AMA at Mid Ohio this weekend. On Thursday we tested the Buell Safety Bikes, today I drove and rode shot gun in the Safety Car and did a few other odd jobs.
Liko Miles is hanging out with me this weekend. He is riding for El Rey Beer For Kings in the Moto GT race on Saturday.
Sportbike Track Time and Buell are having a track day here on Monday and Tuesday. I’ll be here and you can hire me to make you faster.

Yesterday I was part of the Honda CBR125R Challenge demo race, part of Honda Indy Toronto. We did a rolling start with the bikes in rows of two then we zoomed around passing each other and generally having a good time without risking crashing. We did a great job and put on a good show.

We may have planted a seed in a few minds that will grow into new motorcyclists and maybe some new racers. This Honda CBR125R Challenge is really starting to take off. The bikes are fun to race, they don’t cost much, the tires last, crash damage in light and the learning is easy.

The kids race on the big track at Mosport this weekend but I’ll be at the AMA Mid Ohio race riding the safety bike. I’ll be back as coach at AMP, August 8th and 9th.

I’m on the road again. Right now I’m headed back to Canada to take part in a motorcycle exhibition race at the Honda Indy Toronto car race, July 10th to 12th.

As I drove through the desert in crazy heat I passed more than four vehicles on the side of the road with flat tires. This confirmed to me that I’m a wise old man, I just replaced my Firestone tires after 66,738 with a new set of Firestone’s. I could have run the old tires a little longer but that would have risked joining those people on the side of the road and I felt much better sharing their pain from the cool 65 mph cab of my RV.

2500,000 photo, lost 🙁
On Thursday June 18th just west of Kingman, AZ my 1997 Ford Tioga turned over 250,000 miles. I was doing 74 mph when I took the picture with my cell phone so you can see all of the zero’s. I normally cruise between 65 and 70 mph.

It’s an E-350 with the V-10 engine and it still gets 9 mpg pulling a loaded 16 foot trailer. I’m amassed at how well it’s lasting, it has never leaked any fluids. I have replaced the plugs twice because the book says to replace them every 100,000 miles and I change the oil every 4,000 miles. I have replaced the torque converter and the gears in the rear end because my trailer is way heaver than the rated towing load. I have replaced the front brake rotors and the shocks. Other than that I’ve had no problems and expect it to be going strong at 500,000 miles. Maybe I can get a million miles out of it…