Racing Season Ends for now.........

We have been waiting for a couple months to see how Skyler has been doing since the bad high side in March. We are still working on bike, though we have not been very aggressive about it. Skyler however has been working hard to recover and returned to work quickly He however has had continued nagging back issues from the crash and returning to the track this season ... seems to be out of the question. Therefore, we are working on the business and helping out other riders through the season. We will see what late 08 and early 09 brings.

Thanks goes out to everyone who checked in on Skyler and helped us out through the process. It has been a learning journey, filled with some great new experiences and friends. All the best to all the racers for the a successful and safe race season ahead.

Bad High Side Ends Racing for Last Sunday

We were excited to get back to the track. We have taken a few months off for a couple reasons. During the last race in 2007, we sustained some braking problems and other mechanical issues. Those took awhile to resolve. Second, Skyler was heavily involved in growing Matrix Motosports and we needed to meet customer expectations for spring product needs. So we took sometime to focus on business, products, inventory and advertising.

All that said, we were anxious to get back to the track and hopefully do well with the bike, which was running great. During those few months, we switched from Dunlop to Michelin tires. Our Dunlop rep, Jim Cox, is a great guy, the decision was purely economics, since the Michelins are a little cheaper. We would have gladly paid a little more, if we thought it would have prevented what would happen later in day.

On Saturday, Skyler did a trackday and everything went well. We started on the new Michelins about noon. Got a few laps in that afternoon and practiced again Sunday morning. We were competing in two races in the afternoon. Then as the scond and last practice session was concluding, Skyler who was on Firebird East Track, went into turn one fine, transitioned to turn two and was coming out nicely.......... then the rear wheel broke free and slid from right to left without a known cause. Skyler feathered the throttle trying to control it, but the bike whipped back and bucked him off the bike in a 60MPH+ high side crash. Thank God for the right investment in Alpinestar racing suit and boots, Shoei helmets, spinal protection and great gloves. He landed on his left flank and slid for awhile, fighting off his bike, which was rolling onto him. Even with the wind knocked out of him, he thought he was alright, bruised but okay. Then within seconds he realized he was coughing up blood and the crash was more serious than he thought.

The track ambulance responded quickly and he went to Maricopa Memorial. Skyler spent a day or so in the hospital but was treated well by the trauma and critical care unit. They assessed him and handled his issues quickly. He will be very sore for a couple weeks. He request no jokes or use of the pepper shaker....... laughing and sneezing are not his friends right now.

We will be rebuilding, so stay tuned for what is to come.

Here is Skyler right before he heads out on track for that bad practice session.


On another sad note, we were sharing space with our sponsored bike of Ducati Scottsdale and its rider Rory Palmer. While we were off to the hospital, Rory had a low side crash, but it resulted in the bike have lots of damage, including ripping a 6" hole in the Ducati composite fuel tank. Rory is doing well but their race campaign is set back as well. More to come.

Podium Finish!

Great Sunday racing last weekend. Firebird Main track adds a whole new element of excitement. The track is fast down the straight and fast in the turns!

We entered two races, Middleweight Superbike and Middleweight GP. Morning practice went off well and Skyler was feeling the best he has ever felt on the bike. He was pumped to race. Jim Cox Racing (Dunlop) set us up with a new compound tire that Skyler said gripped better than any before.

We had a long wait through the late morning up to mid afternoon, when our race, Superbike came up. Skyler was set along the back of the grid. The race flag dropped and he had an amazing start slipping through everyone up to the front of the amateur class riders. For nearly two laps he held the amateur class lead and then was over taken in the back turns as he entered a turn too fast and had to check up. He held his position however and maintained third through out the remainder of the race. Skyler finished third in amateur and it was his first podium finish for a CCS race!

As he came off the track, I could see the mixed emotion in his face. He thought he had done well, but was concerned over a new problem. In the last part of the race, his brakes started to fade bad. We had about 40 minutes to the GP race and worked feverishly to resolve the issue. We bled the brakes looking for a line with air, and checked all the fittings... no leaks. We pumped and pumped the brakes and the lever just continued to compress to the throttle grip. We were baffled and up against the clock. In the last minutes, as we watched the other racers get on their helmets and mount the bikes, we knew we were missing the race.

A tough decision but a safe one. There was no way the brakes would hold for an extended 12 lap race like GP. It would have been foolish to try and risk injury to Skyler, the bike and the other riders. We called it a day and headed home for a cold one.

All in all, a long day for one race, but a great finish to be celebrated.

Firebird Main

We had track day last weekend in preparation for the races next weekend. New track for us, Firebird Main. Firebird is divided into several tracks. We have ridden on the East and West tracks, but the Main track was all new to us.

Main is made up of a large snaking back track and then a turn around the Firebird drag strip tower, then on to the 1/4 mile plus drag strip. The turn on to the strip was slick. Several riders slide out early on, but it cleaned up and warmed up to be a fast transition. Skyler kept working the turn and eventually figured out the apex that worked best for him.

We were also blown around this afternoon by the winds coming across the desert. This is also the same day many of the fires in So. California started up. We had to take down our tents to prevent damage. Can't imagine fighting a wildfire in those winds. I use to be in fire investigation, so I can speak with some experience. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all those in California impacted by the fires. The track day sponsor took down the timing beacon about halfway through the day, so we were not able to keep accurate track of our times. Skyler however was thrilled with the opportunity to open the bike up and hit 5 gears in the strip. Against my better judgement, I let him convince me to give him my GOS to track his speed. The bike has been modified and only the tach works on the instrument panel. GPS came back with top speed at 150 MPH. Oh, that makes a Dad feel good, NOT! A few more prayers each trackday please. The 1000cc bikes go even faster. Skyler of course wants a bigger bike.

The day overall went well. No get offs, and no damage. We need to check a few suspension things, but otherwise we are set for the next race.

Our bike painter, Tom Hilsdorf, did a beautiful paint job on his bike ,only to have a slide out soon after he rode of for the first time. This was a few weeks ago. Thsi week he came back with some hilarious stickers made up like bandaids to draw attention to the damage and his bike. LOL.

Racing Fun

Between our post and today, we completed another weekend track day and the first fall race for CCS on 09-29-07. The training Matt Hartlieb gave to Skyler is paying off. Instead of brake point and shoot, he has smoothed out the handling of the bike and is now feeling really comfortable. He commented several times how relaxed he feels on the bike.

That has paid off! The racing yesterday was day of speed and fun. Skyler gained significant confidence in his bike handling and was more agressive in the turns. He didn't get a podium finish, but he raced in three classes; middelweight Superbike, Heavyweight Superbike and Middleweight GP. He worked hard and was consistent in his lap times. We also have an easy early October with no bike repairs to be made (yeah!) We will be doing some fine tuning stuff, but I think we can head into October a little better off than we did previous months, always scrambling for parts and crash repairs. I know our painter, Tom Hilsdorf had some misfortune last track day and crashed his newly painted bike. I almost thought I saw him this past race weekend doing a little "black juju" on some bikes, trying to get some repeat business so he can afford his repairs ; -) (only kidding) He is top notch and we really like how our final race skins came out looking. Thanks Tom. (http://www.tcpaintworks.com/)

Sunday was also a raceday, but we decided to save ourselves and the bike and enjoy one race day of success and use that to carry us into October. Coming into the season so late, we are not in a points race and this year is just for experience and learning. .......later

Great Practice

Trackday by Team Arizona was this past Sunday. We worked hard to get everything ready, and after a few more turns of the wrench at the track that morning, the bike was ready to go. This day, we got a few sessions in to get use to Firebord West track. Only been on it once before. Perserverance our motto for now, was clearly diplayed. Skyler was alittle uneasy at first not knowing what I had placed on his motorcycle. We have great fun pulling pranks on each other and he was looking me straight in the eyes trying to see if I was being deceiving when I told him the truth about the letters. Good to keep your kids guessing! ;- )

Later in the morning, Matt Hartleib started to help Skyler out. He lead Skyler through the track, showing the best lines, then followed him for awhile seeing what he was doing as far as braking, looking, pointing and body positioning. Then Skyler went out again in the next session. After that he came back in smiling. "Man what a difference" Matt had pointed out some techniques that he should develop and incorporate into his riding. This time trail braking, which Skyler had not been doing enough of. He was now positioning himself sooner, using trailing brake technique and smoothing out the corners. His over positioning was changing an basically quieting the bike in transitions.

We were not doing lap times and focusing on the basics of riding. Trying to build some better habits that would be natural at higher speeds later.

Overall the day was a success. We got a fair amount of laptime in, did a good shake down of bike after rebuild from last crash and learned some new techniques that will carry him even further. Because of the heat we scrubbed the last session. If the rider is exhausted, then he will make mistakes. Skyler showed the maturity to make the right decision and ask to stop early. I agreed, and I am glad to see him taking all the factors into consideration and making smart and safe decisions.

Hats off to Matt for his assistance.

Perserverance

Skyler doesn't want to hear me talking about the crashes. I don't really want to do it either. I know he takes responsibility whether the event is related to bike, road or rider. I think we need a silent reminder to keep the lessons learned close by, without neccessarily duct taping a broken part to the tail of the bike.

An old Japanese proverb goes....."fall seven times, stand up eight". It teaches perserverance, to continue on and push through. Success will come to thoses that prevail. That proverb now rides with us and will hopefully give us strength to learn and succeed. If you are at the track look for it on the practice and race bike skins.