I'm really, really proud of Michelle.

My girlfriend Michelle has been learning to ride a motorcycle. She has a Yamaha Virago 250. This is a perfect bike for a beginner, low and light in weight. This past weekend she rode it over 50 miles round trip.

Michelle is learning to ride. That's her Virago 250 with my parts bike in the background. 

Here's the new parts bike and spare wheels. 

Hard to see, I know, but that's a 1:58.77 

My new Penske rear shock. Now I need to send it to Traxxion for a refresh. 

Road Atlanta was great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This past Saturday I went over to Road Atlanta to pick up a parts bike I had purchased and to ride there for a NESBA track day. The parts bike was great, much better than I had expected. It has a Penske rear and worked forks and felt much stiffer and more stable than my previous suspension. It came with tons of spares and I'm well pleased with my purchase. Thanks Brian from NESBA.

The weather was less than perfect. A cold front had come through Friday night and Saturday dawned dreary and cool. There was a mist in the air that bordered on rain and I feared the morning sessions would be delayed but they weren't.

Friday night Michelle and I had frantically worked to ready the parts bike for the next day. It needed new tires and was in need of a general cleaning/going over that took quite a while before I was satisfied that it would be ok for the track day. Road Atlanta is a fast, dangerous place and I didn't want to go out unless I was confident in the bike.

The first morning session was fairly slow and it gave me a chance to get used to the new bike's suspension and low clip on handlebars. Soon I was running at last year's pace and everything settled in. I quickly realized that I was passing a lot more riders this year. I'm happy my pace has improved. I felt quicker, smoother and more relaxed everywhere. Things are coming together nicely for me track wise and I'm happy.

Saturday's second session brought a strange occurance. The mist had gotten heavier and I found that on the high-speed back stretch there was enough water condensing on my helmet to run down my shield and nearly blind me coming down the fast back section. It is hard enough to see there under perfect conditions. The combination of buffeting from the high speeds and vibration from the engine being at full RPM make your head move about quite a bit.

The day progressed and by the afternoon sessions I was turning times several seconds under last year's best pace, not quick by Advanced group standards but an improvement. That made me feel good, too good maybe as I would get a scare in the last session of the day.

Buellboy, a NESBA control rider, had been following me and decided to go by to show me a quicker line through 6. I followed him as best I could but he was quicker than I'd been most of the day. We flew down the back stretch and I was right on his tail under the Suzuki bridge. I decided to shift twice going down the hill where I had only been shifting once there. I guess this gave me extra corner speed cause I hit my turn in mark perfectly for 12 at the bottom of the hill but felt the bike running wider on exit, so wide in fact that I got up on the rumble strips. When I got on the gas the rear seemed to step out a little then catch. It threw me up a little bit off the seat and my left foot came off the peg. That was a hell of a scare.

If you are familiar with Road Atlanta there is almost no runoff at 12 and a big concrete wall just a few yards outside that turn. That is no place to be fooling around with your exit. I knew better than to ride over my head just to keep up with someone. I won't make that mistake again.

Thanks NESBA and all the wonderful people I met at RA that day. Hope we meet up again on track.

Road Atlanta 

Headed back to Road Atlanta

Well, I'm headed back to Road Atlanta this weekend for a NESBA track day and to pick up a used backup track bike I'm buying. This will be good practice for the WERA regionals coming up there in a few weeks. I've only ridden once here but I like it alot. It is an open, flowing layout that isn't particularly difficult but fun. I'll post pics and a summary next week.

Here's a picture of Jake with the last garden he was able to plant. 

Sad news to report

It is with great sadness that I note the passing of a dear friend. Jake Jones, the father of my long-time girlfriend Michelle, passed away recently after a long, brave fight against cancer.

Jake we love you and we miss you. Clanton, Alabama will never be the same without you. Thank you for all the kindness you showed me over the years. Rest in peace till we meet again.

I'm 17th in points in South East Senior Superbike

WERA Motorcycle Roadracing

Sportsman Series Points Standings

South East
Current as of: 4/27/2005
Senior Superbike Novice
1 Scott Layman 62
2 J.B. Layman 60
3 Frank Tarullo 38
4 Lee A. Schmitt 37
5 Larry Ray Dulaney 34
6 Paul Layman 28
7 Gill Cutchen 26
8 James "Bo" Lemastus 20
9 David LaRiviere, Sr. 19
10 Thomas J. Lewis 19
11 Russell B. Borden 17
12 Stan Zangel 15
13 David Johnson 15
14 Mark E. Steedley 14
15 Borge Larsen 13
16 Andy Coldwell 13
17 Jimmy M McDowell 12
18 Jim Fuller 11
19 Mark Mullis 8
20 George Hovanec 8
21 Jeff K. Flatt 7
22 Charlie Hassell 7
23 Rick Patton 6
24 Robert Mosco 6
25 Russell Bonder 5
26 Robert McKay 5
27 Glenn A. Goodman 3
28 Allan F. McCullough 2
29 Danny Patterson 1