Anna

It is. Feels good!

Thanks :-)

Back for 2019 on what feels like a different bike, yet again. At least we got to test the handling around Santa Pod at the first RWYB meet. Pleased to find that the slammed front end does NOT make it handle like a house-brick and it runs true. Calling Saturday windy was a gross understatement as I was blown off course more than once by 40mph gusts. Fuelling issues meant the bike cut out at the end of the first run and ran out of oomph on others. Times were depressing, like going back 2 years. A night in our Podavan drinking Bailey's from chocolate easter eggs helped and in the morning Sweary B checked the plugs and drilled the breather out a mm or two. That was magic and the bike was back to it's fire-breathing self. Now I could concentrate on learning how the new multi-stage lock-up clutch reacted and on getting the NOS to come in and stay on. The throttle on-off has got more leeway now so doesn't shut off at the slightest release. And wow, when the NOS came in it flew. Final run in the morning was a new ET PB, new top speed of 140 and 9s doesn't feel like a pipe-dream now. Looking forward to next RWYB. Only frustrating things is that my Sunday PB would have put me 3rd in RWYB challenge instead of 9th. Onwards...

22 Sept hoping to get back on track

11 August 2018 Race Report by Anna RWYB - back at Pod after nearly a month It had been raining the night before after a long period of blazing sun and the track seemed to be a tad slippy as if it was channelling a road after a storm. Had a succession of uninspiring runs, where the back end squirmed around or the rear tyre lost grip and spun and my best time was 11.0s. One of the occasions when I did get grip was when I did a wheelie off the start line. I have posted the footage in our 'Rents go Racing FB page and will try to get it on here but it is very large. The frame by frame, super slo-mo footage I generated from my son's video shows what really went on with that wheelie. At normal speed the front wheel pops up and down and I continue on my way. In slo-mo The ambers seem to stay on forever I don’t move until green I get my foot on the right peg very quickly. This is good to know if I ever have to use the rear brake to control a wheelie. Left foot still dragging as the bike lifts. The staging lights showed me that the front wheel was starting to come up as the rear wheel went through the start line beams. This surprised me as I hadn't realised it happened so fast, in the distance between the front and rear wheels. The force knocked my left hand off the handlebar as I had only just thrown the clutch and hadn't had time to grip the bar again. The front wheel comes up a lot further than it shows in the normal speed footage. I got my left hand back on the handlebar. I remember thinking that this was a hard wheelie so I rolled off the throttle and brought the front down. The front comes down fairly gently and the rear lifts up a bit but nothing to worry about. I carry on down the track thinking "that's definitely earned me my wheelie stripes" The actual real time in the clip was about half a second! Most of the runs featured lots of rear-tyre spin and not very inspiring times but people I spoke to seemed to be experiencing the same. Footage from the grandstand of my last run is actually painful for me to watch as the bike sounds like it is being tortured and I was so tired I had made a couple of major errors. Our oldest son was there for the day and took lots of video and stills which will get incorporated into videos and slide shows for the FB page. Great to have him involved. The video template has some effects which make it look like double vision but I might try and re-do the vid without the effects. I have no idea how I got it to super slo-mo but I'm glad I did. Great to see Minx, Vizman, DucknDive, KidKearsly (sorry if I missed anyone)

I had got down to 10.41s without NOS, which is a bit frustrating to go backwards. Just have to work on that launch..

Thanks - still feel like I'm the weak link. Was doing OK til that hairy launch.

Has anyone got any "Man-the F*ck up pills"? My launch mojo seems to have been misplaced. Really enjoying the power of NOS, once I get it to come in but I'm still not back up to launching on full throttle so have to open up the throttle once I'm moving, which brings it in about 1 or 2 seconds later than intended. It helps me to fly up the track and catch up with the person I'm racing but my ETs are down. Had a bit of a prob with the switch for the purge and we're going to look at a means of getting the throttle to have a quicker action, which will save me having to wrestle with it after l set off. And, it was an RWYB challenge points day. But- on the plus side it was good to see fellow RWYB challengers, including the car guys in the Dilly Dilly crew again and some PBs were gained.

9 June RWYB - Ever had one of those days at the track where it doesn't quite work? Runs that felt quick - weren't and my best time was a 10.9. Launch Mojo wasn’t at 100% (following last week's scary launch) so even when I got the NOS coming in, it was a bit late. When I launched hard and the NOS came in, the rear tyre span up with a vengeance. We had our first trackside running repair, thankfully just a loose connection on one of the nitrous fuel lines so an easy fix (once we found it). But - on the bright side: • I got a top speed PB of 135.25 mph. • Managed a couple of hard launches so we have had 2 shake-down meetings on NOS, got more used to running with NOS and shortened the ramp-up time. • Saw lots of RWYB colleagues and met some new ones. Hello Duck & Dive!! was fun seeing you disappear up the track. • Fixed the petrol leak with no harm done. Looking forward to next week's RWYB Challenge Points day.❤️

Happy that today's RWYB wasn't a RWYB Challenge points day! The NOS is wired in so there's no turning back, so, on my first run I opened the throttle, dumped the clutch and... the back end went sideways. First one way, then the other and when the rear tyre hooked up, the front end lifted and started to go into a tank slapper. I kept it nailed and fought the front end until it straightened out. Kyle said the start-line marshall gave him a thumbs up, possibly to thank us for avoiding a biker-down track closure. After that I was a bit (a lot) shaken up and took me most of the day to get back to hard launches. I got the NOS working by opening up the throttle once I was rolling and it did kick in but not at the time we had planned. The NOS progression means it just feels like a faster bike, so at least I'm not worried by that aspect. Just have to regain the hard launches and it should start to come together. My best time was 10.7, I think, because the timing system failed and lost all the morning's timing data. Don't want to mention my other times but at least I got some air and a vid showing me running down a friend on a drag bike.

Thanks, good to speak to you as well. Got to pull the Big Girl Pants up even higher and switch on the NOS. Was trying to practice runs with throttle wide open all the way in preparation for NOS time.

Another sunny day at Santa Pod started brilliantly with a 10.6413 winning run, straight out of the van, against a stretched Hayabusa that used to belong to a friend of ours. This level of success must have disturbed the equilibrium of the universe so my next run was a total mess where I tried to take off in neutral followed by a lengthy delay for a track clean up following a major oil spill. Once the cosmic balance of good stuff/bad stuff had been restored I got in two successive PBs before lunch. The first was 10.594 and the next was an amazing (for me) 10.4129 with a highest ever top speed of 134.93mph! Think I am finally getting the hang of launching properly. We stayed on for the evening session and got 2 more runs in but these were (just) in the high tens. This time last year I would not have believed I would have had a day of 10 second runs, let alone thinking of them as an expected achievement. I wonder if #teamAPE sent us over some of their wonderful California weather; we Brits all turned into lobsters or sat around in whatever shade we could find. #Bawbags - the Big Girl Pants continue to work their magic, not to mention the base layers that kept me comfortable in race leathers in the hot sun and the buff that I used as a hat. Was good to see a fellow #WingedHammer on the track.

Tru dat. Biology is against me but I have #Bawbags to help.

Whooo hooo! 21 April and the weather was a whole let better, so was the track and my courage levels rose accordingly. The track was a lot grippier with more rubber and I got more confident at launching. After a mediocre, 12s first run I hitched the Big Girl Pants up, held the throttle wide open and launched harder - and was rewarded with a 10.645 new PB in the left lane! Followed that up with a 10.614 in the right lane and then a 10.779 in the left again. Back to the right lane and I lost grip and spun the tyre so back into the 12s. Feeling brave and confident - so upped the launch to 5000 RPM for the last 2 runs. Back into the low 11s and 10.868 to end the day. And finally, I got air!

Back at the Pod the following week with a new Shinko Hook up and a new PB. Not too many runs as loads of cars there for All Torque/ Test & Tune day on Sunday but one of my 5 runs was a new PB (10.8871). I then followed it up with a huge fat RED light and then they closed the pairing lanes as it was 20:00hrs. Any residual fears about punctures disappeared as I got into the pairing lanes.

I don't scare easily but that was definitely another one of my nine lives used up.

At last - a day at the Pod with decent weather. We braved the forecast and were rewarded with a perfect day for getting lots of runs in. So many chances to run, that we opted to sit out 2 of them just to give the bike a chance to cool down, and still got 9 runs in. It was the first chance this season to settle back in and get to grips with the new swingarm and gearing and to get the feel of the new track as the previous 2 meetings had been less than ideal weather wise. NOS will be coming in later in the season as the track gets bedded in and I nail the harder launches. Feeling a bit pleased with myself for finally plucking up the courage to do burnouts but I now have a more complicated pre-launch up sequence that involves remembering to activate the 2 step after the burnout - this sounds easy but on Saturday I had Kyle chasing me up to the start-line yelling "switch the 2-step on!!!" and another run where I noticed it wasn’t on just as we both staged - too late and a messed up start. Beginning to understand why the pro racers have crews doing stuff around them while they focus on riding. I had a great day and 4 of my 9 runs were back in the low 11s. One rubbish run, but I won't forget to switch the 2-step on again so chalk it up as another learning experience. The new stretched swingarm feels great (thanks Stuart Crane); although it makes the bike feel heavier during low speed manoeuvres, it gives me more confidence at launching but I still need to bring the 60ft times down. The day ended when I picked up a rear wheel puncture. I had just done an 11.3s, 128.8mph pass but the rear end of the bike felt a bit wibbly as I slowed down for the 2nd turn off gate and felt very wibbly as I leaned it into the turn for the return road. Limped up the return road and back to the pairing lanes vowing to get the tyre pumped up as I could feel it was very low but, as I landed, one of my fellow racers told me the tyre was completely flat. Became really obvious why when we saw the enormous split in it (EEEK). We told the marshals and they got the track and run off area checked but couldn’t find anything. Luckily we have a new Shinko Hook up ready and waiting to go on this week. Having ridden road bikes that had have punctures, the Shinko felt more like a partly deflated road tyre and not as hard to control as a flat road tyre. Very thankful for my experience riding on sand at Pendine beach, I think this is why this latest episode didn’t scare me too much. Fab to catch up with more of the RWYB crowd and felt pleased with my results. Still need to work on reaction times and 60ft though! Bring on the results for the RWYB challenge and the next round.

Flat & smooth but not too much rubber down yet. Was a bit more in the LH lane after my tyre-spinning effort. ;-) Not sure that -2°C gives a true picture of the track performance.

Feeling really pleased to be the first woman to set tyre on the new track at Santa Pod. Also VERY proud to be the first Winged Hammer to run up the concrete quarter mile. Go Winged Hammers

Nordic colleagues might think I am being a wuss but I never, ever want to run up a drag strip at below-freezing temperatures again.

interesting read - good luck for next season.

looks lovely

Welcome.

Hoping my stretched swingarm helps me to launch harder. Once I'm used to that it will be time to bring in the NOS and try for the low 10s. My little dream car Fiat 500 didn't die in vain and the write off payout bought the bike for my attempt to do 200mph. It's not an old skool Suzuki tho, it's a turbo Busa. The bike is a proven 200mph machine so now to see if I'm brave enough to be a 200mph rider.