“Each single day is all we have. Single days experienced fully add up to a lifetime lived deeply and well.” – Alexandra Stoddard
The day before, the fourth day, started with high hopes for 200 mph on fresh salt, and ended with four runs just shy, within ½ a mph of our goal. Chris got some inside information – tomorrow they’d change to an alternate track – no chewed-up salt! I now knew the bike would do 201 with the new sprocket and a 7-mph crosswind. I had gone over 200 twice, and my GPS shows it, but I don’t have the timing slip from the SCTA that shows I averaged over 200 for a mile. We needed to make it official and get in the 200-mph club. It was an exclusive club for motorcyclists. And for good reason – it’s not easy.
We were in the hotel parking lot cleaning the salt off the bike when an old man came creeping around our trailer. First Chris and Dean thought he was weird poking around our trailer. Then the disheveled stranger said he was watching our progress all week. Woah!
He was studying the bike. He suggested we remove two little plastic lumpy brackets at the windshield bolts and to remove the rear fender that stuck down 8” from the tail. I thought that was a great idea – why didn’t we think of that? I suggested we remove the kickstand and tape the 3 windshield screw heads on the front of the fairing to smooth the wind out over them. We were looking for that ½ mph.
Chris and I talked about me taking my left hand off the handlebars to get it out of the wind, and tuck it up behind the fairing or grab the hydraulic clutch reservoir closer in on the handlebars, a bold trick that Jason McVikar used – (but then again he crashed at 247). I decided it was too risky because the emergency shut off lanyard was around my left wrist and if it got tangled up or pulled out and the motor shut off at 200….no bueno!
I slept another night trying not to get worked up about it. Stay calm and sleep…
Salt, Speed and Dust