Round 4: Endurance
August 2, 2023 Adam Miller
Miller Garage, May 2023
Given the late hour of this submission, I have to open with an admission of extreme tardiness. The MRA has already hosted Round 5 and is fast approaching Round 6. As the saying goes, “a picture is worth 1000 words”. My bike is in pieces, the garage is a mess, and littered among fairings and engine parts are child seats, my oldest son’s Strider, and a collection of broken toys left for Daddy-the-fixit-guy to repair. Whatever. This is my life right now, and I’m kind of loving it. Sure, the garage is a mess, life is chaos, and I’m effectively not racing this season, but I’m doing some other stuff that’s pretty cool.
Home Depot Run with My Boys, Golden, CO 2023
Back to the racing. Most club racers have years when it’s difficult to find the time and money to go racing. I knew 2023 was going to be like that before the curtains were down on 2022. The goal this year is simply to get on the track as much as I can. It started out as a simple enough objective, but when your motivating factor is to fight for a championship and you know it’s not logistically possible before the season even starts, you can easily find yourself looking at the halfway point of the year without having attended a single race. In my case it has been a self reinforcing cycle to watch the riders I battled with last year chip away at their laptimes knowing full well that my times have gone in the opposite direction. Riding fast is a perishable skill, after all. After seeing the results of Round 3 come in while my bike sat in pieces in the garage, I figured it was time to stop the bleeding.
Although endurance has been a part of the plan for 2023 since about January, it’s a long path from inception to raceday. Sorting out the bike, or bikes to ride, the class, the team members, consumable fees, race prep efforts, not to mention individual preparation, can all be a bit much. The core duo that kept things alive and moving consisted of my good buddy, Nick Koken, and myself. We had some other members come and go through no fault of their own, and there is certainly with no ill will toward anyone, but Nick and I kept things going all the same and I feel a little closer to the guy having shared that experience with him.
Misery Loving Company, Adam Miller (left) and Nickolas Koken (right), HPR, July 2023
Originally the plan was to use the Duc, but my engine build efforts were taking way too long and I knew that it wasn’t going to pan out before Round 4 rolled around. Nick came to the rescue and offered up his Honda which is when we turned a corner and started gaining momentum. We didn’t have to fret about a bike being prepped at the last minute and could let go of any anxiety about mechanical problems. I’ve personally owned a Honda that had about 30,000 track miles on it. Yes, track miles. The R6 is a faster bike, but the Honda will not drop valves, throw a rod out of the block, or otherwise soil the bed on a racetrack. As long as you take care of a Honda, it will take care of you. As a bonus, I know the CBR platform quite well, so I was pretty sure I could adjust my style to the bike without much trouble.
Honda Arrives for Prep Work, Miller Garage, May 2023
With the bike seleced, we focused our efforts on getting the Honda prepped, arranging for some seat time before the race, and devising a very loose race strategy. I ensured that my family had abundant notice for any track time plans and started working on my physical endurance several months before the race to ensure I could go the distance. Being the way that I am, I devised a special training regimen especially for this race and arrived on raceday ready to go.
Dog with a Bone, Miller Garage, June 2023
Aside from my personal training, the bike prep ended up being a lot of fun. I enjoy working on Hondas because they’re extremely simple machines and I enjoyed wrenching with Nick because he’s a fun, energetic guy who’s also willing to bring pizza and brews with him to the garage. From memory, I think we rebuilt the fuel pump, swapped on a new kill switch, installed a new midpipe, and welded the exhaust valve in the open position within a few hours together, which was the bulk of the work. Later on, I fixed the fuel sending unit, figured out how to test out some race strategy ideas, installed a really nice windscreen, swapped in fresh oil, and gave the bike a thorough safety wire and bolt check once-over. To some, I’m sure that doesn’t sound like much, but let me know how it feels when you try that with a full time job and you’re handling a lion’s share of childcare with a toddler and a baby to boot… that’s what I thought peanut gallery. Shut up.
Around the time the bike was getting its final polish, I arranged to get some track time a few weeks before the event. I’m really glad I did that because the cobwebs were pretty dense. My first time out on the track again since Round 7 of last year was kind of like Rossi talking about MotoGP racers doing MotoX, “we have the mind to go fast, but not the technique”. Ugh. It was terrible. Yes, I’ve been riding motorcycles on racetracks for many years, but the level I had to rise to last year to compete in the MRA was a huge step for me, and trackday bro pace doesn’t cut it anymore. When I’m more than 5% slower than my previous PB race pace, it feels like I’m crawling. The first half of the day was purely about finding some kind of rhythm. Challenges included a bike platform I hadn’t ridden in years, suspension setup tailored to a lighter rider with a pretty different style, lots of time away from the track, and last memory of being on the track laying down a PB lap time. Nothing was clicking at all. Finally, in the 5-10 minutes before lunch break, I forced myself to put my elbow on the deck around turn 7 to get out of my comfort zone a little and a grin crept onto my face on the exit toward 8. “There you are”, I thought to myself.
My Favorite Office, HPR, June 2023
In my typical, compulsively analytical fashion, I hooked up my data logger and started to quantify my feelings in the second half of the day. I was pleasantly surprised to see that my lap times were within 2 seconds of my 2022 Round 1 practice times; a comparison point I felt was fair. Given the extremely different way I was having to find speed on the Honda, I was pretty happy and decided it was worth a bag of Cheetos on the ride home. While happily crunching on my hydrogenated oil treat and navigating back to Denver, I was also reminded how there’s just no way to fully train the body to withstand the rigors of riding a motorcycle at speed other than riding a motorcycle at speed. In spite of a moderately rigorous training routine, I felt sore muscles that I hadn’t felt in over a year. On the plus side, my cardio was good to go. The hours I’d put in on the stationary bike had me prepared in that department.
I Just Can’t Help Myself, Data Logging at HPR, June 2023
So around 4th of July weekend, Nick and I were good, the bike was about right, but our team was in a state of flux. I wasn’t entirely sure how we were going to iron the situation out, but Nick really pulled through and we finally landed on firm ground a few weeks before Round 4. The frozen team consisted of Nick Koken, our captain, Rick Guzenski, our qualifier, Steve Bartholomew, our chameleon, and me, our senior citizen. It ended up being a really good assortment of personalities. Nick is an optimistic guy with a really energetic, positive vibe, Rick is a really good guy with an insane amount of mental fortitude, Steve is an easy going guy with a good sense of humor, and I’m an insatiable workhorse with a few quirks that have to be tolerated. At this point I’d like to thank the team for not putting Ex-lax in my water while I twisted suspension knobs, logged data, and analyzed telemetry. All of us were able to poke fun at each other, laugh at ourselves, and take things serious enough without taking them too seriously. In the end, I thought we all melded together pretty well.
The final run up to Round 4 was surprisingly uneventful. The bike was ready with time to spare, everything was loaded up with plenty of time for me to get a full night’s sleep and this year, instead of the entire family coming down with COVID, Kori volunteered to take the boys to Salida to visit their cousins. It was fantastic.
On Friday practice I found my feet much more quickly than the previous trackday. I was starting to trust the bike and the tires more and speed was coming more easily. Without the concern of simply finding a good sensation with the bike, I felt it appropriate to start logging data a little earlier in the day. Telemetry revealed that I was doing everything I could with the brakes, but wasn’t really close to the types of forces I typically generate. As a consequence, I was compromising how I like to enter corners which added up to a bad flow and pretty slow laptimes. Knowing that Rick was a slightly heavier rider with a similar style, I tweaked the front end of the bike a bit to allow that heavy braking style we both employ. I immediately dropped 2-3 seconds off my laptimes and was starting to feel better.
Moving in the Right Direction, HPR, July 2023
A little later in the day, I had Rick test out the setup. My suspicions about our similarities were confirmed when he didn’t hate the setup I’d found. As a bonus, Rick and I were within 0.5s of each other. Granted, Rick achieved this with only one session on the bike, which is really impressive, but given how long I’d been out of the saddle and the fact that I was trying to unlearn Ducati riding, I didn’t feel so bad about being so close, even if I’d had more seat time on the Honda. Now we just needed confirmation from Nick and Steve, and we’d be good to go. I had to leave before the day was over to go help out with the kiddos at home, but I heard something along the lines of Nick wasn’t crazy about the setup, but it was rideable, and Steve was alright with it because he’ll ride anything how it is and make it work while changing the color of his skin to match the paint scheme; he’s a really adaptable rider. It seemed like we were in the neighborhood of a decently compromised setup that didn’t suit anyone perfectly, but was close to acceptable for everyone.
The next morning, finally, it was raceday. It seemed like it had been so much work getting to this point that I didn’t have any anxiety left to dedicate to raceday jitters. I also wasn’t fighting for a championship, so everything was pretty chill. I was able to simply appreciate that I was going to be out racing for about an hour that day. The easy vibes continued when I arrived. The bike was teched and all we had to do was get in some morning practice, put on some fresh slicks, and qualify with a time quick enough to get us in the front half of the pack. Rick impressed immensely in this regard by going out and laying down the time he was instructed to achieve within 2 laps, and the fastest lap on the Honda that weekend, with a 2:00 flat; mental fortitude. With another flyer he easily could have hit a 1:58. Nick was feeling bullish about our prospects and, after contemplating the bike setup a little more, he made a few last minutes changes to the suspension to pull things back in a direction a bit more suitable to his style. Given that I’d been trying to turn the front end into a Ducati, I think some compromise to make it more comfortable for Nick was fair. We watched some morning races, set up our pit area, and staged the bike for the race. There was one last group chat about the strategy and, with a good enough plan in place, all we had left to do was complete the race. Easy.
The running order led with Nick, handed off to Steve, then I took the helm, and finally, Rick completed the rotation. Our plan was to go through the order twice with the possibility of Nick and Rick extending their stints to cut out a rider swap. The race start was about as easy going as I’ve ever seen. It was nice to see that everyone had a clear head about the fact that it was a four hour race. After 2 laps, it was obvious there were some jackrabbits breaking away from the pack. I heard the familiar growl of an R1 leading the way and figured the top 3-4 riders were all on liter bikes. Nick was maintaining a solid position while belting out consistent laps. Rick and I alternated wall duty and, after the better part of an hour, Nick gave the signal for a pit stop. Steve was up, I refueled, Rick did a bolt check, and rider number 2 was out after a quick stop. Steve’s rotation was impressive. He belted out fast, consistent laps without ever looking out of shape. I think there was some friendly competition happening between Steve and Rick to see who could lay down the fastest race lap and, by the time his stint was over, Steve had set a respectable benchmark. After a healthy ride, Steve gave his signal to our man on the wall and I got ready to go out. After another quick stop, I hopped on the bike and slowly exited pit lane so as not to violate the pit speed limit. My goal was to beat my time from Friday that I had laid down on DOT tires. Said pace was only 2 seconds off what Steve had laid down so, who knew, maybe I could chase some bragging rights too.
I had a bad omen when I nearly tipped the bike over while entering the track before I’d even started my out lap. The tire profile was quite different than the DOT tires. “That’s fine”, I thought, “I’ll feel that out for a few turns and carry on”, which is exactly what I tried to do. Unfortunately, I never could get a feel for the tires. I tried to push a little on my first few laps to see what I could do, but after a few moments on corner entry where it felt like the rear wanted to come around on me, I decided the best approach was to settle down, ride within my limits, bring her home wheels down, and try to have some fun while I was at it. Hard braking in a straight line was the only hat trick I employed to try to regain a little time here and there; I rode pretty conservatively everywhere else. I was able to make a few passes during my ride, which is always fun. After about 30 minutes of slow fun, I decided my safe riding time was about up when I noticed my racing line starting to get just a bit too lazy. In the lap before I decided to signal to the team that I was coming in, I noticed my braking marker into 6 had moved back about 100ft from where I started in order for my hands and body to do the business of getting through the turn safely… time to go in. Two laps in a row, tap the helmet down the front straight, pit on the third lap. Unfortunately, no one was ready for my pit stop. Later, I found out that my signal was either too discrete and/or I was giving it too far up the straightaway to be visible from pit wall. My bad, guys. At any rate Rick was up next. It was my job to tell him what the bike was doing. I basically gave him a fair warning that the tires were moving around alot, something he later confirmed.
I think what Rick did might have been the most impressive rotation on the team that weekend. We all have to concede that Steve laid down the fastest race laps by a fair margin, and I tip my hat to him for it; damn fine riding. Rick, however, went out and felt out the tires for a few laps, which was smart, then did something I wasn’t expecting. He dropped 4 seconds from his initial laps on a cooked rear tire and just kinda lived at that pace for an entire tank of gas. The guy is a machine. When his ride time was up, we rotated back to Nick, another quick swap, and Nick hit the track again. He was out for a bit while Steve and I talked about the remaining stints. He was kind enough to offer up the final ride to me, as I’d had a slightly shorter ride and he was saving some energy for Sunday’s Race of the Rockies event. It was immaterial, though, because the sky, which had been threatening rain for most of the race, finally opened up. Nick was called in for red flag conditions and, in typical HPR inclement weather form, the precipitation and wind gusts we got were extreme enough to call the race.
Rain, Wind, and Hail, MRA Round 4 Endurance, HPR, July 15, 2023
Looking around at the exhausted faces, I don’t think anyone minded. Barring mechanicals or crashes, the finishing order at that point seemed set, anyway. In Colorado fashion, the deluge of downfall ended as quickly as it started and the sun came out to start drying things before daybreak. In the DIALED racing corner, there wasn’t any glory to celebrate, but damn, we had a good time.
Left to Right: Adam Miller, Steven Bartholomew, Nickolas Koken, Rick Guzenski, MRA Round 4 Endurance, HPR, July 15, 2023
We picked up our mess, haphazardly packed up bikes, riding gear, and trailers, and took some time to relax and chat in the pits over some much-deserved beverages. I realized while we were chatting about the race at the end of the day that these really are my people and I was grateful to get back out and do some racing with my friends, if only for a day, before returning back to life. The most apt comparison I can think of is being a kid and riding bikes around the neighborhood with all your friends until there’s no daylight left to light your way. There’s an intoxicating purity to it that makes all the other bullshit in life go away for a little while.
So what’s next? There’s always something else for me. Right now, I’m focused on getting my bike back together and intent on making it to Round 7 with the goal of beating my PB from last year on HPR full. If I can get to that point, I’ll start thinking about the logistics of resuming another championship challenge and go from there. In the meantime, to my fellow racers, “Never Lift”.
