King of the Mountain

Here is a great shot of Salt Lake City, taken by Eric over the lead edge of the wing as we were leaving on Sunday. My weekend race experience there was beyond amazing. The education was probably worthy of degree status, and the excitement was up there with a shuttle space ride.

I must acknowledge that I have had some mistaken ideas about "bikers," grouping them all together with the street riders with ratty vests, long hair and tattoos. The group of guys at the Miller Race track were well educated, dedicated, and physically fit. They sought excellence in both mechanics and safety. They were loyal to each other, their friends and families.
Here is my son, Warren in his leathers on Friday night. Things did not remain this neat and peaceful however. Friday night was clear and sunny, and Brian C., one of Warren's teammates, won the race that night by a nice margin.

Unfortunately, Saturday brought heavy rain AND a late afternoon endurance race. The track was slippery, and the racers changed the bike tires to facilitate water run off so they did not slip. They used tire warmers to increase the grab of the tires on the track. Brian and Warren intended to each drive about half the race on Warren's bike. The accidents began immediately, the second of which brought out a red flag after the third round. They lined up to restart and were given a warm-up round. Brian cruised easily through the first turns. However, on a back set of zig zag curves, called "The Attitudes," he slid on gravel and the bike rolled multiple times into the mud. The results were dramatic. Though Brian was fine, the motorcycle body and external parts were pretty well destroyed.
Brian was able to finish the race on his own bike which salvaged the points for the team. He finished 4th of the six final drivers in spite of it all.

Sunday showed us the fickle side of rainy weather in the mountains. It alternated between heavy storms and bright sun all morning. A good friend of Warren's loaned him a bike to ride.. and though he ended up with no practice time.. the first short race went very smoothly and you could see that Warren was handling the bike well and it was performing beautifully. Brian was having a little difficulty with brakes but nothing too extensive.

After lunch Warren lined up in the 12:40 race. It was dry and sunny and began without incident. Eric and I rode the scooter out to the Attitudes for a different view. I snapped pictures and enjoyed the beauty. Warren was in the lead group with several friends I could recognize. After coming through the Attitude area, he was leaning well into the next curve-- and another rider hit him hard. Nick's bike was moderately damaged, Warren's leathers had new battle scars, and the race was over for them. The other rider was from Idaho-- and while there is a question of an illegal pass on the inside-- que sera, sera.

Ultimately, Brian slid out before this race was finished and did some moderate damage to his bike and sustained an arm burn as well. With 3 damaged bikes, the team was finished. Spirits were a little shaky but I expect to see the Phoenix rise again. From a Mom spectator viewpoint, it was extremely exciting, no one badly injured, and lots of good photo opps out there in God's Country.
Please join me in wishing them Godspeed and safety in fixing the bikes and their future racing endeavors. XOXOXOXO Noanie-Mom
Pictured below: Dave, Warren J, Brian