With Proper Tires, I Love Riding in the Rain.

I had my first track days of the year, over the Memorial Weekend. Sunday and Monday, May 26th and 27th. At The Ridge Motorsports Park in Shelton, WA.

For The Ridge’s weather forecast, I usually look at NOAA’s website for Sanderson Field (https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?site=sew&textField1=47.215&textField2=-123.144&zone=1%23.Wac994WcGUk), for the most reliable weather forecast. Sanderson Field is about a quarter mile away. But even NOAA’s forecast for Memorial Weekend was changing everyday leading up to the event. If NOAA doesn’t know, then you need to be prepared for anything. No, it’s not going to snow, however the chance of rain on Memorial Day weekend? Come on… Memorial Day weekend? Seattle?

I’m learning that being prepared for the unlikely means two things:

1. You’ll never need it. It’s almost like a guarantee that you won’t need to use it, if you bring it. (Example: Rain Tires)

2. In that slim chance that you do need it, everything is going to be just great. (Example: Rain Tires)

My wife, dog and I arrived Saturday night to set up the pits and wake up at the track ready to go the next day. Asphalt camping as my wife likes to say. She prefers camping on the dirt next to a river. I could live at the track, if I could afford it.

I was so fed up with how much packing and unpacking is done to set up the pits, I almost bought a toy hauler that night on my phone. Something has to change about the way we arrive and camp at the track. Seeing my frustration, my wife asked if we could bring less. And we have, in the past. That’s why we’ve decided to bring more. This should seem obvious to me, but if I don’t load the sleeping arrangements last, I don’t have to remove them first, get everything else out. I think this is why I was so frustrated Saturday night, I was unloading things that I would shortly have to reload back into the trailer.

Sunday the 26th, it was raining in the morning, then on and off rain/showers in the afternoon. I enjoy wet track days, just as long as I have dedicated racing rain tires. In the wet, with dedicated racing rain tires, the amount of grip is amazing. My first track day in the rain was hell. I hated it. Everyone was telling me to relax, and I couldn’t. Some people softened my suspension, it helped. However, I was still tense. I was also riding on hybrid street/track day tires for my first rainy track day. That all changed when I rode on dedicated racing rain tires.

Below is a clip from my first wet track day. If you tap or click on the image below, make sure to have the sound on. Listen how fast the engine, same as the tire, spins up.

Two things I like most about rainy track days:

• There’s only a few people on track. Yep, even in the Seattle region!? Most people make excuses and sit in the pits.

• The grip from dedicated racing rain tires is mind-boggling.

The picture below is the rain tire that started to get chewed-up from the dry corners on Sunday afternoon. Since it was raining off and on, in the afternoon, some corners were wet, some were dry. I decided to tear up a rear rain tire in the dry corners, rather than risk it on hybrid street/track day tires in the wet corners.

I had so much fun on my first track day of the year, too much fun. For the first day of the season, I rode too hard for too long. I did get my knee down on these rain tires, although it was a dry corner. One day it will be in the wet.

Monday morning, my legs were sore. Unbelievably sore. No cramping, I stayed hydrated with electrolytes during the previous day, with some stretching and message gun used just before bed. Next week’s newsletter will continue with Monday, Memorial Day. Same track, different conditions, different bike. A new set of tires that I’ve never tried before. And finally riding the R1 on track with Yamaha’s racing ECU.