When: Sep 3 - 5, 2004
Where: Shannonville (Long Track)

Thursday 9/2
Headed up to Steve's in the morning and got the trailer packed up.  We were on the road by 12:15pm.  The drive took us a while, and we stopped off for a quick beer in Belleville before going into the track.  We got the pits set up and I was asleep before midnight. 

Friday 9/3
Got up and got the bike ready for first practice.  Went out for first practice and the bike felt like crap.  There was way too much vibration coming from the engine, and I was too worried about it to really focus on the track.  I had taught a track day the Friday before and knew something was wrong, so I had brought every spare I had, including the '96 bottom end.  I got back to the pits and made the decision to switch engines.  I dropped the '00 engine, switched everything over to the '96 bottom end (transmission, covers, drive gears, shift linkage, water pump, timing, etc) and had the engine installed and the bike running in time for second practice in the afternoon.   On the first lap of second practice the engine died.  I barely made it back to the pits.  After I pulled the fairings, I discovered that the primary drive gear bolt on the right side of the crank had backed out and punched a hole in the right side cover of the engine.  I spent the next eight or so hours fixing the engine, cleaning out shredded aluminum, and patching the hole with JB Weld and a Canadian penny.  Thanks a million to Steve for all his help.

Saturday 9/4
Got up, had breakfast and finished fixing the bike.  Went out to first practice and the bike seemed to work OK.  Even though I had been on the track Friday monring, this was really my first real practice.  I was about 14 seconds off the pace.  The afternoon was qualifying and I dropped more time, but still only gridded 20th (out of 22 people).  We went out to dinner and got back by about midnight.

Sunday 9/5
Got up, had breakfast and went out for first practice.  I also went out for Middleweight practice (Canadian local series) and tried to get some better times in.   I dropped a little time, but not much.

125 GP
I had the makings of a great start, but almost hit someone who had bogged.  I got to battle in the first few laps with some people, and ultimately ended up finishing 17th, after a mostly lonely race.  I wasn't thrilled about the finish, as my best lap time was about 10 seconds off the pace.  However, given everything I had been through over the weekend, I guess I should be somewhat pleased that I made it as far as I did.

We left the track around 3:15pm and I was home and in bed by 2:30am.  Special thanks to Steve and Frank for helping me, as well as don Murfin and Mark White, who made arrangements to have a spare engine at the track for me Sat am.  The 125 crowd really is the best.