When: Aug 18 - 20, 2005
Where: Mosport

Wednesday 8/17
Got a call from Dane earlier in the week that he had wiped out pretty badly while trying to learn how to water-ski.  He hurt himself enough that couldn't walk, let alone ride, so it was another solo weekend.  I finished packing up and was on the road by 11.  Got the track around 7pm, set up shop and got the bikes geared for the weekend.

Thursday 8/18
Got checked in for the day (track day run by Riders Choice) and took the 250 out for the first session with VIR gearing.  The tires on the 250 had been put to good use by Sean at mid-Ohio, so they needed some warm-up time.  I didn't put on tire warmers and went out for the first lap.  I was taking my time and leaning the bike over in T8 when the front end got really light and loose.  Scary!! It was really windy, so a combination of cold track, strong winds and high speeds were going to be a challenge.  Luckily the rest of the day went smoothly.  I took the 125 out for some laps, and let John Dempsy take the 250 out for a couple spins.  Unfortunately, the gearing was slightly off, but I managed to figure it out by the end of the day.

Friday 8/19
Since this was a VRRA weekend, we got four gp practices through the day.   Since I was racing 125 and 250, I also got to take the 125 out in "fast" vintage.  The first practice was wet, but the rest of the day was dry.  Overall it was a good day, except that some of the closing speeds with the vintage guys were scary.

Saturday 8/20
Since the Saturday schedule was fairly full, and I was the only person riding 125 and 250, qualifying for both was combined.  Instead of getting two separate 20 minute sessions, we were getting one 30 minute session.  I took the 250 out and came in at halfway for the 125.  250 went well, and I managed to qualify first row in 4th spot (which also got me 1 point!).  Unfortunately, I only got in 4 laps in on the 125 and only got to within a couple seconds of my normal lap times, putting myself on the third row in 9th spot.  I was excited about the 250 position, but very disappointed with 125.

I spent the evening making sure the bikes were ready to go.  I put a new clutch on the 250, changed the oil on both bikes, etc.  We had a bit of a BBQ party and it was off to bed.

Sunday 8/21
I took out the 125 and 250 for practices and made sure everything was running correctly.  For some reason I decided to use U2 in the 250 instead of C12, so I made the appropriate jetting adjustments for the higher oxygenation level fuel and took the 250 out for practice..  The bike felt great and had lots of power, so I figured I was safe to run it in the race. The 125 was vibrating pretty badly, so I didn't stay out for the whole practice.

125gp
It rained just before the race.  We were sent back to the pits for a 20 minute delay to make a tire choice.  I chose rains, even though I knew the track was going to be dry by mid-race.  I had an old set of rains mounted, and figured I could get a gap on the field running slicks and just burn them off during the dry part of the race.    I got a crap start.  The crappiest of all my starts in my five years of racing.  I went into T1 dead last, with a huge gap in front of me.  It was a bad omen of racing to come.  I managed to catch up with some of the pack, but by the time I made up any ground, the track was bone dry.  My bike was all over the place.   I finished 11th.  It was a bad race, and I was frustrated.  I slipped down to 5th in the championship as a result.

250gp
The sun was out and I was pumped for the race.  The bike felt great in practice and I had lots of confidence on it.  The green flag dropped and I got another crap start.   I didn't bog the bike at all.. it just seemed to have absolutely no power (a sign of things to come).  People who saw me later commented that "it must have been a bad start if you have time to shake your head at the bike".  Again, into turn 1 dead last with a gap.  I wasn't about to give up though.  I know I had the fastest 250 out there (thanks Steve!) so I put my head down and went to work.  By the end of the first lap, I passed about 6 people, and put my sights on the group of riders fighting for 2nd place.  The bike was running great.. pulling hard all the way down the back straight.  I was making up ground and turning lap times faster than I've ever ridden at Mosport.. in the 1:33 range.  I felt like I had more speed in me, so I worked even harder and tried to go even faster.  It was all going according to plan when the unthinkable happened..  I came off the back straight on lap 6, downshifted, tipped the bike in and got back on the gas hard when the bike lost power.  Not wanting to end up on my head on one of the fastest corners at Mosport, I immediately pulled in the clutch and rolled through the corner. I tried letting the clutch out, to find a locked rear wheel, so I coasted to the pits in utter frustration.  Game Over.   I thought I had seized the crank, but it turns out I had seized the lower piston.   It was so frozen, I had to bang it out with a hammer.

After the races, I got everything packed up, went to the trophy presentation, and hit the road.

Special Thanks to: John Dempsey for all the help over the weekend.