Diary of a rider...Make the best of a bad situation

Today we continue with the adventures, experiences and life events of rider José Terré in the third chapter of Diary of a rider…, so don’t miss the most personal side of a rider, although this time it comes with complications, problems and more changes.

The third edition of this Diary has been a bit eventful, starting right after the disputed round of the Spanish Championship of Speed at Circuit de Catalunya. He didn’t race in this event, but the changes and decisions being made are aimed at his immediate future.

Diary of a rider…Make the best of a bad situation

After spending a weekend at the CEV (No, I didn’t race in it, I’d love to, though I hope that in a couple of years, if everything goes well and the sponsors give us a hand, we can be there). We’re tackling a new training session to prepare for the next race at Montmeló.

Not every week can you face them the same way. It’s been a couple of very complicated weeks on a personal level, lots of work problems, lots of hassle, and when you can’t keep up with your routine training, your physical training, your diet, it affects you enormously mentally. But you should never get discouraged.

After the negative streak, some training sessions with friends at Supermotard have really lifted my spirits. In these weeks I’ve made quite a few decisions, yes, this time I’m speaking in the singular, too many disappointments, and when the bag of disappointments is overflowing you have to make a decision as soon as possible. And I’m sure that the decision I’ve made is the right one, at least for me. I’ll tell you more details later, but the truth is I’m excited.

I’ve always spoken wonders of the Triumph, and from the start we knew it was going to be a motorcycle that would be hard to set up, not because of the bike at all, but several factors come together: lack of training with the bike, an unfamiliar bike in competition, and surely part of the blame is mine. I’m absolutely sure of it!

There’s something you’ll gradually come to grips with, and that is “understanding” the bike. For me, it really is difficult. I must be very dense, because I complain very little. Does it slide? Well, it slides. Does it not turn in well in the corners? Then it must be me… It’s also true that the 2011 GSXR was a very neutral bike. You can’t ask much of it, because you reach its limit quickly (we’re talking about a production bike), but after two laps it feels like it’s been your bike forever. The Triumph is a bit further from that (I’m always talking about track use). It’s more complicated: you know its limits are very far away, but you have to understand it, and that’s where we’ve gotten stuck.

It’s not a problem with the engine, not at all. It’s really a problem of LACK OF KNOWLEDGE, just as happened to the first person who bought the first R6, the first GSXR, and so on with every model of motorcycle. Developing a bike without a pattern to follow is difficult.

We went to Montmeló to train a little. Riding at Circuit de Catalunya is quite expensive, and you have to book it well in advance. Since it’s a world-championship circuit, everyone wants to ride there. Who doesn’t like saying “well, I’ve ridden at Montmeló!” Many people, I think too many, the few times I’ve gone to ride at Montmeló it looked like a motorcycle meet-up heading to the Montseny, and no offence to anyone.

But I must have done something these last few weeks, because Mr. KARMA has given me something back… We made the payment for the track day, checked the forecast for six days out and rain. You always think, bah, they always get it wrong, but look, this time they didn’t. The day arrives, we go get the van, load the bike, tyres, tools, all of that at 5 in the morning on a Sunday. We arrive at Montmeló and do the same thing in reverse, unloading everything. We go out on track at around 9 in the morning, and we can already see the bike isn’t right, we haven’t got the gearing right, and as always, after 7 laps the tyre is shredded again. I could already feel it sliding, but I thought, well, it must be normal. The sliding didn’t worry me; what worried me was its tendency to run wide… Up to now, all the circuits where I’ve raced the Triumph have been circuits that aren’t excessively fast, but Montmeló is a very fast circuit, and here we really realised that the bike’s setup is completely off.

Although we couldn’t draw many conclusions on track (the weather forecast was spot on this time. We only managed one session. It rained all day… though on Monday, sun…), we did work a bit with some friends in the pit box and polish a few things, as they say, they’re small things you never think about, but added together they make a big difference. I’ll be sharing the whole next season with them… think what you like about that sentence, a word to the wise… So, as always, things are as bad or as good as one wants to see them, exactly, the glass half full or half empty.

Now let’s think about the next track day on the 15th at Circuit de Castellolí, where I’m acting as an instructor with my friends from Sportmototeam. I have a great time there: great professionals, you disconnect from everything without any pressure, and they’re really fun days. This time we’ll be joined by my main sponsor Quality Bike. Even if you don’t come to ride, drop by Castellolí: they’ll be bringing display bikes, and if you ride, you’ll be able to try a Triumph. Let’s see if they’ll let me try it, and well, they have some other little surprise prepared too.

Well, that’s all for now. I hope to write the next “letter” soon. You’ll notice there will be more optimistic letters and others more pessimistic; after all, I’m neither a writer nor a journalist, and my mood shows. After the Montmeló race you’ll have the next one. This year I’m dedicated to that: lap times and racing, but without being able to train.

Thanks for following us, and as always, the next one will be better and more.

Gixer#12

Follow him on Twitter @Gixer12 and on Facebook.