By AJ Jacobsen It Sounds So Simple That’s because, really, it is. The hardest parts of getting into racing versus a track day is usually just the flow of the day and understanding the steps you need to take to get ready and to your race on time. IN that vein, here’s a quick
By AJ Jacobsen Picture a beautiful Sunday morning on any curvy backroad where riders like to congregate to enjoy the scenery, twist the throttle, and embrace the freedom that comes from being on two wheels. Suddenly your morning coffee is interrupted by the revving of a sportbike, as the local “street-Rossi” rolls in with his
By AJ Jacobsen Life never quite decides to go along with our plans though, and early in December 2016, during a dirt bike class, another rider tried to force a bad pass and I ended up with my tib/fib pilon fracture. This happened the day after I bought my new race bike…go figure. At
By AJ Jacobsen I really debated even writing this post. Let’s face it, we all love the grit and glory stories, the highlights of the races, the amazing changes, and the final results of all the hard work. Reality is; however, we generally aren’t too interested in what led to that story. What was
By AJ Jacobsen So now that I had these side projects partially completed, it was time to see if I could fit both fans. After a fair bit of wiggling and wrangling I determined that was not going to happen. That meant it was removing the stock fan and figuring out how best to
By AJ Jacobsen After moving to Texas in June of this year, I was looking forward to trying to see what might be out there in terms of reasonably enjoyable rides that weren’t hours away from my house. I knew there wouldn’t be much in the way of beautiful twisties, but okay scenery and some
By AJ Jacobsen After completing the rebuild on my transmission, and getting that and the clutch reinstalled in the bike, I had one more weekend of final prep left to do before I felt ready to kick off the season. First up was installing a new chain. While this is a routine task, it
By AJ Jacobsen Since I first got introduced to track days, one day I have hoped and been told I “needed” to attend was the famous “Femmewalla.” This track day is an all-women only day, for all groups, and is hosted by the owners of Chuckwalla Valley Raceway near Desert Center, CA, east of Los
In some ways, the external fixator wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. It weighed less than the splint had, and it supported my leg in the proper position when I was trying to sleep (rather than having to try to prop my leg up creatively with pillows and blankets). For all of
Monday following the crash from the previous Saturday, I met with the orthopedist I had chosen. He had good reviews for doing good work, although it was also said he didn’t have the best bed side manner and tended to just “tell it like it was.” I was okay with that, I just wanted someone
We all love riding. Motorcycles mean a lot to us, and for many people, it’s far more than just an alternative form of transportation. Racing has become my passion, and at the end of the 2016 season I was excited for the upcoming year, quickly putting together plans for the 2017 season. As things came
A few weeks ago, I finally managed to regain the remainder of my garage space after the previous roommate got the last of their stuff. This meant that I now had the room and freedom to set things up the way I wanted. I had a few things in mind that had been goals when
As my riding has continued to improve, I’m finally getting to a point where my current bike is beginning to hold me back. When I’m on point, there’s not much more I could squeeze out of it. Part of me is a bit surprised by the progress, part of me knows it still needs some
After the last AFM round, Ken Hill (khcoaching.com) had watched my videos. I had been feeling pretty good about seeing sub-2 minute laptimes at Thunderhill, and was pretty stoked with the progress. Right up until Ken called and told me “we need to fix your braking. There’s two seconds to be had on your brakes.”
Back in 2011 I ventured into my very first track Gday. Other than watching some AFM races as part of a group ride I was on earlier that year, I had never even been to the track. The idea was appealing, but I didn’t make it out there until I had been riding for over