They do any of this up your way, Bob???

http://www.algonet.se/~ice-r-r/iceroadracing2b.wmv

I suppose they do it like the ice racing guys. They run sheet metal screws through a tire, then put a wore out tire inside that tire to protect the tube. They claim there's a little unsprung weight, but the traction is phenomenal on ice. Just, when you fall off, get the heck outta that way!

Well, I went up to Oak Hill Raceway north of Henderson, Texas which is in the Tyler/Kilgore/Longview area, this weekend to road race. I woke up in my van Saturday morning and it was about 35 degrees and drizzling. The main chance for icing was to be Saturday night/Sunday morning, but big bike sprints went off on Sunday, so I guess the track was okay. I don't know, was glad to get in the van with a heater and get the heck outta there Saturday afternoon.

The track was fun on a little motard, though. Picture tapped out around T1 with the rear stepping out and coming out of T2 having to feather the throttle on an 8 horsepower motor to keep the slide in control. I was getting most of the way over on the tires, but was drifting both ends through the corners. Yuliya has 17" rims and Metzler ME33 lasers mounted and they worked rather well on the wet track. It was fun, like flat track on asphalt! But, it was low thirties by race time. Once I started working at it, my throttle hand thumb finally thawed out and I got feeling back in it. I had on a Joe Rocket Phoenix waterproof jacket liner under my leathers, my long johns, a rain slicker bottom, my turtle neck balaclava under my leathers/helmet, a set of winter street gloves with rain mitts over 'em I bought in Laughlin years ago (it's south Texas, rarely wear 'em), and a pair of Cabela's 3mm neoprene socks under my Spidi road race boots. If there'd been a place to plug in my electric vest, I'd have worn it. ROFL! I stayed fairly warm, though, 'cause I was working the bike pretty hard. I rode an hour and could have stayed out another hour, really. Beat sweating your butt off in 100 degree heat!

We broke in the fourth hour while battling for the lead. When I got on the bike at the second hour, we were on the same lap as first place and 16th overall, but running a little over a minute behind. When I got off at the end of the second hour we were a lap ahead and 13th overall. I was going to get on the bike in the last 40 minutes and run down the leaders because we'd dropped back again, but then I think the cam chain tensioner busted by the way it sounded. XR100s have a really cheesy cam chain tensioner design. It is, after all, supposed to be a kid's play bike. We were floggin' the little beast. It's not stock, but stock displacement to meet class requirements. XR100s are stone reliable and I was rather surprised the bike broke. Guess it was just not meant to be this time. Here's a picture of Yuliya and her Metric Cycles XR100.

I had a blast on the bike. I love motards in the wet, foot down, sliding into, around, and out of corners. The cold really didn't bother me. Guess I'm a little crazy, but on the bike I was relatively warm. Sitting in the chair in the pits I was freezing my butt off, teeth chattering. Go figure. Guess I was working pretty hard on the bike, though.

A little?

They have one race I know of up this way called the numb bum ..it's a road style course...lots of fun. They use sheet metal screws in the tires that has a tire inside then the tube..it is a real art to build a good ice racing tire..and in a lot of cases the tire makes the difference....Goose you're not a little nuts..you're all the way there. Marc your Hog chapter had 23 bikes out on a ride below freezing? Good for them.

gotta love that electric jacket..........

Electric jackets....

****, some of the new stuff never ceases to amaze me. I remember taking a trip and coming back cross West Texas, run into one of their blue northers.....we stopped and was padding our chaps and leathers with newspaper to try and stay warm.(old hobo trick) did a fair job til we could get someplace that didn't turn on the "No Vacancy" sign when ya pulled in on a bike. What I wouldn't have given for an electric jacket back then.......