Caving to the weight of my aforementioned massive testicles, for this years first track weekend I decided to take the plunge and signed up for intermediate on Saturday and the sacrosanct advanced group on Sunday giving me a full day to get back in the groove and up to speed before riding with the “big dogs.” On Sat, with the help of my new MotoGP tire warmers, I was surprisingly back in form by mid day and by late afternoon I was (for me) in perfect form, dragging my knee at will with total Zen confidence. Not the fastest on the track mind you, but probably in the top 10. In my mind, I wasn’t worried at all about holding my own with the “fast” guys.

Back in the pits after a blazing intermediate session, DYL Jim and I were discussing the next days venture into the advanced group when our buddy, Brian (a Barber virgin here on his new Repsol Honda) chimed in with a simple question which at the time seemed innocuous, but hours and even days later I really started pondering the “real” significance of his question. .. “Why on earth would you want to ride in the advanced group?” My off-the-cuff reply was.. “If I ride with the fast guys, I’ll learn their lines, and by watching I’ll become faster myself..and.. It‘s a safer group.“ That’s what I’d heard my buddies spew forth and it made since, but after my first outing in the advanced group on day two, I realized this answer was total BS….

There’s a scene in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid where after all their best efforts to elude the relentless posse, Butch while looking through binoculars at the approaching men, says to Sundance .. “Who are those guys?” That’s kinda what I was wondering after riding with the advanced guys. I was one of the two slowest on the track (along with my buddy) and while not humiliated, I was certainly out of my league. Those guys are blazingly fast. In a valiant yet futile attempt to salvage a glimmer of dignity, I immediately picked up my game to a full 11/10ths and I still couldn’t keep up with even the slowest rider in the advanced group. Forget about watching their lines and learning valuable lessons as unless you just so happen to be in the same curve with them.. you’ll not see anything but their tail pipe as they are past you and gone in a micro second. Within 1 second they are 100 yards ahead of you..

Safer? Well.. Statistically yes, as they do run the exact same lines in very predictable form.. at almost twice the speed.. and just inches apart from each other. They may have fewer crashes but I’d hate to be caught up in one.

Note: That's me in the pic at rght. It was taken by Chris Anderson.. a pro photographer who freelances for Roadracing Magazine.. (Click for larger image)

Back in the pits after my shrunken cohones had somewhat dropped and re-inflated, I wander amongst them trying get a glimps into the world of these “fast guys.” Most seem to be in their late 30’s. A little too old to be competitive in “real” racing, yet still faster than us mortals. I notice their bikes aren’t foofoo pretty like most of the novice or intermediate guys. Body panels are mismatched colors or primer. Many of their bikes have road rash all over them. Every nut and bolt is safety wired. Most are sporting lap timers. Tire warmers which have seen better days are on every bike. Most of their bikes seem to have number plates on them as if they had recently been racing. Many have slicks. Their leathers are mostly tattered and dirty. These guys are no posers. I’ll imagine that as toddlers, instead of the standard feel-good bedtime stories, their fathers regaled them with the Cimmerian “Riddle of Steel.” These guys are serious and I find out later that most are ex or even current WERA or AMA racers..

A newfound respect has emerged within me and a sobering realization that at 52 I’ll never be as fast as these guys, nor do I want to be. They were scary fast. A pace that I neither need or aspire to at this juncture in life. I don’t know if the guys I rode with were exceptionally fast.. a cut above.. or the norm. What I do know is.. They are the fastest guys I’ve ever ridden with.

Getting back to Brian’s question..“Why on earth would you want to ride in that group?” In hindsight, I now realize that I never did really want to ride in that group nor am I worthy. With only minor confidence inspiring urgings from my friends, I let my massive ego get the better of me… again. O, well. It’s not the first time.. Probably won’t be the last. I’ll not even try to armchair psychoanalyze my friends as to why they’d choose to ride with that group as they are no faster than me.. Perhaps that answer lies within their own monsters from the id.

While I try never to say “never”… I hope I don't have to ride in the advanced group again. We‘ll see. The painful reality is I’m past my prime and I know it, but that’s not even the real reason I‘ll stick with the intermediate group. I‘m hooked on track days because it‘s possibly the most fun I’ve ever had. When I’m riding in the intermediate group and dicing it up with others riders with similar skill levels.. passing and being passed.. it’s exciting.. it’s intense.. it’s primal.. and if you could see behind my dark tinted face shield you’d see a massive smile on my face. I didn’t smile once while riding in the advance group… Not once.

Post script: Just after writing this article, I discovered that the advanced group I was riding with was actually a cut above the norm.. I'd forgotten there was an AMA /Superbike race at Barber the following weekend.. Apparently, many of the guys on the track the day I was riding were professionals tire testing.. So they really were the real deal... and that actually does make me feel slightly better..