This last 2Fast track day was the first track day on a weekend this year. Initially this day was reserved for the former Seattle 100 event that’s been held annually since 2004, but unfortunately due to unforeseen circumstances (y’know, like the economy) this year’s event has been replaced with a regular track day. Despite the lack of philanthropy, the day was still packed with eager newbies and happy regulars to the point of being sold out for both the 100 and 200 level riding groups.
To top it off, the day was granted great weather by the NW rain gods (must be on summer vacation) and it turned out to be a gorgeous day to be out on the track. Man, I need to put my camera down for some of these sessions and get out there on the bike.
Find your pictures here, and information on your purchase options here.
Thanks goes to Jason Tanaka of JayTPhotos.com for covering for me at 2Fast‘s track day yesterday on super short notice. I had to leave town due to a family emergency and, unfortunately, had to miss the track day. From what I hear, besides some injuries, it was a great day to be out doing laps. I should have all the photos processed and uploaded by early next week, and you’ll find them here.
On a different matter, being out of town has given me a little break from the daily routine and I got the chance to finish up another video experiment that I’ve been wanting to do: slow motion! A couple weeks ago, Orhun, of TurkPhotos.com had a little birthday outing, and I brought the 1D MkIV with me to see what 60fps would look like. It confirmed my thoughts that I’m not all that fond of video that’s displayed faster than 24fps. I just like that film look too much. The faster the frame rate, the more a clip has that home-video look.
So with all that fast frame rate footage of the evening’s shenanigans, I converted it all from 60fps to 24fps – and the slow motion effect was more dramatic than I thought – and cool! Check it out below.
Yeah. That was stupid hot that day. Supposedly record temps for Portland that day, and I kept hearing in the pits about how folks’ lap timers were reading 100+ degrees. I think it affected the minds of the ambulance folks that were supposed to be manning the track, because they just upped and left at one point. And the track organizations can’t operate without at least one ambulance at the track. So not once, but three times, the track was cold for at least 20 minutes with nothing happening while we all waited for a replacement ambulance to show up. The two other times were because of a couple accidents that the ambulances had to take to the hospital, which is completely understandable, but where were the replacement ambulances?
The norm at Pacific Raceway is that one ambulance stays at the track at all times. If transport was needed, the ambulance manning the track would take the riders off track, call in a second ambulance, and transfer the patient to be taken to the hospital. This way there is always an ambulance present. This wasn’t the case at Portland International Raceway this last 2Fast day, which was especially concerning considering the hot weather and cases of heat exhaustion coming up (a few of the riders were completely burned out at the end of the day) and the higher possibility of heat strokes. Tsk tsk, Portland.
There were plenty of positives for the day, though. It was a great day for a track day. There was a huge turnout from both the local and northern crowds, and Michael Czysz was out testing the electric MotoCzysz E1pc, which won this year’s Isle of Man TT Zero class not more than a month ago. That was pretty awesome to see (and hear – the bike is as quiet as a Prius) going around the track with the regular johns.
To top it off, it was a great day for pictures!
Oh, and I got a tan!
