| On Saturday August 13, 2011 several member of the Red Knights attended the Cal Schoch Sr. Memorial Ride at the Pocono Raceway. The day started around 8am at Smaltz Harley Davidson in Chester Spring then from there riders took the 140 mile ride to the Pocono raceway were they got an opportunity to go around the track four times.
Riders received their instruction at the start Fast bikes stay right slow bikes stay left NO PACING THE PACE CAR. Around the trap the surface was said to be very ruff but R.P.Scott said he got to 85 and Steve Monahan said he was well over one hundred. A good time was had by all " this is a must due and I can't wait till next" said Quarter Master R. p. Scott.
After their four times around the race track member followed the group to Schoch's Harley in Stroudsburg Pa. were food was provided as part of the days registration.
Proceeds from the event went to benefit the patients of the Veterans Administration Hospital.
Members in attendance were:
Ray Wood
Matt Norris
Walt Mitchell Jr
Ken Boyd
Cameron Smith
R. P. Scott
Joe LeBresco
Steve Monahan
Cameron Smith's Report
It was a great day for my first chance to ride the tri-oval Pocono Raceway on my sidecar. Met up with several other RK members including my nephew, Ray Wood, at Smaltz's HD in Chester Springs this past Saturday morning. Although we were originally told that they'd be leaving from Smaltz's at 9:00, a voicemail from Ray told me it had been revised to 8:30, so I left the house a bit after 7, having put a bit of air into the front tire.
Topped the tank near Smaltz's and hung out and ate donuts for a while, before the first half of the group left about 8:15 with a plan to ride route 100 and some others before picking up the northeast extension of the turnpike a couple exits up. The rest of us were taking the turnpike the entire route and expected to beat the other group to our destination. When I told the organizer that my sidecar wasn't expected to go more than about 85 miles on a tank, he assigned me two other riders to hang with me when I would have to pull off at the on-road fuel stop above Quakertown.
However, the best of plans are laid to waste when others have control. Thus, once on the northeast extension, we enjoyed the half-hour unnecessary delay as we funneled down to a single lane before passing the unoccupied construction zone that wasn't even using the second lane. At least one bike stopped to permit the riders to cool their overheated bike and stop cooking their legs. Turns out my bike gets much better gas mileage on the highway than when I commute into Philly with it and approaching the fuel stop, I let the other two guys know that I still had half a tank of gas so I wasn't stopping. Our group exited at Mahoning Valley and waited for a bit for one rider to do some minor maintenance and then we headed off. While the route was enjoyable, we did go the wrong way at least once and arrived at the raceway very close to the time when we had to be inside.
Having been delayed on the road, there was no time to fill up the tanks before we needed to register, pay the $25 and sign the various "I won't sue you" waivers. Behind the registration table, you could hear the sounds of some kind of racing from beyond the berm that was topped with a chainlink fence. I couldn't tell if the sound was from cars or bikes, but regardless, it did pique my interest and the smile factor.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pocono_Raceway
With no time to get gas, we proceeded through the tunnel to the staging area located immediately to the inside of the start/finish line. Took a couple of pictures and hit the bathroom before the sponsors held the ride meeting to tell us we were going to be using the 2.5 mile, three-turn course used by NASCAR. He would be in a pacecar for the 4 laps and would be traveling at 75 mph, but you were not permitted to pass him at any time. "If you want to go 75 mph, start when I do. If you want to go faster, wait some time after I leave. And remember to pass on the right only. Slower riders should stay to the left or down toward the bottom of the track." What he should have said was something like this. "If you are going between 75 and 100, stay on the bottom third. Up to 125 mph, in the middle and only go to the upper side if you're over 125 mph. But more on that later.
So there Ray and I are, with our respective rides sitting behind 300 bikes on the track and not sure if I have enough gas to get around the track all four times. And while I had brought a 2-gallon gas can, it sat in the sidecar without time – or a funnel – to get it into my gas tank. I clicked the gas switch from "on" to "res" to ensure I had everything that was available and we set out after the pacecar was past turn 2. And there are still 200 or so other bikes starting out behind us, so I know what they are planning as the vast majority are sport bikes.
Getting up to speed on the first straightaway, we hit the 14-degree-banked turn 1 just in time to have most of the bikes in front of us hitting their brakes. I'm actually yelling in my full-faced helmet at these people to get off the brake before you fall down the slope. Some are obviously a bit nervous about this opportunity to see what their bikes can do.
Gaining speed along the next straightaway and around the 8-degree-banked turn 2, I'm still seeing brake lights and do my best to begin weaving my way through the traffic as there are way too many bikes on the upper half of the track that are going about 80 to 90 mph. Meanwhile, there are some of us who would prefer to go a bit faster and can't get passed. This is probably the most dangerous time I experienced out on the track as some of the sport bikes were now approaching quickly from the rear. When I say quickly, I remember taking a look in my right mirror and seeing a headlight and before I got a chance to turn my head to the right, they had already blown past. Even more amazing than watching the sport bikes, was seeing the girlfriend pinion hanging on for dear life. I half expected to see them hanging on with their legs blowing along behind in the 140 mph breeze like you'd see in a cartoon.
Out of turn 2, I found myself down toward the bottom of the track, going through a bit of dust kicked up by the cycles in front of me. Let me explain that while I had a glove on my right hand, the brace on my left wrist made use of a glove impossible. I soon discovered that at 85 mph, even dust and small bits of tire rubber sting when they hit your knuckles. Ouch! I'll stay away from that area for the remainder of my trip.
The 6-degree-banked turn 3 is our last before the long straightaway and that's when everyone decides to jump on the throttle. The gutteral vroom of the large-block cruisers are finally showing life and I'm happy to accelerate up to 90 for the first time ever on this sidecar. Approaching the start/finish, a cruiser in front of me fails to clear the bright orange road cones left over from the earlier car racing and clips one, sending it bouncing along the track and into my path. At this point, I have two choices: I can try to evade it while keeping an eye on the fifty or so bikes around me or I could just drive straight and hope it bounced out of my way. I chose #2 and as luck would have it, the cone passed beyond the sidecar tire. The next time through, I'd be sure to be on the high side of the track.
So, I've now safely made it through the first laps and am getting a better feel for the track. Over the course of the next three, I enjoy the feel of the bike and sidecar as I try getting the speed up 10 mph on each successive lap. I had been hoping to see if the bike could handle triple digits, and was not disappointed as I topped out at 110 mph and the bike was still running smoothly and there was throttle remaining. Clearly, the limiting factor on the top speed of the bike was me. I can now confirm that it is, indeed, a racing sidecar. What a blast!
Prior to our track time and knowing that we were all low on fuel, RP Scott had gotten directions to a WaWa gas station located along the route the group of bikes would be traveling once everyone was off the track. Basically on fumes, I led Ray off the track and directly out to the main road, I made the left and right turns and was soon at a gas station, realizing it wasn't a WaWa, but figuring the price couldn't be much different at $3.89/gallon. Luckily, RP rode past and waved us to follow him, so we did. Less than a mile down the road, we pulled into a WaWa, where I was amazed to find the price was $0.40 less per gallon! Filled the 3.8 gallon tank with 3.775 gallons having gone 136.1 miles since my last fill up. Far and away the farthest I've ever gone with this rig.
I figured it would be a while before the rest of the bikes would be coming through with the police escort for the second destination of the day, but we could hear the police siren as Ray dismounted to hit the ATM inside. Apparently, he couldn't understand us and went inside anyway. As the cop took control of the intersection, the bikes began to pour through. We waited for half a minute and pulled out without Ray, hoping he'd catch up to us before the last of the riders had passed through. Upon his return to the bike, Ray quickly came to the realization that the group had not waited for him, so he bolted out and caught the group before it made the turn. What he didn't realize is that we were waiting behind the cop for Ray to come out the same exit we had, and so he blew past us and I yelled to him. He gave a wave but it may have been just one finger – to tell us what he thought of being left behind. With some space in front of another sidecar, I pulled into traffic and the others followed when spaces became available.
Now, what I thought was going to be a short police escort to the Harley Davidson shop sponsoring the event, turned out to be a much longer, almost crescent-shaped ride to their location, through some very pretty countryside. Unfortunately, after an hour and a half of it, I was getting rather tired of riding and was very hungry, having had just a Carnation instant breakfast before 7 a.m. We ultimately arrived at the HD showroom around 3:00 and they had hamburgers, hot dogs, and pulled pork sandwiches. There was also baked beans, potato and pasta salad. They were providing sodas and water for a $1 donation and had beer available, but I wasn't partaking.
About 3:45, we decided that we'd had enough and headed for home. One of the guys had determined the best route was to take route 33 South to route 22 and over to the Lancaster interchange of the turnpike. Thus, we followed the crew down 33 and when approaching 22, noticed that they were attempting to go West, when I was sure we were already West of the turnpike. With a wave from RP and the rest as they went West, Ray and I picked up the Eastbound side of 22 and proceeded into New Jersey, when I finally came to the conclusion that I was an idiot and stopped for directions I would actually follow. Back into PA, we stayed on 22 West and finally hit the turnpike, probably a half hour or so after the rest of the group and ultimately made it home to Lafayette Hill shortly after 5 p.m., 10 hours after I'd left. Before stopping at the house, we filled up again having put ridden an identical 136.1 miles and I put over 4 gallons in the tank. Apparently, my understanding of the size of my gas tank was also a bit off. Doh!
It's nice to know the bike can get good mileage. Perhaps if I just get it up to speed once it a while, it would blow out all the crap clogging up the engine. |
