timwheatley.org

Yesterday Sheila and I went to the ‘Taste of Chicago’ with her cousin and a friend. We tried a few food items from around the world and then broke up. The two girls went to the Suburbs, Chris and I walked back to the house.

We fixed one of the bikes here then decided to go for a ride into the city. We joined up with the Critical Mass ride (a large ride that goes on on the last Friday of every month - the Police shut off streets and ride along with us, it’s pretty cool). We rode from about 4:30pm (when we left the house) to 9:45pm (when we got home)… and oh boy do I ache today.

The ride was a lot of fun and is definately a really great experience. There was only one real incident than I saw and that’s when we were riding along and some guy decides to ride on the left side of the road (like the Police had been trying to stop them doing moments before). He got hit by a car… He was fine, but obviously got up and started shouting at the woman… Hundreds of other people were obviously all around her car and she panicked and ran over his bike wheel… It’s then that the cyclist picked up his puppy that had been in his basket and showed the woman that she’d nearly ran him over. Well, for me… He put the dog at risk - why on earth would you keep an animal in a basket like that? We were cycling for hours - where is it meant to pee? What happens if it jumps out? What happens if you had an accident with another bicycle? Or… *drum roll* what happens if you were riding on the wrong side of the road and a car couldn’t avoid you? Idiot. That poor woman, sheesh.

Apart from that incident, it was awesome. Everyone seemed to accept that they were going to be stuck at the junction until a few thousand cyclists had passed by. Kids and adults were coming out of their houses and marveling at the number of cycles. It was great fun. Last year at around this time, the route came past our house…

It also gave me a bit of confidence about eventually driving in this country also. When we were cycling back I found myself looking in the right direction, noticing the lights, signs, etc, basically doing everything I should be doing.

After qualifying on Tuesday with a 56.520 I knew I’d have my work cut out to have a win at this track as it seemed that everyone with a rating lower than mine, was faster - what was I doing wrong?

I decided to remain as happy as I could with my time as I knew I’d still get a decent race because of the iRating system - and how right I was - today’s race was awesome!

I got a decent start from my 4th-place starting position, even gaining a position before running off-track and having a long, lazy spin while exiting a turn on lap two and battling hard for 3rd place with the man behind. By the end of the lap I would be crossing the line in 7th-place and behind a group of closely-matched cars who were battling hard.

On lap three I managed to gain a position back and moved into 6th after the man I’d been racing with for 3rd off the start had also spun - and couldn’t get going due to the traffic going by.

I now found myself behind two of the cleanest and most annoyingly-consistent drivers I’ve ever had the absolute pleasure of racing against. They were nose to tail, battling hard, and I couldn’t wait to catch them and get in on the action.

It took two laps, but by the end of lap six I was right on the gearbox of the man in 5th-place and anxious to get past before I lost too much time to the man in 4th. By lap nine I had grabbed 5th in quite an opportunistic move after an error was made and I now truly believed that a podium wasn’t out of the question - but oh boy was I wrong - I was about to embark on one of the greatest two-car battles I’ve ever had.

I was immediately on the gearbox of the 4th-place driver and began to try to gauge where I might be fast enough to make a pass - I quickly found out that it wasn’t going to be easy! Everywhere I was faster, it wasn’t possible to pass, everywhere he was faster, I wasn’t fast enough! We were so evenly matched that I was held behind him - with a gap no larger than 0.3s between my nose and his gearbox - for the next thirteen laps!

When I eventually managed to make a pass (due to an error large enough for me to find a way by), I was hounded by him for two laps before he spun and gave me some room to breathe. I was now clear and able to run to the end of the race without any pressure.

I set my fastest lap, a 56.092, on lap twenty-four.

I had two incidents during the race:
I spun on lap two, dropping from 3rd to 7th-place.
I ran off the circuit on lap twenty-eight after a minor loss in concentration, it didn’t cost me much time.

It seems that one of McCain’s most trusted advisors feels that an attack on the United States before the Presidential Election would benefit McCain - so one can only assume he would like to see one happen.

“I deeply regret the comments, they were inappropriate,” Charlie Black said in a statement after McCain said that if Black had made such a comment, “I strenuously disagree” with it.

“I recognize that John McCain has devoted his entire adult life to protecting his country and placing its security before every other consideration,” said Black, one of McCain’s most trusted political advisers.

Fortune magazine said Black, in discussing how national security was McCain’s strong suit, had said when asked about another terrorist attack on U.S. soil that “certainly it would be a big advantage to him.”

I haven’t been over here long, but one show I have enjoyed watching while in the USA is NBC’s “Meet the Press”. The other day, the presenter of the show, someone I would describe as an American Jeremy Paxman (who is a British presenter of a show called “Newsnight”), passed away while at his desk from an apparent Heart Attack.

This presenter, who presented one of the few media outlets in the United States that I actually respected, will be sorely missed by me.

This video says more than any words possibly could. But, before you view it, be aware that each of these drivers are from different countries and are the entire Atlantic Ocean away from where the server is located.

VIR… My nemesis!

This is one of the most enjoyable tracks I have ever seen. But every configuration, as I drive around, I half love it and half hate it. I love the circuit, I hate how many mistakes I make.

I’ve always had an ‘OK’ safety rating but in every race this week (so far) I have had up to 17 incidents per race I think and my iRating is dropping like a stone. I’ve only had one incident that involved someone else, I think, and I’d like to say sorry for that one, the rest of the time I just put a wheel on the dirt and “wheeeeeeeeeee!” I spin, spin, spin over that white line at the edge of the racing surface.

Mind you, just now I had to answer the phone and quit the race to do so, but check that race result when posted and I probably have more incidents than the rest of the field put together and I only did a few laps of the race!

It’s funny because ever since trying VIR in the early alpha of iRacing I thought to myself how tough the track was for me and I have maybe given myself a mental complex about it… It’s pretty funny really as I’ve never found something so hard, yet wanted to go back and do it badly all over again!

The Rookie Legends car is a very good educational vehicle for the Advanced Legends because both cars will break traction at the same speed and often in the same place. The Rookie car is obviously less powerful and this means the problems you might experience in the more powerful car, you have already felt - albeit in a more subtle fashion - with the less powerful one.

The Advanced Legends car is a tough oval car that requires you to spend almost as much time turning right as left. This nimble car can really chew you up and spit you out on the tight ovals it normally races on. It is very easy to clip the wall when exiting the turn because you simply run out of racetrack while trying to keep the car pointed the right direction.

On most of the ovals, you will only need to use 4th gear, but on Lanier and Oxford (currently - this may change when the sim changes as I would probably damage the engine eventually), you will find that using 3rd gear may allow you to hold a better line in the turns. Of course using 4th does make the car easier to control, so if you have just graduated to the Advanced car from the Rookie, I would suggest using 4th gear. I have a habit of taking a shallow entry into most ovals with this car and taking a wider exit along the wall, I haven’t noticed myself being terribly slower than those of similar ranking in races. The suggested line of course is for a late entry, lower line in the center of the turn and a smooth, fast, exit.

The exception to the rule, is Lowe’s. The fastest way to go around this track seems to be 2nd gear in the turns and 3rd gear down the straights. Also, you will find that trying to make yourself a little ‘out of control’ into the turns can often give you a wonderful power-driven slide that takes you the full length of the turn. Lowe’s is also the only track of the four that I use any of the brake pedal.

Below you can see a video of the ‘Legends Ford ‘34 Coupe’ car on the two oval tracks that form part of the ‘Summer 2008 B’ series. Those tracks are: South Boston, Virginia and Lanier National Speedway, Georgia.

Click here then click “watch in high quality” if required.

Below you can see a video of the ‘Legends Ford ‘34 Coupe’ car on the remaining two oval tracks that form part of the ‘Summer 2008 B’ series. Those tracks are: Oxford Plains Speedway, Maine and Lowe’s Motor Speedway, North Carolina.

Click here then click “watch in high quality” if required.

The Rookie Legends car is a fairly easy oval car compared to most, but do not underestimate it. You can lose control and you can hit the wall. Driving this low powered version of the Legends car (officially named “Legends Ford ‘34 Coupe - Rookie”) is all about momentum, you drive while trying to lose as little speed as possible.

On most of the ovals this car races on, you will not need to use 4th gear. If you do use 4th you will find the car easier to control, but you will also find the car is more difficult to keep low in the turns and will often run wide on the exit. Give yourself a nice, smooth, lower line in the center of the turn and simply try to make sure you keep good speed.

Below you can see a video of the ‘Legends Ford ‘34 Coupe - Rookie’ car on the two ovals tracks that form the ‘Summer 2008 B’ series. Those tracks are: South Boston, Virginia and Lanier National Speedway, Georgia.

Click here then click “watch in high quality” if required.