To those of you who didn't show - you MISSED OUT! What is there not to love about free tracktime, on a track that's less than an hour away, on somebody else's bike that you don't have to worry about crashing? NOTHING! We all came away with huge smiles. KTM offered up their 450 and 560 SuperMoto bikes for 5 laps at a time (HA!), and all you really needed was boots and a helmet. There was a mix of motocross gear, racing leathers, and the occasional guy in jeans. They were also allowing people to bring their own bikes and run all day for $30 - pretty good deal considering the cost of a Grattan trackday. I had hoped for street tires or the slicks with the flat tread grooves, but no love. Running on dirt on racing slicks is a lot harder than the pros make it look! It took me until my 3rd session out (I ended up running 10 laps on the 560 that session) to get really comfortable with throwing the bike around, and comfortable enough to clear the doubles at the end of the dirt section. I immediately felt more comfortable on the 450 with it's 2-strokish powerband than the 560 since I ride 2smokers on the dirt, but after the 3rd session the 560 was feeling pretty good with it's wheelie-happy torque everywhere - you could use 2 gears to run the whole track instead of the 4 I was using on the 450. The mix of bikes on the track made for an interesting time though, everything form a little kid on a TTR-90, to the demo bikes, to faaaast guys with AMA Pro plates. Watching the fast guys backing it in up close is an absolute hoot. We saw 4 crashes while we were there, but all were low-speed tipovers and the riders got back on and kept riding. Hopefully KTM is seeing a good return from running this program, and they continue to do so next year, as I'm already itching to get back out there and start slip-slip-sliding around! Hopefully *AHEM* we get a better turnout from the club, even you guys who have never ridden dirt bikes can get out there and do it - just go slow in the dirt and coast over the jumps. You'll find yourself using a little more throttle every lap, and you to will leave with a big smile at the end of the day.