Finally got myself up to College Station and worked a corner at Texas World Speedway for a Ride Smart track day. I was nervous, having had no experience on or around the track before now.

I was pleasantly surprised to see a bunch of familiar faces - and a few "hey, Squeaky - what are you doing up this early in the morning?" comments while waiting for the pre-ride meeting.

While being assigned our stations, I made it clear to Mike that I wanted a quiet corner, if that was possible, since I was nervous about the task at hand. He gave me station 4, which is in Turn 7. It turned out to be the only station that ended the day without incident.

I watched as the riders improved throughout the day, lines getting smoother and bodies becoming more relaxed. There were way more red and yellow flags in the morning than after lunch, and when things were starting to wrap up we (as a corner worker team) got to choose the smoothest rider in each group. This was the point at which I realized that I was learning something from watching all these riders go 'round n 'round. I was watching the difference in the lines the riders chose, and was somehow able to differentiate the good from the not-so-good.

Overall, I got some sun, drank way too much water, waved some colorful flags, played with a walkie talkie, and earned myself a free track day. I woke up and was on the road before dawn, and got home well past dusk. I spent some time in the Emergency Room with a new friend. He'll be Ok, but I was reminded how easily riders band together to help each other out when one is in need.