Cycle racing for the Sheer joy of excitement
by Jan Richards

Doug Sheer loves to speed on his motorcycle, and he does it legally. Equipped with a Kawasaki Ex500 racing motorcycle (500cc motor) , Sheer has competed in races and has trophies to show for his efforts.

He has plenty of super memories from his first race season to help him endure the frosty weather that is about to arrive. He placed fourth four times, grabbed third in four races and second once. Sheer won the first time at the International Speedway in Loudon, N. H.

When the crossed green and white flag went up, Sheer was halfway to his first place trophy with only 15 minutes to go. "The last 15 minutes took forever. As bikes came closer to the finish line, my heart skipped beats. Excitement started racing through my body, I was going to take first place."

Disaster almost s truck on the last lap. As he came out of the corner, his bike began skidding on exhaust. "I thought I was going to crash. I thought to myself I couldn’t crash now, not when I was so close to receiving my first place trophy . In practice, I was doing fine for these laps, then all of a sudden the front end of the motorcycle just slid out from under me and I crashed. Breaking too hard on cold ground and new tires that were also cold had caused my bike to go down."

He was not going to let one little bruise on his lower back stand in the way of first place. "Later that day, I hoped history wasn’t going to repeat itself. I struggled to get my bike back on its tires, then just kept racing until I crossed the finish line. My fists went up in the air and I yelled, "yea , yea, through my helmet, but nobody could hear me."

It was the highlight of his short racing career which began when Sheer took his street bike, a Yamaha l997 YZF 1000 Sport that can reach speeds of l65 miles per hour, to the track for a day last summer. That is when he decided to enroll at the Penguin Racing School, the oldest road racing school in the U. S., to learn the sa fety rules and get his license.

At the New Hampshire Speedway, he learned about the flags. Yellow is for caution, a waving yellow means caution, do no pass until you are beyond the dangerous situation. Yellow with red stripes means somebody or something is on the track, water, oil, etc. The white flag with a red cross means the ambulance is on the t rack. A red flag means the race is over, finish your lap. If they point a black flag at you, then you are out of the race. He also learned how to go through corners, what is the fastest way around the track, the best lines to take and what the different classes of motorcycle racing are.

The race track is oval, but the motorcycle court only uses a small percentage of it. You start out on the front straight away and instead of using the oval turns, go on the inside and use right and left turns the road makes. Most races consist of eight laps around the l.6 mile course. "My first race was at the Penguin Road Race, while I was still in school. I raced in a rookie race, a small three lapper. The rookie race, not a competition race, has to be completed in order to receive a license. "

Like many who take part in competitions, Sheer experiences the feeling of nerves and adrenaline before the start flag is dropped. "Before the race when I am putting on my leather suit, I get nervous, then when I do a practice run, I calm down."

Scheer also get nervous when he is neck and neck with somebody coming down the front straight away. "It’s like a game of Russian Roulette. Whoever waits the longest to break away is usually the winner because the other person is slowing down and you are still going at the same speed. It takes a lot of confidence and skill."

There is no hiding the fact that motorcycle racing is a very dangerous sport. "I have never been at the track without seeing an ambulance. Sometimes, you fall, slide and get scraped, others times you just get banged up."

When Scheer races, he wears a one piece Vanson leather suit, with hard plastic in the elbows, forearms, shoulders, knees, skins, together with hip pads and a spine protector. The suit weight a bout 15 lb s. "The leather is pretty thick and hot even on cool days. When I finish a race, my head and clothes are soaked. When it’s 90 degrees out, you just die in the suit. It takes a lot of work to throw the bike right and left."

Scheer also wears leather gloves, a helmet and leather boots worn eight inches above the ankle to be fully protected. The helmets are checked at the track using the Snell rating system.

Motorcycle races compete in three classes: lightweight bikes ( up to 650 cc) middleweight (up to 750 cc and heavy weight 750cc and up.)

There is money to be won in the race circuit. A few races called "Dashing for Dollars" have cash prizes up to 500.00 . It depends on who is promoting the race. A prize could even go as high as 1000. The race is mostly for bigger bikes.

The race season begins in April and comes to an end in October when the track starts to get cold. On an average weekend, about 200 races and the age span of those is wide spread. They have senior class and a vintage class with bikes from l974 . These vintage bikes are usually driven by older people.

You can race on the t r ack when you are 16 be fore you receive your regular driving license and continue racing past 70, if you are still capable to drive and understand the rules.

The money raised through sponsorships helps pay the cost of equipment up keep , racing fees and other expenses.

One way to help cut costs is to be able to handle your own repairs. "I redid the front forks on my motorcycle, replaced handlebars, when I crashed. I also changed rear sprocket.

I go through a set of brakes every weekend because the longer you wait to brake, the harder it is on the brakes. I look at my brakes all the time, and check my pads. On a motorcycle you can see the brakes because they are exposed."

In addition to motorcycles and racing, Scheer likes to tinker with woodworking, ride mountain bikes, and work with mechanical things.