Grateful

[feral and bad]

2024- I am grateful.
I have many things to be grateful for this past year.
Some GT oriented, some not.
For the first time in a while, I had no surgeries in 2024.
Amazingly enough, I am still able to walk and pretend to play Gran Turismo.
A few years ago, both were in doubt.

There are many people who have contributed to my year and its' successes.
Some know of their contributions, some do not.
I am not going to name names, for fear of forgetting someone and
giving the impression of minimalizing their contribution.

After hanging around GTPlanet and getting a sense of the community, I decided to
actually try and improve. I didn't like waking up on Thursday morning to see if my
time was still good enough for gold.

So at TT64, it was time to really make an effort. I would track my results to see how
bad/good I really was. TT64 I was 7377 in the world. Not bad, but 2.66% off the world
leader, still too close to that bad Thursday morning feeling.

Lots of questions, comments, and study followed. By TT74, my average for the time trials
was 4040 in the world, and my average time difference from first was down to 2.27%.

Mission accomplished. Not quite, it turns out as there is always
someone faster, but seemingly within reach.

I decided to go to a rolling average type of result tracking wherein I would only average the last 10
results so as to better get a snapshot of how I was actually doing.

By TT95 my 10 race average place was down to 1299 and my average time differential was 1.92%
Hurrah!

Again, not quite, Could I actually average top 1000? Could I get to 1.75%?

After TT120 at Goodwood (did I say I hate chicanes?), my 10 race average was down to 530,
and time differential down to 1.68%. Complete disclosure, I did not participate in the RallyCross
in protest, and made no attempt at the Ring with the X2019. I have long since admitted that
I lack the concentration necessary for 6 minute laps. It is also the only CE that I have not golded.

Alas, I seem to have hit yet another plateau, but progress is never a straight line and
the mountain is starting to get pretty steep.
I am never going to be an alien, I am old and starting 2025 with another surgery.
That doesn't mean I can't keep trying to be better, keep learning and enjoying
the company of this community. None of this would have been possible without
all of you.

Thank you and may all of you be faster and happier in 2025.

Regards,
Ken

 

[330_D]

The Ring is not impossible. You have the ability. I thought the same and now it's become one of my favorite places to drive in this game.

Also, I have watched the progression you've made and it's been awesome! It feels pretty good to be able to do things in this game that once felt impossible.

Cheers Ken, and happy New Year!

 

[LSFDRX]

2024- I am grateful.
I have many things to be grateful for this past year.
Some GT oriented, some not.
For the first time in a while, I had no surgeries in 2024.
Amazingly enough, I am still able to walk and pretend to play Gran Turismo.
A few years ago, both were in doubt.

There are many people who have contributed to my year and its' successes.
Some know of their contributions, some do not.
I am not going to name names, for fear of forgetting someone and
giving the impression of minimalizing their contribution.

After hanging around GTPlanet and getting a sense of the community, I decided to
actually try and improve. I didn't like waking up on Thursday morning to see if my
time was still good enough for gold.

So at TT64, it was time to really make an effort. I would track my results to see how
bad/good I really was. TT64 I was 7377 in the world. Not bad, but 2.66% off the world
leader, still too close to that bad Thursday morning feeling.

Lots of questions, comments, and study followed. By TT74, my average for the time trials
was 4040 in the world, and my average time difference from first was down to 2.27%.

Mission accomplished. Not quite, it turns out as there is always
someone faster, but seemingly within reach.

I decided to go to a rolling average type of result tracking wherein I would only average the last 10
results so as to better get a snapshot of how I was actually doing.

By TT95 my 10 race average place was down to 1299 and my average time differential was 1.92%
Hurrah!

Again, not quite, Could I actually average top 1000? Could I get to 1.75%?

After TT120 at Goodwood (did I say I hate chicanes?), my 10 race average was down to 530,
and time differential down to 1.68%. Complete disclosure, I did not participate in the RallyCross
in protest, and made no attempt at the Ring with the X2019. I have long since admitted that
I lack the concentration necessary for 6 minute laps. It is also the only CE that I have not golded.

Alas, I seem to have hit yet another plateau, but progress is never a straight line and
the mountain is starting to get pretty steep.
I am never going to be an alien, I am old and starting 2025 with another surgery.
That doesn't mean I can't keep trying to be better, keep learning and enjoying
the company of this community. None of this would have been possible without
all of you.

Thank you and may all of you be faster and happier in 2025.

Regards,
Ken

Great post!

FWIW, yours is one of the names I look for on the leaderboard to gauge where I'm at, and don't remember a time when you weren't one of the "fast ones".

Good luck, in life and in GT. Looking forward to seeing you improve in 2025!