The mind is a very complex instrument. I was still racing bikes when I became a father for the first time. It knocked a second or so off my laptimes immediately, eventhough I was not predominantly thinking about my new responsibilities when out on the track, there's far to many other things to occupy your mind out there. I continued for a year or so but I could see I was just getting slower and slower, although in my own mind I was trying as hard as ever!!
If all else fails, blame your kids
If it weren't for my two, I'd be two seconds a lap quicker.
Some good points made though, Ken. On a personal level, I'm a few tenths quicker since hosted racing was introduced which I can only put down to the fact that SR has been taken out of the equation and I can push a little bit closer to my limit. Inevitably however, this leads to an increase in incidents. IMO, trying to strike that balance between risk and reward is one of the biggest challenges of all.
