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Hi, I wish to join the site! You may know me from MKDD and the MB,
and now I'm gonna try my hand at MKDS! Nothing spectacular yet,
unless you count spectacularly bad. There are still courses I haven't
finished five races on, and I still use Egg everywhere, so go figure!
Anyway, I hope that getting a profile will help me point out my flaws.

Name: Thomas van Leeuwen
Location: Wassenaar, Netherlands

All times are NON-PRB!

F8C: 1'24"742 / 27"572
YF: 0'55"962 / 18"380
CCB: 1'39"537 / 32"729
LM: 1'51"364 / 36"792

DH: 1'23"254 / 27"188
DS: 1'49"602 / 35"686
WP: 2'14"956 / 44"090
SR: 1'55"995 / 38"438

DKP: 2'09"301 / 42"272
TTC: 1'52"936 / 37"132
MC: 1'46"625 / 34"430
AF: 1'58"570 / 39"121

WS: 2'11"979 / 43"664
PG: 1'44"430 / 33"385
BC: 2'16"791 / 44"868
RR: 2'15"498 / 44"496

RMC1: 0'47"559 / 15"207
RMMF: 1'17"434 / 25"582
RPC: 1'08"152 / 22"608
RLC1: 1'25"489 / 28"173

RDP1: 1'06"815 / 21"545
RFS: 2'01"364 / 40"102
RBC2: 1'45"832 / 34"649
RBP: 0'47"539 / 8"921

RKB2: 0'51"476 / 16"702
RCM: 2'08"822 / 42"532
RLC2: 1'41"462 / 33"183
RMB: 1'23"911 / 27"678

RCI2: 0'57"405 / 18"332
RBB: 2'01"294 / 39"806
RSG: 1'24"230 / 25"423
RYC: 1'43"651 / 33"183

Now if you'll excuse, I'm gonna beat the crap out of my records ;)

I haven't played that much, but when and where I played, I took seconds
away!

All non-PRB

TTC: 1'49"876 / 35"817
RMMF: 1'15"341 / 24"753
RPC: 1'04"701 / 20"856
RLC1: 1'21"746 / 26"957

By the way, could you change my email address in my profile? I use this
yahoo-account practically only for these submissions.
My e-mail is: thomasb85@...

Thanks!

Thomas van Leeuwen

Not too many PRs, but still enough to cut over 15 AF-points, if my
calculations are correct. I started out by getting rid of my last
Beginner times, as well as the accompanying 3-lap or f-lap times. Then
I also focused on some of my lower ranked times. And here are the
results!

YF: 0'54"328 / 17"581
LM: 1'49"611 / 35"874
DS: 1'48"217 / 34"568
BC: 2'12"372 / 43"424
RFS: 1'55"335 / 37"682
RKB2: 0'49"918 / 15"773

All times are non-PRB

Thomas van Leeuwen

Again I went for some of my weaker times, mostly on Leaf Cup. Didn't
quite work out on RLC2, I'll try again tomorrow. The same goes for
RMMF. I've quite had my portion of F8C again, I don't like that course.
This fast MTing is still not working well for me.
Anyway, this should take care of almost 20 AF-points!

F8C: 1'23"618 / 27"260
RMMF: 1'15"034 / 24"395
RDP1: 1'03"566 / 20"263
RCM: 2'01"906 / 39"983
RLC2: 1'39"303 / 32"729
RMB: 1'18"928 / 25"987

All times are non-PRB

Thomas van Leeuwen

CCB: 1'36"836 / 31"233
DKP: 2'04"545 / 40"805
RR: 2'13"249 / 43"802
RMMF: 1'13"720 / 23"878
RBP: 0'47"496
RLC2: 1'37"688 / 31"871
RBB: 2'00"992 / 39"649
RYC: 1'40"355 / 32"162

All times are non-PRB

Some spectacular cuts, some boring ones. Among the boring: RBP
(hardly anything) and RBB. I thought I could do a lot better on
those. Nice cuts on RYC, making my times there now faster than at
mkdd. :)
Again also some RMMF, where I'm finally starting to get the hang of
all the bumps. The same went for DKP, where seconds vanished into
thin air.

See you tomorrow!

Thomas van Leeuwen

RDP1: 1'03"046 (non-PRB)

Sorry, it's easy to forget one when you're pr-smashing around. An
important one, cause it beats Marc (for a few hours probably)

Thomas van Leeuwen

WP: 2'13"660 / 43"852
SR: 1'53"698 / 37"217
TTC: 1'47"510 / 34"852
MC: 1'42"128 / 33"406
AF: 1'55"383 / 37"882
WS: 2'08"881 / 42"414
PG: 1'42"479 / 32"273
RMC1: 0'46"077 / 14"852
RBP: 0'47"389

All times are non-PRB

Looking at the f-laps I raced today, there are three (out of eight)
ending on "852! How about that?
Yes, I've been quite active today, but that's because I don't have
that much time tomorrow. So I struck today with, if my calculations
are correct, over 22 AF points (non-PRB) and a 0.7 cut in ARR. Not
bad for a day's work eh?
That work entailed a revisit of TTC, because no one told me that you
can drive over those gears at the end (noob alert)! I also got my
first top-300 times, on WS-3lap and PG-flap. In the midst of all the
violence I also took my RBP-5lap done by... almost a tenth. Enough to
beat the next standard. :P
Any other special things? Oh well, it's too much to mention.

Thomas van Leeuwen

LM: 1'48"047 / 34"980
DH: 1'19"527 / 25"269
RLC2: 1'32"312 / 30"260

Only 6 PRs? Yes, I already announced it would be a calm day, cause I've
got to go now. But the times! Almost 10 AF-points worth! The DH times
alone are good for over 5! Just missing out on my first Expert on the 3-
lap!
I also beat the crap out of my RLC2 times. They sucked and I didn't
understand why. So I tried cutting the corners through the grass... OMG
I'm such a noob! Well, you can guess the results after that discovery.
1.5 seconds off of my f-lap! 3-lap could be better though.

Thomas van Leeuwen

Hello, did you miss me?

F8C: 1'22"767 / 27"211
DS: 1'46"414 / 33"991
WP: 2'12"695 / 43"337
RBP: 0'46"924 / 8"897
RKB2: 0'47"669 / 15"079
RCI2: 0'56"169 / 17"956
RSG: 1'22"677 / 25"166
RYC: 1'38"999 / 31"700

All non-PRB

Well, what can I say? It's a lot, again. I didn't bother checking by
how much my AF-score will go down, but the ARR-cut is just over 0,4.
RKB2-3lap went from Intermediate B to Advanced B!
Another special mention for RBP, where a new strat on 5-lap helped me
to get rid of my last IC time. Also, f-lap went down, which was my
oldest PR, still from my original timeset. And that was, like, a week
ago? Wow.
Anything else? Ah, it's all so beautiful. Can't wait to see my new AF
score!

Thomas van Leeuwen

...and you know what that means:

BC: 2'08"545 / 41"997
RPC: 1'02"359 / 19"973
RLC1: 1'19"549 / 26"344
RBC2: 1'42"616 / 33"661
RBB: 2'00"627 / 39"512

All non-PRB

First, a correction. Yesterday I said that RBP-flap was the only
remaining PR of my original timeset. However, I forgot RBC2. I got
that out of the way though. And good!
And for the rest? Ah, so many stories to tell. I beat my BC times and
found them alright. Only then I investigated the option of plunging
into the lava at the very end. Result: f-lap down by 0"8 and 3-lap by
over a second! :)
The RBB times are quite harmless, but the other ones guarantee
another 0,45 cut in ARR!

Thomas van Leeuwen

Yes, only 20 PRs:

F8C: 1'22"378 / 26"905
YF: 0'53"740 / 17"395
LM: 1'46"138 / 34"220
DS: 1'43"349 / 33"373
RR: 2'11"834 / 43"224
RMMF: 1'12"050 / 23"605
RFS: 1'52"997 / 36"813
RBP: 0'45"426 / 8"837
RBB: 1'58"466 / 38"794
RSG: 1'21"881 / 24"717

All non-PRB

I took a sabbatical yesterday. I didn't play at all, but in the
evening I couldn't resist and beat my RFS times. The rest is all
today's work. I set out to get rid of all my remaining Intermediate
times, and succeeded, all 12 of them!
Some funny things: on RMMF I would've been happy enough with "just" a
1'12"xxx, but ended up almost gettin 1'11"xxx! Two days ago I already
scraped off 3 tenths from my RBB-3lap, and today I took it down by
more than two seconds! And the last Intermediate time to go down was
DS-3lap, where my original strat clearly sucked as I beat the Adv E
standard by two and a half second!
So, that's all Intermediates gone, yet I still don't have any Expert
times! Now THAT's consistency!

Thomas van Leeuwen

8 PRs, that's calm enough for me

DKP: 2'00"792 / 39"605
MC: 1'41"374 / 33"150
RCM: 2'00"732 / 39"419
RMB: 1'17"935 / 25"524

As always, non-PRB

Well, DKP and RCM are closing in on the 2 min barrier, but I'm still
not quite there yet.
A quick calculation: ARR minus 0,234

Thomas van Leeuwen

TTC: 1'45"790 / 34"570
AF: 1'54"596 / 37"579
RYC: 1'36"321 / 31"459

All non-PRB

These PRs should be enough to make my AF-cut for the week over 100.
That is, if these are updated before the news... *Crosses fingers*

Thomas van Leeuwen

OK now, where were we? Oh right, PR smash!

F8C: 1'21"593 / 26"883
YF: 0'52"856 / 17"180
LM: 1'44"540 / 33"989
DH: 1'19"389
WP: 2'12"265 / 43"280
RMC1: 0'45"673 / 14"713
RMMF: 1'11"473 / 23"352
RPC: 1'01"334 / 19"897
RFS: 1'51"183 / 36"253
RBC2: 1'41"937 / 33"542
RKB2: 0'46"704 / 14"934
RCM: 1'59"683 / 39"269
RCI2: 0'54"852 / 17"304
RSG: 1'21"297 / 24"621

All non-PRB

27 PRs in two days! I'm still amazing myself.
Let's start with the bottom: of my six remaining Adv E's, two remain:
F8C-flap and RSG-3lap. Really, how can it be that RSG-flap is one of
my best times, while the 3lap still sucks?! What am I doing wrong in
laps 2 and 3?
Also news from the top: 4 new Expert times! DH-3lap, for which a small
cut was enough, RBC2-3lap, and both RCI2 times. In fact, the flap went
from Adv B to Exp C! :)
Other special things: did YF with BLS (the only one still), finally
subbed 2' on RCM (even did a 39"xxx 0-shroomer!), and... oh, it's all
so beautiful! Except WP, I'm gonna watch some vids, cause I can't make
it work.

There's too many PRs to calculate my AF cut, but the ARR cut will be
0,42 :) (Adv B, yay!)

Thomas van Leeuwen

...because before you know it, you'll be seeing mine! :)

F8C: 26"828
DS: 1'42"518 / 32"909
WP: 2'11"765
TTC: 1'44"765 / 33"916
MC: 1'40"959 / 32"870
RSG: 1'21"069 / 24"590

All non-PRB

I noticed I'm only 0.4 AF-point behind Ivo o_O. And if you've been
following me, you know that I'm not in the business of cutting tenths
of AF points... more like tens. ;)
Having said that, these 10 PRs are slightly disappointing: "just" a
2,7 cut. ARR-cut will be 0,14.
First, a correction: yesterday, I didn't notice that I had scored a
5th (7th total) Expert. So, hereby a late acknowledgement for RKB2-
3lap!
I got rid of my last two Adv E's: F8C-flap (small cut) and RSG-3lap.
The latter took a good run (including new flap); there must be
something wrong with my strat. I put a plea for help out on the MB.
Wow, such a big story already?! Gotta tie it up. Other PRs nothing
special. See ya!

Thomas van Leeuwen

F8C: 1'21"052
LM: 1'43"313 / 33"559
SR: 1'50"776 / 36"070
DKP: 1'59"998 / 39"438
RR: 2'09"931 / 42"666
RSG: 1'19"012
RYC: 1'35"656 / 31"237

All non-PRB

The most flamboyant cut is RSG-3lap. After gaining some intel I went
for standard DB. It's about 0"4 slower per lap, but when the extra
shroom saves about 3 seconds, the maths is easy, and the cut is 2
seconds!
Another jewel is of course DKP-3lap. At the time of my PR-run my best
splits added up to just below 2 min. My first two laps were about
0"15 above my best splits, but I decided to go on anyway. And then
the last lap, bang!, 3 tenths faster! If only it were one thousandth
of a second slower, it would've been perfection...
Another awesome last lap on LM, where again the first two laps were
not brilliant, but the 34"4 0-shroomer made up for that, and then
some!
In fact, RYC-3lap featured the same thing, but I'll leave it there.

Prognosis: AF -6,6 and ARR -0,23

Thomas van Leeuwen

Three days work:

F8C: 26"567
YF: 0'52"258 / 16"979
CCB: 1'35"459 / 30"757
DH: 25"228
DS: 1'42"163 / 32"693
RMC1: 14"547
RPC: 0'59"979 / 19"550
RDP1: 1'01"958 / 19"819
RBP: 8"691
RKB2: 14"749
RLC2: 1'28"866 / 29"159
RSG: 23"929

All non-PRB

I've started to try other karts out, specifically the standard ones
where they're recommended. Some good experiences, some disappointing.
Among the very good are RLC2 with Dry Bomber and RSG-flap (Expert!)
with Std DB.
DH-flap was done with Std LG, but beats my Egg1 time by just a small
bit. DS-flap was also marginally faster, although it wasn't a
brilliant lap. On RBP-flap I used Std YS, rather than RB, and found I
could hit low 8"7xx easily.
Also some Egg1-madness, e.g. on RPC (sub-1' yay!), where I got both
Experts!

And the ARR-cut is... -0,26

Thomas van Leeuwen

WP: 43"146
MC: 1'38"728 / 32"135
RR: 2'08"800 / 42"149
RMMF: 1'11"292 / 23"203
RBB: 1'57"725 / 38"618

All non-PRB

These are all former Adv C times, with the exception of the 3laps at
MC and RMMF, but while I was going for flap I had a go at 3lap as
well.
My PR at RMMF-flap was 23"3xx, and I just needed to beat 23"3 to get
Adv B. I went to produce truckloads of 23"3xx laps. No matter what, I
didn't get 23"2xx, nor 23"4xx for that matter! I'd almost expect to
suddenly get a 23"1xx out of the blue; I got close though.
Some more crazy consistency at MC-flap; I beat my flap, then tied it
on the second try, beat it again on the third, and then tie that one!
After that, both times went down a lot further. In fact, the 3lap
went to Expert!
If I'm right, I'm now Adv A overall, and I have two Adv C's left: F8C-
3lap and... F8C-flap. I can't stand that course! Well, wish me luck...

Thomas van Leeuwen

F8C: 1'20"404 / 26"511
DH: 1'18"495 / 24"927
AF: 1'53"489 / 37"207
WS: 2'06"998 / 41"413
PG: 1'39"623 / 31"588
RLC1: 1'18"792 / 25"990
RDP1: 19"471
RBC2: 33"496
RBP: 0'44"905 / 8"559
RKB2: 14"497
RMB: 1'17"798 / 25"402
RSG: 1'18"861

All non-PRB

That persistence is what got me through on two places: F8C-flap and RBP-
5lap.
On F8C, my two last Adv C times, I got an amazing 3lap quite early on:
something like 26"6 - 26"8 - 26"9! Not just good for Adv B, but Adv A!
The flap was quite another story though. I tried BLS again: no. I tried
Polt for about an hour: just a few 26"6xx times. Switched back to Egg1,
got a few 26"5xx's, a PR, and finally, a PR just enough for Adv B. I
knew it as I went for the finishline: a good first bend, and perfectly
lined up for the second one.
RBP-5lap was killing me. I'm glad it's "just" 5 laps and not 7, as at
MKDD. Still, if I didn't cock up myself, I'd miss an MT. On three or
four occasions I missed an MT on the last lap, after four good laps! I
almost cried. Finally, after about two hours of just RBP, I got a great
run: 8"9(!) - 8"9(!) - 9"0 - 9"0 - 8"8. Enough so I won't have to
bother about it for quite some time.
on RBP-flap I tried RGS. Got some low 8"6xx laps quite easily, and
finally that very good lap. I knew it as I went for the finish line.
Still a surprise to find it was that good.
What else is funny? Well, RKB2-flap is an anagram of my old PR (749 to
497), and on RLC1-flap, I got three 25"xxx-laps; with 990 being the
fastest of the three.

ARR-cut prognosis: -0,34

Thomas van Leeuwen

TTC: 1'42"951 / 33"441
BC: 2'06"901 / 41"418
RKB2: 0'46"606
RCM: 1'59"159 / 38"958

All non-PRB

The big cuts are for TTC and BC, with 1"8 and 1"6 respectively on the
3laps. Usually consistency is not too big a problem for me, but on both
courses I had quite some trouble to produce three good laps. I
obviously aimed for 1'42"xxx and 2'06"xxx respectively, both enough for
Expert! However, on both occasions, the flap isn't.
Apart from those, a minute cut on RKB2-3lap, and I moved both RCM times
from Adv B to Adv A.

Prognosis: ARR -0,11 and AF -3,4

Thomas van Leeuwen

RFS: 1'49"661 / 35"341
RYC: 1'34"359 / 30"551

All non-PRB

Didn't have much time to play, so on the courses I did, I had to go
fast. :D
RYC was first. Quite old (about a week lol), but I remembered I was
quite pleased with my 3lap at the time. However, yesterday I beat it
easily. I didn't improve my strat much, I guess it came down to
better overall driving. I took over a second off easily, and decided
to stop even though I could push it some more. Too bad, could've got
Expert D on the 3lap.
RFS was a grueling experience. As the laps became good, I started
driving into snowmen, something I normally never do (I've got an easy
path through them). One run featured my flap, a 2nd lap close to my
best split, and an OK lap 3, until I hit an ice wall on the last
straight. :$ Finally though, I hit a nice run, with an OK 1st lap,
followed by very good 0-shroomers.
All these four PRs went from Advanced to Expert; RFS-flap even from
AB to ED! They also all constitute 40~60 places up the charts. So:

Prognosis: ARR -0,125 and AF -3,2

Thomas van Leeuwen

...The eye of the storm? ;)

YF: 0'51"982 / 16"854
CCB: 1'34"073 / 30"599
DS: 1'41"259 / 32"535
RR: 2'08"443
RMMF: 1'10"580 / 23"035
RDP1: 1'01"468

All non-PRB

It's been a while, cause I haven't been able to play that much.
I focussed on tracks with Adv B times. Of these 10 PRs, only CCB-flap
was already Adv A. On 3lap, I discovered shrooming on lap 3 and
easily took a second off.
On one occasion, I failed: it's RR, where my 3lap is just 0"05 short
of Adv A, as is my flap, which I didn't manage to improve. Mind you,
I'm gonna be playing this track again tonight, and probably won't
stop until I succeed!
The other 8 times are all Adv B -> Adv A. No big trouble anywhere, in
fact, some are just shy of Expert, but I didn't get any.
Expected ARR-cut: -0,125

13 Adv B times remaining...

Thomas van Leeuwen

DKP: 39"329
BC: 41"316
RR: 2'08"176 / 41"988

All non-PRB

I already announced yesterday that I would be playing RR again.
Indeed, it didn't take too long to hit this 3lap with 42"3 - 42"9 -
42"8. Flap took some more effort, but ended in typical fashion: my
old PR was ~"149, and I improved to "135, then "124, then "118, and
then, BAM!, "988! Forget 42"0xx! Too bad that lap 3 went wrong, cause
my 2nd lap actually lined me up for a potential 2'07"xxx.
The other two are flaps for which I needed just a small cut to reach
Adv A. On BC I included an MT which I hitherto found quite risky. I
turned out to be easy enough, so the necessary tenth went off
smoothly.
DKP-flap was an extremely short ordeal. I got Adv A with the first
finished attempt, which was like the 3rd or 5th attempt overall! I
later improved it again, but didn't have the motivation to take it
down further (quite possible) and attack 3lap as well.

9 Adv B's remaining...

Thomas van Leeuwen

Do you remember how many Adv B times I had left three days ago? 9.
Do you know how many PRs I got two days ago? 9.
Coincidence? No.

F8C: 26"307
LM: 1'42"852
WP: 2'10"473 / 42"809
SR: 35"889
DKP: 1'59"739 / 39"166
RMC1: 0'45"288 / 14"494
RLC2: 1'27"732 / 28"830
RBB: 1'56"588 / 38"290
RSG: 1'17"815

All non-PRB

Yes, much to my own surprise, I managed to get rid of my last 9 Adv
B's in one go! Most turned out to be not too hard, I just hadn't
played them in quite some time. But especially F8C-flap came very
unexpected! BLS and I finally came to some mutual understanding, and
quickly I beat my hard-fought Egg1 time with 0"05. It left me
wondering whether it was really -0"05, or +0"95 lol. It still took
quite a lot of effort, but it's Adv A now.
Also RSG went down surprisingly far surprisingly easily. I finally
discovered that you don't have to hop over the gaps at the last short-
cut. I guess I'm still a noob...
Yesterday I rebeat some of those 9 times, since at some I stopped as
soon as I nailed Adv A. I also got 3 new Experts, RMC1-3lap and flap,
as well as RLC2-3lap.
Overall, there's only one PR out of 14, which doesn't beat a new
standard: DKP-3lap. So my ARR-cut will be 13/64 = 0,2 taking me to
Expert E overall! But I'm more interesting in getting all my times up
to Expert. As noted, all my times are at least Adv A now, but that
number of Adv A's is... 36!

Thomas van Leeuwen

6 PRs, 5 new Experts:

AF: 37"127
PG: 1'35"288 / 30"822
BC: 40"968
RBC2: 1'41"657 / 33"154

All non-PRB

I didn't think it was still possible for me to cut over 4 seconds in
one go. Well, I did it on PG. Early on I beat my old PR by over a
second, while getting stuck in some grass and bumping into something
as well. A good sign! At some point I got 1'35"9xx, but decided to
push on. I got a new flap (30"8xx), screwed up lap 2, and
thought "well, if my last lap is good, it might still be a PR". With
the pressure off, naturally, I drove the best split of the day by far
(31"9xx!). So I was stuck with a PR with a horrible 2nd lap. I played
more and more, got 30"9xx and 30"8xx regularly, but the ability of
driving low 32"xxx 0-shroomers seemed to vanish. Finally I got a nice
31"0 - 32"1 - 32"1 run. Much to my own surprise, it's as good as
Expert A! Not only coming from Advanced A, but so far I only had two
Expert C's (PG-flap is now the third). But PG-3lap is lonely at the
top, ranking #134 (more than 100 positions up lol).
Fortunately it's not Hero, so it doesn't screw my consistency up too
badly...
On the others I pretty much played until Expert E was in the bag.
Especially RBC2 can be very much improved still, on both 3lap and
flap, but I can't be bothered for now. 31 Experts left to get!

ARR-cut: -0,17

Thomas van Leeuwen

CCB: 1'33"803 / 30"382
LM: 1'42"763 / 33"350
DS: 1'40"231 / 32"184
SR: 1'49"880
DKP: 1'58"851 / 38"790
MC: 1'38"426 / 31"968
RMMF: 1'10"264 / 22"863
RMB: 1'17"227 / 25"175

All non-PRB

Well, what shall I say? For each individual PR I could write a story,
but I won't do that. At the same time, none of these PRs is so
spectacular that it deserves a story more than the others. It's 15
PRs, of which 12 went from Adv A to Exp E. On LM I failed, miserably,
and I improved MC-3lap (already EE) after getting flaps.
Well, DS-3lap was kind of spectacular and unexpected. For every tenth
of a second you win up to the bridge at the end of lap 3, you win
another tenth because the bridge is not that far up; that explains it
a bit. SR-3lap is also a nice cut, to Expert, but for flap I'm at a
loss as to how to do it. And DKP-3lap is a nice palindrome time.
Well, that about sums it up. No more inspiration to write on.

Thomas van Leeuwen

LM: 1'41"299 / 33"225
SR: 1'49"257 / 35"475
TTC: 33"350
RLC2: 28"738

All non-PRB

Beforehand, I thought that LM-3lap was going to be very though to get
Expert on. However, I managed to improve my 0-shroom strat
considerably, cutting about half a second off of my best split!
Subbing 1'42 became no problem after that. In fact, this low 1'41"xxx
is enough for Expert D! LM-flap did take a lot more effort though,
more than I expected. However, in the end I delivered. In fact, after
that I got my best lap 2 split, and the last lap was slightly
disappointing, but that's how I got my 3lap PR!
SR-flap, for which I was at a loss, as I said a few days ago, turned
out be easy enough as well. I added an MT before the shroomspot, and
saw the tenths flying off. During that time, I also improved my 3lap
from EE to ED.
The funniest thing of all is that my new TTC-flap is exactly equal to
my old LM-flap! One important difference: at TTC this time is worth
Expert, which was of course what I was aiming for.
On RLC2-flap just a small improvement, nowhere near enough, but
considering I just played for fifteen minutes this morning, I'm
confident that I'll beat 28"5 tonight. I'll see you tomorrow!

4 new Experts, 15 to go!

Thomas van Leeuwen

RCM: 1'58"174 / 38"633
RLC2: 1'26"907 / 28"487

All non-PRB

I said I'd be back for RLC2-flap, didn't I? I also went for 3lap,
since it could use some improvement too, despite being Expert
already. I got 1'27"0xx quite early on, and decided that I should be
able to get 1'26"xxx. I wish I hadn't. It was hell. Even though good
lap one's came regularly, there'd always be some kind of cock-up in
the second or third lap. In the end I got four(!) 1'27"0xx times,
before finally subbing with 28"6 - 29"1 - 29"0.
Oh yeah, I did get Expert on flap. That was a walk in the park in
comparison.
After that, I did some RCM. That wasn't too difficult after all. I
got the good splits early on, and putting three decent laps together
didn't take too long (38"9 - 39"6 - 39"5). Flap was a bit more
challenging, but after adding a risky MT, I got EE there too.

So that's 3 new Experts, 12 left! ARR -0,625 and AF -1,5

Thomas van Leeuwen

If I'll ever come to be abducted, and tortured by my captors, I'll
laugh them in the face; for I have played F8C (and DKM at MKDD), and
I've survived. (Though I may have lost some sanity)
And when I come to die, and at the end of the tunnel there is a big
red guy with a pitchfork in one hand and a DS in the other, then I'll
know he is the Devil and I'll know what he'll tell me to do.

F8C: 1'19"703 / 26"166
YF: 0'51"222 / 16"641
WP: 2'09"767 / 42"378
RDP1: 1'00"970
RBB: 1'55"458 / 37"991

All non-PRB

Yes, F8C is the party piece. I decided not to save this for last, but
to get it over with. The target: sub-1'20 (Expert). I got 1'20"3xx's
and 1'20"2xx no problem, but getting three relatively flawless laps
was hell. At some point, I got 1'20 plus "008; enough to make a grown
man cry. I kept myself together though, and in the VERY NEXT run (I
kid you not), I got my PR. It was 26"31 - 26"78 - 26"59(!!). Really
amazing, considering that the first two laps were quite good, and
usually I choke then. Brilliant laps normally come after two very
poor laps, when I have nothing to lose. But this... I can remember
subbing 26"7 (not 26"6) only one other time!
The funniest thing, is that I was playing on a train, and these two
consecutive runs were done when entering respectively leaving station
Dordrecht! It's no surprise then that Dordrecht is the (former?)
residence of one Steven Zwartjes. On the way back, I didn't get the
Dordrecht-effect though.
On the way back I was playing... F8C-flap. I got some 26"2xx times,
but not the desired 26"1xx. That came the following day, in a lap in
which the last bend in particular went brilliantly.
Well, this overshadows my other achievements, but all 9 PRs are new
Experts! On YF, RDP1 and RBB, I had a moment of clarity, improved my
strats and saw the results come naturally. RDP1-3lap is now also
finally with Std DB instead of Egg1. On WP I also improved my strat,
but it was more elbow grease.

Well, I now have just three Adv A's left: RR-3lap, RR-flap and RSG-
3lap. I'll have to study some vids for those; large cuts to be made.

Thomas van Leeuwen

Yes, I did it!

RR: 2'06"731 / 41"784
RSG: 1'15"908

All non-PRB

Of the three remaining Adv A's, two turned out to be not too difficult
after all. I did RSG first, and after a lot of failed attempts, I
finally made the SC without shroom using Std DB. The first time I
nailed it in lap 1 I screwed up, but the second time I got 1'16"xxx!
After a while I made the SC a lot more often (success rate about 30%),
and pushed on until I subbed 1'16. It's almost 2 sec faster than my
old PR and Expert C!
RR-3lap also was a breeze, much to my own surprise. I managed to add
an MT and saw the rest come naturally. In the end my new PR is over
1"4 faster than my old time and enough for Expert D!
Flap was quite another story though. Inspite of my improved strat, I
still needed to gain two tenths over my old flap, which was a rather
perfect lap. It was very late in the evening, just before I went to
sleep (I was playing in my bed), that I first got two low 41"8xx-laps,
and then finally I subbed 41"8 for Expert! And that was it!

So now that all my times are Expert E or better, I'm still Expert E
overall! That has got something to do with the fact that I have 49(!)
Expert E's, and just 15 which are better. How's that for consistency, huh?

Expert Thomas van Leeuwen

DH: 24"207
WS: 2'06"427 / 41"211
BC: 2'05"827
RBP: 0'44"743
RYC: 1'33"773 / 30"399

All non-PRB

Now that I'm discharged from my quest to get all the Experts, I'm
free to play where I like. That involved some courses I hadn't played
in quite a while. Most of these PRs are just a result of better
driving.
One exception is DH-flap, which I did improve with my old strat, but
then I found out that one should hop off the mountain after the first
shroom. It shows that there are still some noobish things left in my
system. Anyway, that little piece of information alone was worth 5 or
6 tenths of a second. The result is Expert B, and this time will move
up 91 places in the charts! :)

ARR will go down by 0,125; Expert D for the taking!

Thomas van Leeuwen

CCB: 30"118
DH: 24"192
RDP1: 19"225

All non-PRB

No, I haven't played much lately. Just these three flaps, all one
standard up, so I'm now overall Expert D by a hair!
DH-flap was already very close to Expert A, so I decided to push it
that little bit further. I got it, so it's my second Expert A! I also
made a vid of a 24"22 run, which will be available on the MB if it's
not already.
The other two were some weaker times which I thought could use some
improvement. Indeed, both went down by about a quarter of a second,
both went from EE to ED, and both are 30~40 places up in the charts.

Thomas van Leeuwen

RPC: 0'59"794 / 19"357

All non-PRB

As I checked out my profile, I found that my RPC times were quite bad.
But hold on, didn't I have better times there? Yes I have, but it
turns out I forgot to submit them. So here they are.

Thomas van Leeuwen