Keep Austin Weird?
That’s the tag line I’ve seen all around Austin, Texas, for the past week. It’s something about “Support Local Businesses.” I’m bringing back a refrigerator magnet to prove it.
Austin is a pretty happening place to experience. The night life on 6th Street is like a dozen of Indianapolis’ hip night spot, Broad Ripple, end-to-end. There are lots of pubs and clubs to suit anyone’s taste. Austin is also known as the “live music” capital of the west.
Even though it’s been a very busy business trip, it’s pretty amazing how many people you run into that are as excited as I am about the Red Bull Indianapolis GP this coming September. Many of the people attending the conference know of my love of sport bikes and had run across “The Experience” blog. It was pretty exciting to share some of my recent Red Bull Indianapolis GP experiences with other motorsports enthusiasts from across the country.
Well, it’s pretty late and I’ve got an early flight back to Indy in the morning, so I’ll see you all next week on redbullindianapolisgp.com.
Greg
How to beat the GAS man!
Finally, a full week of beautiful weather in central Indiana. I was able to park the H3 Hummer for most of the week and make the daily commute with two wheels. It’s still pretty amazing to spend over $10 to fill the tank of a motorcycle, but that really beats the $75 it takes to feed the Hummer its full meal. Starting a typical workday off with a ride definitely gets you in a great state of mind. About the time the joy of the morning ride is starting to wear off, you start thinking of a good, winding route back home for the evening commute. Wow, am I glad the dreariness of winter is finally gone away.
This past weekend a local motorcycle accessory dealer, Adam’s Biker Outlet, hosted an open house at their store in Carmel, Ind. The Brickyard marketing team had asked if I could bring my Honda CBR1000RR Repsol up to Adam’s for this open house event. Sure, what a great way to spend what turned out to be a glorious day of sunshine, good cooking, great music and new friends. If you ever what to get your motorcycle detailed, I can highly recommend Adam’s detailing team. This customer was very satisfied with his motorcycle detail experience! 
I ended up bringing the Honda Repsol Nicky Hayden replica bike and a new ’08 Yamaha YZF R1 Fiat M1 replica I’ve recently added to the stable. I figured what better way to represent this September’s Red Bull Indianapolis GP front grid than putting two former MotoGP world champions, Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden, together at Adam’s open house event.
Not to be shown up, Mel Harder from the Brickyard popped in with a very appropriate vehicle to pace this fast crowd, the 2008 Corvette that will be pacing this year’s Indianapolis 500 in May. Now that was quite the display of both two-wheel and four-wheel sports vehicles for Adam’s guests to enjoy.
Well, it’s now the start of another week. The dreary weather is back with both rain and frost. I’m back to the four-wheel commute, wondering once again if spring is ever going to stay around for a while and if the Hummer still likes the GAS man.
See you all next week on redbullindianapolisgp.com
Greg
A photographic history of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway
A couple weeks ago, I had the opportunity to participate in Nicky Hayden’s first historic motorcycle lap of the new road course at the Brickyard. After all the morning activities, a small group of enthusiasts was treated to a couple hours of watching Nicky make evaluation laps of the new course on a Honda CBR 1000RR for the IMS Facilities group.
While watching Nicky from the new Turn 4 near the south entrance, I met Dave Hilberry, the curator of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum photographic archives. Dave was shooting photos of Nicky’s first Brickyard experience, two of which I featured in my April 8 blog entry.
Over the next couple hours, I was treated to an outstanding review of many of the historic events at the Brickyard that are captured on film and preserved in the photographic archives at the museum. Dave has been a lifelong resident of Speedway, Ind., and has been a longtime part of IMS’ ongoing efforts to maintain and document the history of motorsports.
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum offers a constantly changing display of motorsports history over the past 100 years. A visit to the Museum is a must-see during any trip to the Brickyard to see and experience the historic elements of the collection.
The photographic archives are located on the second floor of the Museum, and that area is easily missed if you are unaware of it. Just ask any of the always-friendly Museum staff at the information counter, and they will direct you up to Dave Hilberry’s area. Be prepared for a very informative journey into the history of the Brickyard. Chances are you will find a photo of one of your past Brickyard experiences to take home with you.
See you all next week on redbullindianapolisgp.com .
Greg
Midnight, April 15, 2008 is looming ahead
OK, everybody’s favorite experience of each year is only hours away!
That’s right, today is tax deadline day. We all have until midnight tonight to get our Federal and state income tax returns completed, filed and postmarked to our good friend, Uncle Sam.
Here’s another confession, right here, right now on redbullindianapolisgp.com; I am a procrastinator! Just ask Paul Kelly, the Web administrator. The deadline for today’s Experience blog is 4 p.m., and it’s already 3:30 p.m., and I’m still writing!
Actually, not too bad of a procrastinator, though. I spent the past cold, rainy Sunday grinding through and filing my tax returns, only because the weather was too bad to ride. Remember, I already confessed that I am a “fair weather” rider a couple weeks ago, so the foul Sunday weather was to my benefit for once.
Well, today, April 15, 2008 is a bright, sunny, +50-degree day, and guess what I’m going to do later after work? Yup, that’s right: I’m suiting up and getting a bit of saddle time on one of the motorcycles after work.
Since it’s a Tuesday, the local chapter of the Honda Sport Touring Association (HSTA) meets at a local barbecue establishment for some good food and tall tales. It’s not Earl Hayden’s favorite, the Moonlite Bar-B-Q, the Best Barbecue in Kentucky, but the scenery along the Monon Trail in Broad Ripple is much better than Parrish Avenue in Owensboro, Ky.
I think after contributing some of my tall tales with the HSTA folks, I’m going to ride over to the main post office in downtown Indianapolis and watch in amusement as all the frantic procrastinators lined up to get their tax returns postmarked before midnight tonight.
Maybe I’ll see some of you there tonight!
Thank goodness this past Sunday was a cold, rainy day so now I can have some fun today; a bright, sunny, +50-degree day, just ripe for a ride around town this afternoon.
See you all next week on redbullindianapolisgp.com .
Greg
Not all Mondays are blue
After all my confessions last week about my fair-weather riding tendencies, central Indiana was finally blessed with a beautiful spring weekend. The mornings were still crisp, but that ideal 50-degree point was quickly surpassed, giving forth to a couple ideal spring riding days.
After such a glorious weekend, Mondays can really be a major drag, especially when the forecast is a continuation of the first bright spring weekend of the season.
Not so on this particular Monday!
April 7, 2008 marked the first major track event of the upcoming Red Bull Indianapolis GP with the first motorcycle laps on the new 2.620-mile, 16-turn road course at the Brickyard. Nicky Hayden, the 2006 MotoGP world champion from Owensboro, Ky., piloted a recently restored bright red 1908 Indian around the new course, complete with vintage racing regalia, at a blistering speed of 45 mph. This amazing piece of racing machinery made its first laps around the original Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Aug. 14, 1909. Check it out here.
Shortly after this first historic lap, Nicky jumped into a telephone booth and emerged 100 years later in modern day motorcycle racing gear, trading the 1908 Indian for a 2008 Honda CBR1000RR roadracing machine sporting special livery for this event. The ensuing laps were a bit quicker on this World Superbike spec machine. Nicky put on a spectacular show for hundreds of enthusiasts who gathered around the south end of the facility by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum.
After Nicky’s series of hot laps around the new course, a small group of guests were afforded the opportunity to experience their own lap of the new Brickyard road course. Since red seemed to be the color of the day, my ’06 Ducati 999R Xerox seemed the logical choice for my first lap of the new course. Jarrod, my co-blogger here at redbullindianapolisgp.com, myself and 30 or so other lucky guests took a leisurely lap behind a pair of our city’s finest from the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department motorcycle division.
Unfortunately, all good dreams have to come to an end, and now Tuesday feels more like Monday. But oh, what an experience to remember.
See you all next week on redbullindianapolisgp.com
Greg
Still Stuck In 4 Wheels
OK, it was in the 60’s F yesterday, 50’s F today here in Indy, but now I think I should be building an ark since it’s been raining so much. Tomorrow looks to be clear and sunny, but back to the 30’s F in the morning.
So I’m the classic fair-weather rider. There, I admit it! This past Saturday was bright and sunny with the thermometer on the short side of 50 F. I bundled up with a couple layers under the leathers and got the Ducati 1098 S Tricolore out for a ride and made it all the way up to Ducati Indianapolis on the north side for an espresso. Brrr! Didn’t I say I was a fair-weather rider?
Now on the other hand, Jarrod, our other blogger here at redbullindianapolisgp.com, is already racking up the miles on his Triumph Tiger. He’s fully equipped with all the foul-weather gear, heated jackets, pants and gloves, tank bags, saddle bags and wind screens. Hey Jarrod, my H3 Hummer has heated seats! Yeah, I know, I’m the ultimate fair-weather rider!
I do think spring is around the corner, with the grass starting to green up and some stuff starting to poke up through the fall leaves still piled up in the flower beds. With that said, when the weather does finally break, it’s going to be a choice of cleaning up the yard or going for the first big spring ride.
Experience tells me, the yard is going to lose out.
See you all next week on redbullindianapolisgp.com.
Greg
Will spring ever come?
Being a motorcyclist this time of year in central Indiana can be a very frustrating experience. It has been three or four months of snow, sleet, rain, bone-chilling weather and short, sunless days. When March rolls around with April just around the corner, the glimmer of spring is in the air, and the siren song of two wheels begins to tempt the senses for the first ride of a new season.
One of the rituals of the impending new season is the annual Dealer News Powersports Expo at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis. This is one of the largest gatherings of all things motorcycles in North America. If you are lucky enough to get an entry pass to this powersports dealer-only industry event, there are treats to tempt every facet of the motorcyclist experience.
Last week I shared with you my experience visiting the Hayden family compound in Owensboro, Ky., to pick up Nicky’s 2006 MotoGP championship-winning motorcycle. This very special machine spent the following weekend in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s exhibit at the Dealer News Powersports Expo, along with a KTM 125 GP bike from the Red Bull AMA U.S. Rookies Cup and a very special Indian from the IMS historic vehicle collection. Motorsports legend Army Armstrong shared some of his life experiences with up-and-coming Red Bull Rookie rider Jacob Cunningham while visiting the exhibit.
This event provided a great forum to share the plans for the September 2008 Red Bull Indianapolis GP with North American motorcycle and powersports dealers. Over the course of three days, thousands of Expo guests visited and experienced the IMS and Red Bull plans for this very special event kicking off the 
celebration of 100 years of racing in Speedway, Ind. One of the more notable motorcycle racing legends to visit the exhibit was 1993 World Champion Kevin Schwantz.
Now if only the spring weather would make its way to Indianapolis with some 50-degree-plus days, I will finally be able to get out of my four-wheel cage and back to the ride.
See you all next week on redbullindianapolisgp.com
Greg
When only the best will do …
A Kentucky tradition since 1963, the Moonlite Bar-B-Q in Owensboro, Ky., has been voted the Best Barbecue in Kentucky by Kentucky Monthly and Kentucky Living readers. Now ask anybody from Kansas City or Dallas or maybe Memphis, and they will all solidly refute that claim, boldly claiming their local barbecue to be the finest in all the land!
Where am I going with all of this? Another fine Kentucky tradition is Earl’s Racing Team in Owensboro, Ky. A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to visit the home of Earl’s Racing Team with Mel Harder from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The Hayden’s had graciously agreed to loan a very special motorcycle to the IMS to exhibit in their booth at the Dealer News Powersports Expo in Indianapolis.
On a brisk but sunny Sunday morning, Mel and I drove down to the “OWB” to meet up with Earl Hayden at the family compound. Nestled in the back of garage complex was a Hayden racing fan’s NIRVANA of racing memorabilia! Proudly sitting next to a collection of Nicky, Tommy and Roger Lee championship motorcycles, leathers, helmets and trophies was the 2006 Honda RC211V motorcycle that carried Nicky over the finish line at the Circuito de la Comunitat Valenciana in Valencia, Spain, in November 2006, winning the 2006 MotoGP World Championship.
Earl Hayden is one proud father, and we spent the better part of an hour talking about all his kids’ accomplishments and touring the Earl’s Racing Team compound before loading up Nicky’s 2006 MotoGP championship motorcycle in the trailer for the trip back to Indianapolis.
Now back to the Moonlite Bar-B-Q. If you’re ever in the “OWB” and have the chance to ask Earl Hayden where a good place is for lunch, you better be ready to experience the Best Barbecue in Kentucky, if not the best in the land! And, oh by the way, it is just across the street from the Hayden family compound, ready to serve an outstanding gastronomic experience in the finest Kentucky tradition.
See you all next week on redbullindianapolisgp.com.
Greg
Gathering Before the Green Flag
Just in case you didn’t know, racing in Indiana is serious business! We Hoosiers take our racing seriously, and our passion for motorsports is historic. This was evident the weekend of Jan. 19-20, 2008 as the Indiana State Museum in the White River State Park located in Indianapolis opened its doors to the Indiana racing community to help kick off the 2008 racing season.
The “Racing in Indiana: Gathering Before the Green Flag” was a great opportunity to bring all forms of racing in Indiana together for the local community to share and experience.
Here’s an excerpt from the Indiana State Museum’s press release: (click here to see it all)
Hosted by Mike King, chief announcer for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network, “Gathering Before the Green Flag” invites fans to sit behind the wheel of a variety of racing vehicles, from IndyCars to go-karts and dragsters, and see other great racing vehicles such as motorcycles, boats and vintage race cars. They’ll meet racing insiders Derek Daly, Donald Davidson and some of their favorite drivers, and be able to take part in a rare symposium of experts.
“It’s every race fan’s dream and an opportunity for newcomers to see what racing is all about,” said Mike King of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network. “Hoosiers are the greatest racing fans in the world, so holding this event at the Indiana State Museum is very fitting, especially since the IMAX® is here.”
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway brings a century of racing history to the Hoosier experience. It was only fitting for the IMS exhibit to highlight the upcoming celebration of this historic milestone with the running of the Red Bull Indianapolis GP in September 2008. Since this time of the year in central Indiana is not ideal riding weather, my Honda CBR1000RR Repsol was enlisted out of winter hibernation for show duty in the museum gallery for the weekend.
Wow, for a couple days, I was able to share a little bit of my experience with the local community for the “Racing in Indiana: Gathering Before the Green Flag” celebration of speed.
See you all next week on redbullindianapolisgp.com
Greg
Red Bull Indianapolis GP Media Day
Well, the big day finally came. On Monday, July 16, 2007, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway rolled out the red carpets to the world, announcing the big event to be held on Sept. 14, 2008. The Red Bull Indianapolis GP.
Ralph Sheheen shared with the crowd gathered at the Speedway, to the surprise of many, that the first motorized race of any kind here at the world’s most famous racetrack took place on Aug. 14, 1909, and it was a motorcycle race.
The day’s events actually started earlier with a gathering of over 200 motorcycle enthusiats behind the Murat Centre in downtown Indianapolis. Kenny Roberts Jr. joined the group on a Honda CBR1000RR borrowed from Dreyer Honda. I offered KR Jr. to trade bikes and ride the Hayden Repsol replica. He declined!
It was an awesome, police-escorted ride led by Kenny Roberts Jr. from downtown Indy out to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway with everyone corralling into the Tower Terrace area for the big announcement.
Mr. Sheheen then started the press conference, which led into the showing of the video taken at the track earlier in the month, the experience I shared with you all last week.
The highlight of the day had to be the signing of the agreement by Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta and Indianapolis Motor Speedway CEO Tony George to bring MotoGP to Indianapolis.
After the world experiences an Indianapolis Motor Speedway event, this will be just the beginning of a new tradition for the second century of IMS’s history.
Wow, what a day, what a moment, what an experience!
See you all next week on redbullindianapolisgp.com
Greg