Time flies by way too fast…
Wow, it’s amazing how fast four weeks can fly by. Well, the vacation has come and gone. I barely managed to find my way back to the office Monday morning. Thank goodness it’s in Speedway, Ind., pretty near the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where I spent some of my time off hanging out at the Red Bull Indianapolis GP tests earlier this month.
The last weekend of my summer vacation ended up with a lot of saddle time. Ducati Indianapolis celebrated their one-year anniversary Friday and Saturday with a very successful open house. Ducati North America brought out the Duc Truck for the event with a fleet of Ducati demo bikes.
The Red Bull Indianapolis GP Fan Tour attended Friday with a great display, passing out posters, magnets, decals and ticket information.
I ended up helping out with over two dozen demo rides as a control rider over the two-day celebration. It was quite a job keeping all these Ducs in a row! Of course, no experience is complete without some great gastronomic treats. Carraba’s Italian Restaurant in Carmel, Ind., catered an outstanding lunch Saturday afternoon. Yum!
Not to be boastful, I also broke my own earlier record of riding five different bikes in 24 hours. Jarrod, the gauntlet has been thrown down! The new target is now 14 different bikes in 30 hours!
After Friday’s activities, the Red Bull Indianapolis GP Fan Tour headed over to the AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio, for the rest of the weekend. Former Indiana Pacers star Rik Smits enjoyed a demo ride on the Ducati Hypermotard. He definitely gives this bike a new size perspective since he is 7-foot-4! When straddling the Hyper, I can barely touch my size 7 feet to the ground.
Rik would definitely need a bigger soap box than the one I stood on last week.
Earlier last week, the weekly HSTA Two Wheeled Tuesday meeting at Hoghead’s BBQ in Broadripple also had a special visit from the Red Bull Indianapolis GP Fan Tour. Many of the Broadripple locals had the opportunity to touch and feel one of the Ducati Desmosedici GP8 MotoGP race bikes as well as the new Ducati Hypermotard street bike. We all shared some tall stories and enjoyed some lip-smacking barbeque. Yum!
This past weekend was definitely a great finale of experiences to a very relaxing month away from the normal work week, but the inaugural Red Bull Indianapolis GP is now only six weeks away and counting!
See you all next week at redbullindianapolisgp.com.
Greg
What does your appearance say to others?
You never get a second chance to make a first impression. We express our personality and lifestyle through what we wear. What we wear affects how we feel and how other people respond to us. These are some of the basic principles that form the foundation of the fashion industry today.
Now, where on earth am I going with this?
Last week we talked a bit about track day experiences. To participate in a motorcycle track day, you need a fair amount of the appropriate safety gear to wear. You may also remember from my first blog entry back in February this year I am a former motorcycle road racer, so I understand the function of this safety gear from many on-track experiences. An age-old motorcyclist adage is it’s not a matter of if you will ever fall off your bike, but when.
Jarrod, our other blogger here at redbullindianapolisgp.com, shared with you his recent encounter with a local “cruiser” on an all-white GSX-R motorcycle. The fact this guy was wearing a helmet is pretty rare around the Indianapolis area. The typical route of Broad Ripple, Monument Circle and the Greenwood Shell station can be a more treacherous route than all the hundreds of miles of twisty, curvy roads in southern Indiana.
The typical “dress” or attire you see many local motorcycle cruisers wearing usually consists of blue jeans, T-shirt and tennis shoes. Many times you’ll see a perfectly good full face helmet strapped to the back of the bike, protecting the seat; but little use to the rider’s most vulnerable appendage, his head.
Whenever I swing a leg over any one of my motorcycles, I always take the few extra moments and put on all my safety gear, regardless of the length of the ride. I was running some errands today and was particularly aware of the supportive comments I received from a bank teller, the lady at the post office and a guy at a gas station about the appearance I made to them as a motorcyclist fully dressed to impress.
It’s actually kind of funny how observant a non-motorcyclist can be of the importance of wearing the right gear and the impression this makes to others. I also know that Jarrod understands this concept, as I’ve never seen him riding around without the right gear on. Now evidently he feels differently about ATVs down on the farm!
Motorcycling is inherently a dangerous form of conveyance, but using the right gear could ultimately give you a second chance at many more experiences.
See you all next week at redbullindianapolisgp.com.
Greg
Lets go racing…
When Mari Hulman George, chairman of the board of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, gave the most famous command in racing for the 91st Indianapolis 500, she said, “Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines!” For the first time in the history of this event, “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing,” three women were among the 33 starters of this traditionally male-dominated race.
Several weeks ago I shared with you the track day experiences of Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) executive Mel Harder and the opportunity these types of events provide for many weekend warriors across the country. A motorcycle track day is a great opportunity for anyone who rides a bike, male or female, young or old, to get out on a closed course and experience a little taste of the competitive spirit of racing and the thrill of speed.
I’ve had several people ask me how to get involved in a track day event. Really all you need is a bike, a good full-face helmet, a set of one or two-piece leathers, a back protector, some over-the-ankle boots and some sturdy, gauntlet-style motorcycle gloves. A typical track day is set up with three different rider skill groups, beginner, intermediate and advanced. Most organizations will offer instruction and training sessions for track day beginners to help make your day an enjoyable learning experience.
If you are located in the Indianapolis area or anywhere in the mid-Great Lakes area, we have a great track located in Mount Meridian, Ind., Putnam Park Road Course. Check out their Web site and schedule for upcoming motorcycle track day events: www.putnampark.com.
A quick check shows an event coming up the weekend of July 26-27, sponsored by Sportbike Track Time. Our local Ducati dealership, Ducati Indianapolis, is co-sponsoring a track day on Monday, July 28. I couldn’t think of a better way to spend a Monday than skipping out of work and experiencing the thrill of speed at the Putnam Park road course! I’m sure your boss would understand.
So, ladies and gentlemen, start your own engines and let’s get geared up and go racing at the next motorcycle track day in your neck of the woods.
See you all next week at redbullindianapolisgp.com.
Greg
Many of you have detected over the past several months that I am somewhat of a history buff. I recently ran across a very interesting history of the Hulman family published by the (Terre Haute) Tribune-Star Publishing Co., Inc. in 1997; Hulman Dynasty, 1850 – 1997. Reading through this very in-depth historical perspective of 150 years of the Hulman family legacy sheds a lot of light on many of the traditions many of us have experienced over the years at “The Brickyard” out on West 16th Street here in Indianapolis.
Mary Antonia Hulman George, chairman of the board of Hulman & Co., the speedway and Tony George’s mother is an avowed dog lover. Known as Mari, she has been known to take in a stray and has helped rehabilitate racing greyhounds for many years. Many of her philanthropic efforts have been directed towards a variety of animal recovery and protection activities over the years.
This past week, The Brickyard was the site of the first official test of MotoGP bikes on the new road course in preparation for the Red Bull Indianapolis GP in September 2008. Each of the manufacturers was represented with test riders experiencing the Brickyard for the first time. One of the more interesting participants Wednesday afternoon was a furry little doggie exploring the north end of the road course.
One of the longstanding policies of The Brickyard is the safety of any animals that may stray onto the
property and the efforts of the staff to protect these occasional visitors from harm. Well, the furry little visitor was definitely not up to speed with the other participants of the MotoGP test day but was definitely out pacing yours truly during the subsequent attempts to capture him.
Once the little visitor was secured and settled down with some refreshment and tender care, he spent the rest of the afternoon in an on-site kennel at the Speedway. Later that day, he was transported down to Mari George’s farm east of Terre Haute, Ind., to join her family of canine friends.
Thanks to IMS staff photographers Mike Harding, Shawn Payne and Chris Jones for capturing “the great hunt” on film last Wednesday afternoon. I think all of us were panting as hard as our furry little guest after the big chase.
If you have time this week, definitely check out the link to Hulman Dynasty, 1850 – 1997. You will discover that the love of motorcycles actually extends through several generations of the family including not just Tony George but his sisters Kathi, Josie and Josie’s son Jarrod Krisiloff. Come this September, all of us motorcycle enthusiasts will benefit from this later Hulman-George generation’s love of all things motor racing with the running of the inaugural Red Bull Indianapolis GP MotoGP event.
See you all next week at redbullindianapolisgp.com.
Greg
A vacation from the office
This week is the start of a month away from the daily grind of the office. A part of my daily grind involves a lot of airline seat time traveling for the company, so the idea of spending any of my time off in airports just doesn’t appeal to me.
I’ve taken the month of July off for the past 10 years or so. It started off combining a two-week summer company shutdown with a weeklong excursion to Guelph, Ontario, for an adult ice hockey camp followed by a week recovering from the camp. Have you ever gone to a hockey fight and actually seen a game break out! Well, the days of the hockey fantasy camp are behind me. The idea of a month at home piddling with this and that is extremely satisfying these days.
This year’s vacation got off to a very different start than years past. The week of June 30 just happened to also be the first official tire tests for the MotoGP teams to get their first experience on the new Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) road course. Since I don’t have a family ranch in Wyoming to hang out at, what better place to start my month off than out at the Brickyard helping with some track preparations for the Red Bull Indianapolis GP?
Towards the end of the day Monday, I ran into a longtime friend from the motorcycle racing days walking through the pit area. I helped introduce Larry Lawrence to the world of motorcycle road racing way to many years ago at the old Indianapolis Raceway Park road course in Clermont, Ind. While I eventually moved on to the corporate world and away from racing, Larry became fully involved with the sport in the media world. Larry has done a marvelous job of chronicling the history of this sport over the past 20 years and is always enthusiastic about sharing his vast experiences. I think getting Larry and Dave Hillberry at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum together would be an incredible experience.
Larry has taken on a new career opportunity this year as Ben Spies’ publicist. Ben burst onto the U.S. national road-racing scene, turning pro in 2000. He won his first American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) Superbike championship in 2006 defending that championship by a single point for a second crown in 2007. Currently leading the 2008 AMA Superbike championship, Ben was afforded the opportunity to fill in for an injured Loris Capirossi at the British GP June 22 for the Rizla Suzuki team, finishing 14th and gaining his first-ever MotoGP points. Ben is here in Indianapolis this week for the MotoGP tests and will be riding for the Rizla Suzuki team at Laguna Seca, Calif., and the Red Bull Indianapolis GP in September.
Larry took me over to the Rizla Suzuki suite and introduced me to both Ben and his mother, Mary Spies. What a wonderful lady! We sat and talked about this and that. Well, folks, all I can say is Mary has a wonderful, white1958 Corvette she’s very proud of that far out-styles Ben’s green 1967 Corvette that sits and gathers dust. However, her pride in her son Ben shines the brightest!
Well, there’s going to be a full week of MotoGP test action at the Brickyard, and if you’re anywhere near West 16th Street this week, you’ll be able to see the action from the south end of the road course by the Hall of Fame Museum parking lot.
Check out the details at www.redbullindianapolisgp.com and see you all next week.
Greg