There’s a new club in town…

This week’s Monday morning started out a bit different than a bunch of others so far this year. You may remember several installments of The Experience have been drafted during long flights out to the West coast. This week started off with a five-hour drive instead of a five-hour flight.

I’m now sitting in my hotel room on the scenic banks of the Tuscarawas River in New Philadelphia, Ohio. This eastern side of Ohio is full of quaint river towns with names like Schoenbrunn, Uhrichsville, Tuscarawas and Gnadenhutten. Could you imagine growing up in a town with a name like that and having to learn how to spell that mouthful of letters?!

This past week saw the launch of a new Ducati Owners Club in Indianapolis. Our friends up at Ducati Indianapolis in Zionsville, Ind., hosted the inaugural meeting of the INDY DESMO Owners Club. Over 50 Ducati enthusiasts and owners attended, and like any good ole prayer meeting, the front row of seats was empty!

We were all greeted by Ryan Ramsey, who has spent the past four months putting together all the details, including a very cool founding members’ T-shirt. Ryan laid out the course of action for the new club to gain official recognition from Ducati Motor Holding S.p.A. in Bologna, Italy. With lots of good input and ideas for events from the attendees, Bill Carr of Ducati Indianapolis stepped up and added his welcome to the group. Thanks, Bill, for sponsoring this event, and just how big was that fish?

If you are a Ducati enthusiast with or without a Ducati in your garage, your participation in the INDY DESMO Owners Club will be welcomed. Be sure to check out their new Web site at www.idesmo.org

In case anyone’s at all curious what I’m doing in eastern Ohio, I get to spend the week playing with the ultimate BIG dump trucks at an off-road test facility. The Hitachi EH1100-3 rigid frame haul truck can handle over 72 tons of payload and is powered by 760 horsepower coupled with an Allison transmission built right here in Speedway, Ind.

This beast could haul away the mountain the Tucker Sno-Cats groom the snow on!

I’ll see you all next week at www.redbullindianapolisgp.com

Greg