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

Introduction

Hello all, and welcome to my first installment for the redbullindianapolisgp.com blog. Actually this is my first-ever blog, so this should be a lot of fun in the months to come, sharing my activities leading up to the inaugural Red Bull Indianapolis GP.

My name is Greg Sickmeier, and I am a lifelong resident of the Indianapolis area. In fact, I spent my first six weeks in this world across Georgetown Road from the front straight of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway a long, long time ago. Maybe this explains my love of racing and my need for speed!

A bit about me: I am a graduate engineer from General Motors Institute in Flint, Mich., now known as Kettering University. I’ve worked for Allison Transmission, another Speedway company, for 33 years in the service, sales, marketing and training organizations. James Allison, our company’s founder, is also one of the founders of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1908. I just can’t seem to get to far from my roots on Georgetown Road!

During the early 1980s, I raced a Honda CB750F in AMA Pro Superbike and ran a lot of WERA and CCS events during a 12-year time period. At a few of the later events I attended, the Hayden’s were showing up, with Tommy, Nicky and Roger Lee in tow. They were on 125’s, and the youngest ones couldn’t even reach the ground. Someone had to hold the bikes up to get them started and catch them in the pits when they came back in. Earl’s Race Team was a very shoestring operation, with Earl’s old Ford box van packed to the ceiling. Wow, who would have known that all three of the boys would have turned into such great riders and sportsmen!

Another midlife crisis

I drifted away from motorcycles for a few years and have played a lot of ice hockey over the past 14 years or so. A couple years ago, I bought another street bike, and now this impulse purchase has turned into another serious midlife crisis! Four Honda’s, three Yamaha’s and two Ducati’s later in the past three years, I am thoroughly enjoying this second go-around with the motorcycles and the local sport bike scene.

Do you wanna be in the movies?

My involvement with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Red Bull Indianapolis GP started last summer with a phone call from a senior IMS staff member about borrowing my ’07 Honda CBR1000RR Repsol replica motorcycle for a promotional event. Boy, was I excited when I found out what was in the works! That photo shoot turned into a full-blown video session on the “Yard of Bricks” at the track. Yup, that’s me in the Red Bull Indianapolis GP Event Introduction video on the Repsol with Stephan Gregoire on the 1910 Thor. Check it out!

In future installments, I’ll share some more on that experience, along with many other experiences since then and many more experiences to come as we all count down to the inaugural Red Bull Indianapolis GP on Sept. 14, 2008.

I hope you all stay tuned each week here on redbullindianapolisgp.com for “The Experience.”

Greg