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
New playground in town
Last week I had a rare opportunity to get an in-depth, behind-the-scenes tour of the newest civic jewel of Indianapolis, the Lucas Oil Stadium.
A longtime friend and fellow Ducati owner is a project manager for one of the major contractors on the Lucas Oil Stadium project. I spent Friday afternoon tagging along with him on a walk-through inspection from the lowest level up to the nosebleed levels of the new stadium. The folks from Otis haven’t got their part of the project done yet so there were a LOT of stairs involved in this little walkabout.
WOW, this playground is one very big house! The view from the playing field is hard to describe. I don’t see how my friend and fellow Ducati owner Nick Harper can keep his attention on this field of play in such an intimidating space. My favorite view was definitely from the upper-suite level, in close proximity to multiple flat panel monitors and soon-to-be stocked bars and buffet counters. Remember, an important part of all my experiences seem to involve food!
One of the more interesting design features of the main lobby space is a collection of Lucas Oil-sponsored racing memorabilia that includes race cars, planes and boats, to name a few. The only thing missing is a MotoGP bike in the collection! Maybe the folks over on West 16th Street can help fix that for the grand-opening events in August this year. Also, mark you calendars for Aug. 16. The new stadium will be open for self-guided public tours so we all can see what our tax dollars are being spent on.
Well, that was one incredible experience Friday afternoon at the new Lucas Oil Stadium. The only thing that could possibly top that experience would be trying to ride more than three different bikes in 24 hours.
Mission accomplished! Number six is tucked away in the family room.
See you all next week on redbullindianapolisgp.com .
Greg
Celebrating my 29th birthday, again!
Well, it’s happened again. Another year has come and gone as I sit here in the Cincinnati airport waiting for a two-hour delayed flight to San Francisco. What a way to start the 23rd anniversary of my 29th birthday. Hey no calculators allowed!
This past weekend in the Hoosier state turned out to be a real wet one. So wet, in fact, that the “Great Flood of 2008” is being billed as a 100-year flood event in the south-central area of the state. The last big flood that established that 100-year record was way back in 1913. I’ll have to give Dave Hilberry a call over at the Indianapolis Speedway Hall of Fame Museum photo archives and see if he has any photos of the track from the 1913 event to look at.
One of the least enjoyable experiences of home ownership is having to deal with some of the challenges Mother Nature can toss your way. Yes, I am a victim of the “Great Flood of 2008”. The basement level of my house became a bit of an in-ground swimming pool. I’ve always thought an in-ground pool would be a nice feature to add to the property, but maybe in the back yard; not the basement! The water coming up through the floor drains and sump pit quickly overwhelmed my sump pump and all my efforts to stop it.
It’s kind of amusing that a swimming pool pump with which one of my brothers came to the rescue actually got the incoming water under control. Um, maybe I need to build that pool to use the new pump with!
This little unplanned event from Mother Nature ended up scrapping most of my weekend plans that included a much-anticipated visit to the new BMW Motorcycles of Indianapolis grand opening gala Saturday afternoon. I was really looking forward to all the delectable German delicacies and the sight of the R. Falcone Motorsports staff in lederhosen. Um, maybe my expectations have once again gone astray!
I did manage to get a ride in with my riding/eating buddies Sunday morning. Mike, Craig and I rode out to the Putnam Park race course to hang out at the Ducati Indianapolis and Commonweath Motorcycles-sponsored track day event. Boy, it was a hot one, but Mother Nature delivered a clear, sunny and dry day for all the guys putting their motorcycles through their paces. On our way back, we stopped and enjoyed a fine south-of-the border lunch before getting back to the house to watch the American Motorcyclist Association races at Road America in Elkart Lake, Wis. The Suzuki team won the 1000cc class, again.
As you may have noticed in prior posts, no day of riding with this crew is complete without a trip to a local ice cream shop for a final treat of the day. Next time you’re at Ritter’s, try their watermelon Italian ice blend. Yum!
Well, it looks like my flight to San Francisco is finally getting ready to board, and hopefully there’s no experiences to report back to you next week. I’ll have to head down to the Dainese D-Store in downtown San Francisco and see if I can find a birthday present for myself. I wonder if Scomas down at the wharf would make me a birthday cake with 29 candles?
See you all next week on redbullindianapolisgp.com
Greg
Motorcycles level the playing field
It’s pretty amazing the people you meet in the world of motorcycle enthusiasts. When you’re with a group of riders enjoying a beautiful day, who you are outside this circle of friends becomes almost irrelevant to the sharing of common motorcycle experiences.
What has become a bit of a tradition on a sunny Saturday morning is a trip up to Ducati Indianapolis to enjoy a good stiff shot of espresso and hang out with a great group of true motorcycle enthusiasts. If the shop gets busy, I’ve been known to help out with a demo ride or help a customer select one of the many choices of accessories available in the store.
This past Saturday, I ended up assisting Travis, parts & accessories manager at Ducati Indianapolis, in selecting a proper fitting set of street leathers for a customer who recently took delivery of a new Ducati 1098 motorcycle. As you may have noticed over the course of this blog, I am a stickler for wearing full safety gear whenever I ride, so helping a fellow enthusiast pick out the perfect-fitting set of leathers and safety equipment was a no-brainer for me.
This avid motorcycle enthusiast turned out to be Nick Harper, who played for the Indianapolis Colts from January 2001 through their Super Bowl-winning 2006 season. During the course of helping Nick settle into a great set of Ducati street leathers and selecting a good back protector, we compared notes on our Ducati 1098 models we both ride. Nick is an avid motorcycle enthusiast who has enjoyed riding since he was a kid, and he related his son’s enthusiasm and anticipation of getting his first bike.
Meeting Nick Harper was a great honor for me last Saturday afternoon, but sharing our common experiences as motorcycle enthusiasts was an even greater pleasure for me. Professionally, we may work on very different fields, but when it comes to bikes, we are definitely on the same playing field with many common experiences to share and talk about.
See you all next week on redbullindianapolisgp.com
Greg
Time for a major speed week in Indy
Bump Day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway has now come and gone. The weather gods gave the track two beautiful spring-like days for the final weekend of qualifying, setting the field for the running of the 92nd Indianapolis 500 on May 25. The following day, the entire starting field then celebrated with a trip to the Big Apple, New York City, for a media blitz and museum tour. Monday morning, every weather forecaster in the Indianapolis area was, of course, taking credit for delivering the perfect weekend of weather.
For me, a perfect weekend of weather translated into two full days in the saddle of several of my favorite sport bikes. Saturday started off with a cruise on the Ducati 999 R Xerox up to Ducati Indianapolis for an espresso and a preview of the new Ducati Monster 696. Hey Jarrod, if you’re looking for a middleweight addition to your stable, this looks to be one awesome bike for your ride. After a second pastry and another espresso shot, I joined several of my riding buddies and Bill Carr, owner of Ducati Indianapolis, for a monster lunch at Red Robin Gourmet Burgers. Now that’s a hamburger to experience!
A quick run up to Westfield to check out some new Yamaha motard bikes was followed by a trip down to West 16th Street to check out the newest addition to the Indianapolis bike scene. R. Falcone Motorsports has created a showroom glistening in German modern functionalist style with the recent opening of the BMW Motorcycles of Indianapolis dealership. The BMW guys have already experienced Jarrod last week, and they can now add Greg, Mike and Craig to their lounge list.
No day of cruising local motorcycle dealerships is complete without a trip around the Soldiers and Sailors monument in downtown Indianapolis, and no lap of the circle is complete without a stop at The South Bend Chocolate Company for a scoop of tasty ice cream in a chocolate dipped waffle cone with not one but two chocolate malt balls in the bottom of the cone. Now that’s a treat to experience!
A trip down to the old Greenwood Dog & Suds is always a must-do experience on a lazy sunny Saturday afternoon. Given this day had already been dedicated to cruising and gastronomic treats, the Dog & Suds is a cruisers nirvana of automotive classics; both the cars and their owners.
Sunday morning broke crisp and clear with the monthly meeting of the local chapter of the Honda Sport Touring Association (HSTA) on the agenda. Not to break company with my riding buddies from Saturday, I jumped on the Ducati 1098 S Tricolore and joined them for the ride down to Story, Indiana, for the HSTA meeting at the Story Inn. Guess what we did; more good food and sharing experiences with great friends.
After “The Meeting,” my riding buddies headed for the dual-sport roads with their dual-sport bikes, and I joined several other sport bike-mounted HSTA members for a responsibly spirited ride through the paved twisties of Brown County to wrap up the perfect weekend.
Well, all good things have to come to an end; MONDAYS. The 33 members of the Indianapolis 500 class of 2008 experienced a perfect weekend followed by the sites, sounds and epicurean treats of The Big Apple while I dined my way from Zionsville to Story, Indiana, and back.
Be sure to catch the pre-race activities this coming Sunday morning, May 25. A very special preview event is on tap for around 11 a.m. as 2006 MotoGP World Champion Nicky Hayden laps the legendary oval on a Honda RC212V MotoGP bike. That should be a very special event to experience.
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
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