225-mile endurance ride

Wow, it’s Tuesday again, and I needed to take a break from yard work and put together a blog for you all today.

Well, week three of my summer vacation has rolled around, and I’ve finally gotten off my butt and jumped into some chores around the ole homestead. That monstrous old yew shrub that’s spread over the front of the house for the past 57 years received a radical transformation into a rather artfully crafted “Japanese bonsai”-looking topiary. I’ve cleaned out the 24 flowerpots and replanted them and several planting beds with over a dozen flats of summer flowers. That pile of yard debris, oops, I meant compost pile, I talked about several weeks ago has been tidied up a bit, and as soon as I get this weeks blog off to Paul, I’ve got 40 bags of “Classic Black” mulch in the driveway ready to spread around the newly planted flower beds and under the new “Japanese bonsai” creation in front of the house.

What happened to the motorcycles and lazy days in the saddle I’ve blogged about over the past couple weeks?

This past Sunday, the iDESMO Ducati club met up for a ride in southern Indiana. Seven of us met at Mann’s Harley-Davidson in Edinburgh, Ind., bright and early Sunday morning. What a sight! Five red Ducatis lined up in front of Milwaukee’s finest. iDESMO’s chapter president, Ryan, had laid out a full day ride all over the twisty state highways of south central Indiana. He even mapped out multiple fuel stops (yes, these Ducatis are thirsty beasts) and most importantly, laid out lunch, ice cream and dinner stops along the way. Hey Ryan, you would fit right in to the MSTA (Motorcycle Sport Touring Association) group quite well, as their motto is “We ride to eat.”

I rolled out of the garage around 8:30 a.m. to head down to Columbus, Ind., to start the ride. After several hours in the saddle, we stopped for lunch at the 58 Café in Kurtz, Ind. A couple more hours brought us to Bruster’s Real Ice Cream in Bloomington for tasty treats. The ride wrapped up in Franklin, Ind., with another opportunity to sate our taste buds with dinner at The Willard Restaurant. By the time I arrived back at my garage around 6 p.m., I was suffering from a pretty good case of monkey butt after 225 miles on a very thin Ducati saddle. For most of the MSTA guys, that’s nothing. Add a zero to that, and now were talking about a respectable mileage number for a typical MSTA’r weekend jaunt. In my world of superbikes, that’s a pretty challenging endurance event.

Anyway, that big pile of “Classic Black” mulch is calling out my name, so I’d better sign off for now. I’ll see you all next week at www.redbullindianapolisgp.com

Greg

INDY DESMO road trip

Last weekend, INDY DESMO Owners Club members ventured to the Ropkey Armor Museum in Crawfordsville, Ind., for their first event of the 2009 year. The group included 15 members of INDY DESMO who made the trip and got to see an array of tanks and armory from several time periods and were given a personal tour of the museum by none other than Fred Ropkey himself. The tanks have been featured in movies, historical biographies and numerous cameos on film throughout the world. Mr. Ropkey even had on hand the very rare X-14-B hover plane that NASA astronauts piloted, including Neil Armstrong.

Mr. Ropkey stated that he just loved all the Ducati bikes and was quite thrilled to see them all and had not had the chance to experience the brand for himself. Being an avid rider of Harley-Davidson motorcycles, he was very impressed by the technology and couldn’t resist stating how beautiful the bikes appeared right before his eyes. Thanks go out to all those involved with the ride, and we look forward to many more in the coming months for the club. More information about the Ropkey Armor Museum can be found at www.ropkeyarmormuseum.com

OK, let’s play Where’s Waldo! Can you find me in the photo above?

Nope, I’m not there!

I started off Sunday morning meeting up with a couple MSTA (Motorcycle Sport Touring Association) members at Don & Donna’s for breakfast on the square in Franklin, Ind. The plan was to ride a little bit of the Brown County twisty road routes then head north to meet up with the INDY DESMO group for the Ropkey Armor Museum tour. Well, the “short” Brown County jaunt turned into a 200-mile ride, complete with several stops for lunch and ice cream. Yup, it’s all about the tasty treats. But best of all, the new Ducati in my stable has reached that magic 600-mile point. After my friends at Ducati Indianapolis complete the 600-mile initial service and inspections, I’ll be able to really experience the power of the new 1098 R Bayliss LE.

With another weekend of motorcycle adventures under the belt, it’s time to get back to the grind, and I’ll see you all next week at www.redbullindianapolisgp.com

Greg

Start of a new era

Well, the travel season is off to a roaring start again. I managed to bail out of Indianapolis last Tuesday morning; literally on the heels of the Alberta Clipper that brought sub-zero temperatures to the Circle City. This first business trip of the New Year takes me to Orlando and Jacksonville, Fla., for three different conferences that will keep me on the road for 12 days. Yes, we were all complaining about the 40-degree temperatures in Orlando last week, but I’ll take that any day over minus 10 in Indy last Friday.

On my way out, I did see our friend Liz at the South Bend Chocolate Company in the Weir Cook International Terminal in Indianapolis. She sends you all her greetings, and I broke down, succumbing to a steaming hot white chocolate beverage to start off the morning. Just what I didn’t need, but it was oh-so-good!

After two conferences, seven days and two hotels in Orlando, I just made the drive over to Jacksonville for the final conference on the agenda. It turned out to be a bright clear day but still in the 48-degree range. I’m still not complaining!

This little road trip between Orlando and Jacksonville is never complete without a stop at the world’s largest Harley-Davidson dealership near US 1 and I-95 in Ormond Beach, Fla. OK, guys, don’t get worried that I’m about to change bike preferences, but this is also home of the Daytona Pig Stand, where they claim to serve the finest barbecue in all the land. Umm, I think our friends down at the Moonlite Bar-B-Q in Owensboro, Ky., might have something to say about that!

The Daytona Pig Stand does serve a great lunch, but the real reason for stopping was Ducati Daytona, which is tucked around the side of the mega Harley dealership. You can never pass by a Ducati shop without a quick visit.

If you remember from The Experience last week, the National Premier of the new Ducati Monster 1100S street bike was held a week ago, and Ducati Daytona also put together a beautiful entry that was proudly on display in their showroom this afternoon. I know we’re all anxiously awaiting the results of the nationwide voting, but I’m confident all you readers here at www.redbullindianapolisgp.com put in your vote before the deadline last Friday for our friend Greg Beall’s creation, the Ducati Indy Brickyard Special Edition.

Oh, and by the way, didn’t something big happen this afternoon in Washington D.C.? I’m sitting here in my hotel room in Jacksonville, writing The Experience, and when I flipped on the TV, I realized we have a new President of the United States of America.

I’ll see you all here at www.redbullindianapolisgp.com next week back in the frigid Midwest.

Greg