Well, after weeks of perfect weather, Hurricane Ike put a big twist on my wedding weekend and others’ MotoGP weekend.

Rain, sun, rain, sun … It was a constant game of “What should we do?”

To keep the wedding short, we had a great time. The band was excellent, and the party ended at 3 a.m. at the Terminal in downtown Terre Haute.

I guess technically you can say that we honeymooned in Indianapolis. After our wedding on Friday, we woke up, headed back home, hopped on the Scrambler and went to the track. By the time we got there, we missed most of the GP practices but were lucky enough to catch the Red Bull Rookies Cup. It was pretty amazing watching the kids tear it up out there and put everything on the line. I understand that it was the biggest race of all of their lives, and they showed it.

Megan and I were watching from the “Ducati Island” and saw several wipeouts, including a big high side coming out of Turn 4. Those kids were tough!

Once most of the track activity had wound down, Megan and I chilled out before our evening plans downtown. We laid low, went to the Capitol Grill at the Conrad and had our first dinner as a married couple. It was fun and low-key, which we followed up with an early night in. We were still exhausted from the night before. I was pretty impressed with the crowd downtown. There was an awful lot of buzz in the air, which made if feel like the Indy 500 weekend.

On Sunday, we woke up early and caught some of the morning practices before it started to rain. While the rain was coming down, I met with an IndyCar partner who is helping with a few new media initiatives that everyone should check out. Visit www.indycarmessenger.com to find out more.

Our meeting was at the Alpinestars hospitality area. I took Megan along. While we were there, Andrew Whitney, the gentlemen that we were meeting, introduced Megan and I to John Canton, the director of communications for Ducati. For a minute, we talked about the event and how great it was, as well as my past lust for the Hypermotard!

Before the race, Megan and I went down to the grid to check out the bikes up close. We took a few pictures on the grid. The coolest time of the day was the launch to start the race. It was just phenomenal to see them accelerate that fast in the wet! What was even more amazing was when the weather got really, really bad, the good guys didn’t appear to slow down. They were like missiles going down the front stretch. Amazing!

Moto GP was awesome, and I can’t wait until next year.

Jarrod

Back in my first blog, I mentioned that I was getting married on MotoGP weekend. I claimed that I would keep everyone updated on the progress of my big day. Well, I got a little carried away with weekly motorcycle happenings, so I left most of the stressful, outrageous, repetitive, annoying, exciting details of wedding planning out of my blog.Well, I am a week out, and I have to say that I am getting excited. One – I am excited to get all of the horrendous planning out of the way; Two – it’s going to be a great time; Three – MotoGP is my mini-honeymoon; and Four – I really don’t have a four.

The only bummer is that I am not going to be able to play at every single event during the week. The city is closing down the bar district downtown for motorcycles only, Broad Ripple is hosting the freestyle competitions, Flat Track racing, MotoGP bikes … It’s going to be nutz!

Check out this free edition of Red Bull Indianapolis GP magazine. Pass it around and be sure to use all of the features.

www.redbullindianapolisgp.com/digitalmagazine

So for all of you coming to the race, be sure to plan out your rides accordingly. There are two schools of thought:

1. Get there fast.

2. Enjoy the ride there.

Thumb through some of my past blogs for ride ideas around the west and north side of Indianapolis. If you are looking for good places to cruise each night, head downtown and cruise the circle. Either you will be embarrassed that you cruised with the scene, or you’ll fit right in. Just remember that drinking and riding is never a good idea, especially around event times.

For all of those camping, the “Coke Lot” – adjacent to a Coca-Cola facility – is the spot, right outside of Turn 4 of the oval. It’s probably the most fun of any of the camping areas around the track. Not only did IMS hook up the riders with prime real estate, but you get easy access to all of the vendors, junk food and crazies that typically grace Georgetown Road all weekend long.

To be honest, there isn’t a whole lot to say but be there! Hundreds of vendors, leather checks, entertainment, girls, fast bikes!!!!

See you there.

Jarrod