Wednesday was National “Ride your Bike to Work Day!”
Yes, I did ride my bike to work on Wednesday and every other day of this week. What a great week! I didn’t know that there was a “Ride your Bike to Work Day.” In fact, this event has been going on for 17 years all over the world.
I did notice that there were a lot of bikes on the road, and I really do believe that more motorcycles on the road is better for our cities, especially for those who live, work and commute in the cities.
Later that night, I started getting antsy and ran out for a night ride with a few of my buds. I have to say that I am not a huge fan of the night rides. It really isn’t that much fun unless you have a chick on the back of the bike with you. I am not one of those riders who spends my time on my bike riding to Monument Circle, parking on the circle, standing by my bike and then riding up to Broad Ripple and do the same thing. That brings me to another funny story …
It was about 10:30 p,m., and I was heading back to my home in Broad Ripple. I pulled up to a guy on an all-white GSX-R with a race pipe. The rider was wearing a helmet but was pretty much in street clothes.
He asked, “How many miles have you ridden tonight?”
I spent the afternoon in Brown County, which is, by far, the best riding in Indiana, so I had put about 300 miles on my bike that day.
“About 300 or so miles,” I replied.
At this point, his eyes swelled like softballs, and I continued to tell him that I went down to Brown County in the afternoon.
“I would like to get down there some time,” he replied.
I told him that he should be down there every week. That pretty much sums up what I mean about the riders who cruise around town, pop wheelies, drag from light to light and sit in parking lots. That just isn’t fun for me. I need routes and destinations!
Quick update on the Scrambler … IT’S STILL IN THE SHOP!!!!!!!!!
Jarrod
Last Friday, I got an e-mail from the company that said this …
“We would like to invite you to participate in the first track lap on the new MotoGP track. This will be done in association with the Nicky Hayden Historic 1st Lap that is taking place on April 7th.
A select group of people from the community will meet at the base of the Pagoda around 10:30am and the track lap will be at approximately 11am. Please bring your bike and park in the oval track garage area (you will see the other bikes parked there). We will be finished no later than 11:45am. Please let me know if you have any questions or if there is another rider within the company who needs an invitation.
Thank you,
Ellie”
I had been out of the office for quite a few days, so I was extremely excited about this particular e-mail. After arriving late on Sunday night and waking up early, I couldn’t wait to fire up my bike and head to the office. I sat there at my desk, anxiously awaiting 10:30 so that I could head over to the frontstretch for this ride. Then at about 9:45, I got a phone call from IMS Senior VP Mel Harder, and he asked when I was coming over to the track because he wanted me to lead the ride! I said, “I can come over whenever you want me to.”
I was honored and pumped, and jumped on my bike and rode on over to the garage area, dismounted and walked to the pagoda, where there was a large group of riders anxiously awaiting the opportunity to hit the track.
The ride was a lot of fun; I wasn’t the very first rider because even I couldn’t be trusted to keep a safe pace, so they put two of Indianapolis’s finest at the head of the field. When the ride was over, three of us went out to Rick’s Boatyard and enjoyed a nice lunch.
Later that day, I sent Mel another text message thanking him for putting the ride together and asked him when I could come over and do some laps at a decent pace (above 30 mph). He quickly responded, “How about 3:30, when Nicky is done?” I responded, “I’ll be there!”
I searched around the office for some cameras and found a small camera that was perfect to mount on my bike. I got it all fixed up and headed over to the track.
Once I got there, Mel and IMS engineering chief Kevin Forbes asked how many laps I was going to take, and I said “I don’t know, until I get bored.” Kevin quickly responded, “One lap?” I responded back, “No way, at least three!”
I really didn’t realize that Forbes’s crew was set to convert the track back to the traditional oval for the world’s biggest race, but I figured that “The Ride” blog deserved serious content!
The laps were awesome. I was extremely timid for the first lap since I hadn’t been on my bike in a while, and I wanted to be sure not to eat it. To be honest, it was my first time on a motorcycle on an actual racetrack, so I wasn’t exactly confident. Each lap I got a little braver but still kept a conservative pace.
So where’s the video? The video player actually ran out of battery so I didn’t get a thing. Sucka! Click here to watch the video. Enjoy.
On the road at last!
This past week was AWESOME! I picked up my bike on Tuesday and spent Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday on my bike. Just as I imagined, it was a blast, although the roads are like Swiss cheese in Indianapolis, and it definitely poses a few other obstacles. As if dodging dogs, cats, cars and other motorcyclists wasn’t enough!
Short blog this week because things are hectic at work. There are a lot of exciting things going on in the IndyCar world, and I am glad to be a part of it.
This year, be prepared for more interactivity and more ways to burn hours on the Web. Indycar.com is getting a facelift, and there will be more ways to enjoy traditional TV with the new IndyCar Race Control product. Like I said, it’s busy, but everyone is excited for the start of the season.
Jarrod
I am blogging to blog at this moment, Wednesday, Feb. 13. This is my second day home from work with what I like to call “The killer flu that won’t kill me!”
Just so you understand the pain that I am typing through right now, every strike of the keyboard is like getting poked in the eyes, followed by a sword slicing my head in half and a circus monkey clapping each side of my skull like cymbals! It hurts.
As I mentioned last week, I planned my wedding the same weekend as the Red Bull Indianapolis GP, or as I like to say it, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway planned the Inaugural GP on my wedding weekend …
Wedding Tip Number One: Check with your place of work before you set a wedding date.
My fiancée and I had been struggling with a date on which we were going to commit our lives to each other. There were a few factors that we needed to consider before we actually set the date.
Introduction:
Hi! Welcome to my blog. I really couldn’t come up with a more spectacular entrance to my redbullindianapolisgp.com blog.
My name is Jarrod Krisiloff, and I am extremely pumped for the inaugural Red Bull Indianapolis GP. I am an avid rider and a speed junkie who coincidently planned my wedding the same weekend as MotoGP. So throughout my “weekly” blog, I’ll be delivering updates on planning your wedding around a motorcycle race, places to check out around Indianapolis on your two-wheeler and just about any other topic that comes to mind.