In less than one week, MotoGP riders will take to the Indianapolis MotoGP circuit for the second annual Red Bull Indianapolis GP. We can all pray that this year’s weather will be better!
(Silence)
OK, MotoGP was on its “summer vacation” in late July and early August, and both Nicky Hayden and Colin Edwards have been able to kick back a bit back home in the States. Nicky’s been off his game this season, but Edwards recorded a podium in July at Donington and could earn his first MotoGP victory at Indianapolis.
Check out Colin’s message to fans about this season and the Red Bull Indianapolis GP by clicking here.
But to win at Indy, he’ll have to outpace the Fiat Yamaha riders Rossi and Lorenzo. It seems that the two of them have owned the field in each outing this season. In Brno, especially, you could see how competitive the teammates are when Rossi pressured Lorenzo into a wipeout under braking. It’s racing, good racing!
Over the next week, the IMS staff will place the final touches on the race course. Just a month ago, 43 NASCAR Sprint Cup cars and drivers competed 400 miles on the oval. Next week, three classes of world elite riders will compete on the road course.
Leading up to the event, the festivities will be aplenty. Motorcycles on Meridian downtown and XBL freestyle stunt shows in nearby Broad Ripple Village on Friday and Saturday night, AMA Flat Track racing Saturday night at the Indiana State Fairgrounds and three full days of activity on at IMS, with all sorts of cool stuff happening on and off the track.
Tickets are still available at imstix.com!
Jarrod
HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the “Greatest Race Course in the World!”
Aug. 14 is officially the most storied day of any race course. Can you believe that over the past 100 years that a single facility would stage a events like the Indianapolis 500, Brickyard 400, United States Grand Prix, Red Bull Indianapolis GP and various other events like the Pan American Games, World Police and Fire Games, the running of the Olympic Torch, several rounds of the PGA and Senior PGA events, countless charity events and 500 Festival Mini-Marathons?
Over the next several weeks, locals and motorcycle enthusiasts are arranging their ride routes and getting ready to the events that surround the Red Bull Indianapolis GP MotoGP event Aug. 28-30 at IMS. Motorcycles on Meridian, stunt bikes in Broad Ripple and Flat Track racing at the Fairgrounds are the many events that take place during the MotoGP weekend here in Indianapolis. For anyone with the two-wheeled bug, it’s sensory overload at its best!
If you read by blog last year, this part of the year was awfully hectic, as I was getting married. Much like last year, I’m struggling to find time to soak in MotoGP. I’m moving, preparing for baby No. 2, and I’ll be working the Chicago IndyCar event the night before the Red Bull Indianapolis GP. Thankfully, Chicago is only a swift three-hour drive, but un-thankfully the IndyCar race concludes around midnight (CT), which is 1 a.m. (ET)!!!. That’s without a rain delay!!! (fingers crossed)
So be sure to take a visit Friday, Aug. 14 down to 16th and Georgetown for your slice of cake and a picture with the 1909 Indian motorcycle once you purchase your Red Bull Indianapolis GP tickets.
Ride safe,
Jarrod
Here is my excuse for not writing last week: I was completely unplugged from the Internet and cell service for FOUR WHOLE DAYS!
In today’s modern world, that’s nearly impossible! I enjoyed it very much and took the opportunity to recharge my batteries on one of the few off weekends of the IndyCar Series.
If you are new to the blog, I typically spend my summer weekends on the road working for the Indy Racing League. Racing is exciting, especially the IndyCar Series, but for me, it’s tough to miss out on my favorite time of the year – the summer and quality time with the fam.
About a week ago, I went out “camping” for a few days with a bunch of friends. It’s the best way to go “camping.” For the most part, everyone else sleeps in tents, and I snag a couple of 60-year old bunk beds that have nearly crippled my back.
For much of the first two days, my little guy, dog and two buddies were alone on the farm. We spent most of the time getting everything prepped and ready for “the others” and played on the four-wheelers and motos.
My little guy, Van, is only 22 months or so old, but he looooves machinery. I purchased him a small bit of moto gear – helmet, googles and a chest protector – so that he could learn to wear protection and feel like he was a big boy. The two of us spent most of the time riding around, at a slow pace, watching my buddies Phil and Jeff tear up the farm on the four-wheelers.
It was quite a good time with Van on the four-wheeler.
When everyone else showed up, including my wifey, the moto antics picked up a bit more. With a newbie on the farm, a sport quad and a few dirt bikes and a “baby sitter,” things got a little dirtier! We have video of most of it which I will share as soon as Phil gets the time to upload them somewhere.
Jeff flipped hard and managed to drive up a tree, and Greg flipped even harder on “the widow maker” turn during a five-quad race on the long course. Luckily for him, the quad didn’t squash him like a bug.
Then we went off to the woods…where I did my fair share of falling. If anyone can recall last weekend in Indiana, it was awfully muddy. Can you imagine how swampy it was in the woods?
We were tearing through creeks, mud plains, hopping trees, etc, all on an uncut or groomed trail. It was a lot of fun until I hit the wrong branch at the wrong time that completely took the bike out from underneath me.
Thank you to Aceberis for the excellent handguards!
I did, however, impress myself and do something that I’d never done before. We were all weaving through the woods, and we came across a fallen tree. I’d say that the trunk of the tree was about 2 feet or so high. I’d never truly jumped a tree without a take-off and landing area before. Typically I pop the front wheel off the ground, high-center the bike and then rock it off the other side. To be honest, that was what I was going to try to do.
Instead, I popped the front wheel over the trunk and carried enough speed that my rear wheel hit the trunk and catapulted me over the tree. I pretty much bunny-hopped it!
This trip was also a good time to test out the new pit bike. Not much action on it, but Van and I did spend time cruising around slowly. I did take the pit bike out to the flat track when some of the other guys where on the quads. I nearly got the hole-shot, but I had no chance of survival once we got into the corners. One, it was terrible slick with packed mud, which felt like ice, and two, those guys are crazy on the quads. I wasn’t about to get steamrolled. Finally, three, I was helmet-less. Not smart, so I “pulled up.”
All in all, it was a great weekend. Dirt Days with Van, the Wifey and my friends was a much-needed vacation.
P.S.: I did ride my bike on Monday for National Ride Your Bike to Work Day. The company rolled out to the 500 Grill at the Indianapolis International Airport for lunch. I’d honestly never ridden in a group that large before.
Jarrod
My “experience” at Dealer Expo was a much different experience than “The Experience.”
My day at Dealer Expo was with the Vanimal (my son) and my slightly dazed friend Phil. Phil pops into several of “The Ride” blogs because of his common passion for danger on two wheels. That’s right: I said danger.
My day started out with a fantastic breakfast at Petit Chou in Broad Ripple where Van had Green Eggs and Ham and I had “Bruce’s Oatmeal.” Once we were finished with breakfast, Van and I dropped the wife off at home and soldiered on to Dealer Expo. We arrived at about 9:30 a.m. and waited for our friend Phil, who arrived at 10 a.m. While we were waiting for Phil, Van decided to highjack this moped to the right.
Once Ph
il arrived, we set off for Lucas Oil Stadium where Ride Royal Blue was set up. If you don’t remember, the “Man Trip” is just two weeks away, and the venue is rideroyalblue.com. While at Ride Royal Blue’s booth, we discussed our growing group of six to eight and if there were rental ATV’s and extra cabins still available. About two minutes into the conversation, Van nearly lunged off my shoulders toward the booth to the right. Van spotted the Kiddi Moto booth immediately to the right. Of course, just like everything else, Van had to get on one. Unlucky for Van, Kiddi Moto isn’t distributing to the U.S. until May. He’ll just have to wait. The common theme of the day was that Van had to ride every single vehicle at the show. Check out this list of Van’s excursions.
The low-riding vehicles are the easiest for Van to jump into. Funny thing about Van is that he only likes to sit properly in the seat and drive.
To the left, Van sweetens up to the Repsol girl. I think the fact that she was blonde (like mommy) and gave Van a small-scale Nicky Hayden motorcycle were the reasons that they got along so well.
Van had a good time on a Chinese-built ATV. They were selling this particular ATV straight off the floor for $290. I swear, the Chinese are going to take over the world.
Perhaps one of Van’s more spectacular moments. Please notice that this is the largest ATV alive. The handlebars are up to Phil’s shoulders(pictured right). Phil is not a small guy!
None of this seemed to bother Van.
Besides chasing Van around Lucas Oil Stadium and the Indianapolis Convention Center, we got see an awful lot of fun aftermarket pieces. The one item that stood out to Phil and I was the GoPro Motorsports Camera.
“Funny Story”… I thought for some reason that the exhibitors were able to sell items off the floor. Apparently I was wrong, and you had to be a dealer to purchase anything. Here is the exchange:
Phil: Do you want to get one?
Jarrod: I think so.
Jarrod to the camera rep: Can you give us a sweet deal on these cameras?
Camera rep: You’ll have to ask Marshall.
Jarrod: OK, let’s ask Marshall.
Camera Rep: Your rep, you’ll have to ask your Marshall rep. I am just here on behalf of Marshall.
Jarrod: I’m not a dealer. I’m with a venue. Can you still hook it up?
Camera Rep: Nope.
That was painful. Phil was so pumped up about the camera that he purchased one that night. Other than that, Dealer Expo was pretty typical. Girls, bikes and a lot of fun times with Van.
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
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.