back from Indy, here's some photos

[Grrrly]

had time to sit and write some comments about my photos.. 

this is how the trip unraveled:

wednesday 5pm:

Terry, a friend (Raul) and I leave NYC with our bikes in the pickup, and Raul's track bike in an enclosed trailer.



we exit the Lincoln tunnel, and are on our way to the NJ Turnpike when we pass these guys



They work for GQ and are friends of Rossi.   As we roll up to them we first think, wow look at this tiny car trailering this bike, then we think... wait.. that IS a replica right?  wait that's a dry clutch...HOLY SHIT!!!!  THAT'S NOT A REPLICA!!

They catch us at the gas station, where we find out it is indeed Rossi's 2007 race bike. As a publicity stunt they are trailering Rossi's race bike with their tiny itty bitty Fiat  from NYC to Indianapolis.






we know it's going to be a great time in Indy....  I was excited before but now I can barely be contained in the backseat 

[Grrrly]

Thursday AM... 
we arrive in Indy, dump our stuff in our hotel, unload the bikes and ride to the speedway.
Thursday the public is allowed to do a pit walk and see the paddocks/garages.















telemetry stands for the teams, I feel an urge to play pacman 




I learned that no matter how many times someone tells you how loud a MotoGP bike is... you have no idea until you experience it!!
It's like a jet plane taking off!!!!  Anyone thinking that their streetbike is as loud as one is experiencing delusions of grandeur!!! 

Christian Pfeiffer and Aaron Colton (16 years old) put on a show on pit lane.  Remember how much I have been dying to see him stunt in person!!  WOW!!! 

[Grrrly]

friday:   practice day

it's now raining/drizzly in Indy...


Duc only parking at Ducati Island.  None of the other manufactures offers this.

this dude stuck a 996 engine in a new Monster 696 frame... sick bike!!!




exhaust kicks ass!




Giorgio sporting his shower cap


one of the many perks of owning a Ducati during the weekend.
Pit out lane was a mere 10 feet away from Ducati Island.

[Grrrly]

sat:

skys are clear.. we all get sun burned 




view of Ducati Island right next to our grandstand







here comes my boyfriend   







after morning practice we head over to the Hall of Fame museum to get out of the sun for a little















ok.. after qualifications.. Terry and I ride over for the Ride for Kids Lap of Champions.  A charity lap which proceeds go to fight pediatric brain tumor/cancer.


Here is Terry riding into the track at turn 6









this was make the beast with two backsING AWESOME!!! to ride down the grid at the end of the straightaway and see the teams in their garages working on the bikes for race day.!!!   :)040 :)040

[Grrrly]

after the lap, we were off to the watch the AMA "Indy Mile" flat track races at the fairgrounds.
Traffic was at less than a crawl, and we were running late, when to the right of me a statie on a bike lights up, I'm thinking "I didn't do anything why would he be pulling us over?" and then he gets on his horn "All motorcycles to the fairgrounds follow me!"..hot damn! I got right behind him as we roll down through traffic and he pulls all the bikes to follow him to the races.  Imagine is NYPD gave us this treatment!  Indianapolis went all out to make motorcycles welcomed for the weekend.

So we get to the fairgrounds,













the races were very exciting, very different feel and atmosphere than roadracing, this is hometown, gritty.  These guys are flying at 130mph on dirt!  And again the sound of the pack roaring by is deafening.

Chris Carr won the Indy Mile final race, which is cool, as we've met him several times previously.  First at American Supercamp where he was a guest instructor, he's a really nice guy! 

He also currently holds the fastest motorcycle world record.  For those that may have seen the special on cable with the streamliners at Bonneville Salt Flats a couple of years ago, Chris piloted the Bub streamliner over 350mp!

[goldenchild]

Those are some awesome pics M, what kinda camera are you using?

[Grrrly]

sunday is race day and we get to the track early again, the weather calls for remnants of Ike to pass through..  

after parking at Ducati Island again I see this guy in this t-shirt which I think is VERY FUNNY!! :)040




the party starts early again at Duc Island.








Rossi fans are everywhere



at 10am we have a DUcati Soundoff, where all the owners parked at the island revv there bikes at the same time, I wouldve liked to hear what it sounded like from outside the island.



The Red Bull Rookies race was cool.  15 young kids from the US and 14 from europe, racing 125cc bikes supplied and sponsored by Red Bull to foster young talent.  Something we lack here in the states.  For the first 3/4 of the race Hayden Gillim, young cousin to Nicky Hayden, pulls away from the pack to lead... then the rain starts and he goes down, loosing his lead, but finishes the race    (a premonition of things to come   .....)
it was exciting to watch these young kids let it all hang out.

Then came the 125cc race which was called early because of rain.... Ike had finally arrived.

The 250cc race was eventually canceled and the motoGP bumped up.

The speedway brings out everything they can to help dry off the track,






here we are trying to keep dry and warm


all in all it was an awesome experience, and I already ordered my tickets for next year's motoGP!!  And ordering my Indy Mile tickets as well :)040



we're making the top left corner of the ducati "D"  






monday
we do the trackday at Putnam Park.  Raul's bike doesn't work right so he's out for the day.  Terry's bike is barely working and makes it through most of the day.  I 'm mentally screwed up by the organizer talking about people crashing before the day even begins, and run into the wet grass at about 5mph!!  and loose the front ... slid into 3rd and I was ... SAFE!  
I knew it was all mental.. and felt better after Cook Neilson lowsided the desmosedicci (that DNA brought for select people to demo) ..oops!  

[Grrrly]

Those are some awesome pics M, what kinda camera are you using?

a old, point and shoot Canon Power Shot S50  it's taken a beating and keeps on.. like the old timex commercials



I've been looking to get a SLR, but this one has been good to me and easily fits in a pocket, fanny pack or small back pack when riding. 

[goldenchild]

I've been looking to get a SLR, but this one has been good to me and easily fits in a pocket, fanny pack or small back pack when riding. 

Yeah, I'd love to get a digital slr like Tommy's got but it's not all that portable or convenient for me to carry around. I'm using a 10mp Elph and as small as it is and as decent a shot it takes, it's pretty limited as far as what you can do. Great pics nonetheless!

[That Nice Guy Beck!]

god bless those red bull girls

[GLantern]

god bless those red bull girls

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