In what is rapidly becoming tradition, I spent a holiday Sunday at Putnam Park Race Course, just west of Indianapolis.

Why?

To watch 60 or so riders take their motorcycles around the track all day.

Really, really fast.

That whole "blow down the straightaway at 150mph, touch your knee to the ground in the corners" kind of fast.

This is one of my favorite days every year. :-)

Luckily, this year no one broke themselves (yay!), the bro-in-law kicked some speeding motorcycle ass (yay!), and I got to spend all day borrowing their shiny new SLR camera, and going a wee bit snap happy (yayayay!).

(God, I'm jealous. I lurve this camera, and want one so bad...)

In any case, the weather was perfect, the company entertaining, the riding spectacular, the views good, and the pictures hopefully captured it all. Below are just a few of my fave snapped shots for the day - except that last one. Michelle took it, with instructions to "work it like Tyra!"

I giggled a lot during that little session.

Good times, good times. When's the next track day?


Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.
And of course, we had to have a little live action of Don hitting speed on the straightaway. It's surprisingly tough to keep the camera up with the zippy motorcycle. ;-)

(He's the second rider...)



And a random musing, while I'm at it...why is there no MotoGP fanfic? There is fanfic for everything in the known universe, but no MotoGP. Mayhaps I will have to be a trailblazer someday...

Labels: motogp, motorcycle

I blame my brother-in-law.

From the first motorcycle ride he took me on when I was just a kid to going to Putnam Park (despite disastrous results at times) for track day, I've become increasingly interested in motorcycle racing.

And his devotion to MotoGP has totally rubbed off on me.

For a combination of factors (which most other faithful fans seem to be echoing of late), NASCAR has failed to hold my attention for the last season or two (but that's a different rant), whereas MotoGP has slowly been taking over my Sunday afternoon racing attention.

These guys, seriously, are nuts.

Whipping around tracks and going through chicanes at 45 degree angles with only a bit of leather and a hockey puck on their knee? Nuts.

(See what Nicky Hayden is doing in that picture? Yeah. That. All the time. Every race. With like an inch of tire rubber on the ground every time. Yeah.)

But man, fun to watch.

I've got my guys that I'm cheering for (Nicky Hayden - from just south of TinyTown in Kentucky, Randy de Puniet - for looking damn hot with no shirt on, and James Toseland - like me this year, he's a rookie to MotoGP and is from the UK), and I'm watching each race with growing interest as I learn the teams, the riders and the ins and outs of the sport.

Needless to say, I'm superstoked about going to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway this September for the first inaugural MotoGP race at the track - that's going to be a helluva weekend.

Stay tuned... ;-)

My one other fave part of MotoGP? The commentators. They get SO EXCITED about everything, and they are all foreigners. Awesome.

"Casey Stoner is absolutely flying!"

Hee. ;-)

Best MotoGP vid I've seen...possibly ever.



Of course, if you wanna see some truly hellacious wrecks, just search YouTube for MotoGP and wreck...you'll be horrified...and then amazed that these guys just get up and walk away...

Labels: motogp, motorcycle