February 17th Meeting 7:30pm at Bobby Salazar's 434 Clovis Ave ...

Friend Lee Dorsey de Lexington ( aka Lee Bob) was also going up to the races with us, so he showed up and we all
went out to eat and generally get our game plan down for Thursday's trip to Indy. Brent and I spent time at Lee's castle
down in Huatulco, Mex. last winter, so it was great to see him again. Plenty of yucks and tall tales.
Thursday AM was "pack truck, hook up trailer, load bikes and haul ass." Brent, Suzanne and Lee were in the truck. I
rode Suzanne's 650 V-Strom. I couldn't see the wisdom of wearing out the tire on the Tuono by running it up
I-65 for 140 miles. The Wee Strom was perfect for the job. The thing goes 75-85++, no sweat. I'm not ready to get rid of
my 1000, but the 650 runs plenty good. Real impressive.
We stopped to pick up the motor home about 30 mi. south of the track. I think the thing was about 300 ft. long (38 ft.
actually) Anyways, it was a big mutha. The Brent went "full pimp." Now it was Brent and Lee in the coach-- (that's what
ya call those things), Suzanne in the truck mit der trailer, and me on the bike. We were starting to look like "bikers" on the
way to Sturgis. Guess who got the best of that deal, heh heh.
We got to the track ( my first time to ever see the place), and got set up in a lot right across the street. I was dazzled
by the whole deal. Adult beverages were in order. The Strom has a big Givi tail box, so I got the call. Gladly.
As I was pulling out of the lot, I spied two cats with brews in their hands, always a good sign if your looking for a likker
store. "These guys look familiar--" Sure as hell, it was Gary Nixon and Jay Springsteen. I'd never met the Springer,
but I had ended up at Nixon's set-up at Daytona a couple years back. He for sure understands having a good damn time.
They got me lined out for the beer store, as well as the best chi-chi bars and bar-b-q joints in the area. I'd been in Indy
for 15 mins. and already knew everything I needed to know , thanks to a couple of world class experts. Good as it gets.
I motored about 1/2 mi. down the street to the store, and the parking lot was a scene. Lotta bikes. People all stocking
up. Yelling and laughing. Good helpful people in the store. I could tell folks were excited and looking forward to a good
time. Me too. Reminded me of Daytona.
I woke up pretty early on Friday AM. Seems that I chose to just kind of curl up on the couch, rather than make the
thing out into a bed. Looked like too many moving parts at the time. I woke up like a pretzel, and vowed to not make that
mistake again. I looked out the window. Rain. That had been the prediction, and they got it right. Little by little all hands
got going, and Suzanne whipped up some brekky. This coach life has it's pluses. It was rainy, but not cold. I was pretty
disappointed over the prospects of rain. I figured that the bikes would kind of pussy foot around, and I had been
looking forward to seeing smoking power slides. Neighbor Tom kinda adjusted my attitude.
His take was, "Hey we'll get to see 'em in the rain. Hopefully we'll see 'em in the dry too. It'll make for a more intersting
weekend. Wait and see."
I wasn't totally convinced, but my ideas didn't count. We were in for rain, so let's get over to the track and check it
out. I had a long sleeve nylon "travel shirt" laid out for the trip, but somehow it was still back in California. Gremlins. I had
a full on rain jacket, and also a light nylon wind breaker with hood. The whole kit was in a cheesey little back pack. That
thing proved to be way handy.
Once you pass through the track gate, you're in for the whole day. They don't allow you to go in and out as you
please. That works out OK if you brought all the stuff that you need. If you didn't, there was a big chance that somebody
was gonna have it for sale.
The big bikes were on the track as we went through the gate. Those things make some of the fiercest sounds in
motor sports. My first view of the track was from the inside of Turn 1. Wow !! Rain or no rain, the guys were on the gas.
We made our way around towards Turn 9 that leads onto the back straight. That was a good viewing spot, and as the
session came to a close, the riders lined up and practiced their wet weather starts, somtimes solo, and some of 'em side
by side. You could hear all the electronic traction control devices doing their thing. Much shrieking, popping and banging.
Good stuff.
Indy has many big screen TV's scatterd around the circuit, and a sound system that works, so you can keep up with
the haps on the whole track. They had a replay of Casey Stoner getting high sided into the next ZIP code. He ended up
sliding on his arse to the edge of the track, like a kid on the slide out on the playground. When he stopped at the edge of
the grass, he just hopped up and walked off. Another day at the office.
The amount of vendor activity at the track is huge. Every kind of clothes and accessories that any biker or fan could
crave. And then they have the scantily clad gurlz to go with it. The Red Bull gurlz. The Arai gurlz. On and on. Lee Bob
and I milled around and checked it all out.
There is a tunnel that passes from the infield and under the front straight. From there you can get into the covered
grandstands on the outside of the track. The 250's were on the track at the time. Bring your ear plugs !! Their top speed in
the dry was a bit over 160. That's on a 250 !! I think I heard that the entry speed into Turn 1 is about 150 in the dry. They
are plenty quick.
Then came the big boys. Hay-soos. Given the covered grandstands, the sound was over the top without ear plugs.
They were hitting about 175 in the wet, close to 200 in the dry. As the rider would downshift for #1, you could hear the
"slipper clutches" doing their thing, and keeping the rear wheel from locking up. The other "plus" was being able to watch