Wednesday, August 22, 2012

IndyGP–Le Claire to Indianapolis

Indy GP 2012 - Friday

Excited to get to Indy, I left Le Claire early. There was a beautiful sunrise over the Mississippi River as I rode into Illinois. I would be slabbing it on I-74 all morning to save time. It wasn’t very exciting.

Indy GP 2012 - Friday

When I arrived in Indy, I got a bit turned around. I had been given GPS coordinates for the north entrance of the track, but mis-entered them so I ended up in the wrong part of town. Eventually, I figured it out and found the speedway.

While sitting at a stop light a few blocks away, I could hear the howl of the MotoGP bikes. The sound brought a giant grin to my face. They have a very distinct sound that I immediately recognized after watching so many races on TV. I was going to see them live!

I made my way around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to the north side where they have free motorcycle parking. It was surreal to be riding in. I followed the waving arms of the local security dressed in their yellow shirts. Following their direction, I entered the Indy oval between turns three and four and start riding the back part of the track towards the oval turn two. There were already several hundred, if not a thousand, bikes already parked on the back part of the track.

Indy GP 2012 - Friday

As I approached the security guys tossed a puck down, so my side-stand didn’t damage the track.

Indy GP 2012 - Friday

A shot of the bikes on Friday afternoon. I like this picture.

Indy GP 2012 - Friday

I wandered around looking at the bikes as I made my way to the track. I could hear that the MotoGP bikes had left the track, so I wasn’t in a rush.

A nice pink bike.

Indy GP 2012 - Friday

A very shiny Ninja

Indy GP 2012 - Friday

I thought this was too ugly not to take a photo.

Indy GP 2012 - Friday

A well prepared BMW rider. Notice the little rain covers on the boots.

Indy GP 2012 - Friday

The free gear check was just a short walk from the parking. They had large bags to put all your riding gear in. Very nice. My cases were mostly empty, so I could pack all of my gear into my bike.

Indy GP 2012 - Friday

By the time I made it to the track over looking turns 7 and 8, Moto2 was practicing.

Indy GP 2012 - Friday

The pros got to stand with a clear view of the track. Those lenses look heavy! (but I want one) haha.

Indy GP 2012 - Friday

View of turn 9 from the bridge. This is the start of the back straight.

Indy GP 2012 - Friday

I wandered around the infield for a while looking at the vendor areas. I think Yamaha had the nicest setup with bikes to climb on and take photos of in addition to the large store of memorabilia and their new models.

Indy GP 2012 - Friday

They also had a custom bike contest. This is a 1980 XS650. It looked very slick.

Indy GP 2012 - Friday

Yamaha also had a learn to ride track setup for kids. Watching little kids ride is enjoyable. My wife gave a little squeal when she saw this pic. She thinks little kids in helmets are cute.

Indy GP 2012 - Friday

The Honda NC700X. Notice anything missing? After I sat on it my left foot was pawing the air looking for the shift lever. It’s an automatic...

Indy GP 2012 - Friday

Cycle World had a vintage bike contest. They all looked alike to me, so I didn’t spend much time gawking. First Thursday here has more variety.

Indy GP 2012 - Friday

I had two brushes with greatness. Ben Spies on the back of a scooter just leaving his autograph session. I missed it by minutes. Dang! I also saw Dani Pedrosa on his scooter zipping around.

Indy GP 2012 - Friday

Ducati had a massive set of tents and stuff.

Indy GP 2012 - Friday

I liked their line up of bikes.

Indy GP 2012 - Friday

There was a charity auction later for Riders.org. Lorenzo (left) and Spies (right) put up a signed t-shirt and photo.

Indy GP 2012 - Friday

The wheelie truck. So cool. They have a bike setup in a pretty safe manner to try doing wheelies. It was fun to watch, but the line was a bit long to do it myself. Maybe next time.

Indy GP 2012 - Friday

At the end of the day, they let ticket holders ride around the track in a parade lap (Video here). I’ve done several track days before, and this wasn’t that. It was just to see the layout of the track from the rider’s perspective at slow speed. Nice to do once.

I was happy I brought good walking shoes. Lots of walking, but a great way to spend Friday afternoon. More MotoGP fun Saturday and Sunday in the next posts.

5 comments:

  1. It's interesting that your write up is mainly about the things to see and do, other than watching the racing. That makes a visit to a MotoGP race much more than just watching the bikes go around the track. I've never been to a MotoGP race, but after reading your post, I might now go. Cheers!

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    1. EDR and I didn't even do half of what goes on here in Indy. There really is quite a lot that goes on inside the track on Friday and Saturday (concerts, vendors, charity stuff, pit walks, signings, etc etc etc)... but there is also a lot outside... they close off the main north-south road in downtown and around our sailors monument to park bikes and have a big even there including stunt bikes and all sorts of other interesting things.. and if you also like flat-track (dirt) action, Saturday they had flat tracking at the indy mile track that apparently many of the motogp guys went to as well.. and of course Indy is a very family friendly city... there is plenty of shopping and a really great free war memorial and other things all within a short hop of the track and downtown.

      The TV experience and the track experience of even the race is very different too. True on the TV you always get the 'best angles' and etc (although EDR and I both agree that at least some of the carrying companies commentary is really lacking...) ... but on the flip side there is a lot you miss with that... like you can actually see the different lines and techniques a lot better, and from the stands it was really clear the difference between the top riders styles and the slower riders styles .. which on the video feed is so hard to see, but is very clear from the stands.

      Naturally I'd recommend reserved seats in the NW or SW vista decks, but even a GA ticket for race day you really will get a good experience I think.

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  2. I'm glad I'm not the only one that thought that green/gold goldwing was a bit ...... blahhhh...

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  3. I second Gary's comment as I had thought that it was only about the race and wasn't even aware that other activities were part of the event. I'm enjoying the posts. Maybe one of these days I'll make it to one of these events.

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  4. I really liked that first photo from Friday. The colors of the bikes against the blue sky and clouds is very sharp.

    Sounds like a great time. It is cool to see the racers puttering around on the scooters.

    How did you find the fit and feel of the Honda? I thought it might be a great little machine in the regular version, not the automatic.

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