Rolla to Indianapolis, Friday, 17 August 2012, Day 74

The Brickyard

It rained a lot that evening which was nice as I have been travelling in some seriously hot weather in the high 90s Fahrenheit mid 30s Centigrade for the last week and above the 100s Fahrenheit so that is 40 plus Centigrade so when I got up this morning and it was a balmy 72f or 22c it was a pleasant relief. I had done a lot of miles yesterday however a lot of them in the wrong direction so I still had a lot of miles to do today and to add to that also wanted to stay off the freeway and follow route 66 as much as possible so it is going to be a long day again in the saddle. I said goodbye to Route 66 at St Louis which also looked like an interesting place to stay however I had a date with Valentino, Lorenzo, Casey and Danny and the rest of the MotoGP mob so I pushed on to Indy.

Illinois Toll Bridge

was not walking paid 1 cent!

I got there about 8.30pm I had lost an hour going into Indiana or was it Illinois I do not know anymore I found the campsite which was right next to the track and I set up camp. It has been more than month since I have been under canvas so hopefully all the mossies that I packed last time I camped are all dead if not they are going to be very angry

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Indianapolis, Saturday, 18 August 2012, Day 75

showing the motogp jockeys how to look good on a bike!

I have let this slip so I am doing a bit of a catch up so this may be a bit slapdash. As you have probably gathered I am now at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Circuit for the MotoGP. I decided I had been alone to long in tatty motel rooms in the middle of nowhere and I would go to the other extreme and set up camp in a middle of field with loads of like-minded motorcycle enthusiast and maybe even talk to some of them.

I drove into Indianapolis late last night and what struck me was that for a Motorcycle event there where not many motorcyclist around so at first I thought am I in the right place and if yes have I got the right weekend. After putting the tent up I went looking for where the action maybe but to be honest there was not much to be found so I walked miles to find some food and then back to the tent and spent the rest of the evening chatting to my neighbours before retiring to bed.

Indy MotorGP No one here!

Up quite early and headed to the track for a full day of watching motorcycles go round and round in circles at different speeds and levels. Just what the doctor ordered my idea of heaven. Today was just the warm up and the qualifications so with my general admission ticket I was allowed to go into pretty much all of the grandstands so I spent all day moving from one to another trying to figure the best spot to watch the race tomorrow when with the ticket I had I would be restricted as to where I could stand.

      

      

                                

Indy MotorGP StillNo one! here!

Gorgeous hot day very little shade and we all know Philly’s views on Sun Tan Oil (I can’t stand the stuff) I was a burnt red little boy at the end of the day but very happy I had been chatting and bull shitting bikes all day good atmosphere here and the racing and what I get to see is very good quality. I got back to my Tent at about 6pm so I have been cooking in the sun for about 10 hours but I was beyond caring and I was a bit whiffey as well as there was no water or showers at the campsite or internet so I thought I would address one of those Issues and headed to McDonald’s for a drink as they have free WiFi and I sorted out some digs for Monday in Chicago.

Afterwards headed into town where the whole center of town was closed of except for Motorcycles so there where bikes everywhere. Spent the rest of the evening just wandering around people and bike watching and later I did some cruising in the hope that some of me pongs may be blown away.

Indianapolis Biker Party

I got back to the campsite quite late had a chat with a Fries couple and then back to me tent to crash a burnt smelly but happy chap and the good news is that I get to do it all again tomorrow yeah!

Indianapolis, Sunday, 19 August 2012, Day 76

Sun Cream Nope Custard Cream Yep it all about priorities

Up at about 9am I headed straight to the race track and to the loo’s there as the ones at the campsite where a bit minging by now and I also took my towel and managed to have a stand up wash at one of the baisins to get rid of some of me pongs a big improvement on the French shower I had yesterday but as I had a good couple of hot days and night pongs on me not ideal. I grabbed a coffee and a breakfast sandwich and sneaked into one of the stands I was not allowed into and had me breakfast watching the warm up sessions. Eventually they started checking folk’s tickets so I decided to move before I was asked to leave and made my way to the cheap seats. I had a place in mind which covered the exit of the pit lane turn 1 through 4 and was high up in the stand there’s was cool breeze to keep the heat down as is was still sunny I cooked again but I did not notice as much. I spent the rest of the day up in there on me perch chatting and chewing the fat with the folks around me and also I got talking to a Canadian/Dutch guy who had ridden all over Mexico and Central America and even had sort of published a bikers hotel guide to the area so spent the day picking his brains for useful gems of information which I have probably forgotten by the time I get there I should really start writing some of this info down.

Race Day

Most crowded stand!

Another good day at the race Danny Pedrosa took the main event big prize easily I saw loads of crashes in the last couple of days a great venue what surprised me was how empty it was very few spectators if you compare it to say something like Assen where they get about 100,000 plus spectators there it felt like there was hardly any one at this event which is great for me as I hate large crowds :-).

Need a shower soon!

What surprised me even more was I was practically the only person left staying at the campsite I got back to the tent and everyone had left! So had a very strange evening where I walked about 3 miles to the nearest place selling food (Taco Bell I have not had one of these yet) it is still hot totally burnt and not smelling that pleasant. I cannot get it into my head that you need a vehicle in the US if you want to do anything as everything is so far apart but I did not fancy getting the bike out so of I go walking everywhere hoping that it will be closer than it actually is. The exercise will do me good. I got back to the tent at about 7pm it was like a ghost town now so I did a little bit work on the PC but no wi-fi so limited with what I could do and what I could be bothered to do without any power there as well. Read me book for a short while and as I was knackered and there was bugger all to do decided on early night so at 10pm I went to bed so a reverse sleep in. Why is going to bed early not as pleasurable as a sleep in this has always bothered me as I much rather have a lie in than go to bed early.

Where has everyone gone ?