See you after the Barber rounds (PLUS, it's my wife's birthday on Sunday too!)
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Chaz Wins The 200 - One More Cover Shot!
Just a quickie before I head off to Barber for more AMA Superbikes. Tooting my own horn here (well, I guess it is all about self promotion!) but I finally received my copy of Motorcycle Racer Issue #107 with my photograph of good friend and British Attack Kawasaki rider Chaz Davies on the cover. The first British rider to ever win the 200 (even if it was over a month ago). It never gets old really. I love this sport.See you after the Barber rounds (PLUS, it's my wife's birthday on Sunday too!)
See you after the Barber rounds (PLUS, it's my wife's birthday on Sunday too!)
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Cold Hands and Woolly Jumpers - Testing Sheep
Onto testing...
Sonoma is one of those areas that is into the alternative resource lifestyle, be it organic produce, meats, dairy and of course beer and wine. It is also close to the home where Yamaha riders Eric and Ben Bostrom grew up.
With that in mind, how cool is it when a racetrack allows animals to clear grasses that grow abundantly around the racetrack. That's what they do at Infineon Raceway near Sonoma. Yes they use sheep! 
How truly wonderful. It also makes for a pleasant lunch break, simply unwrap your packed lunch, sit up on the hills and let the bleating surround you. Wonderful. 
At Laguna Seca (above), Suzuki, Yamaha and Kawasaki were in attendance. At Infineon, all the factory teams bar Erion Honda were there. As is the case the weather at Laguna was wonderful, albeit very windy and cold. At Infineon, it was a bit muddy weather wise. Fortunately dry but the sun couldn't make up it's mind.
Sometimes I do forget how far Infineon Raceway is from my home in Capitola. However, I never ever get tired of driving over the Golden Gate Bridge. You would never think that, especially as I have lived here in California for 18 years this coming September. But each time I drive the bridge I'm reminded of the opening sequence of the "Streets of San Francisco", the TV show with Michael Douglas and Karl Malden. With similar nostalgia, I'm also reminded of how my grandmother could never cook fish fingers properly, as we would always watch "The Streets of San Francisco" at her house at tea time on Saturday afternoons when I was a little boy growing up in the UK. They'd be still frozen in the middle. Sort of like a modern day fish popsicle. I'd still eat them though, not wanting to be ungrateful.
Oh...and for something different, here's some video shot with a Canon G9 from the Laguna Seca test.
That's all from me for now. AutoMotoPhoto® is updated with some images from testing. Next week I'm off to Barber Motorsports Park near Leeds in Alabama. Looks like there's going to be a race a happenen'
Sonoma is one of those areas that is into the alternative resource lifestyle, be it organic produce, meats, dairy and of course beer and wine. It is also close to the home where Yamaha riders Eric and Ben Bostrom grew up.
With that in mind, how cool is it when a racetrack allows animals to clear grasses that grow abundantly around the racetrack. That's what they do at Infineon Raceway near Sonoma. Yes they use sheep! How truly wonderful. It also makes for a pleasant lunch break, simply unwrap your packed lunch, sit up on the hills and let the bleating surround you. Wonderful. At Laguna Seca (above), Suzuki, Yamaha and Kawasaki were in attendance. At Infineon, all the factory teams bar Erion Honda were there. As is the case the weather at Laguna was wonderful, albeit very windy and cold. At Infineon, it was a bit muddy weather wise. Fortunately dry but the sun couldn't make up it's mind.Sometimes I do forget how far Infineon Raceway is from my home in Capitola. However, I never ever get tired of driving over the Golden Gate Bridge. You would never think that, especially as I have lived here in California for 18 years this coming September. But each time I drive the bridge I'm reminded of the opening sequence of the "Streets of San Francisco", the TV show with Michael Douglas and Karl Malden. With similar nostalgia, I'm also reminded of how my grandmother could never cook fish fingers properly, as we would always watch "The Streets of San Francisco" at her house at tea time on Saturday afternoons when I was a little boy growing up in the UK. They'd be still frozen in the middle. Sort of like a modern day fish popsicle. I'd still eat them though, not wanting to be ungrateful.Oh...and for something different, here's some video shot with a Canon G9 from the Laguna Seca test.
That's all from me for now. AutoMotoPhoto® is updated with some images from testing. Next week I'm off to Barber Motorsports Park near Leeds in Alabama. Looks like there's going to be a race a happenen'
PCH - The Pacific Coast Highway
Vroom Vroom!
Last week was busy from Monday though well, this week. Working with talented writer Mark Gardiner, a couple of his motorcycling colleagues and some wonderful machinery (Ducati Multistrada, BMW 1200GS's to name a couple) we completed an assignment for UK published BIKE magazine. The premiss for the assignment was to give folks from the UK (or anywhere for that matter) a nuts and bolts head start into taking a trip to Northern California, renting a motorcycle and then to visit a select area over a period of time. Thus the assignment included a trip up and down the Pacific Coast Highway (HWY1) from Capitola down through Big Sur and onto a small village call Fernwood. Possibly some of the prettiest coastline anywhere in the world.
Day two was a trip to the wine country, and as I was shooting at Infineon (AKA Sear Point) that morning, we decided that Sonoma would be the region to visit (I prefer it over Napa anyways) and then a ride out through the back roads to the coast and down through Marshall to the Golden Gate Bridge and the Marin headlands. Day three would be a ride around San Francisco with a focus on the off beat (and Beat Generation) lifestyle and then a stop outside a strip joint....and no, no one went in...!
Needless to say, it was a blast. Hard work but a blast. An errant parking mistake in San Francisco also cost me a $60 parking ticket....then there was testing...next post....
Last week was busy from Monday though well, this week. Working with talented writer Mark Gardiner, a couple of his motorcycling colleagues and some wonderful machinery (Ducati Multistrada, BMW 1200GS's to name a couple) we completed an assignment for UK published BIKE magazine. The premiss for the assignment was to give folks from the UK (or anywhere for that matter) a nuts and bolts head start into taking a trip to Northern California, renting a motorcycle and then to visit a select area over a period of time. Thus the assignment included a trip up and down the Pacific Coast Highway (HWY1) from Capitola down through Big Sur and onto a small village call Fernwood. Possibly some of the prettiest coastline anywhere in the world.
Day two was a trip to the wine country, and as I was shooting at Infineon (AKA Sear Point) that morning, we decided that Sonoma would be the region to visit (I prefer it over Napa anyways) and then a ride out through the back roads to the coast and down through Marshall to the Golden Gate Bridge and the Marin headlands. Day three would be a ride around San Francisco with a focus on the off beat (and Beat Generation) lifestyle and then a stop outside a strip joint....and no, no one went in...!Needless to say, it was a blast. Hard work but a blast. An errant parking mistake in San Francisco also cost me a $60 parking ticket....then there was testing...next post....
Friday, April 04, 2008
18 Years (Yesterday)
I'll have some images from testing at Laguna and Infineon to share in due course. In the meantime I just wanted to share (if anyone is really that interested of course) that without this woman my life wouldn't be what it is today. 
On April 3, 18 years ago Emily and I were married at the Love Chapel in Nevada..so we celebrated the fact by having Thor neutered (well not really celebrated - it was just that his appointment was the same day...) Poor guy looks like a walking lampshade...More to come.
On April 3, 18 years ago Emily and I were married at the Love Chapel in Nevada..so we celebrated the fact by having Thor neutered (well not really celebrated - it was just that his appointment was the same day...) Poor guy looks like a walking lampshade...More to come.
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