My Worst Weekend Ever - I Love Road America

Sorry for the delay in posting... Now, where do I begin? It was all good in theory. A condo in Sheboygan, 13 miles or so from Lake Elkhart and the track and next to the Great Lake. Comfy, huge, kitchen away from everything that could present noise pollution in the evening when for me rest is important.

It will always rain at least ONE day at Road America. Oh wait, it rained all THREE days...add in thunder, lightning, tornado warnings and you've got it all!On Wednesday, my body decided to start rejecting me. Last year, on my working trip to cover MotoGP at Mugello. I had flu that pretty much killed any chance of covering the actual race day. Oddly, here we are, roughly at the same time of year and true to form, I was designated the petri dish for some sort of human biological experiment and was hit with yet another flu attack. With that thought in mind, and on reflection it was somewhat stupid, I decided to go as planned to Road America.

Rule #1. NEVER work with a temperature. As I said, I should've stayed home. If it wasn't for the fact that had a major assignment I may well have. But being a freelance, and self employed you enter into this as a Catch 22 with the Devil. Oh well. As it turned out I was able to finish my assignment.

One thing I should mention, and one thing that always baffles me is the lack of any sort of salad at the food concession stands. For example, one stand I went to I asked for a sausage sandwich (which does confuse folks out there because they say "brawt", however, with my British West Country twang it doesn't sound right and thus I end up with some very confused looks...so I stick with the word sausage...). So I ask for the sandwich and follow it up with, "does it come with any lettuce?", "no" comes the reply. I then ask, "how about a slice of tomato?" "No", comes the reply. I then ask, "do you have any salad at all?" The reply to this question was just too funny, "oh, we have some sliced dill pickles by the mustard!" To throw a bigger spanner in the works, I then just asked to have my sausages, or "brawt's" sans bun. Which after a small discussion as to why I didn't want to have my sausages in a bun I left with my two fingers of meat and was as happy as I could be considering the circumstances.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention. Just in case having jungle fever wasn't enough, both of my Canon 1DMK2N's decided that they didn't want to work anymore, at or around Sunday lunchtime. With some creative use of the on/off switch I was able to get some acion shots, but I'd like to say a big THANK YOU to my good friend John Hanson who was kind enough to loan me one of his Nikon D2X's, I did manage to finish out the weekend.

Oh, and thank you to all those folks who saw me on TV with aforementioned D2X and sent me emails asking if I had become a switch hitter...I have to say I'm still married...

Indy MotoGP test next week. See you then.

Oh, and Danny Eslick made my weekend with this little jaunty display of odd craziness...

Impressed, humbled and why wasn't there track days when I was 16?

Odd.

Here I am, just turned 45 (and no, my age doesn't bother me) and I have one of the coolest jobs on the planet, and meet some of the most down to earth, real people in the world. Every weekend I go to a race track to document the skills and antics of these ever-so talented men and women (yeah I know there are more men THAN women in the AMA but it will change) and every time I get on the plane to come home I feel energized and infused and rejuvenated. Take the last round of the AMA Superbike Series at Road America, nr Lake Elkhart in Wisconsin.

As we all know, the weather can play a factor in the events here. The track is one of the longest in the US and for me, feels like an American version of Spa Francorchamps (it's about the same length). The track has long straights, sweeping corners and corners that tighten up. It also has the ability to have two or three different "weathers" going on across it's entire length.

It's a challenge.

However, this weekend I was reminded of how lucky I am, and how any people that I capture affect my own day to day life. Take Aaron Yates. Gritty racer, skillful, explosive personality with charm and eloquence. Watching Aaron work his race craft thrills me. His bike management skills are impressive, and his willingness to push the envelope remind me of how I'd be a mad arse on the road back in the UK. In fact how stupid that was might be a better reflection. But watching his riding style in the rain, on the start finish straight at Road America reminded me of how one would ride a horse. Off the pegs, perched forward over the withers...and for me, stupid as I was on the top of the control tower in a lightning storm, I was pleased I was able to capture it...

One other rider who embodies how I felt when I was his age is Danny Eslick. Talented, entertaining, charming and an all round good kid, I watch him ride and see how I rode a bike when I was his age. Danny is a talented young man, charming, and very determined. I hope that in grand scale of things he does well. He has talent. I always look forward to meeting up with Danny, as does my wife.
I love what I do. I hate being away from my wife. So when the weekend goes well, the racing is good and the riders look like they're enjoying themselves. It all works.

Andrew