Brianna101007

Brianna's Travel and Tales

I really don’t think anyone wants to read about my take on an event four
months after it happened, but I guess I’d be a jerk if I tried to just skip
over the Superbike races at Road America and Miller Motorsports Park.
So here we go. Thanks to the lovely race schedule, we had the pleasure of
going from California to Wisconsin, only to head back out west to Salt
Lake City for the following event. Interesting planning there, although I’m
sure there were reasons for it. Anyway, let’s move on. Road America -
what I remember about that weekend is rain. Lots of rain. Unbelievable
amounts of rain. It was ridiculous. Heavy rains that lasted for hours.
Other than that, nothing really out of the ordinary. Road America is
always an interesting event because in addition to all of the regular races,
there is also sidecar racing going on. While I know I’d never have the guts
to go out there and do it, I am intrigued by it. It looks like so much fun!

Road America is also a really beautiful facility. If you’ve never been there,
it is worth checking out. The landscape is really pretty, and if you like
camping, this seems to be the place to do it. There are usually tons of
campers, and lots of parties. This year they even added some showers so
there wasn’t such a long wait in the girl’s bathroom! That was especially
nice.

And of course, the food. It wouldn’t be my blog if there weren’t some
mention of food. Road America has a pretty extensive menu, and pretty
decent food. My favorite is the corn on the cob. Mmmm….
We also had the pleasure of seeing our friends Doug and Ted, who visit us
at multiple races over the summer. Some of you may know them as well, as
they seem to be at several races every year. They are really nice guys who
usually surprise me with ice cream (a great way to earn points with me)!

The most exciting part of Road America this year had to be spending time
with Akihito Arai. He is the grandson of Hirotaki Arai, the creator of Arai
helmets. He was at the track for the weekend working with Bruce Porter
(Arai Racing Services). In the evening, we took him over to the dirt track
race that is at a local track every year. Unfortunately it got rained out and
we didn’t get to see too much racing. We also spent some time with him at
Seibkin’s, which seems to be the local hotspot. It was really enjoyable
getting to talk to him and know him better. He is very friendly,
knowledgeable, and lots of fun!

After Road America, I flew home as Rob headed out to Salt Lake City for
our next event at Miller Motorsports Park. I was thrilled to be flying into
Salt Lake City. I had flown into this area last year, and it was by far the
most beautiful scenery I had ever seen while landing. It looked like we were
flying incredibly close to the massive mountains, close enough that I could
see lots of detail in the shape and landscape of the mountains. I could see
snowy mountaintops, as well as the Great Salt Lake. Unfortunately this
year I flew in late in the evening and couldn’t see anything!
As for Miller Motorsports Park, this was only the second year that a
Superbike Race was held at this track since the facility only opened last
year. We were very pleased to see that they had paved the vendor area –
last year we were in an open, dusty lot. That was tough. So this year we
started off with a positive attitude, really to have a great weekend.
Unfortunately, the vendor area was a complete mess (other than the nice
new macadam, of course). It appeared that their initial plan was to have an
outer circle of vendors (more like a big letter “U” than a circle, actually), as
well as an inner circle of vendors. The two circles of vendors were to be
facing each other with an “aisle” in the center for consumers to walk
through. The only problem with this plan was that there weren’t enough
vendors to make up either circle. We were literally at the bottom of the
“U” facing the opposite direction of any foot traffic. We were faced away
from the food, the grandstands, the parking, the tram stops, etc. It was
really, really odd. And since there were so few vendors there, they just
appeared to be randomly scattered. I can’t imagine how many consumers
didn’t even realize we were there because they couldn’t see us unless they
walked all the way down to the end of the “vendor area”.
The other problem is that attendance was very, very poor. I don’t know
why this is – perhaps the lack of proximity to large cities (other than Salt
Lake City, obviously). There really weren’t many people there at all. I’m
not sure what the track can do in the future to encourage attendance, but
something needs to be done.
At this track we had the opportunity to see the USGPRU racing as well.
This was the first time I had seen this type of racing – the bikes look so
small and slow compared to what I am used to seeing! It was definitely
entertaining, though. We also had the chance to see a Supermoto race after
we closed up one evening. I think Supermoto racing is awesome. While I
prefer the intensity and excitement of seeing riders battle more than they
typically do in Supermoto racing, I love the idea of riding on both dirt and
asphalt in the same race. It is a unique type of racing, and definitely
interesting to watch.
I really don’t remember anything exciting as far as food goes. The food at
Miller was okay, although the menu was pretty limited.
Well, that’s it. I really don’t have anything more to say about that race.
Which means….Moto GP blog is coming up next!

Wednesday, October 10, 2007
"I am slowly catching up "