Locked Up Our Trip with Kryptonite

This past weekend my wife Susan and I went on the road to a show in Pittsburgh, PA. We left early Friday morning making a stop in New Jersey to drop off a freshly built bobber for a customer and then headed to Pittsburgh. We got there late Friday night.

Saturday the show was early morning ‘til early evening. That day was also my wife and mine anniversary. The show was busy throughout the day and the weather was great. We did the same thing on Sunday and packed up around 5 and were on the road home at about 6.

Here is where it gets interesting….the drive from Pittsburgh to Bridgewater, MA is about 11 hours. We get on the road and drive through most of the night till we get to Rhode Island. We were making good time - Susan and I were excited that we might get home before 4 am! We no sooner get into Rhode Island and we get a blow out. No big deal. We pull over, I change the tire and get back on the road. I didn’t even get a chance to turn the radio back up and we heard a loud pop noise! The spare tire blew out! Now we are in trouble!

I pull over and examine the trailer and tire. We are on the rim. What can we do? After making some phone calls, waking a few people up at 4 am, I realized there was nothing I could do till a tire place opened.

We didn’t want to sit on the side of the highway with $140,000 worth of bikes in the trailer so we decided to pretty much drag the trailer on the grass to the next exit. Thankfully there was a 24 hour gas station right off the exit. We decided to leave the trailer there locked up and come back for it later.

Well, I was a little nervous leaving it there because this is something we never do but I was a little more confident knowing that Kryptonite was protecting it. I backed it up to a light pole so no one could open the door, put 2 locks on the back door, one on the front door, one on the tongue, a rotor lock on each bike, chained the bikes together with a Fahgettaboudit, and put a chain around the one good wheel and tire. I would have to say someone would have a hard time stealing it if they tried. So all together I had almost 10 locks on everything. We told the clerk we were leaving it there and they said they would keep their eye on it.

At about 9 am Jody and Jeff headed down to pick it up with a new tire. The trailer must have looked terrible, sitting on the rim, fender ripped off, dirt and grass hanging out the back, ay what a site! But we got it home safe and sound! What a way to end a trip.

My Weekend at Iowa Speedway

We returned on Sunday after what was a fun and exciting weekend at Iowa Speedway. This was the first time that motorcycles have ever run this new 1.3 mile road course. So in the inaugural year of the SunTrust MOTO-ST Series we are all anxious to see what comes of a first trip to a new track.

I have to say, the facility was outstanding. The fans in Iowa are diehard and so enthusiastic to see racers. They were very welcoming and made the event a lot of fun.

I didn’t race this weekend due to my on-going back spasms and pain. Since I help run the team there is no shortage of things that need to be done. I stayed busy all weekend writing press releases, taking photos and updating the Team RightsforBikers.com Web site. I enjoy attending the entrant meetings, rider meeting and organizing logistics of the team. We have a great team so sometimes that comes easy even though there is so much to do.

The team had 3 practice sessions: one Thursday, one Friday and a quick practice on Saturday. The riders all got out there and learned the track and starting picking up some good lap times. Our SST bike (Suzuki SV1000) ridden by Mark Crozier and Nathan Dressman ran the second fastest in practice and usually that is a good indication of the outcome of the race. My fill-in rider, Justin Filice was amazing. He was running almost as fast on the SV650 as some were on the bigger bikes. It was fun to watch him and his dad (Jimmy Filice) out in practice. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Jimmy, click on his name…he is well known in motorcycle racing. Jimmy was showing Justin the lines and the way around the track and Justin was picking up time.

Race day was getting last minute details completed, such as lights on the bikes (since the even falls past sun down, lights are required and PIAA, our sponsor really helped us out here). As with any and all MOTO-ST events, we have an autograph session for the fans. We couldn’t believe the turn-out! They were lined up for more than an hour to walk through and get ever rider’s autograph. Different to motorcycle racing, but common in NASCAR are the rider introductions on stage. This was the first time riders had done this and it really added to the show.

The race began at 6:30pm CT and was a 3-hour long race. Our team had 2 podium finishes for which the entire team – crew and riders – was extremely excited. We have worked so hard to get to the top of the podium and we were within 40 seconds behind the leader when a red flag came out and the race was called with 30 minutes remaining. This race was a testament to the strength of the team and we can’t wait for the 8 Hours at Daytona in October!

Oh and by the way…at Road America for the Red Flag Fund auction…the custom painted trash can by Dave Perewitz raised $225! All the items auctioned off can be found here. The proceeds go to help injured motorcycle racers. A great cause for a great community of people.

See You at the Perewitz Bike Night Tonight!

Tim and I will both be at the Perewitz Bike Night tonight. If you are in the area, c'mon down and say 'hi'. I haven't seen Dave, Jody, Susan and the rest of the team since Sturgis so I'm looking forward to hearing all about it. That, and seeing my four legged friends, too, of course.

Zipp's the official greeter at Perewitz Cycle Fab

See you there!