COTA 4/18 – 4/19

Almost exactly one year to date I embarked on an epic journey with the 899. It only seems fitting that one year later I take the same bike on another trip. However, this time she sat in the back of the truck.

Meeting 11 friends from NYC, I loaded the truck up and headed for Austin. Circuit of the Americas was the reward, and only one week after the MotoGP race! Just needed to drive 2000 miles in two days to get there…

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The road trip was relatively uneventful, and I was grateful to have a friend go with me on the way to Texas. We made it to Austin in a tad bit over 2 days and managed to see very little!

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But at the end of the day, Austin was the goal and the track was the reward.

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Sadly the weather wasn’t perfect and thunder and lightning looked poised to ruin an entire day at the track. Since I ride on slicks, and I am a big baby, I refuse to ride in wet or damp conditions. We waited in the same garages MotoGP riders sat in, hoping for the sun to come out and the heat to dry up the track.

After lunch our wish was granted and we had half a day to play.

What a track! It is so incredibly big and fast. That was the first time I hit terminal velocity on this bike and I can’t imagine I will see it again anytime soon at my local tracks. I really enjoyed the flow of the track as well.

COTA cost $700 million to build, and it shows. The facilities are so nice, and it is abundantly clear the track was made to accommodate F1 and their particular fans. If you like racing, you absolutely need to get out there once.

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Day two was also damp in the morning but it dried up nicely and we had another great day. I struggled with a few of the turns, T16-T18 and all of the hairpins in particular. Only in the last session did I follow one of my faster friends and everything clicked. Sadly, I didn’t have any more time to build on the progress.

I hope to go back in September but I really don’t look forward to that drive again. I drove back to California in two days, doing 800 miles the first day and 1100 the second day. Doing that solo was excruciating and I would highly recommend bringing someone or stretching it over more time.

Epilogue

The 899 has officially been retired from street duty. After traversing the nation, my mission was complete and it was time to convert  her to be to my new full-time track weapon. I threw in a slipper clutch, ordered some race fairings and had them painted. I have only done one track day with it, but what a blast! #TeamSlow West Coast division is officially in full swing.

I do miss the street a little bit though. Maybe in the not so distant future I can do another epic journey.

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Bootiful
Turtle Powah
Elbows out

Fin

Per the suggestion of another 899 owner, we left Bakersfield on highway 58. What a great little road! It runs up a mountain and dumps you into some rolling hills. Absolutely lovely stuff.
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At this point we are on Highway 1. I figured it would be a great thing to show Jay and maybe could snag some good photos. Boy did I forget how slow and painful that road can be. My wrists were on absolute fire from crawling at 25 MPH for that long of a stretch.
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No doubt it is a scenic route, and I am glad Jay got to see it, but hell if I ever do that again on a Panigale.

I would love to say it was a smooth ride from that point on, but that would be a lie. I am sure most of you could guess what I am about to say, but Jay’s bike went into limp mode again. At this point we have no clue what is wrong with his bike. He has had a multitude of sensors go off, and we are thinking that there is a faulty ground or a short somewhere in his system. He left this morning for LA to see an Aprilia specialist. Hopefully he gets that figured out!

Despite the limping, we made it to my parent’s home by 7:15 and were sitting down for dinner at 7:30. My mom made a lovely risotto and I can safely say it was the best meal I have had in the past two weeks. Nothing beats home cooked food.

Over the course of this journey we experienced rain, hail, sand storms, fog, ice, snow, tornado like winds, incredible heat and bike adversity. Yet I could not have had a better time. It was a blast to explore the country and I learned a lot about myself in the process.

More importantly, I gained a new perspective on America and how a lot of this country is still struggling. Although no one from the Bay Area or NYC would care to admit it, inherently we all have a pretentious attitude regarding the rest of the nation and the so called “fly over states”. I was (am?) equally guilty of this. Even going into this trip, I remember thinking that West Virginia was going to be some Deliverance remake and that the South would be riddled with people who hated me.

What I experienced did not always match up with my preconceptions. West Virginia is a stunning state and Tennessee is full of the some of the nicest people I have ever met. People all over were always excited to hear our story, lend a hand or recommend the best local restaurant. I never felt in danger or worried that my differing political, economic or religious views would cause strife.

Often strangers on the trip would remark how much they liked California or NYC, and many even expressed envy. I understand their points, but I think they have a lot to be proud of their respective states and I hope that isn’t lost on them.

One eye opening part of the trip for me was the realization that a lot of this country is going through true economic hardship. It is one thing to read about poverty, or ingest mind numbing stats, and it is another to see it first hand. That isn’t to say what I witnessed was incredibly foreign to me, but rather the sprawl of struggle was difficult to fathom. It seemed that for a large stretch of our ride that money was tight, and that better days were a distant memory. I think living in a city robs you of that perspective, and selfishly speaking it was good to be grounded a bit.

On another note, I am very proud of my little Duc. Despite the oil and clutch issue (both of which I think are not actually real issues), she worked like a champ. It is not comfortable and it is way too hot for a lot of this country, but what a dream to ride. The power is addicting, the handling is superb and the looks are to die for. I think Jay was most likely more comfortable than I was, but I may have had more fun in the corners.

Overall I am so happy that I took the plunge and made the trip. I am also grateful that Jay was able to join me and make it the whole way on his junker! On my next trip I hope to ride through Utah and Colorado, since we had to punt that one on this trip.