Payne's Adventures: Mid-Ohio Superbike Races

This past weekend I rode my VFR 1700 miles round-trip to Ohio to attend the Mid-Ohio Superbike Races. On Thursday I rode to my friend Daryl's house in Cincinnati, where I stayed the night with him. This ride was the innaugural run of my Camelbak hydration system. Man, this thing is incredible! I'd thought of buying just a bladder and keeping it in my tank bag, but I'm glad I opted to get a regular backpack style system; I wore it on my back underneath my riding jacket and barely knew it was there. It was very easy to use while riding and was quite refreshing and kept me good and hydrated and alert, even riding in 100 degree temps with the heat index around 110. I was surprised to find that cold water I put in it stayed quite cold, especially with ice in the mixture. The ride up was good, even with the four storms I encountered; they were actually nice in that they gave a temporary relief to the heat. I stopped through Lexington, KY and explored downtown and the campus of the University of Kentucky, where I saw their band outside taking a break from practicing. I got to Cincinnati a little after dark, and it was quite incredible crossing the river into OH, cresting the hill, and seeing the city all lit up.

Friday morning Daryl and I embarked on a long, roundabout journey toward the Columbus area, where our hotel and the track is. Daryl is always good at finding scenic twisty roads, so we had a very enjoyable day of riding. We got to the hotel around 5:00, then our friend Bob Primeau from MI showed up shortly thereafter. We headed over to a local steakhouse for dinner, and just as we were finishing up our friend Pat and his son Tony from KY made it into town.

Saturday morning after a hearty breakfast we headed to the track. Most of the day was qualifying, but there were superbike and formula extreme races at the end of the day. We strolled through the massive setup of manufacturers and vendors and wandered through the paddock area. It's pretty amazing all the different bikes that folks ride to the races. Of course you see a ton of *yawn* Hayabusas and GSX-R's, but a lot of neat old vintage bikes abound as well. I saw several old VFR's, which was quite neat. We concluded the day with a another fine meal at Steve's Dakota Grill; since I'd had steak the previous night, I opted for shrimp this evening. Quite tasty, indeed.

Sunday morning we arose to find that Adam Bailey and his girlfriend Margaret had made it in from NY in the wee hours of the night. They were groggy but made it out with us to breakfast where they slowly came to life. We got over to the track just as things were getting going. We spent a bit more time wandering around all the displays and the paddock, and I got to meet superbike rider Aaron Yates and MotoGP rider Nicky Hayden! MotoGP is on their summer break, so he was in town in support of his brothers Tommy and Roger. Sunday featured three races: Superstock, Supersport, and a second Superbike (both featured the same three top finishers: Spies, Mladin, Duhamel.)

Sunday night we all headed off toward home, and I went with Daryl back to his place for the night. I departed Monday morning after a nice, hearty breakfast that he and his wife Sheila fixed. I took a detour that Daryl recommended off the interstate that took me through the infamous Awasaki Pass, a nasty curve that has caused at least three Kawasakis to go off the road, and in the process, destroying a 'K' on each bike, leaving it an "Awasaki." Weird, eh? Sorta like the Twilight Zone. I was glad I was on my Honda instead of my Kawasaki! :-) The ride was going pretty smoothly until about halfway through KY when I saw a highway sign indicating that the interstate was closed four miles ahead and to take an alternate route. I took the next exit, and as I was crossing over the interstate I saw that traffic was backed all the way up to that exit. I'm so glad I saw and heeded the sign! I found a road that paralleled the interstate, so I got on it, but so had everyone else, so it was creeping, and I was baking (the Camelbak really proved its worth here.) I found some other roads that took me even further out of the way, but at least I was moving, and they turned out to be nice curvy scenic roads. I wound my way down to Cumberland Gap National Park and spent a bit of time in their visitor's center and rode up to the 2440ft Pinnacle Overlook, which offered some really tight switchbacks on the way up. The view from up there was pretty amazing, and I saw an inverted rock formation that reminded me of Peachtree Rock here at home.

I stopped for dinner and coffee at a Hardee's a bit north of Knoxville, where I encountered a young fellow riding a banged-up GSX-R that he'd dubbed the "Speed Cripple." He was very nice and knowledgable (he even recognized my bike, which most folks don't), and claimed he'd worked with a fellow at a bike shop in Gainesville, FL, who is now working as Mat Mladin's data acquisition specialist. Had a good ride from there, and made it home a little before midnight. Had a great weekend!

Entrance to UK