Day 1, Ride to Indy

August 25, Wednesday
Day 1

Our first day on the road to the Red Bull Indianapolis GP started early with the wake up alarm sounding at 4:45am. We had already packed on Sunday, so our morning wasn’t rushed. At 6am our friend, Mike, pulled into the driveway, and immediately started taking apart his bike!

He was getting electrical interference in his headset (a click, click, click sound). We suspect that the newly added ground loop isolator (which is supposed to reduce electrical interference) was creating the noise. Mike admitted that he should have not broken his rule about fiddling with the bike the day before a trip. Several allen wrenches and various other tools later, the ground loop isolator was removed, the noise was fixed, and we were ready to hit the road. It was now 6:30am.

Our forecast for the day was cool and mostly cloudy. We headed north on US15 into Maryland, picking up I70 west, and then on to I68 west into West Virginia.

After the first 155 miles near Romney, WV, we stopped for a fuel break and leg-stretcher. With Mike’s huge backpack on his seat, someone apparently mistook it for a Goldwing and left a Dairy Queen flyer on his seat!


As we crossed over the mountains in western Maryland and West Virginia, we encountered interesting cloud and fog formations through the mountains.



The lowest temperature we saw was 63F. Michele had long ago added fleece and turned up her heated jacket to 100%.

Once in Pennsylvania, the skies began to clear and the temps warmed up. We stopped for lunch at Cracker Barrel just a few miles into Ohio, a few minutes west of Wheeling, WV. We had a relaxing lunch for about an hour.

Mike made the mistake of letting Michele surf the web with his new iPad. She immediately went to the MotoGP website and began looking up all the info and pics she could about her favorite rider, Nicky Hayden (2006 World Champion no less). Mike and Rob both think she was trying to formulate her stalking strategy (says Rob). In truth, she is his biggest fan and has a very normal appreciation (says Michele).

After lunch, it wasn’t long before we were nearing Columbus. It was around 2pm and traffic was starting to pick up.

Unfortunately, Mike’s new camera decided it had had enough and flew off his helmet after only 400 miles. Fortunately, it would be the day’s only casualty. The rest of the ride through Ohio was uneventful. In fact, as Ohio is exceptionally flat and the roads unendingly straight, we sought out curiosities to keep ourselves entertained, such as this truck carrying half of another truck.

By 6:30pm we were in Indianapolis!


Mike headed over to visit his family, and we went to dinner. With 581 miles in a leisurely 12 hours, we settled in the hotel just a few short miles from where this weekend’s festivities will take place. The time literally flew by today, helped by limited traffic issues and 70mph speed limits.

Tomorrow we’ll head downtown for the weekend kickoff events where Michele will be on her ever vigilant lookout for a Nicky Hayden sighting and trying to get herself on TV.