In April of 2023, I loaded up Duca–now sporting an Evotech Tail Tidy, Custom LED Blaster-X tail light, and Skene P3 decelerometer-activated LED lights–and prepared to ride west to Austin for the weekend, stopping first in Fulshear just west of Houston to meet up with my riding buddy David on his trusty BMW GS.
As before, we stayed with our ever-gracious and welcoming friends Erik and Liza in their beautiful home west of Austin, spending our mornings and nights enjoying their company and hospitality and our days enjoying MotoGP at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) and its (in)famous “Horsepower Rodeo” track. Saturday was hot and sunny, so though I’ve never been a “hat guy”, I gladly accepted a free cap at the Rever booth, their reward for showing their app on my phone (Rever membership included with Revzilla’s RPM).
While COTA let us park our bikes for free, the bike parking lot was a long hike or tram/cab ride from the front gates. Next time I suspect we’ll be tempted to pay the price for Ducati Parking directly next to the main grandstand. David may have to swap his GS for his Monster and sacrifice comfort on the ride to Austin in order to enjoy the closest and coolest parking at MotoGP. Plus, you meet the nicest Ducatistas there. 😉
We spent downtime between races both days walking the vast grounds of COTA, exploring MotoGP sights and concessions. Of course, the videos below can not capture the dangerously loud shriek (ear protection is a must) and sense of extreme speed (don’t try this at home) of the world class superbikes and riders competing in Moto3, Moto2 and MotoGP.
After a very exciting final MotoGP race on Sunday, with defending and future World Champion Pecco Bagnaia low-siding out of 2nd place and Alex Rins winning with a dominating 3.5 sec margin, it was time for all of us bikers to mount up and ride home. I’m sure it won’t be too long before we return to COTA, home of the only MotoGP race held in America.
Moonday 