MotoGP at COTA

MotoGP racing hooked me online even before I steered away from power cruisers like my old Triumph Rocket III and Honda VTX1800C to a Ducati Multistrada 1260S earlier this year. Perhaps watching young riders rocket through turns on 220mph GP bikes even had something to do with my switch to a sportier tourer. During the pandemic, I’ve watched quite a few races online, VPNing into European countries to watch “locally”, or waiting for Sunday afternoon replays on NBCSN or YouTube. (I guess I wasn’t so hooked as to spring for the expensive MotoGP VideoPass for live viewing–plus watching European races live means the wee hours in Texas, and I need my beauty sleep.) So, a few months ago, when the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin confirmed they’d be hosting the only American MotoGP event in early October, Austinite Erik and I jumped on full weekend passes. Turns out we didn’t need to rush, as biker buddies David and Edgar bought tickets just days before the event and joined us for a trio on Saturday and foursome on Sunday.

That first weekend in October was hot and mostly sunny, so we were glad to be sitting in the Main Grandstand Club section, one of the few shaded areas around the track with easy access to amenities such as the Velocity Lounge (for really fast food). Other grandstands around the track offered better views of twisty turns, but seemingly at the price of sunburns and heatstroke. So, I was duly lauded by our group for picking our Club section. Unfortunately, I was also relentlessly derided for not picking the adjacent parking lot A, but rather the cheaper and distant lot T. Apparently lower letter lots are what you want at COTA, which was surprisingly lacking in shuttles (saw several parked/empty, but never one in action…a COTA fail), so lot T made for quite a hike each day, especially leaving (all uphill). Not to mention the hour-long wait in the car just to exit lot T on Sunday afternoon (very poor parking lot traffic control was another COTA fail)…but I digress, back to the track…

Edgar, David, Steve & Erik decked out for MotoGP

If you really wanted to save money with General Admission tickets, there are hillside areas to drop a folding chair or blanket. Just be sure to bring your own shade in the form of umbrellas and hats.

David saved us by bringing enough tethered ear plugs for all four of us. The only MotoGP veteran, he was well aware of just how ear-shattering the unmuffled, unrestricted GP bikes are at full throttle. The rest of us newbies were very grateful for the ear plugs since we couldn’t find any being sold…at a race track (another COTA fail).

Ducati Island was the place to be for Ducatistas, offering new Ducati bikes to sit and drool on, overpriced Ducati gear for the price-insensitive, and even Ducati-only parking…filled with a long line of (mostly) red Italian bikes. Guess where I’ll be parking next year?!

With immortal young riders pushing and occasionally exceeding the limits of their machines and tire traction, crashes are not uncommon in MotoGP, perhaps more so in Moto2 & 3 classes filled with teens. Fortunately, most crashes are “low sides” in which the bike and rider slide off the track and into the rock fields that slow them to a stop. While walking around the track, Edgar and I watched one Moto2 rider hop right up after sliding out on a corner and walk over to a waiting golf cart driven by a Medical Crew while waving to the fans, followed by a Track Crew who loaded his wrecked bike on a trailer, all within a few minutes. Glad to see the rider safe, and the efficient Moto-Cleanup.

Yellow smoke bombs filled the Paddock seats near the starting line shortly before the MotoGP race. We could smell it from our distant Club seats, so I wondered if the riders disliked breathing the cloud as they prepared for launch, even Rossi. But, moto fans gonna be (Grazie!) Vale fans.

Just like last spring when Varya and I biked through the hill country, our host and hostess, Erik and Liza, were awesome! They graciously offered their west Austin home to us cheap crashers, feeding us great morning breakfasts and wining and dining us each night with Erik’s grilled steaks and Liza’s amazing cuisine. 5 Stars all around…soon to be 6 when the new pool is finished! 😉

We appreciate and thank you both, Liza & Erik!

Texas Twisters

As a gift of gratitude for supporting her highly successful Flatiron Full Stack Web Development Bootcamp in 2019, Varya gave me an Italian mistress named Ducati Multistrada. Out of love and appreciation, I treated my girls Varya and Duca to a Hill Country moto-holiday over the long Memorial Day weekend, staying with an old friend and former roommate, Erik and his fiancé Liza in Austin. I initially thought of riding the bike all the way from Houston, weather and holiday traffic be damned, but better thoughts prevailed and I rented a motorcycle trailer and packed up the SUV for a more comfortable mini adventure.

Erik and Liza have a big, beautiful, new house with an epic hillside view west of Austin, and generously provided us with the most excellent room, meals, drinks and banter for 3 days and 2 nights…5 stars! Inexcusably, I and the official trip photog, Varya, failed to get a single photo of our Best Hosts Ever, only the front of their Super BnB in a deceptive pic that hides most of the house. After a Saturday night of food-n-fun with friends, we awoke early Sunday morning, prepped the bike, dressed to thrill, and set out for the eastern half of what Cycle World and Butler Maps deem among the best rides in the US.

After a quick stop in Blanco for a map check, we strolled around the old German town of Fredericksburg and had brunch. Judging from her first pics, my pillion photog seemed very impressed by architecture.

From Fredericksburg, we dove south to Kerrville, veered west to Hunt, then southwest along some of the most beautiful and breathtaking roads of the day. In sun-dabbled woodlands we curved along lazy rivers full of soaked kayakers and soused floaters, finally riding a giant roller coaster of a road carved through huge hills south to Leakey, the westernmost point of our day trip, where we ate a late lunch of tasty roadside BBQ.

The twisty ride east to Vanderpool was among the most technical and thrilling of the day, with some of the most spectacular hilltop views. I was having too much fun to stop for photo ops, but will get some cool peak pics during our next visit. We zipped by the Lone Star Moto Museum, but didn’t have extra time to stop and play moto-tourists, so we continued east, again having some of the most moto-fun of the day. So much fun, in fact, that a very nice local constable invited me to stop and chat about speed.

A few minutes later–at a notably slower pace–we found The Apple Store in Medina where they sold no iPhones or Macs, but plenty of the best apple-cinnamon ice cream in Texas, perfect for a Ducatista and his pillion gal pal. A couple waffle cones of sweet-tart creamy goodness made everything better.

Some of the sharpest switchbacks of the day lurked in a short patch of 16 north of Medina. Shortly after gassing up in Kerrville, we caught a short and light drizzle of rain on the way back north to Fredericksburg…a little foreshadowing. On a little northern road parallel to 290, we stopped within an hour of Erik and Liza’s house to get some final shots and stretch the legs for a few minutes…perhaps just a few too many.

After avoiding inclement weather for the entire day, our luck finally ran out in the last couple miles, where the sky opened up and deluged us with a true Texas thunderstorm just a few minutes from shelter. So, during our 10 hours on and off the bike, the weather was 99% “yahoo!”, but ended in 1% “yikes!” Erik and Liza prepared for our drenched arrival with garage space and towels, and after a change of clothes, Varya crashed while I joined other lucky house guests, Doris and Chris, enjoying another great Liza dinner with fine wine and good company.

The next day, Liza fed us another nice breakfast, Erik pumped us with coffee, and both gave us a lingering “Chinese goodbye” in the early afternoon…big thanks again 3E & L! On our way out of Austin, Varya and I made one last stop at Slab BBQ and fondly recounted our favorite moments from a great Hill Country holiday weekend.

Thanks for the moto-memories, моя Сладость!

Italian Fortnight

Varya and I spent half of July in Italy, traveling from Rome to Florence to Venice and back to Rome on Frecciarossa, staying in nice, well located apartments. Spending four half-weeks in four homes essentially divided our fortnight into quarters, making it feel like four mini-vacations separated by high speed train rides between ancient cities. Our many online photos and videos (most using a Panasonic Lumix ZS100, some with an iPhone 8 or SE) visually describe our entire trip, so here I’ll focus on advice for two Italian holiday essentials: lodging and tours.

I found primo apartments on Airbnb in desirable locations at surprisingly reasonable rates…exclusively from “Superhosts” to better ensure a smooth experience in quality accommodations. Our first Roman terrace had a great view of St. Peter’s dome, lit up at night and greeting us each morning. Our Florentine studio overlooked the Arno River, a skipping stone’s throw from the Ponte Vecchio…bellissimo! Our Venetian apartment had the best decor, just a few steps from the Rialto Bridge. And our final Roman apartment was in the bustling shopping district of Campo Marzio–a short walk from the Spanish Steps and Pantheon–where Varya unleashed her Visa upon fashionable perfume and handbag shops. All of our apartments were in the $100-160/night range, so these premium locations cost a total of $2K over two weeks…nothing to sneeze at, but these Airbnb apartments were cheaper (and larger) than nearby hotel rooms, especially in the peak tourist month of July. Plus, the convenience of having kitchens and washing machines can not be overstated after long days of walking in the warm Tuscan sun.

Normally I’m not interested in slow, constrained group tours with occasionally obnoxious tourists, preferring to strike out and explore independently with a few cool people. (Some of my favorite European vacations have been on motorcycles with 2 or 3 other riders.) However, tour groups can help you skip long public lines at popular sites, and you may learn something new from a knowledgeable guide. So, for better tours, I highly recommend Walks of Italy to Americans for reasons described below. First, however, here are the tours we chose, one per quarter fortnight:

Pristine Sistine gave us early, pre-public entrance into the Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museums, and St. Peter’s Basilica.
After Hours at the Accademia gave us easy, uncrowded access to David and other Renaissance and Medieval masterpieces.
Venice in a Day included the Doge’s Palace, St. Mark’s Basilica, and even a gondola ride after lunch.
Premium Colosseum half-day tour included the Palatine Hill and Roman Forum.

Why is Walks of Italy so top choice? Walks limits groups to 15 or fewer tourists–I think ours ranged from 10 to 14–whereas competitors such as City Wonders typically have groups of 20-30, and an in-port cruise ship can choke museum halls with mobs of 50. Smaller groups enable you to interact a lot more with your guide and group, questioning and joking, and to move through crowded tourist areas more easily. A related nit: while our Walks guides carried small, plain, yellow umbrellas–easily seen but unobtrusive when collapsed, and handy sun screens outside–other guides had their flags/advertisements waving high on telescoping rods as beacons for their oversized groups, flags which always seemed to interfere with my photos!

Walks uses local Italian guides who are fluent in history, humor and English, catering to their target demographic of monolingual Americans. This may be explained by the co-founder, Jason Spiehler, being a young American art historian and theology major that I met a decade ago on the Palatine Hill. He was loudly offering “free tour!”, so my ex and I took him up on it and he guided us down into the Roman Forum, explaining everything we saw and didn’t see…so well that we bought his evening walking tour of the Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps and other magico night sights. From those humble beginnings as a solo tour guide, Jason has built an apparently thriving business, claiming to employ over 100 guides in Italy, Paris and New York. Check out the incredible variety of tours on the Walks of Italy web site, try a couple, and thank me later.