Laguna Seca "depot photos" 09

At Ducati Island:

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<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Jumkie @ Jul 11 2009, 05:11 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>74101080528.JPG]

I really liked your pic's of all the babes, its just this one gives me the biggest woody!!!

That Rainey story reminds me of what happened to me at Laguna 2006.
I know the stories dated but I never got to tell it to anyone who would
appreciate it until now, so here goes.
It's the end of the day on Sat after the last bikes on track head off so
me and my two bros decide to head down the hill towards the vendor area.
As anyone who's been to Cali knows all that brown .... you see on the ground
that they call grass is apparently irrigated by WD40. It's slippery as .... so
when you're trying to walk down a steep hill it's hard not end up on your ....

So we get near to the bottom of the hill where they there are a bunch of cars
parked and I'm walking in between them. I hit a patch of Wile E Coyote wonder
grass and my feet are suddenly in the air and I'm on my ... sliding.
I come to a stop and I look up and about 5 feet away this blonde dude
wearing a Yamaha shirt and standing next to his wife is looking at me like
look at this clumsy .... that almost lowsided and almost took us out.
I'm feeling like a total ...., I, get up brush off and slink away as fast as I can
I'm about 2 car lengths away from Yamaha dude when my bro grabs me and says
"Dude that's Eddie Lawson" I say "where?" looking down the hill when he says " no,
the dude you almost just took out is Eddie Lawson " I look back up at blond, Yam guy with
wife and suddenly realize, Holy ...... .... that dude is Lawson. My mind is racing trying
to grasp what just happened and what I just missed. I'm thinking that the one dude that
was my hero in motorcycle racing growing up was now probabaly silently laughing his ... off
at me right now. Out of all the legends he's the one who I really would like shake his hand
and get a photo with. I'm now torn between walking away in shame or trudging back uphill,
swallowing my embarassment and getting the once in a lifetime chance to one meet my heroes.
By this time he's reached his nondescript rental car and starting to get in so I decide that my
one moment to have words with Steady Eddie are gone so I turn away with the knowledge that one of the greatest riders of all times thinks I'm a total clutz.
My little bro who knows nothing about motorcycle racing and is just along for the ride turns to
me and says " Who was that" I say "remember all those posters on my wall when I was a kid
of a dude on a Marlboro Yamaha?" he says " yeah" I say "that's him."
Him in his blissfull ignorance grasps the importance and the folly of the moment, thinks it over for a second and says "Wow"
"Yeah ...... A Wow" I reply and walk away with my tail between my legs.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (JohnnyKnockdown @ Jul 11 2009, 10:22 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>"Yeah ...... A Wow" I reply and walk away with my tail between my legs.


Classic bro!

Actually Lawson is a no-nonsense kinda guy. He intimidates me actually. They had him at the Legends of Yamaha signing, when I got to him I wanted to ask a question but I forgot when I got to him. He looked at me with a bland stare and raised his eyebrows as if to say "uhm, dude, what the ....?"

I'm a ....... grown man, and all I could muster was to shy away and go on to the next guy, which happen to be Ago. Talk about no chance at recovery.

That's a great story JK. I can visualize you kicking up a little dust storm. I know that hillside .... is some lose powdery ......... Sometimes I get a kick out of watching the girlfriends of guys trying to walk up with nice shoes looking fine only to be embarrassed by slipping and looking like clowns.

Speakin of Marlboro Yamaha, Nicky loved my vintage team shirt. Yes, its authentic......

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (JohnnyKnockdown @ Jul 12 2009, 06:22 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>That Rainey story reminds me of what happened to me at Laguna 2006.
I know the stories dated but I never got to tell it to anyone who would
appreciate it until now, so here goes.
It's the end of the day on Sat after the last bikes on track head off so
me and my two bros decide to head down the hill towards the vendor area.
As anyone who's been to Cali knows all that brown .... you see on the ground
that they call grass is apparently irrigated by WD40. It's slippery as .... so
when you're trying to walk down a steep hill it's hard not end up on your ....

So we get near to the bottom of the hill where they there are a bunch of cars
parked and I'm walking in between them. I hit a patch of Wile E Coyote wonder
grass and my feet are suddenly in the air and I'm on my ... sliding.
I come to a stop and I look up and about 5 feet away this blonde dude
wearing a Yamaha shirt and standing next to his wife is looking at me like
look at this clumsy .... that almost lowsided and almost took us out.
I'm feeling like a total ...., I, get up brush off and slink away as fast as I can
I'm about 2 car lengths away from Yamaha dude when my bro grabs me and says
"Dude that's Eddie Lawson" I say "where?" looking down the hill when he says " no,
the dude you almost just took out is Eddie Lawson " I look back up at blond, Yam guy with
wife and suddenly realize, Holy ...... .... that dude is Lawson. My mind is racing trying
to grasp what just happened and what I just missed. I'm thinking that the one dude that
was my hero in motorcycle racing growing up was now probabaly silently laughing his ... off
at me right now. Out of all the legends he's the one who I really would like shake his hand
and get a photo with. I'm now torn between walking away in shame or trudging back uphill,
swallowing my embarassment and getting the once in a lifetime chance to one meet my heroes.
By this time he's reached his nondescript rental car and starting to get in so I decide that my
one moment to have words with Steady Eddie are gone so I turn away with the knowledge that one of the greatest riders of all times thinks I'm a total clutz.
My little bro who knows nothing about motorcycle racing and is just along for the ride turns to
me and says " Who was that" I say "remember all those posters on my wall when I was a kid
of a dude on a Marlboro Yamaha?" he says " yeah" I say "that's him."
Him in his blissfull ignorance grasps the importance and the folly of the moment, thinks it over for a second and says "Wow"
"Yeah ...... A Wow" I reply and walk away with my tail between my legs.
Brilliant Johnny

Yeah he's got a reputation for not suffering fools gladly. Going ... over ... inches away from him and his broad probably qualified you in that category as he saw it.

I'm just trying to work out what point Eddie's hair changed colour....???? Have I missed something here?

By far the most amiable guy I met in the paddock that year - although I have to be careful not to overrate him. We all know that his achievements off the track were greater than what he achieved on it
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<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Arrabbiata1 @ Jul 12 2009, 10:33 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>Brilliant Johnny

Yeah he's got a reputation for not suffering fools gladly. Going ... over ... inches away from him and his broad probably qualified you in that category as he saw it.

I'm just trying to work out what point Eddie's hair changed colour....???? Have I missed something here?

By far the most amiable guy I met in the paddock that year - although I have to be careful not to overrate him. We all know that his achievements off the track were greater than what he achieved on it
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Whos this "over rated" gezzer?

great storys

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Traverser @ Jul 12 2009, 05:22 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>I really liked your pic's of all the babes, its just this one gives me the biggest woody!!!
YEaH that one is sweet. I really like the Bayliss racer. THat Nicky replica is cool but they shoulda painted the tank to match the fairings instead of just red.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Arrabbiata1 @ Jul 12 2009, 05:33 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>Brilliant Johnny


I'm just trying to work out what point Eddie's hair changed colour....???? Have I missed something here?

No you must be right on that. Maybe it was his girl that was a blonde and I'm confusing myself.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (JohnnyKnockdown @ Jul 12 2009, 06:22 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>That Rainey story reminds me of what happened to me at Laguna 2006.
I know the stories dated but I never got to tell it to anyone who would
appreciate it until now, so here goes.
It's the end of the day on Sat after the last bikes on track head off so
me and my two bros decide to head down the hill towards the vendor area.
As anyone who's been to Cali knows all that brown .... you see on the ground
that they call grass is apparently irrigated by WD40. It's slippery as .... so
when you're trying to walk down a steep hill it's hard not end up on your ....

So we get near to the bottom of the hill where they there are a bunch of cars
parked and I'm walking in between them. I hit a patch of Wile E Coyote wonder
grass and my feet are suddenly in the air and I'm on my ... sliding.
I come to a stop and I look up and about 5 feet away this blonde dude
wearing a Yamaha shirt and standing next to his wife is looking at me like
look at this clumsy .... that almost lowsided and almost took us out.
I'm feeling like a total ...., I, get up brush off and slink away as fast as I can
I'm about 2 car lengths away from Yamaha dude when my bro grabs me and says
"Dude that's Eddie Lawson" I say "where?" looking down the hill when he says " no,
the dude you almost just took out is Eddie Lawson " I look back up at blond, Yam guy with
wife and suddenly realize, Holy ...... .... that dude is Lawson. My mind is racing trying
to grasp what just happened and what I just missed. I'm thinking that the one dude that
was my hero in motorcycle racing growing up was now probabaly silently laughing his ... off
at me right now. Out of all the legends he's the one who I really would like shake his hand
and get a photo with. I'm now torn between walking away in shame or trudging back uphill,
swallowing my embarassment and getting the once in a lifetime chance to one meet my heroes.
By this time he's reached his nondescript rental car and starting to get in so I decide that my
one moment to have words with Steady Eddie are gone so I turn away with the knowledge that one of the greatest riders of all times thinks I'm a total clutz.
My little bro who knows nothing about motorcycle racing and is just along for the ride turns to
me and says " Who was that" I say "remember all those posters on my wall when I was a kid
of a dude on a Marlboro Yamaha?" he says " yeah" I say "that's him."
Him in his blissfull ignorance grasps the importance and the folly of the moment, thinks it over for a second and says "Wow"
"Yeah ...... A Wow" I reply and walk away with my tail between my legs.

Brilliant! How embarrassing!

You obviously made a big impression on him, I wonder if he would recognise you if he met you again!

These are a little late but had to share some pics. Thanks to all who helped me in the intro section get my pics posted!! So the story starts with my monster 696 riding girlfriend buying Laguna Seca tickets and airfare for my birthday (yes I'm a lucky guy)!! We have awesome time, start in San Fran, drive through Big Sur and back to Carmel Valley. The race was bad-... (except for Pedrosa winning but he rode hard so good for him), Laguna went perfectly and we find this restaurant in Monterey (it was a Tapas joint, can't f'in remember the name). It happened to be attached to a little hotel and we were eating out on the front patio (perfect Cali evening). I'm getting nicely buzzed on wine and while day-dreaming, I see a car pull up with some dudes with the black MotoGP jackets on. Then Jorge Lorenzo hobbles out, literally hobbles out with his right shoulder slouching and he's hopping on his good ankle. In a heartbeat, I grabbed my GF, set up the camera, and as politely as possible, in my best spanish (outta respect) asked for a photo with Jorge. He wasn't chatty or palsy walsy (which is understandable considering we just jumped on him in a parking lot), but he was pleasant and graciously said "Balle, Balle" in spanish, in Barcelona/Catalonia , that's spanish for "cool, cool". One of his entourage took the camera and shot two picks. We were polite, shook his hand and told him how courageously we thought he raced (i felt like a little ....., I could hardly talk and I kept trying to speak spanish even though Jorge speaks great english??). Then went back to our dinner and tried not to stare. Well, I was a little happy on too much wine and bought a bottle for the "team" gathered in the parking lot. I grabbed 5-6 glasses and offered them some wine. Maybe that was too much but I couldn't resist. I was trying to spread some American Diplomacy.....and schmooze with one of our favorite riders. Well, the team grabbed a few glasses and had some wine but they said "no thank you for the rider, he can not drink now". I felt a little silly but after pouring 5 of his group wine, I left them alone finally. All in all, it was a fantastic end to our amazing trip to California. Laguna was awesome, coastal California is EPIC, and we're appreciative to Lorenzo and his group for giving us a few minutes with Greatness!! ......Check out Jorge's shoes, please try to keep the ...... comments to a minimum, he was cool enough let us shoot some pics with him which was the perfect ending to our trip. Europeans just dig colorful shoes I guess. Us Americans could always use some style cues anyway right? ...

Thanks again to SackWack, Ben and Jumkie for helping me out with my pics.

Awesome pics and really cool story. It is always funny when you see someone like that up close and personal. I am sure he wasn't feeling good but if his attitude towards his racecraft is as it is then his personality surely must be cool. I am slowly becoming a fan of his sheerly on his will to do battle with not only himself being hurt but also with ROssi and Stoner. Good day for you guys that is killer.

Welcome to the forum Gator, and I'm so pleased you managed to show us those photo's in the end!
-worth the wait. The one of Lorenzo on track is absolutely superb
Thanks for posting.

theres some great shots gator

oooh look at jorge's pink trainer. i hope jorge aint pinky

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<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (GatorDuc @ Jul 12 2009, 01:28 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>Thanks to all who helped me in the intro section get my pics posted!!

Thanks again to SackWack, Ben and Jumkie for helping me out with my pics.
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Dude, the pic above looks like the guy on the left ran in last minute to take a picture with the honeymooning happy couple to the right.

I think this is how your girlfriend imagined the picture...
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Again, welcome to the forum. Make it your home.


BTW, Dude, your pics rock! The color is amazing. May I ask what type of camera you're using? Your pics make mine look like .....

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Jumkie @ Jul 12 2009, 11:55 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>7421SC_0276.jpg]
Dude, the pic above looks like the guy on the left ran in last minute to take a picture with the honeymooning happy couple to the right.

I think this is how your girlfriend imagined the picture...
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Again, welcome to the forum. Make it your home.


BTW, Dude, your pics rock! The color is amazing. May I ask what type of camera you're using? Your pics make mine look like .....
you cant blame jorge, she does look a babe i was wondering what camera too, nice 300 telephoto lens to me thinks ??

Jum, most cameras have a color saturation or 'custom color' menu/setting. My little P/S has vivid, natural, positive (emulating punchy slide film), sepia, etc. DSLRs tend to have a simple saturation slider. What model do you have?

IMO, the saturation is a little too pumped. The reds are almost completely blocked on the Ducati. (Not to criticize your pics, Gator! )

Geonerd, you are 100% right!! I used a Nikon D90 with an 18-200 lens. Yes, I did use "vivid" setting at +2 saturation (should have used +1 saturation.....good pick up Geo), and I agree the reds are too red. But shooting "stuff, things" with vivid and +1 or +2 saturation makes the pics look more rich, but can be too much. People, with skin tones, I use "neutral" setting with +1 saturation. I learned most of how I shoot on kenrockwell.com. No affiliation at all, I just love the way he writes about photography (very practical and straightforward, easy to understand as well), I suggest everyone that's in to photography at least to check it out. The super close ups are just crops from 12MP pics, so they still look detailed, it wasn't really a super telephoto lens. But thanks for all the cool compliments, it makes some of the time reading about photography worth it.
Jum, I too agree that it looks like I was thrown in there with the honeymooners. My girlfriend Jaime, kept pointing that out to me too. I told her it's b/c Jorge was standing on his good ankle and his right shoulder was pulling away from me thus he was leaned away from me.....yeah that's why, right?!
....And RockGod, what you say is right on, it's difficult not to be a fan of the guy, he ....... rides that hard after those crashes, (and a ballsy attempt to pass Rossi). Then, he is very cool in a ....... parking lot to his hotel, right after a world class race. Really a first class act IMO. Yes, he's paid well to ride a motorcycle professionally, but to be pleasant to fans too, especially some schmuck speaking .... spanish.....That's above and beyond, he just made two fans for life.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (GatorDuc @ Jul 13 2009, 08:32 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>it's b/c Jorge was standing on his good ankle and his right shoulder was pulling away from me thus he was leaned away from me.....yeah that's why, right?!

right, right...

Dude those are some bad ... pictures! This makes Lorenzo pretty hard not to like, The dude was seriously ...... up and still went out and got a 3rd place and then still has time for the fans. Welcome Gator hopefully you can make it out to laguna again next year!