Silverstone MotoGP Meetup 2011

Arrabbi! Damn you!!!



Haha, wow, do I feel stupid. Reminds me of those video, "dumbest criminals'. Well done sir.





The trip to Silverstone was beyond what I had envisioned. I can only describe meeting people you’ve never actually met in real life; yet developed a friendship through exchanges of countless thoughts, reflections, debates, and a shared passion for the Sport, as nothing less than surreal. Its part of the ongoing ‘social experiment’ I described back when I met up with the group at the Indy GP. Two of which (Levi & Gator) I met at Indy, and though they literally live 3000 miles away, we met far from our own homes to fly half way around the world for a mere weekend; the sole purpose, to meet up with another never met group, just to see a motorcycle race. The human connection between the virtual and the real and what transpires is simply wonderfully strange but fascinating, humbling, peculiar, and inspiring. I’m in New York at the moment, and trying to get home to Cali. There’s a few snafus, but Levi is working them out. I



I’d like to thank Arrabi, for being a fantastic host. I really don’t have the words to express how impressed I am with the man as a person, and stunned with the catalog of his racing knowledge. His recall of past racing events is quite astonishing. Levi and Gator are the best travel buddies you could ask for, sitting there in coach while they flew in the lap of luxury, the telling me about it all weekend made me appreciate the opportunity to hang on their coattails even more. Hehe, no, all kidding as side, these guys are the real deal, and generous to a fault, as the group found out. I know poor CaliKid must be seething with jealousy, as we both look up to these two gentz more than they even know. Wilski made a big impression on me. He’s got such a positive attitude and it’s contagious. I don’t think I saw this man frown once all weekend. His energy, optimistic outlook on life, and generosity left me humbled. Basspete is a joy to be around. The man is gritty, tough as nails and hardy as hell. Basspete, Wilski, and I must have hugged 50 times this weekend, just on the thought that we were at a GP together. Little Red Rocket came through with the tickets to get us in. He also said something that affected me profoundly. He said he’s learned a lot of racing knowledge from the forum and thanks us for our posts. I told him if he wanted to learn anything meaningful, to skip my posts and go immediately to Arrabi’s. His son Daniel was there, and I got the impression that he was a good kid, which speaks to his dad. I finally met Tom. It was brief, but he’s what I expected, a highly cerebral proper Englishman. He had a flag of the UK and we all took a picture. I thought it was cool of him to make the effort to meet up as I think he left somebody back on the stands to do so. I wish we had met up the next day; I would have liked to pick his mind about racing, as I’ve really come to appreciate his takes. Plus, I brought him a gift, which I didn’t get to give to him. I have a feeling he’ll eventually get it. He’s a good guy. I finally met my fellow American turned Brit, Austin. Like Arrabi, the recall Austin has on racing is amazing. Let me put it this way, Arrabi frequently consulted him on some racing event. It was a breath of fresh air to have a fellow American to ask about British do's and don’t before I made an ... of myself. Having him next to me while sitting in the stands was like having my own racing commentator. The dude know his racing. And of course, Chopper and Bonnielass arrived in grand style to the party. Eveybody admiring his wheels. Immediately the fun factor went stratospheric. Its good to be around life long friends. Speaking of life long friends, I flew with two, I met up with two, and I made several more life long friends this weekend. I’m beyond the moon.



I’ll post the highlights as I remember them and write them as 'lessons' learned from my Silverstone trip.