While the ice-storm of certain doom forms outside, I’m watching Qatar qualifying and daydreaming about making a MotoGP race this year. The only one on my continent runs in a few weeks in Texas. This has me reviewing my Texas Ironbutt dreams.
I’d originally gone for an Ironbutt on the way down and a shorter finish up the next day. If I could push the limits I could condensify it even further (making it more excitingly possible!).
It’s just short of a twenty-four hour ride to Texas from here. An early wake-up Friday and I could do the Ironbutt to late Friday night (60mph avg for 17 hours 4am-9pm would do it). The last five hundred miles after an early wake up should get me to Austin on Saturday by about 2pm… just in time for qualifying. A good sleep Saturday night and then I’m at the race Sunday. It wraps up about 4pm. A good push to 10pm should put me a third of the way back, I could finish up the rest on Monday. In theory, only two days off work!
I could fly down and back if I was loaded, but a quick look around found a flight out of Detroit (4 hour drive away) leaving Friday at 10:30am and getting in to Austin just before 3pm. Flying out of the local airport meant layovers and a long time waiting.
I found a KTM 390 Duke to rent for the four days from Lone Star Moto Rentals. I think i could fit riding gear in carry on luggage, so there’d be no waiting for luggage and I could be in and out of the airports quickly enough. With the bike rental, hotels and flights I’d be looking at about $3000.
By comparison the ride down would be $1000 in hotels, $200 in gas and I wouldn’t be herded onto a plane at any point. Call me perverse but were I to go, I’d ride down.
Having said all that, I’d rather spend a thousand bucks on Racer5’s introductory track riding program. I could buy some quality race kit that’d do for years and still come in at less than this abbreviated weekend. It’d be nice to see the MotoGP boys doing their thing again, but short of an unlimited budget it doesn’t make much sense.