Crikey, has it really been a week since I've updated the blog? Thats terrible of me. I must confess that there hasn't been a real reason for it, its just that 'real' life has been getting in the way again.
In short, my clutch has been behaving itself which is a massive relief. I'm still a little worried about it, but I'm sure this will reduce over time. Its been bloody cold first thing this week and I've got to work a few times without being able to feel the ends of my fingers. Despite not gelling with the Monster, at least I had heated grips fitted.
In the only other piece of bike related news, a friend of mine of the Ducati Forum, Alistair, invited me to join him at the inaugural filming of the BT Sport live MotoGP programme. Despite working in the media now for 'cough' over 15 years on and off, it was the first time I'd spent any serious time at a TV studio. I saw some familiar faces, namely Tim Thompson of MCN and Bike magazine fair. I said hi and he was kind enough to spend a few minutes chatting with me. Nothing too heavy, just a casual chat really.
Before filming began, Alistair and I sad down for some food and drink and just talked about all things bike. From our Forum, to this years MotoGP to the way the the Ducati trackdays of last year were handled. The hour or so, just flew by. He's a good man.
Once inside we were given instructions by the floor manager. Basically stand here, clap here and be excited. The programme was pretty cool to be honest and it was certainly the kind of thing I would watch. The star rider was Scott Redding, who I have to say was excellent on the show. When you think about it, most of a racers time is spend doing PR stuff like this, but he's very well paid (I assume) so i'm sure it's not too much of a hardship.
I even managed to learn something about bike control on the evening. BT Sport have this 'bike' called the lean machine and I was lucky enough to be standing right next to Redding when he was on it recreating a lap of the Circuit of the Americas. It was basically just a 'lets watch a real racer play on this oversized playstation' but watching him on the bike I learnt so much from watching his body position, to how how pushed the bike back upright out of the 'turns' to how he leant of the bike. Its highly unlikely that I'll be able to be that close to one of the best racers in the world when they are riding and that alone was worth the 3hrs sleep that I got that night before having to get up for work the next morning.
A big thanks go to Alistair for the invite and to BT Sport for delivering on their promise. This years MotoGP races look to be getting the coverage they deserve.
In short, my clutch has been behaving itself which is a massive relief. I'm still a little worried about it, but I'm sure this will reduce over time. Its been bloody cold first thing this week and I've got to work a few times without being able to feel the ends of my fingers. Despite not gelling with the Monster, at least I had heated grips fitted.
In the only other piece of bike related news, a friend of mine of the Ducati Forum, Alistair, invited me to join him at the inaugural filming of the BT Sport live MotoGP programme. Despite working in the media now for 'cough' over 15 years on and off, it was the first time I'd spent any serious time at a TV studio. I saw some familiar faces, namely Tim Thompson of MCN and Bike magazine fair. I said hi and he was kind enough to spend a few minutes chatting with me. Nothing too heavy, just a casual chat really.
Before filming began, Alistair and I sad down for some food and drink and just talked about all things bike. From our Forum, to this years MotoGP to the way the the Ducati trackdays of last year were handled. The hour or so, just flew by. He's a good man.
Once inside we were given instructions by the floor manager. Basically stand here, clap here and be excited. The programme was pretty cool to be honest and it was certainly the kind of thing I would watch. The star rider was Scott Redding, who I have to say was excellent on the show. When you think about it, most of a racers time is spend doing PR stuff like this, but he's very well paid (I assume) so i'm sure it's not too much of a hardship.
I even managed to learn something about bike control on the evening. BT Sport have this 'bike' called the lean machine and I was lucky enough to be standing right next to Redding when he was on it recreating a lap of the Circuit of the Americas. It was basically just a 'lets watch a real racer play on this oversized playstation' but watching him on the bike I learnt so much from watching his body position, to how how pushed the bike back upright out of the 'turns' to how he leant of the bike. Its highly unlikely that I'll be able to be that close to one of the best racers in the world when they are riding and that alone was worth the 3hrs sleep that I got that night before having to get up for work the next morning.
A big thanks go to Alistair for the invite and to BT Sport for delivering on their promise. This years MotoGP races look to be getting the coverage they deserve.
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