Quotes of the day........ "So I was moseying around my closet the other day....." "Gotta have street tires & tags, and 'ya can't park on the mounds" Didn't have the Canon that day, so these are off my daughter's Kodak. I edited them as much as I could HOT day.....Especially for late April...Upper 80's :shock: but absolutely gorgeous!! VERY bright sun, as you can see from how some of the pictures turned out, not to mention Ben's face with his "raccoon eyes". After meatin' Chuck & Ben down in Williamstown, we jetted over to our favorite BP station in Mansfield to pick up Justin, then head over to Mid OH, as we knew some pepes down there doin' a track day. Sam had texted earlier that he wasn't gonna make it after all today, 'cause his boss was wavin' some fat cash in his face to go run an errand in cBus......But lo & behold, he pulls up right while I'm explainin' all this to Justin, who points over & says "There he is now"?!? Few more pix from the BP on my daughter's camera hard drive, but can't find her download cable Justin led us through downtown Mansfield, where I guess they have Bike Week, and then along some local backroads to the track. Some fairly decent roads on the way, but awful lot of gravel on some of them. There was this one 20mph, 90 degree left hander, after just coming over a rise, that was loaded with gravel. If someone would'a come over that one too fast & not been able to slow for the curve.....I think I saw the next stop was the lake down below .....If you survived the trees in between you & the water Got to the track, and it looks totally different than what I had pictured in my head, as this is my first time here. We park all the way out by the fence......Then Justin proceeds to lead us on a "March of Dimes Charity Walk" to the back 40 of the track.....Me in my riding pants & boots. Well....Perhaps "lead" is too strong a word, as he took us several different ways before remembering how to get where he wanted to go Looked for Pratt, Jinu or any other familiar faces on our way through the pits, but didn't see anyone. Chuck shooting the pit/garage area...... We end up out by the yeller pagoda, in the corkscrew turn that kinda reminds me of Laguna Seca. In the 2 hours or so we were there......I think we saw ~ 5 wrecks into the sand trap. One guy slid upside down on his head for a bit, before flipping the rest of the way over, then took several long minutes before we finally saw him start movin' his arms & legs. The thought of paralysis started runnin' through all our heads I think. Justin told us when we got out there, he thinks that's the turn most people lose it on. Couple pix Justin, Chuck & Ben got of some of the wrecks..... After bein' out there for quite awhile, I suggest checkin' out a different spot. Someone says "Should we say hi to Yota before we go?". Didn't even realize we'd been standin' 10 feet from him for probably an hour. I go over & say hi, and the rest of the guys follow suit, and then we end up stayin' over there for another hour, as his friends are quite entertaining, and one got in trouble with Paul Blart for parkin' his mini dirtbike on the mounds!! :mrgreen: Got to watch Pratt come around several times....Not sure if we ever figured out which one was jBot. Couple more from Chuck.....Our vantage point overlooking the "sandpit" GoJira & me with Yota's buddies....... Some more pix Ben & Chuck got coming into/through the "corkscrew" OWIC...... Shots Chuck got of them goin' by the tower & under the walkway...... Decided it was time to get goin', but wanted to get some pix at a couple spots around the complex. Made the mistake of lettin' Justin lead us again. He takes us back to where we'd been earlier on foot. Road we're takin' starts out OK, then turns more into a path, then up over this big hill where what's left of the asphalt is stickin' up in chunks.....Then I think callin' the next part a goat track is too kind. We end up ridin' through the grass, 'cause it looks like it's in better shape. Make our way back to the middle of the track so we can get some shots with the tower as the backdrop....... "Is that a banana in your pocket, or you just happy to see me?!?" Cool angle Justin got of the bikes. Guess I should'a pulled 'Birdy out further Headed up front & stopped by the main sign, for some shots with that in the background. Right as we're gettin' ready to shoot, some guy pulls his van into the backdrop of our shots, so of course the Picture Nazi had to ask him to move :twisted: Chuck caught Godzilla holding a tree up, just before it fell on downtown Tokyo Some cool closeup side panel shots Chuck got of each ride (except Justin's ) ...... Headed back into Lexington for dinner at Buck's, which according to Justin's mom, is THE spot to eat at down there I think she was amused by our underwhelming response when she asked how dinner was Looked from the parking lot that some other racers were sampling the cuisine there as well. After watching Justin' inhale a whole pizza himself....daintily....With a fork :roll: .....We headed over to his folk's home so he could say "Hi" real quick. Got to meet his mom (Yes...I spelled meat correctly out of respect to her ) who wasn't the least bit phased when 5 sportbikes come racin' down their VERY long driveway....Her baby boy leadin' the way Guess it's because she has a dragster in her garage....Literally... along with a couple classic Vettes