My OperaGuest Blog by Steve Koole
Tuesday, June 20, 2006 1:40:29 AM
Wow, what an adventure. My hat's off to Dan, Brent, and Bryan. They're either very courageous or very insane to have participated in this event. (They'll have to decide which)
For me, the adventure started about 4 months ago when Brent asked me if I wanted to come along and be Pit Crew Chief. I readily agreed. Upon further reflection I realized I was chosen because A, I was willing to pay my own way, and B, anybody who crashes as often as I do must know how to fix a bike. However, having no experience as a PCC I sent off E-mails to Honda Racing and Team KTM.
I was informed by Honda, that my primary responsibility was to make sure the riders and the bike were ready on race day, and that a should be prepared to fly in a helicopter on race day to properly supervise the pit crew. I was also informed by the head mechanic at KTM that after you do a repair on a bike you should take the left over parts and put them in a Ziplock bag, because as sure as the sun will rise tomorrow, you'll need them.
With this advice firmly entrenched in my mental Roladex I boarded an Air Canada flight in Vancouver which proceeded to leak gas all over the tarmac, but there was no convincing the pilot he could always divert to Los Angeles if he ran out of gas.
Having finally arrived in San Diego, 2 and a half hours late, I took the green line tram to Tijuana where I walked across the border not seeing a single Mexican official. It was at this time a fellow traveler suggested that my time and money would be better spent visiting a house of ill repute. He further assured me he knew a doctor who took American money and didn't ask any unneccesary questions. Being the team player that I am, and knowing the pit crew would need to be whipped into a cohesive, well oiled machine, I politely declined his offer.
I hopped a bus and finally made my way to Ensenada where I was immediately put to work fixing a flat tire. It was at this point that I was informed, A, no helicopter, B, no pit crew, C, no budget, and D, no Ziplock bags.
The rest of the adventure has been pretty well documented and I would be hard pressed to add much more, but I do have A few thoughts. I may have been fired 5 times (by Dan the night before the race because he was sick, by Bryan the day of the race because the team did'nt finish, and by Brent the day after the race cause we missed our flight), I was hired 6 times (by Brian to fix the part I broke on his bike when I crashed).
I would like to again thank the members of Team CAN-AM for the opportunity to participate, but would like to say one more thing before I'm fired again,
I QUIT!!!
Koolio
For me, the adventure started about 4 months ago when Brent asked me if I wanted to come along and be Pit Crew Chief. I readily agreed. Upon further reflection I realized I was chosen because A, I was willing to pay my own way, and B, anybody who crashes as often as I do must know how to fix a bike. However, having no experience as a PCC I sent off E-mails to Honda Racing and Team KTM.
I was informed by Honda, that my primary responsibility was to make sure the riders and the bike were ready on race day, and that a should be prepared to fly in a helicopter on race day to properly supervise the pit crew. I was also informed by the head mechanic at KTM that after you do a repair on a bike you should take the left over parts and put them in a Ziplock bag, because as sure as the sun will rise tomorrow, you'll need them.
With this advice firmly entrenched in my mental Roladex I boarded an Air Canada flight in Vancouver which proceeded to leak gas all over the tarmac, but there was no convincing the pilot he could always divert to Los Angeles if he ran out of gas.
Having finally arrived in San Diego, 2 and a half hours late, I took the green line tram to Tijuana where I walked across the border not seeing a single Mexican official. It was at this time a fellow traveler suggested that my time and money would be better spent visiting a house of ill repute. He further assured me he knew a doctor who took American money and didn't ask any unneccesary questions. Being the team player that I am, and knowing the pit crew would need to be whipped into a cohesive, well oiled machine, I politely declined his offer.
I hopped a bus and finally made my way to Ensenada where I was immediately put to work fixing a flat tire. It was at this point that I was informed, A, no helicopter, B, no pit crew, C, no budget, and D, no Ziplock bags.
The rest of the adventure has been pretty well documented and I would be hard pressed to add much more, but I do have A few thoughts. I may have been fired 5 times (by Dan the night before the race because he was sick, by Bryan the day of the race because the team did'nt finish, and by Brent the day after the race cause we missed our flight), I was hired 6 times (by Brian to fix the part I broke on his bike when I crashed).
I would like to again thank the members of Team CAN-AM for the opportunity to participate, but would like to say one more thing before I'm fired again,
I QUIT!!!
Koolio
