thank you everyone for your support! my brother Dan’s Kickstarter project is now 109% funded which means that he’s headed off to this year’s Isle of Man TT!

great news, my brother Dan’s kickstarter project has been fully funded!



but let’s not stop giving now, folks. there’s still two days to go for the fundraising and a little financial cushion never hurt any endeavor!

it’s my brother Dan’s birthday today. want to show him some love? contribute to his Kickstarter project and send him to the 2012 Isle of Man TT!



for those of you unfamiliar with the IOMTT, it’s pretty much the greatest motorcycle race in the world. the race is run on public roads (which are obviously closed for the event) with each lap covering almost 38 miles containing 200 turns and over 1,300 feet of elevation change. it’s like combining a race season’s worth of circuits, removing the runoff areas and replacing them with stone walls, buildings, cliffs and Armco Barriers.

Dan’s project involves him documenting the race (he’s a motorsports photographer, in case you didn’t know) with particular notice given to Guy Martin, the fan favorite. Guy Martin has competed for the past eight years, has podiumed a stunning 13 times but has never actually won an IOMTT. this might very well be the year for Guy to finally bring home the glory and Dan wants to be there to capture every last brilliant moment.

checked the fly paper again today and we’re up to fourteen trapped fruit flies! in other news, practice for the Qatar Grand Prix is in full swing and i absolutely can’t wait until Sunday.

oh, to be in Doha.

some jackass tried to cut me off on the road today but i sped up slightly to stop him (he barely had enough space anyway). in retaliation, he spent about 30 seconds pulling in front of me and slamming on his brakes to try and get me to hit him. as i finally outmaneuvered him and squeezed past, i looked over and saw him glaring at me with his beady little eyes while breathing heavily out of his mouth, a baseball cap sitting sideways atop his comically undersized head.

and he was driving a purple car.

so my brother Dan of Corner Speed Photo fame is trying to get out to the UK this year to cover the Isle of Man TT, one of the longest and most dangerous motorcycle races on earth.

to help raise funds, Dan has started a Kickstarter page which i would encourage all of you to check out so you can read up on his project and consider helping him get there!

yesterday’s World Superbike season opener was the start of another two-wheeled racing season and therefor another season of fantasy sports. some of my friends do fantasy basketball or fantasy baseball; my brother and i do fantasy racing.



it works the same way that other fantasy sports do: you have a certain number of points to spend and each rider has a set price. in fact, the only real difference is that fantasy racing can span multiple series; in our case, MotoGP, World Superbike and British Superbike.

i’ve been participating in fantasy racing for a number of years now with varying success. sometimes i haul in a massive number of points; sometimes i walk away all but empty-handed as my riders take each other out. whatever happens, though, it definitely adds yet another layer of excitement to an already insane sport.

let me know if you want to join us!

went to the Chicago Auto Show today on a whim, here are my highlights (click to enlarge):


Fiat 500 Abarth



Scion iQ



Scion FR-S (aka Subaru BR-Z)



Subaru BR-Z (aka Scion FR-S)



Kia Track’ster concept



Hyundai Veloster Turbo



Lexus LF-LC concept



four(!) Lexus LF-As

i forgot to mention this the other day but i got to meet AMA Superbike champion (1990, 1991, 1992), World Superbike champion (1993) and former 500cc Grand Prix racer (1995, 1996) Scott Russell (pictured above, doing a demo) at the International Motorcycle Show this past weekend.

the strange thing is that, despite having such a notable career, virtually nobody in the United States knows who he is. the unpopularity of motorcycle racing in the USA was painfully evident when my brother and i saw Scott wandering through the crowd at the Yamaha display by himself and were able to say hello and actually chat with him for a few minutes.

spent today volunteering for Riders For Health and hanging out at the International Motorcycle Show.

here are my highlights (click to enlarge):

one of Ben Spies’s Yamaha YZR-M1 MotoGP bikes from 2011 (in 50th anniversary colors)




autographed Ben Spies replica helmets!




Josh Hayes’s 2011 AMA Superbike Championship winning Yamaha R1




Wrightstown, WI police department’s Suzuki GSX-R600 pursuit bike




race-spec KTM 1190 RC8




Aprilia RSV4 Factory APRC Biaggi Special Edition