CRUNCH TIME Palo Alto California 10/18/07 I used to race for a control freek back in NY. His name was Joe. He worked like an animal on our race effort. Harder than anyone I've ever raced for. In his shop he'd always answer the phone, always run the bikes on the dyno, do all the tire changes, order the pizza, and take every customer. He was amazing, but nothing ever got done... Anyway he tought me a valuable lesson one day (that I've never actually acted upon until this week!). On the fifteenth hour of our drive back from Daytona once, (which he insisted upon driving all on his own) when we barely escaped jumping the divider after he fell asleep, I realized that sometimes you've just got to step aside and hand the wheel to someone else. I know, that's a simple lesson. But sometimes the simplest lessons are the hardest to learn...

So we got our Suzuki GSXR1000 two weeks ago. I wasn't sure it would show up to tell you the truth, so I didn't order any parts for it until it was in the garage. Big mistake. Big lesson - "Never doubt the Wizard." The day after the Wizard delivered I called Freddy at Yoyodyne and gave him the list. He turned out a box with our name on it in two days time. Only problem was, and this was my fault, I never told him to overnight the package. He sent it typical "GoGo" fashion - strapped to the ass end of a mule aimed no where in particular, and in no rush to get there. The package took over a week to get here - which brought us to last night, Wednesday, two days before race time!

Typical timing on this drama would also have me starting a new job for a client a few towns away, JUST when all the work on our new bike had to happen. Big problem - no time to "Do it all by myself." That's when a good friend of ours, Derek Lafontaine, suggested that I call one of our past Open Twins rivals, Bud Anderson, who recently opened a race prep business.

Thankfully Bud answered our call in his typical feiendly nature and right away things began falling into place. Bud had a painter, had the skills and determination to get the job done in just about NO time, and said "Bring it over brother, let's get you goin!"

Today I shot our old 999R Stainless steel Leo Vince exhaust system over to their new headquarters in Richmond, and traded it in for one of their latest and greatest GSXR titanium race systems. Then I shot to Bud's place, after settings up the guys on the kitchen job, and dropped off both the Leo Vince box, and the Yoyodyne box (which had loads of goodies in it). Before my van dropped six degrees parked in Bud's driveway, he kicked me out and got back to work on the new beast.

When I left Buds I thought back to that highway divider, and to Joe. The lesson was finally working. Surely, if I had chosen to do everything on my own, NONE of this would be happening.

Our plan is to leave for the track tomorrow night. Bud and I are even talking about working together for this weekend as well, since a recent shoulder injury has him parked for a few more months. Look for daily updates. The laptop is coming!

And hey, I want to thank you sincerely for reading!

GoGo

Bud's good, right?