South Africa

I can't really explain now, but SA is a big change from everywhere else I've been... but still a very cool place.

I've been offered the chance to race a ZX-10 on Saturday, in a spec class. Should be very fun.

Here's the abbreviated version of what my next few days will be like:

Thursday - more coaching at Kyalami
Friday - Yamaha day at Kyalami, includes bs'ing with important Yamaha people and filming
Saturday - Racing at a track called Zwartkops in the ZX-10 Cup, includes TV coverage and a guest interview
Sunday - private coaching at Phakisa, an ex-GP track
Monday - tactical shooting of custom made hand guns, then flying back to London

Pics to come later!

London via motorcycles

Two days ago Adam and I flew back to London and headed to the crash pad we had set up. A girl named Tasha who we met through the school offered us her pad to crash at and has been showing us around London. Yesterday we rented bikes to rip around the city. Due to my age, I couldn't rent a proper sportbike such as an R6... but what I could rent was a 125 four stroke Honda. So, Adam and I both rented little POS bikes to rip around the city. Tasha has a Suzi 750, and has been navigating her way through London for years. This created quite a task for Adam and I, who had unfamiliar bikes in an unfamiliar place with 1/5 the horsepower. What that means for those of you who don't ride bikes is that Adam and I couldn't squirt through traffic the way Tasha could, so keeping up was a hell of a ride!!!

Yesterday we ripped around London with Tasha. We headed into central London, got coffee, and just people watched for a while. Later in the night we did a little tour of London. First we went to a place called the world renowned Ace Cafe. The Ace Cafe is a huge motorcycle hangout for all of London where people gather to hangout, bullshit, and watch idiots do wheelies and burnouts in the street. Then we headed back to the coffee shop we had been at earlier in the day. It was an awesome way to get a real feel for the city. London is a very diverse city, possibly the most diverse city I've ever been to (yes, more than SF or NY or any of the others...) and it was entertainment enough just watching people walk by. After a bit we headed to Leister Square to people watch some more. Because the bars don't close, people stay out until all hours. Therefore, even at 2:30am, there was plenty of drama to see. Cops, arguments, tramps, drunks, etc... It was a ton of fun, not to mention during the evening we were with a big time stunt rider named Sparky who was a super cool guy and could do some things that are completely out of my skill set... fucking impressive.

Today Tasha, Adam and I just hung out and watched some MotoGP qualifying. Afterwards we cruised through the city and went to Camden Town. Reminded me of the the Pier 39 area of SF... very cool. Now we are just hanging out at her apartment, listening to sweet music, drinking beer, sharing stories, and eating doritos.

Tomorrow we head back out to Wellingborough before heading to South Africa... more adventures to come...