MotoGP was in the U.S. this past weekend, in our back yard – well, actually in Salinas, which is about 1.5 hours away from our house. But it could be considered our back yard depending on your perspective. We rode our bikes down all three days, and I WAS BEAT!!!

Aside from the long hard ride, it was also extremely hot. About 100 degrees in San Mateo and somewhere around the 90’s in Salinas. From about San Jose to Gilroy the temperature was unbelievably hot, and around Gilroy the breeze didn’t have a single trace of cool air in it – was more like a very hot hair dryer blowing on us. I swear it was about 300 degrees there on Saturday.

The motorcycle racing, qualifying and practicing was pretty cool to watch. It was very neat to see and hear the Moto GP bikes close up. They really are quite loud, and they sound great. The leaders whip by so fast too, it’s really hard to catch them on film.

I took about 600 pictures over weekend, and only 40 of them were worth posting. Those numbers do not include the pictures of people – I took those just to demonstrate to you how hot it was there. Even in the shade we were sweating pretty badly. And on top of that, it was really dusty. People were walking around and the dust was constantly flying through the air. Both Saturday and Sunday when I got home I took a cold shower and collapsed on the couch.

We watched the race on T.V. Sunday night, and it was so different. At the race that hour flew by. And it didn’t seem like they passed us 32 times. I was busy taking pictures though, so maybe that’s part of the reason.

We set up by the corkscrew, a famous and very difficult part of the track. I’m told that when the riders cross over it they can’t see where they’ll end up. That’s why Nicky Hayden does so well – because he knows the track like the back of his hand.

It was a gruelling ride at times, especially through hell, but the rest of it was pretty fun.

Here’s the entire MotoGP photo set.