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Laguna Seca
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2001
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This is Ben's ex-girlfriend, Launi. She was at Laguna showing her support for her once-potential brother-in-law, Eric. I know, all you girls are going to want to bag on her 80's-style safety-pinned shirt, but if I had a tanned set like that, I think I'd have nothing more than a safety pin between them, too. Check out what Launi was staring at when I took this picture...
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...yeah, she's putting the pupil burn on Ben and Kat (the new girl). I was watching the podium celebration after Eric won his 600 Supersport race when the two lovebirds strolled into proximity. The two are almost unable to walk unless they're supporting each other. I remember when I was young and wanted to hold my husband this much. Now I just want to be upwind of him when he has beer belches.
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Rachel (Eric's girlfriend and ex-potential-sister-in-law), Launi, and An Unknown Quantity pose for a picture. I can only wonder what types of relationships Rachel has with her potential-future-brother-in-law's ex-girlfriends. One minute she's getting used to socializing with a cute, thin girl, and the next minute an even cuter and thinner girl shows up.
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After this one last picture I swear I'll be done with the catty female stuff. This is Kat's jeans. It has a stylish hole over the ass. If I were shaped like a boy with breasts, I would also have holes in my clothes. I'm a generic size 7, but it really takes a size 2 with 4% fat to wear stuff like this and not make people recoil in horror.
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Never mind the fact that my face is too dark to see; it's better that way. What I want you to focus on is the offer on the side of the van. If there's one thing I can't pass up it's something that's free. I stood around waiting for the doctor to show up, but he never did. Mine aren't as good as Launi's, but unlicensed doctors can't be choosers.
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I look forward to our annual ride to Laguna. We did break down 100 miles away from home and had to turn back to fix the 916, but once we hit the road again, it was smooth sailing. Well, sort of. At one point in the rain my bike was moving around a lot. I mentioned this to Chris and he told me to "quit being mental." Turns out much later he notices my tire is almost flat. Folks, if you do marry the mechanic, be prepared for the "better or worse" part.
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A gaggle of us Ducastistis went on a track walk lead by Doug Polen. We may very well be the first large, well-mannered group of bipeds to barrel into turn two. At the very least, I am pretty damn sure that red rolling luggage case (it's at the back of the pack) is the first of such "vehicles" to make this trip around the track.
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You know how you can play the "air guitar"? This is me doing an "air turn" in turn 2. I've yet to take my bike around Laguna, so this was the closest I could get to pretending I'm a WSB superstar. Damn, look at me countersteer that airbike! Too bad I still can't seem to keep my toe from hanging off the ghost peg; bad form follows me everywhere.
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Here's the group going down the corkscrew. A couple of bipeds broke from the pack and got a half-minute lead. They are not completely out of touch; however, it would take a hard twisting of the bipdedal throttle by the rest of us to close the gap. And did I mention Doug Polen could talk? Near the end, I was hoping no other questions posed to Polen would cause him to stop and elaborate, as the evening coastal fog was rolling in and the bipeds were starting to freeze.
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This guy is inspecting my Ben sign on my bike. We arrived at Laguna Seca on Thursday and the vendors and manufacturers were just beginning to set up shop. There were only a few bikes on Ducati Island. We enjoyed strolling around the track before the unwashed masses showed up.
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I went to the Ducati party to get Ben's autograph. Not until I was there did I realize I'd already had Ben sign about everything I own. My helmet's signed. My jacket's signed. I have signed posters. I even have a signed model of a Ducati 996. I opted to have Ben sign one of those posters in front of him. He did recognize me after I told him who I was and he seemed appreciative of my work. Such a nice boy.
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