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This focus on the attendee’s experience cer- tainly seems to be one of the distinguishing traits of the Peoria National Championship TT. They genuinely want their guests to have the time of their life. When I asked what his favorite part of the race was, Kevin said without hesi- tation: the pride he has in the heritage of their race, and how much he enjoys talking to fans. And, of course, the thrill of seeing so many great riders competing! With how famous the Peoria TT is, it’s perhaps not surprising that they get a fair number of international visitors who show up on a pilgrim- age to this motorcycling Mecca. Europeans, race.” The race track is certainly unique. Most Tour- ist Track races also only have 1 jump in them. Well, the Peoria track has 2. And being a spec- tator at Peoria seems to be just, well, better. Kevin describes its location as a natural am- phitheater, where spectators on the hills sur- rounding the track have no problem seeing the action develop on the track below them. A quick look on YouTube for footage of the race will show how exciting attending one can be! It’s also more accessible for visitors price-wise. As a private motorcycle club, they don’t need to make money on the race. They only aim to cover costs, and rely on their dedicated club members for manpower to make sure the race runs smoothly. I like the way Kevin described One of Kawasaki's Cafe Racer-style bikes, the Z900RS it: “We don’t have any benches or anything like that, it’s just grab a blanket and come on out to the Australians, and Chinese are common visitors to the club, throw it on the hillside with a picnic basket and annual race, but that doesn’t prevent Kevin from feeling watch world-class racing. It’s pretty unique in that re- humbled that enthusiasts would travel from across the gard.” world to attend the race. They’re also not resting on their laurels, as the club If you do come out, there’s plenty of great rides in the tries to improve the track every year. For example, area, according to Kevin. Peoria is in the valley of the last year (2017) they reconfgured one of their jumps. Illinois River, making it a great area for motorcycling. A Kevin told me that, as motorcycles have advanced couple specific destinations he mentioned were riding so much in recent years, riders were coming into the to Catalpa Grove, plus Starved Rock State Park. jump faster ever year. “Today’s motorcycles, they’re Speaking of which, the club itself runs plenty of other faster, they have a lot more horsepower, and we were events that are open to the public. That includes Poker having more accidents than we like to see.” To keep runs, where riders pick up a card at different check- their riders safe, the jump is now designed to be rid- points along the route. The cards make a poker hand, den at the faster speeds of today. For 2018, they’re and the rider with the best hand wins. They also run a hoping to add new culverts to help with drainage, charity race in the spring for Easterseals, a non-profit more power outlets around the track, plus a Wi-Fi Setting up the “Globe of Speed” that works to provide services primarily for disabled connection for attendees to use. children. In June there’s an amateur TT race, which gives non-professional riders a chance to cut their teeth on the famous Peoria track. They even do two different 14 MARCH 2018 15