    |
 |
|
|
|
Silver Bullet is one of only a few Websites worldwide that receives Desiree Crossman`s newsy behind the MotoGP scene column (not always PC). She reports on #21 John (Hopper) Hopkin`s MotoGP exploits and her own as they travel the globe.
Check out - HOPPER`S WEBSITE:
You can send your support to John - HERE:
Home At Last:
Yes we are home in Ramona. What a journey. We were supposed to leave on the Monday morning, but let\'s just say too much play will make you pay cause\' we missed our flight!!! I couldn\'t wake up John so we had to stay an extra day in Valencia and reorganize a new flight. It wasn\'t pleasant having to do that, but whatever.
We flew on Tuesday morning to Munich. Because our orginal flying path was to LAX and Lufthansa didn\'t fly that day, we had to get on United to Washington Dulles and then onto LAX. When we arrived in Munich, as we were getting off the plane, our flight to Washington was boarding so we were hauling our American asses to the gate. It wasn\'t a short journey either. Not to mention, as we got there, the agents couldn\'t find our new schedule in the computer so we were holding the plane up. Once they found it in their records, they rushed us on the plane and decided to tell us that one of our bags didn\'t make it to Germany. The only thing they said was to check in Dulles. So 9 hours 10 minutes later, we arrived and waited for bags. Of course we only had an hour and half to clear customs, collect bags, and re-check. There was a flight to San Diego that we were going to try and get on but when we went to the United Airline desk, NO ONE was there. Poor service, all these people and no one at the service counter, how in the hell you supposed to get a good reputation in customer service? We waited there for 10 minutes, but no one came so we checked into LAX. THEN, of course, as soon as we leave and transfer our bags, someone shows up. Typical.
We had a very short layover in Dulles, which isn\'t so bad. From Dulles, we flew to LAX and then onto San Diego. Usually when we fly to San Diego, we\'re on a turbo prop plane and it takes around 30-40 minutes. But this time, we flew in a small jet and as soon as were airborne, we started decending. It had to be a 10-15 minute flight. But we are glad to be back home. We drove thru Scripps Ranch where the \"Million Dollar Homes\" were and you can still smell the ash. It smelt horrible and even at night, you can tell which areas were scorched. It\'s mind blowing. This morning John and I were driving down the hill (that\'s what we Ramonans call going to a bigger city, \'we\'re going down the hill\') and how the firefighters managed to save so many homes. It\'s completely charred everywhere, roads still closed, power still out in some places. The main route, highway 67, was hit so bad, but houses on that road managed to overcome the situation. You can see where the fire had came so close to burning so many more homes. It\'s crazy! We were lucky, but unfortunately alot more weren\'t.
I got an email from a guy saying that I keep saying I\'ll put pictures up and I haven\'t done so yet. I will get to them, don\'t worry. I know I\'ve been lagging, but they will get put up. It was funny, I was reading a magazine and there\'s a section where you can write to the editor. This guy wrote in how he\'s getting sick of John and Kenny complaining about the bike and they forget who their employer is, Suzuki. He also said regardless, Nicky is faster. So, faster as in running? We can do relay if he thinks he\'s faster. But yes he\'s right about being fast, no need to sweat that. And it\'s been proven by the horsepower, need some data my friend? That was a hard equation. Not taking anything away from Nicky, he did well this year. People say to me, \"Oh don\'t let those idiots get to you, they have no idea what\'s really going on.\" And I say, \"yeah it seems like only in America does that happen too, hhmmmm?\"
All I want to say is without putting my foot in my mouth, in a contract there are two parties. They have jobs to do, and so the expectations and requirements need to be fulfilled on both sides. Little does this guy know. Hey dude, if you\'re reading this, Colin just went to Honda cause\' of frustration and a better deal. Last year, Sete went to Honda, for all the obvious reasons. So many ignorant people out there. YOU CRACK ME UP!!!! Garry McCoy finally had a injury free year and because he was on a bike that wasn\'t the greatest, and lacks a few things, he doesn\'t get a chance which I find hard to comprehend. There are some riders who haven\'t even won a race on decent bikes and he doesn\'t get a good ride because of poor results which I can guarantee had nothing to do with his riding? That\'s bogus!!! Once again, there are some ignorant people out there. Oh well, we know what\'s going on.
Anyway, enough of my blabber mouth. No testing for a few months on the Suzuki. Good cause\' it\'s a nice break, bad cause\' they NEED to test NEW parts. I\'m sure they\'re pluggin\' away back at the factory. So I will sign off now, be sure to check back every once in awhile for some updates and such. I know John will be doing alot of MX riding this off season, which he\'s been wanting to do for awhile. It should be a good break.
Until then, Happy Holidays way ahead of time.
Des
