What's going on here?

So, what's going on here?

The IU Rugby Club is celebrating its 50th anniversary on September 8. The Mayan calendar "runs out of time" a couple months later, and some believe that this may portend the end of the World. Whether that's the case or not, we intend to make this a celebration for the ages, and have branded this event as the EOTW Celebration.

Being rugby guys, we've got some crazy plans for the weekend. Like a golf tournament, a parade, an "old boys" match against our arch-rival Purdue alumni, and a banquet at the IU Memorial Union, from which the rugby club was once banned. Just a guess, but I think that a couple of our favorite college bars might also see a spike in business.

I've always wanted to do another cross-country ride on my Harley, and just in case the World really does end, I figure I can kill two birds with one rock by riding my bike to the EOTW Celebration from Newport Beach, CA. The round-trip distance of my intended route looks to be just over 5,000 miles, and I'll be travelling through 13 states. So I'll give myself +/- 3 weeks to get'er done.

I plan on making some fun stops along the way, including 6 national parks, and will try and invoke my usual biker travel-habits as much as I can; like taking smaller roads when possible, staying away from chain restaurants, and starting a conversation with a local at each stop. I always learn some interesting stuff this way.

A lot of friends like to follow my travels when I do something crazy like this, and I've found these blogs to be a pretty fun way of sharing a story. If you follow this one, I hope that you enjoy the ride! If you'd like to read about some of my other adventures, just click on one of the links at the bottom right.

Thursday, September 13, 2012

North to South Dakota

There is not a single north-south freeway in Nebraska.  Hmm......

So, I took small, two-lane roads the whole way.  Which is fine, except for when you meet on-coming semi's.  A semi tractor and trailer is about the size of a small house and moves a lot of air when in motion. The roads are long and straight, and when I'm travelling at 60 or 70 mph and the on-coming semi is travelling at 60 or 70 mph, we've got a combined closing speed of 140 mph.  We're only going to be 8 to 10 feet apart when we pass, so think about hitting that wall of air - at about a 45 degree angle.

The blast of air hits about a second after we meet, and you have to steer, or lean into it to keep from getting pushed off the other side of the road. You get used to it, but it's really not that much fun.

Other than that, it was a rather pleasant ride.  The state of Nebraska actually looks a lot like Indiana. Lots of cornfields and pasture land.  Once I got into South Dakota, I crossed a lot of beautifully empty Indian reservation land.  At one point, I'll bet I traveled for 100 miles without seeing another car.  Kind of eerie, actually.


Got to Murdo, SD in the evening and had a fine steak dinner here at the elegant Buffalo Bar and Grill.


Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)