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.

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Lincoln, Nebraska

Never been to Nebraska, and since I came through Kansas on the way TO the EOTW celebration, I'm thinking that this may be my only shot.  Lincoln is a little out of the way, but hey, it's a chance to see another Big Ten school. On top of that, no one can deny that they've played some pretty good football there, so I wanted to see their stadium.

The ride from Iowa City was horrible. I'm riding straight into a storm-front that runs from New Mexico to Minnesota.  It's not if it's going to rain, but when.  And it's cold and windy.  I was lucky to make it to Lincoln and find a hotel just as the sky opened up.  They got an inch and a half of rain that night, but it was all clear by morning.

The Fall of 1978 was my very first semester at IU, and Nebraska came in and just beat the crap out of us.  Something like 55 to 0.  They had a Heisman caliber running back named I.M. Hipp, and he scored 4 touchdowns that day (and was Nebraska's all-time rushing leader, even though he missed part of his senior year due to injury).


I'd call this the alumni side of the stadium.


This is the student side, and it looks like they are spending a little money to make some more room.  Also known as Memorial Stadium, it currently seats about 86,000.  Capacity will still be less than 100,000 when the construction is done, but they are also building a brand-new basketball stadium.



The amazing part is that Nebraska has sold out every football game since 1962.  That's every single game for 50 years!!  Having 5 national championships has got to help, but either way, this has got to be a fun place to watch a college football game.


This is the Nebraska Union building.  Enough said.

I have to say that the city of Lincoln really is a dump.  Not a single attractive building there.  I had some pretty good bbq, though.  The place had a sign that said it took "three years, two fist-fights, and one kitchen- fire" to perfect the recipe for their bbq sauce.

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