LOOPING AROUND THE NORTHEAST
TRIP DAY: 3 - - -AUG 3, 2012 - FRI
MILES TODAY: 256 - - - TOTAL MILES: 895
AVERAGE PER RIDING DAY: 298.3
FROM: Greenfield, Indiana
TO: St. Louis, Missouri
- Into St. Louis -
Ever since 8 years old - for whatever childhood reason - I have found the city of St. Louis fascinating. It has been an attraction to me, a passion for me, maybe even some kind of addiction. I dunno. But I have latched onto and enjoyed everything about the city, and I would write reports about it in junior high school. In high school I'd write essays comparing the city to Philadelphia. And I'd read as much as I could. It was during that 8-10 year-old period that the great St.Louis Arch was constructed, and I watched on the news and in the newspapers how it rose from nothingness and one man's dream, into the Jefferson National Gateway to the West standing on the banks of the Mississippi.
But nothing embodies that attraction to St. Louis for me more than the baseball team, the St. Louis Cardinals. I was a Cardinal fanatic growing up. Of course I'd collect all those bubble gum scented baseball cards. Long after my folks made me go to sleep, as a tyke I'd hide under the covers with my little transistor radio and pull in the powerful Midwestern radio station KMOX, and listen to the Cardinal games! Win or lose I was their top fan east of the Mississippi. Then 1964, a black year for the Phillies, the Cards came back from about 8 games behind in the final weeks of the season to win the pennant. I had stupidly made straight up bets with my 11th grade pals that my team would overtake the Phils. And on the last day of the season they DID. I made enough money to almost buy a small VW!!! The Cardinals had every player on the All-Star infield that year. I pay attention to no other team in sports than the Cardinals.
They got their current name (they were the Brown Stockings and the Perfectos up until 1900) when some fan at a game mentioned about the red in their uniform, "What a lovely shade of cardinal!"… Apparently an owner heard that remark and changed the game for good. The team has a rich history of winning (more World Series wins than any other team other than the hated Yankees!) and fan dedication and love of baseball (unlike in Philadelphia where the fans have booed Santa Claus, in St. Louis they often cheer for good plays by opposing players.) The rich history includes the early thirties with a championship team known as the "Gashouse Gang", a rough and tumble bunch of guys to be sure!
Win or lose I'm there for them. Through the down luck years and the great years. I often think of my transistor radio days as I now watch most games on the huge screen TV at home.
I've visited St.Louis a number of times - all either bicycle or motorcycle rides. In 1980 on my Pacific-to-Atlantic 4,320-mile bicycle ride I went to see a game at old Busch Stadium. The night before I had bunked out in a fraternity house - and told the guys there of my fascination with the city. Then, the next day I met Mac Strauss, an old army buddy of my dad's, and stayed at his place. Mac took me to a game - and it was just thrilling to be there in person. It turned out, much to my surprise, that those frat boys worked at the stadium, and they had the following placed on the scoreboard between one of the early innings:
"A TIP OF THE CARDINALS' CAP TO JOEL PERLISH WHO IS BIKING ACROSS THE COUNTRY IS ATTENDING THE GAME TONIGHT!"
You can imagine the thrill for me!
I go to the occasional Phillies game when they play the Cardinals. And I am always one of the few, of course, in a Cardinal cap or shirt. It's hard to be an enthusiastic fan in a crowd dominated by folks rooting for the other team. But a couple years ago on a motorcycle ride to St. Louis I went to a game. I was amazed to be there amongst all those Cardinal fans. It was like nirvana in a way for me… And I allowed myself to be transported back to being 8-years-old again - rooting, and shouting, and having no cares but to be rooting for MY team… it was a catharsis of sorts where for a couple hours all adult cares in the grownup world were gone. It was a time I brought back of forgotten childhood days - and I just let myself go completely immersing my being in pure enjoyment. As an adult, I rarely 'go with the crowd', but this was a great experience of one-ness and excitement….
And so, on this day, more than 50 years after my childlike adoration began, Etsuko and I motorcycled into the city of my youthful dreams. And we would be sleeping in a hotel in the shadow of the Arch, and attending a game at the new Busch Stadium tomorrow night. After all, dreams can come true if we seek them out and plan for them.
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Today was a good travel day. Again through flat lands to the horizon in all directions. More trucks and much more wind buffeting travel. We put in a few 100-mile segments of hot riding. We averaged 80-90mph all day long - and as we zoomed past scores of vehicles, the scenery was at times blurred with motion. We touched 100mph twice.
The day began awakening in that Quality Inn - which was comfortable and seemed about ten steps up from the place the night before. On my way back from the exercise room, I stopped in at the breakfast area and I made some waffles on one of those ubiquitous hotel self-making waffle machines. A young girl guest reminded me how to do it, and then I taught a Liberian couple, new to America, how to operate the device. They stood there looking wide-eyed and amazed…. I commented, "What a world, eh?"… And through a gigantic smile and hearty deep laugh, the man gave me a big thumbs up...
Etsuko was meanwhile getting our gear ready to go and doing her own set of exercises in the room.
After gas this morning in Greenfield, Indiana, we left around 10. It was our best packing job yet. Etsuko, supreme packer, and I finally were able to get the bungee cords around the packs on the motorcycle in under an hour!
By noon we were in Illinois and in a Wendy's after getting more gas – it was a 116 miles stretch.
The road was still good but there were many many more trucks, and the wind buffeting was ferocious.
We met a couple of motorcyclists heading off for Sturgis. They were excited about it. Both in leather chaps. The fellow sported a big beard and a broad grin. The heavy-ish woman, in low cut halter top was into the look and hearty. We asked if they shared helmet talk as we did, but the fellow said that no, he didn't want to have to listen to her and her wanting to stop so often. That she just sat on the back making phone calls to her friends. I was a little sad for them in a way, for one of the most enjoyable parts of this trip is Etsuko's cute voice in my ear throughout the miles.
With growing anticipation (at least on my part) we got closer and closer to St. Louis, and counted down the miles on the highway signs and on the GPS. The city riding was, of course, much different, and more difficult in ways than the interstate riding. Much more traffic, more debris of which to be aware. "Road Crocs", as in crocodiles, is the term motorcyclists use for those truck tire pieces which fall off the semi's, and lay in the highway like so many mines awaiting unaware motorcyclists. In a car they may be a nuisance if hit, on a motorcycle they could be very deadly.
(On my last long mc trip a few years ago, I was busy scanning the roadway at about 70 mph as a few big trucks lumbered by on my right. I watched horrified as one of the tires on the dinosaur-sized trucks came apart and spewed black pieces bouncing all along the highway. I steered a bit to my left and avoided any contact.)
This day my vigilance also paid off - once when a dinner plate sized piece of blue plastic was on the roadway dancing with the wind and just missed the Vulcan's front wheel. Another more dangerous obstacle was a huge chunk of two-by-four which fell off a behemoth truck hauling construction material. That was close but still within a big margin of safety…. Still, if I hadn't been watching…. well, in that case it's unlikely I'd be sitting at this desk now calmly typing these notes….
Etsuko, from the heat and the nearly same passing scenery - got tired. In fact, a couple times my precious cargo began to doze off a bit… It makes be think a little stronger about bungee cording her around the waist before we sent off for a day's ride. By-the-way, she's been taking better and better pictures from the passenger seat as we zip along...
The most hairy - and perspiration-filled - part of the ride for me was negotiating the turns of the hot hotel parking garage. But we were finally in, and after some time for the room to be ready were ensconced in a room with a lovely view of half the Arch, and down to the Mississippi itself. Gotta admit I teared up a bit at the view and all that brought me to this point… today AND life…
While waiting around in the Hyatt lobby for more than an hour for the room to be ready we strolled into the gift shop. I had to hold tight to my wallet with all the St.Louis branded items. I am especially looking for a new hat. In one of the only things lost this trip, my one hat went trailing off the bike out of my tank bag somewhere on the highway likely. Darn!
After getting ourselves situated in the room, we went for a mile or so run around the base of the Arch. We also went into the underneath part where there is a museum and gift shop, and other attractions. We got Sunday morning ticket reservations for one of the films and for the ride to the top. I enjoyed laying on the grass and taking some variously angled pictures of the much photographed Arch.
The weather here in this part of the Midwest is famous for - especially this year - for a humid, hot, and sauna-like experience. And today was no different.
Then back to the room we washed up, and walked a few blocks to the Millennium Hotel. We went up to the 28th floor and the elegant dining room there which revolved slowly around as diners ate. The views of the city - and the Arch, and the Mississippi, and the stadium - slowly slid by as we enjoyed superb salad and pasta dishes. (Quite a contrast to the Wendy and Subway experiences!)
We then walked a number of blocks to a department store where I was intent on buying some Cardinal gear, but the store was closed. Hey, it was 8pm, and this just isn't big city Philadelphia or New York!
Back at the hotel we organized our stuff around the room for our three-day stay here, and planned some of the places we hoped to see in the next few days. Etsuko also did the last three days' worth of our laundry.
I stood for quite awhile staring out of the window at the Arch, the highways, the far away horizon, the Old Court House (now dwarfed by the skyscraper modern buildings), and the Mississippi rolling slowly slowly along.
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