Monday, October 10, 2011
I am back on the road and back to blogging. The past 10 days have been like an escape from my life. I meant to stay in Chicago for three days, it ballooned into 10. No particular reason except I was having a good time. I should have blogged more, but I was enjoying myself and watching baseball every night, and time just sort of slipped away. Since the whole idea of this change was to write more, I just kind of escaped from everything.
Now I am back to traveling and back to blogging, although I can’t vouch for the quality of what I am going to write. I want to write some penetrating blogs about politics, the Occupy Wall Street protests, and the baseball playoffs. But nothing really comes to mind. Instead I will just give you a travelogue.
Today I am in Indianapolis. I came here specifically to see the Motor Speedway. I am not an auto racing fan, but I watch the Indy 500 every year. I can’t tell you why. I think it is the spectacle. Just like I am not a golf fan, but I watch the final round of the Masters. No other auto races, no other golf tournaments. But these are the premier events of their sports, and for some reason I like to watch. So when I was planning my trip from Denver to New York, I noticed Indianapolis on the map. I decided to make a slight detour to see the track.
I was fortunate that they were doing their full grounds tours today, which they do not do every day. I went online and made a reservation. Many of the people there just blundered into the tour, but I had planned around it. I am so glad I did. The tour was great.
Our tour guide was a former Goodyear Tire executive who lives in Indianapolis and has worked as a guide for a long time. He was knowledgeable, personable, and amusing. The tour begins on a small bus which took us right onto the track. We cruised around at 25 miles per hour on a raceway where the pros go in excess of 225. We spent about 15 minutes getting around, they take about 38 seconds. Still, I had goosebumps as we circled the most famous racing oval in the world. (Dave informed us the track is a rectangle with rounded corners and not an oval. To me a rectangle with rounded corners IS an oval, so that is what I am going to call it.)
To our left was the infield, big enough for a golf course; to our right the famous padded Styrofoam walls topped by high fencing protecting rows of benched grandstands. There are no individual seats anywhere around the track. Everyone is on benches. Remember, people arrive hours before the race, which takes about three hours. In other words, the 350,000 or so fans are out in the hot sun or cold rain or stiff wind for a long, long time on hard metal benches.
The bus stopped at the start/finish line marked by the fabled “yard of bricks.” The Speedway was paved with bricks in the early years, and when they resurfaced with asphalt, as a nod to tradition they left three feet of the original bricks. To stand on this famous spot was exciting. Some people kissed the bricks, apparently a tradition for race winners. I took lots of pictures and the tour guide was nice enough to take one of me. On tv the track looks so huge, but standing there imagining race cars driving three wide at 230 mph the track seemed way too narrow. Too soon (maybe 10 minutes) they made us reboard the bus.
We drove past the track medical center and to the back of the famous “pagoda” building, a 10-story structure with track and race offices. The front of course faces the track. They brought us into the conference room where the post-race press conference is held, to the 350 seat media room, and to the timing and scoring area where dozens of people track race. At the end of that space was the broadcast television booth. Then we toured one of the suites, where for $50,000 you can bring 80 of your closest friends to watch the race. That, of course, does not include whatever you spend on catering. (Figure another $100 or so apiece.)
There is one strange aspect to these areas. Each one is filled with televisions. The media keeps track of the race through tv’s more than by watching, and yet the tv sets throughout the track are at least 15 years old. I was surprised. The tv in my room at the Courtyard by Marriott is nicer. I expect changes will be made soon.
Finally, they drove us through the garage area, known as “Gasoline Alley.” None of the garages were open but we could see the entire area.
The tour began and ended in the Hall of Fame and museum which houses numerous former race-winning cars. They have the first two and many others from the 20s through the 90s, but none from the current decade, which I thought was strange. Apparently most of these museum pieces still run. This year, I was informed, the first two race winners were driven on the track as part of the pre-race festivities. Wow. Those things are 100 years old and still run. I spent almost an entire hour in the museum itself. All in all the tour was great; completely living up to my expectations. Watching the race will never be the same again.
I went into downtown Indianapolis, which was quiet on this national holiday. I walked on their Canal Walk, which is a nice path next to a 19th century canal. I stopped by Lucas Oil Field, home of the Colts and site of this season’s Super Bowl. Unfortunately, they only offer tours on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
All in all a good day in Indy. On the road tomorrow to Cleveland. The weather is predicted to stay good for a couple more days, but rain is coming by the end of the week.
Now I am back to traveling and back to blogging, although I can’t vouch for the quality of what I am going to write. I want to write some penetrating blogs about politics, the Occupy Wall Street protests, and the baseball playoffs. But nothing really comes to mind. Instead I will just give you a travelogue.
Today I am in Indianapolis. I came here specifically to see the Motor Speedway. I am not an auto racing fan, but I watch the Indy 500 every year. I can’t tell you why. I think it is the spectacle. Just like I am not a golf fan, but I watch the final round of the Masters. No other auto races, no other golf tournaments. But these are the premier events of their sports, and for some reason I like to watch. So when I was planning my trip from Denver to New York, I noticed Indianapolis on the map. I decided to make a slight detour to see the track.
I was fortunate that they were doing their full grounds tours today, which they do not do every day. I went online and made a reservation. Many of the people there just blundered into the tour, but I had planned around it. I am so glad I did. The tour was great.
Our tour guide was a former Goodyear Tire executive who lives in Indianapolis and has worked as a guide for a long time. He was knowledgeable, personable, and amusing. The tour begins on a small bus which took us right onto the track. We cruised around at 25 miles per hour on a raceway where the pros go in excess of 225. We spent about 15 minutes getting around, they take about 38 seconds. Still, I had goosebumps as we circled the most famous racing oval in the world. (Dave informed us the track is a rectangle with rounded corners and not an oval. To me a rectangle with rounded corners IS an oval, so that is what I am going to call it.)
To our left was the infield, big enough for a golf course; to our right the famous padded Styrofoam walls topped by high fencing protecting rows of benched grandstands. There are no individual seats anywhere around the track. Everyone is on benches. Remember, people arrive hours before the race, which takes about three hours. In other words, the 350,000 or so fans are out in the hot sun or cold rain or stiff wind for a long, long time on hard metal benches.
The bus stopped at the start/finish line marked by the fabled “yard of bricks.” The Speedway was paved with bricks in the early years, and when they resurfaced with asphalt, as a nod to tradition they left three feet of the original bricks. To stand on this famous spot was exciting. Some people kissed the bricks, apparently a tradition for race winners. I took lots of pictures and the tour guide was nice enough to take one of me. On tv the track looks so huge, but standing there imagining race cars driving three wide at 230 mph the track seemed way too narrow. Too soon (maybe 10 minutes) they made us reboard the bus.
We drove past the track medical center and to the back of the famous “pagoda” building, a 10-story structure with track and race offices. The front of course faces the track. They brought us into the conference room where the post-race press conference is held, to the 350 seat media room, and to the timing and scoring area where dozens of people track race. At the end of that space was the broadcast television booth. Then we toured one of the suites, where for $50,000 you can bring 80 of your closest friends to watch the race. That, of course, does not include whatever you spend on catering. (Figure another $100 or so apiece.)
There is one strange aspect to these areas. Each one is filled with televisions. The media keeps track of the race through tv’s more than by watching, and yet the tv sets throughout the track are at least 15 years old. I was surprised. The tv in my room at the Courtyard by Marriott is nicer. I expect changes will be made soon.
Finally, they drove us through the garage area, known as “Gasoline Alley.” None of the garages were open but we could see the entire area.
The tour began and ended in the Hall of Fame and museum which houses numerous former race-winning cars. They have the first two and many others from the 20s through the 90s, but none from the current decade, which I thought was strange. Apparently most of these museum pieces still run. This year, I was informed, the first two race winners were driven on the track as part of the pre-race festivities. Wow. Those things are 100 years old and still run. I spent almost an entire hour in the museum itself. All in all the tour was great; completely living up to my expectations. Watching the race will never be the same again.
I went into downtown Indianapolis, which was quiet on this national holiday. I walked on their Canal Walk, which is a nice path next to a 19th century canal. I stopped by Lucas Oil Field, home of the Colts and site of this season’s Super Bowl. Unfortunately, they only offer tours on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
All in all a good day in Indy. On the road tomorrow to Cleveland. The weather is predicted to stay good for a couple more days, but rain is coming by the end of the week.
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