Cracks in the Concrete: A Motorcycle Odyssey Through Modern America

Hey Y’all - As I’ve been finding my way across this beautiful country, I’ve also been finding my way on how to make a blog work. While I haven’t been able figure out how to get google to start putting ads on my blog (a win for all of you but a loss for me), how to set up and transfer GoPro footage (I know - this is really a laziness issue), or how to get my iCloud photo album linked (an iCloud issue), I have figured out some other things that may impact how you choose to interact with this blog going forward.  Since I started this blog, many of you have been asking if there is a way to sign up for email updates, and the answer has always been a resounding “I don’t know”.  Until now.  Well actually, until about a month ago - I figured it out a few weeks back and added the option to the site, but it appears that nobody but me has discovered where the link to subscribe is. That or just none of y’all actually want to subscribe. If you are interested in subscribing for email n...

Apple Valley is a town/suburb south of St Paul, MN. Now you may be wondering why I’ve written 2 separate posts about the about the greater Twin Cities area. If I’m being honest though, I highly doubt any of you were thinking that. But I’m going to answer it anyways. Frankly, there are 3 reasons: 1. The Twin Cities aren’t actually as close to each other as you’ve been led to believe. Their city centers are actually 12 miles or a 20-30 minute drive apart. I kinda felt misled when I learned this.   2. Twins don’t like it when you treat them like they’re the same person, err city. You really need to meet both individually.   3. These posts already take forever to write and format. Keeping ‘em short(er) not only lets me pump ‘em out faster but also breaks it into more digestible chunks for y’all.  Alrighty, back to the point of this post. I went to Apple Valley to see my mom’s cousin, Diane, and her husband, Kevin (what a great name). If you remember Cheryl from my K...

At a gas station outside of Minneapolis, I met Squirley. I didn’t get a photo with Squirely, but picture a skinny guy in black with tattoo sleeves from his knuckles to the top of his neck and a bowler hat. Squirely came up to me to discuss the windshield and storage I had rigged up on Harriet as he also rides an Interceptor 650 among other bikes. We ended up getting into a real fun conversation about the new 750cc bike in the works that Royal Enfield has teased. The conversation was emblematic of a trend I’ve noticed on this trip: riding a motorcycle - particularly a classical styled, rarer/less mainstream bike like an Enfield - generates a ton of opportunities for conversation and connection that otherwise never would have happened.   In Minneapolis, I went to my friend from college, Maria’s, for dinner, where I caught some of the rain delayed Notre Dame game and met some her Minneapolis friends.  Dinner at Maria's featuring a roast, sweet potatoes, brussels sprouts, and...

As I approached the North Dakota border, the skies opened up and I got thoroughly drenched. Rolling into North Dakota, I immediately picked up a strange, off putting smell in the air - almost like a mix of agribusiness fertilizer and industrial oils. Having gotten a later start than hoped for, I didn’t pull into Fargo until about 4:30 and thus missed out on some of the most compelling attractions (a Scandinavian music performance at the local library and a funky modern art museum). Not feeling quite up to a corn maze in my wet state, I rode then walked around NDSU’s campus, then went to the Fargo visitor’s center to see the biggest tourist draw in the city: the wood chipper from the tv show Fargo. Some pretty flowers at NDSU This one kinda reminds me of Sorin Hall at Notre Dame NDSU's campus had a lot of this yellow brick with red roof and trim - they were neat, but the campus as a whole was not the most interesting or beautiful I've seen A fraudulent replica of the wood chippe...