Gameday Saturday

I rode around campus again today to observe the festivities leading up to the Purdue/Notre Dame game at noon. It’s always a big deal, and the game has been sold out for several weeks.

As I reached the edge of campus, I rode past the RV park area along SR26, and there were quite a few pre-game tailgates. I continued on to the village area to see the Breakfast Clubbers. The crowd there was large and loud, but pretty well behaved. The police that had sidewalk duty seemed to be having a good time watching all of the students looking and acting stupid.

Heading north, I stopped at the Circle K for a water and then on to Cherry Lane at the top of the stadium lot. This is where the action really was. Tailgaters here have earned their place through years of attendance and early morning line ups to get the primo parking spots. I rode down the west side of the stadium to visit my co-workers manning the tailgate tent. They were too busy to chat, but it looked like everyone was having a good time.

Next, it was over to University Street to watch the Notre Dame band march to the Stadium. After about 20 minutes, they came by with their full complement – no puny pep band for the Irish. The drums pounded out a cadence (including a couple of tempo changes – pretty cool), while the band chanted enthusiastically in call and response format. I wish they would have played a song, but it was still neat to watch.

As expected, Purdue won.

Even though the streets are crowded on game days, I feel pretty safe riding around because of the slow speeds and numerous police officers directing traffic. It’s a fun day.

Miles Ridden: 10.2

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