Friday, June 18, 2010

Cushman Riders Descend on Town of Sturgis

Associated Press - June 17, 2010 6:15 AM ET
STURGIS, S.D. (AP) - There's a roar of a different color reverberating through Sturgis this week. Instead of riding on Harley Davidsons, more than 1,000 people are cruising around town on
Cushman Motor Scooters. The Cushman scooter started production in 1936, but club member Carl Redman says it took a little while for the craze to set in. The company quit making the scooter in 1965.

When I heard that Cushman riders were having their rally in Sturgis, I imagined what the streets would look like lined with Cushmen, er, Cushmans, whatever. So I went to a web cam that features Sturgis in real time.
What would the streets would look like lined with... shall we say "industrial vehicles?" The turnout appeared to be slightly overestimated. The street seemed to be lined with ones of scoots, while twos cruised the boulevard. Maybe the bars are all packed and the industrial vehicles are parked out back.

Ok, ok, I thought I would have a little fun with the scooter guys. But the fact is that I think Cushman scooters are cool, and I doubt that they care what I think anyway, but if I had a Cushman I'd be at the Cushman Rally. I would also bet that if the Sturgis Harley Rally was limited to those bikes made from 1936 to 1965, there would be far fewer in attendance.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

The Bridges of Highway 5

Highway 5 runs through California, Oregon and Washington. All the way from Mexico to Canada, but the section between Buttonwillow and Redding is where these bridges are located. There are several dozen bridges, each several miles apart, that allow county roads to cross the highway.
The country is open and treeless, the bridges nondescript. And that is why you will find a California Highway Patrolman under or behind several of these bridges. The question is; which ones?