9/8/10 – Berkeley has a Challenger as the Most Liberal Town on Earth

The next time you find yourself riding aimlessly through Tomah, WI late at night when you’re cold and tired, I suggest you pull into the Lark Inn and stay the night. It’s just like an upscale version of Steve’s Superstore in SD, without the Rif-Raff loitering on the porch drinking beer.

I set-out from Tomah at 10:30 a.m. CMT and didn’t get very far before my throttle-lock came loose and wouldn’t lock my throttle. I tried to fix it on the fly, but no luck. Unfortunately, this is an esentiial component for long distance riding because stupid lawsuits have demanded that an extra set of springs be added on all motorcycle throttle's return mechanisms to ensure that if one spring breaks, the throttle won’t get stuck wide open. The downside is that the pressure of holding the throttle open creates carpal tunnel syndrome after a couple of hours riding. I MacGyvered the set-screws back into place with needle-nose pliers and a Swiss army knife. Tomorrow I’ll get a proper Allen wrench to tighten it up for good.

I was quickly back on the road with cruise control set at 70, under cool conditions, mostly sunny skies and puffy white clouds. WI is a stark contrast from the Great Plains; there are alternating thick stands of evergreen and deciduous trees, broken-up by lots of lakes, streams, and small fields of corn and dairy farms. The evergreen and deciduous trees seem very clannish and they rarely intermarry, preferring to stand separately. It’s starting to get cool in the northern Midwest and there are signs of autumn setting-in, as some of the leaves are starting to change color. The corn fields here in Wisconsin are tiny, approximately the size of the barbershop-casinos in SD. I suspect the farmers here have crop-envy of the big corn farms in MN.

I took a 3-hour detour into the State capitol of Madison and it was a brliantly good call. Madison is an isthmus between two sparkling lakes, Mendota and Monona, which are both sprinkled with sailboats and surrounded by U of W, lots of steeples,and smoke stacks. I parked right in front of the WI state capitol building and walked around, taking pictures and enjoying the sunshine. I like state capitol buildings and I will stop and take pictures of them whenever it’s convenient, because no matter how destitute a state is, there is always enough money available to maintain a beautiful capitol building for the bureaucrats, complete with gorgeous grounds and a lovely park. I also love the liberal mish-mash of Doric, Ionic and Corinthian columns that adorn all capitol buildings.

I stumbled across a lone protester; let’s call him Jordan, because that’s his name. He was sitting on the capitol steps holding a sign that read: “Throw Out Incumbents”. Sitting with him was a man we’ll call Mr. Kim who can only say one word in English, which is “Kim”, so we couldn’t tell whether Kim is his first or last name, but we’re pretty sure he’s Korean. Anyway, I had a great 30-minute chat with Jordan. He’s from Napa, CA and he’s a card-carrying member of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws [NORML]. He is protesting for his aunt who has MS and needs to smoke pot in order to get high and enjoy living with MS. As it turns out, Jordan is also afflicted with a debilitating condition that requires him to smoke medical marijuana in order for him to enjoy sitting on the steps of the capitol for hours on end holding a poorly written sign. Jordan has a degree in International Studies from U of W and he confided in me that he makes his living as an investor in a company called the Grass Roots of Oakland Philanthropic and Economic Coalition for Humanity [GROPECH] http://gropech.com/ . Jordan’s hoping GROPECH will soon go Public in an IPO so he can get rich and buy lots of pot.

I asked Jordan what he suggested for me to see in my short visit to Madison and he recommended that I go up to the U of W observatory, which is his favorite place to get high and "watch the sailboats float around". It was pretty cool, even without any drugs. As in most college towns, Madison is teaming with bicycles, scooters, joggers and detours caused by stimulus road construction. My tender bits were roasting as I slowly headed-out of Madison towards Milwaukee; I flipped to XM57, the 24/7 Grateful Dead station and the third song was a fitting tribute to my pal Jordan: “Driving that train, high on cocaine, KC Jones you’d better watch your speed…”.

I arrived in Milwaukee at around 7:00 and selected one of many motels boasting “Color TV and Free HBO”. Who’s the marketing genius behind the color TV campaign? I think it’s time for a new motel marketing gimmick; like “50-inch 1080p High-Def, with Free Porn and NFL Season Ticket”. Is it just me, or is football and porn a match made in heaven? I think I’ve missed my true calling.

After checking into a motel with free color TV, I called a close family friend who is from Milwaukee and we talked about my journey to-date and all the cool stuff I should do tomorrow; like drinking lots of beer to rehydrate from the long ride, seeing the Harley-Davidson museum, strolling along the river-walk, seeing Lake Michigan, etc. I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow.