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This blog is from Mike Morgan in Wauwatosa, Wis., which is a suburb of the one-time beer capitol of the world and current capitol of heavyweight motorcycles. It is dedicated to holding court on topics related to life, family, religion, politics, sports, exercise, music, taverns, the Simpsons and anything else I want to discuss.

Friday, August 20, 2010

A good walk and ride definitely not spoiled

What in the world does riding a Harley home to Milwaukee from Sturgis have to do with the PGA golf tournament? Well, more than you might think in my world when in a recent five-day span, I was lucky enough to spend two of those days enjoying two extremely unique activities.

One day, I’m riding with thousands of motorcycle riders around the scenic Black Hills of South Dakota and four days later I’m one of thousands of golf fans making the pilgrimage to the 92nd PGA golf tournament final round near Kohler.

As I walked, ran and slid my way around the hilly Whistling Straits course on a picture perfect Wisconsin summer Sunday, my mind kept wandering back to the wide open South Dakota skies that mesmerized me at the Sturgis Rally a few days earlier.

I’ve always felt that motorcycle riding has more in common with other outdoor sports like golf, skiing or boating than most might imagine. As different as motorcycling and golf may be, I couldn’t help but notice the high levels of passion and dedication shared by motorcycle enthusiasts in Sturgis and the golfers at Whistling Straits, many who came from other countries.

The “colors” of a motorcycle rally like Sturgis tend to be the black and orange of Harley-Davidson along with the logos of other motorcycle makers and many of the brands that you would expect at such an event. Throw in plenty of leather clothing, or lack of it, and you should get the picture.

While golfers gravitate toward polo shirts and floppy hats that would raise more than a few eyebrows at the bars in Sturgis, they were no less proud of showing their loyalty at the PGA. The only real difference was that there was a lot of Nike, Calloway and Taylor Made on display in Kohler instead of the Harley, S&S or J&P in South Dakota.

There is no doubt that Harley riding in Sturgis and “major” golf tournament like the PGA tend to attract an older crowd, but both are making their efforts to attract a younger demographic. It seems like there are now more younger riders in Sturgis congregating at campgrounds like the Buffalo Chip, Broken Spoke or Rock N’ Rev to see bands like Disturbed, Daughtry or Drowning Pool. The PGA went so far as to allow “juniors” under the age of 16 in for free, which let me bring my son and four of his friends, who likely wouldn’t have enjoyed the day of world class golf without that discount.

As for the sense of hearing, there is no question that PGA golf has a motorcycle rally beat by more than a few decibels. It’s somehow really hard to picture anyone holding their hands in the air to signal for quite while a biker does a burnout on Main Street in Sturgis. The closest the PGA got to rowdy was a guy trying to start the wave in the grandstands, so not exactly the same level of hell raising there.

One thing that both events did was show support for our troops. There were several military-related rides and a B-1 Bomber flyover in Sturgis, while PGA fans raised their eyes to a Stealth B-2 toward the end of the day.

Riding 850 miles from Rapid City, S.D. to Milwaukee at a “reasonable” speed is a long day of roughly 14 hours, which is almost the same door-to-door time I spent getting to the PGA in Kohler from Milwaukee.

My Harley ride from Rapid City was comprised almost exclusively of stunning views from the seat of a Road Glide Custom motorcycle on Interstate 90, while the day at the PGA was spent leading and chasing four 15-year-old boys, Tiger Woods and a few thousands others around the just as stunning views of Lake Michigan at Whistling Straits.

Unfortunately, my diet during these two events was equally nutritious, or lacking thereof. Pit shops on the motorcycle ride consisted of mainly of candy bars, Gatorade and an Arby’s Beef & Cheddar for lunch. I think I spent more on one brat and beer at the PGA than I did on food and fuel during the whole ride home from Sturgis, but thankfully we were allowed to carry in a whole bag of chips, candy and water to the golf tournament.

So take it from someone who attended Sturgis and a major golf tournament in the same week. Probably more than anything, both events also provide the chance for a special bonding between different generations, countries and races around a common passion, whether it be riding a motorcycle or hitting a golf ball.