Thunder in the heartland

tat2kc · Post by **tat2kc** » Sat Aug 23, 2003 11:40 am

Is anyone going to "Thunder in the Heartland"? Apparantly KC is one of 8 national rendevous points for the Harley-Davidson 100th anniversary ride to Milwaukee. The bikers begin to arrive today, and the big festival is tomorrow, at Liberty Memorial's north lawn and Union Station. Pershing Rd is to be closed, and Main St, between 20th and 27th is to be closed and set up as a parking lot for the bikes. They estimate between 20,000 and 40,000 people will be down here. Music, trick riding, entertainment and such all day on Sunday. It sure looks like fun, and I am definately walking over there to check it out. I'd ride my Vespa, but even i'm not that brave!

more info at www.visitkc.com and
www.harley-davidson.com

KCPowercat · Post by **KCPowercat** » Sat Aug 23, 2003 2:55 pm

My dad has become a "harley guy" so he will be down there...I'll probably check it out although hearing "The Devil went down to Georgia" live isn't one of my life goals....

We planned to go to Jack Stack afterwards but that might be crazy busy.

tat2kc · Post by **tat2kc** » Sun Aug 24, 2003 2:50 pm

Just came back from the festival. First of all, it was WAY too damn hot! main st. was blocked off, from 20th to 27th. from side to side, the entire length of the street, was row after row after row of bikes. Huge crowds of people checking out everything. Union Station was packed! There was a big range of people, from stereotypical biker dudes to families with kids. Everyone seemed to be having a good time.

These are the kinds of things the city should have 3 or 4 times a year. It was a good way to showcase downtown KC, to both residents and visitors. An outdoor festival, in the spring, summer, and fall would go a long way to dispel the myths that downtown is dead. The only problem I saw was the excessive heat. It was really pretty miserable. Even that had a positive side though, because Union Station, Crown Center and the Sky Bridge were all packed with people.

Good2Great · Post by **Good2Great** » Sun Aug 24, 2003 4:55 pm

Ditto what Tat2kc said! It was a great event and I'd planned on staying all day, but with tens of thousands of hot engines and black pavement...damn hot! I'm a runner the heat was too much for me, not to mention a temporary shortage of water.

Regardless it was a great event. If anyone's interested, Worth Harley North (Gladstone) is having an open house.bbq tomorrow from 11-4.

Peace!

KCPowercat · Post by **KCPowercat** » Sun Aug 24, 2003 10:02 pm

tat...of topic but do you know what's going on that the DB? I was at Town Topic yesterday and there was a huge crane there taking the sign down?

Post by **dangerboy** » Sun Aug 24, 2003 11:44 pm

tat2kc wrote:These are the kinds of things the city should have 3 or 4 times a year. It was a good way to showcase downtown KC, to both residents and visitors. An outdoor festival, in the spring, summer, and fall would go a long way to dispel the myths that downtown is dead.

Um, we already have those events that draw tens or hundreds of thousands of people. Of course the more the better, but 6 isn't too shabby.

1. Irish Fest (first time is next weekend)
2. Spirit Fest
3. Oktoberfest
4. Air show
5. St. Patrick's Day Parade
6. American Royal

tat2kc · Post by **tat2kc** » Mon Aug 25, 2003 6:58 am

The DB has had a leak in the roof near the front of the buildding, and the water leaked down just behind the brick facade. They have to remove and replace a good portion of the brickwork and fix the roof, and replace an i-beam.

Good2Great · Post by **Good2Great** » Mon Aug 25, 2003 1:58 pm

Tat2kc, wish I had know you were going. You could have hopped on the back and experienced it 3-D!

tat2kc · Post by **tat2kc** » Mon Aug 25, 2003 4:20 pm

that would have been a cool, but short ride! i'm only a block away from 20th and main! So tell me, Good, just how hot was it on a bike, wearing long pants/leather riding gear?

Good2Great · Post by **Good2Great** » Mon Aug 25, 2003 9:07 pm

I'm willing to sacrifice a little safety for the sake of comfort. I'm a jeans and t-shirt rider. Leather would kill me.

Actually riding wasn't uncomfortable at all. It was walking by 30,000 hot engines on blacktop in 100+ heat. At one point the event even ran out of water.

All in all it was pretty cool.