Big Ten Stadium Tour

My Big Ten Stadium Tour

This is a collection of my first road trips. I decided I wanted to see all the Big Ten football stadiums. This was great, I never knew how huge these places were. This was a great shake down for the bike and helped me see what changes I needed to make my ride comfortable. I took trips to all the stadiums I could reach in a one day roundtrip. Seeing how close some the teams are to each other helped explain the rivalry.

University of Michigan

Michigan

This stadium caught me of guard. I'm riding through the city, dealing with traffic. Then BOOM, big blue wall with a yellow M. You don't get a chance to really appreciate the size of the stadium because it is basically in the ground. When you enter from street level, you are at the very top of the stadium. I will it doesn't give the feel of a college stadium because you are basically in the middle of a city. I will still love to attend a game here,

Michigan State

Michigan State

I will say this felt like a college stadium. I felt nice riding through a campus setting. You can see basic campus signage and buildings. You can see the full size of this stadium, and I never knew how close they were to the University of Michigan. That makes the rivalry that more intense. They're only about an hour from each other. I would love to go a game between these two schools.

University of Illinois

Illinois

Honestly, I was not impressed by this stadium. From a distance I thought it was a large office building. The surrounding facilities weren't much better. The positive is how close the facilities were to each other. The practice field was across the street, and I met Coach smith as he walked out of the player facilities,

Indiana State University

Indiana

Talk about catching my attention. I saw that huge red and white Indiana about a mile away. This stadium is huge, and the design is amazing also. It has parts from the Battleship Indianapolis in the front of it. The coach's booth and scorer's tower are designed like the control tower of a battleship. I loved the campus like feel, and the overall size of the stadium, I could only imagine the amount of energy felt in a game.

Purdue

Purdue

This stadium is deceiving. Without Google Maps, I would have never found it. I felt like I was riding through a small suburb, made a left down a street. Then there was the top of the stadium. It's built on a hill, so you can't get feel for the size unless you go around it. It is a very nice layout, the player facilities looked amazing also. They were installing a new scoreboard while I was there. I enjoyed watching them work while I was eating my lunch.

University of Wisconsin

Wisconsin

This was a wild ride, got caught in a rainstorm, and a little confused because of some closed streets. This stadium is in the middle of a city. The city is also the state capitol so it's a little crowded. I was able to sneak into a parking garage to snap this photo. There was really nowhere else to park. I did go by the capitol building while I was there and ended up in a wedding photo shoot.

Northwestern

Northwestern

This was definitely the smallest stadium I saw. It is tucked away in the suburbs. Another stadium you won't find without Google Maps. I felt like I left the campus and went through the suburbs to the stadium. I did love the look of the grass field, and the cozy feel. The real advantage of this trip is that it was a 40-minute ride. I do want to try and make to a game this year.