What’s In That Bag? Bricks???
Written by Allan Brewer · April 25, 2007
Allan Brewer Blogs the Week Leading Up to the Kansas 300
by Allan Brewer
allan@fastmachines.com
Have you ever wondered about the exotic places and exciting encounters a real racing writer experiences as he trots around the globe covering glamorous drivers and teams, wining and dining at the most fabulous local establishments, chain-smoking and living hard all the way to the checkered flag?
Well, here’s your chance to see how it is through my eyes as I prepare to embark to another Indy Racing League IndyCar event, this time in Kansas City, for the Kansas Lottery 300 next Sunday evening (April 29th) at 4:30 PM EDT.
Today’s installment: What’s In That Bag? Bricks???
I read many years ago an interview of a stateside reporter for a big, international newspaper about what he packed in his travel bag so as to be ready to fly off at the drop of a hat to Timbuktu and cover the next coup d’etat.
The first thing he grabbed, he said, was his passport.
So without further ado, let’s get it out on the table: for racefans and racing journalists alike, DON”T FORGET THE TICKETS or the CREDENTIALS!!!
Actually, the correspondent remarked that he had two bags: one for clothes and personal items, and one for the gear he’d need to file his story.
Some things never change. Two bags is what I carry too.
One for the personal stuff and the clothes; another for the computer and tape recorder.
Let’s take a look into both of them, and maybe you’ll see that I like to travel light, but rarely meet that mandate.
In the personal bag are two cotton knit polo-shirts, and a permanent press pair of chinos. Thank God for permanent press. Just toss it over the shower-rod, turn up the hot water heater to max, and let nature do the rest.
There’s a bathrobe (never know who you might share space with in this biz) and some Birkenstocks (showing my age here).
There’s also a small draw-string bag full of the usual assortment of grooming items a male might expect to have onboard. Having all that stuff separate makes it easy to grab the bag and run into a shared bath, too, without having to carry provisions back and forth or the whole darned bag into the loo.
There’s some extra socks in a dark color (goes with anything) and a collapsible nylon bag that expands into a duffle in case I acquire trackside more than I left home with.
And then there’s what I’ve got on, which is mostly another cotton polo (a turtleneck if it’s cold out), permanent press trousers in a dark color (again, goes with anything), and maybe a sweater if it’s really going to be cold. Fortunately racecars don’t like cold any more than I do, so the sweater’s a rare accessory.
I used to wear my nice blue sportscoat on my back until dining out on expense account became a forgotten relic of the past. Now I just wear my Gore-Tex shell and figure if anyone asks me out to dinner at a nice place I’ll explain to them my good stuff is at the cleaners.
Like I do when someone asks about my Tux.
So that’s what’s in the bag that mainly lives in the trunk of the car or back at the motel.
Tomorrow I’ll tell you about what’s in “The Working Bag”.
I’ll bet you can’t wait!
Tomorrow: What’s In That Other Bag? More Bricks?
Yesterday: Eats for Free; Sometimes
Allan Brewer is a motorsports writer for Fastmachines.com, Motorsport.com and two websites of his own: IndyProRacer.com and A1TeamRacer.com on the internet. He’s a sometimes contributor to TrackForum and the IndyStar open-wheel forums…when he’s goofing off and supposed to be working!
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Make me remember why I retired from the goverment always going somewhere,also former special forces, at least you had running water. Hey thanks for the tip on the coke cookie jar. P.S. I asked my wife to marry me on the yard of brick. ED