Chasing Wisdom
In November Oran Sands set the world’s record for most roundabouts driven in one day. He did this by driving all 112 of Carmel’s roundabouts. Congratulations, Oran. But of course, setting a record tempts others to break it.
I packed my good friends Paul Poteet and Isaac Taylor into my little SUV and drove 112 Carmel roundabouts plus several in Westfield.
With the sponsorship of Bill Clifford for Sheriff of Hamilton County and Christina (Chris) Miller for Jackson Township Trustee, Paul, Isaac and I set off to drive more roundabouts than anyone else in the world!
Isaac set a lofty goal of 157, because it is a prime number and I adore primes. I had hoped to get to 139, then jump out of the truck and shout, “Happy Prime!” 139 is both a happy number and a prime number. We learned a lot about one another on this trip, and one of the things we all learned is that I am a numbers nerd.
But alas, Paul’s life does not in fact revolve around record attempts and he had another appointment which cut our trip short. At 133 roundabouts (neither happy nor prime), if the good folks at Guinness World Records accept our evidence, we may find that we have officially driven more than anyone else.
At least until someone else decides this is a good idea.
Let me assure you: it’s not a good idea.
We decided it would be best to drive each roundabout a minimum of 360 degrees to have officially driven the entire intersection. The human body did not evolve under that kind of repeated exposure to one-directional inertia.
So many left turns.
The good news for you is that you don’t need to drive over four hours to enjoy the humor and suffering of a world record attempt. You can just watch our video on Facebook.com/HamiltonCountyReporter or on our website, ReadTheReporter.com.
You’ll find our route, our maps – including two roundabouts not listed either on Google or City of Carmel maps – and even the song list that helped add a little humor to the trip.
Laugh. Like. Share. Comment. That’s what social media is all about.
Dear City of Carmel, Isaac, Paul and I would like you to apply to Guinness as the city with the most roundabouts on Earth. We are confident you own that.
By the way, this column is exactly 409 words long, which is both prime and happy.
Google it!