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• 8 Seconds Saloon and Tremors Club

Tiffany Taylor, 21, rides a mechanical bull at 8 Seconds Saloon.

Click here to see the video of Neal riding the mechanical bull at 8 Seconds

9:30 p.m.

The building's exterior resembles a Quonset hut or gigantic bowling alley, but once inside 8.Seconds Saloon I always feel like I've been transported to the Double Deuce, the fictional setting of Patrick Swayze's timeless classic "Roadhouse." Of course, there isn't a mesh fence between the musicians and the audience, most of the bar's fights take place in a boxing ring or mixed-martial-arts cage, and there aren't any bouncers sporting feathered mullets and devastating kung-fu moves. But the boot-scootin' country vibe is the same.

The Professional Bull Riders are in town this weekend at Conseco Fieldhouse, and the bar is filling up for country-pop singer Chuck Wicks' performance later tonight.

Contemporary country music is blaring throughout the massive room, which right now is a sea of Stetsons and guys in jeans as tight as their girlfriends' denim. The middle of the room is occupied by line dancers, and hundreds of people are singing along to songs I've never heard before. A rider-less mechanical bull teeters in a far corner of the bar.

9:45 p.m.

Brad Hampton, Crawfordsville, started coming to 8.Seconds two years ago. The hour drive is worth it, because he feels comfortable here. The 29-year-old Hampton makes the drive most weekends except for fight nights, even though some of his friends compete in the cage matches.

A former pro bull-rider -- he started in high school, but injuries ended his career -- Hampton shoots the breeze about the differences between the mechanical bull and the real thing while we watch a string of first-timers get tossed off.

10:30 p.m.

Twenty one-year-old Tiffany Taylor has a simple analysis of her experience on the bull. "It was hard," she says.

My turn atop the bull came, and the operator took it easy on me. It's difficult but not impossible to stay atop the machine, but the ride takes its toll on your thighs and whichever arm you grip the handle with. I slid off unceremoniously and started to exit when Hampton challenged my manhood. Not one to ignore a petty insult or refuse an inane challenge, I clambered back on the bull for another ride.

I saw Hampton whisper something to the operator before the bull began to move and knew I was in for a rough ride. I dug my heels in, but 15 or 20 seconds is a long time to flex all the muscles in your body while staying loose enough to maintain your balance. The bull throws me more violently the second time around.