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Las Vegas 2006

Lucky me! I have to go to an International Fair for business in the Venetian Conference Centre, Las Vegas, Nevada; well someone has to do it! With Jen (the long suffering Mrs. Badcock) being a company director she could come too. So why waste a 10 hour flight on only a two day exhibition; so I've got my friend Lee J.Curcio with his better half Ivonne coming into town for the weekend then Jen and I are getting a Harley Owners Group (H.O.G.) Fly Ride from Las Vegas HD.

The HOG Fly Ride is brilliant and with the current exchange rate I get seven days for $570 which is a great deal; so we are doing a tour - the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, out to Monument Valley then a circular via the South Rim and back to Vegas over the Bolder Dam. Here is the route:

Coincidentally HOG Tales, the regular newsletter of the Harley Owners Group has a four page article about the exact route I have planned and it looks awesome. So we are all set, bike is booked, flights booked and hotel in Vegas booked; roll on 22nd March!

21st March and my bags are packed and Taxi is blowing his horn - well almost!

22nd March 2006.

Day 1 is here and now as I write this from Gatwick Airport at 09:00. It was an early start and Jono volunteered to get up at 04:00 to drive us up to Newcastle Airport; what a guy! Very pleasant on time flight to Gatwick and the usual lazing around then rush rush when the flight is called. We now have a 10 hour flight to Dallas Fort Worth before our American Airlines onward flight to Las Vegas. I've started a matrix with all the trip mileages and costs so you can see what it costs and what we do with the time we have in US of A, follow the link button 'Facts and Figures' below.

Here I am at 35,000ft in Business Class, what a stroke of luck. We had tickets for World Traveler (normal class) and because I am a member of British Airways frequent flyer programme and they were overbooked in World Traveler and World Traveler Plus both Jen and I got bumped up two grades to Business Class; wow! A bed for the 10 hour flight to Dallas/Fort Worth has got to be good news, I will have to check with my friend who works at British Airways as he always marks my computer entry as SFU (Suitable For Upgrade). So things are looking up, I wonder if by Sunday the North Rim Grand Canyon Roads will have opened up? Somehow I doubt it, but in the Garmin GPS 2610 I have plans A through to D depending on the forecasts, no point in flying half way round the World to get similar riding conditions as England when if I play my cards right I should be able to follow the Sun. Well all I need now is a suitable broadband hook up to upload this diary to my webpage - I think a couple of hours with my Rosetta Stone DVD should keep my amused with my French lesson. Later, Dave

23rd March Thursday 2006

Our first full day in Vegas and a bright blue sky and wonderful warm temperatures, breakfasted and into the ASI Exhibition. Brilliant day with lots of new ideas and products and Lee and Ivonne joined us from Houston. I also managed to catch up with the Archers, via the Internet!

24th March Friday 2006

Got to visit the Largest Harley Dealer in the World, Las Vegas; well maybe? Barnetts in El Paso, TX say they are, Daytona new HD say they are, well I guess they may be the largest in a different area, square feet, sales value, number of bikes - suffice it to say it was BIG and had loads of stuff, I particularly liked the board track display of two vintage bikes racing, this is the best shot I could get:

I also got some parts, two for Joe Horsefield and one for me but I resisted the temptation to buy yet another t-shirt as I hope to go to some other Harley Dealers with a little more interesting back prints than Las Vegas which every tourist buys! Bradee Beddoes had the task of serving me and did a mighty fine job; I even promised to make him infamous by posting his mug shot!

Well more food to eat, more slots to play and only one full day before I pick up my Road Glide - oh and by the way it has the tour pak and rack so we are 'Set to Go'!

PS here is another good Americanism I picked up today:

SOL = Shit Outa Luck! I got to use that sometime soon; Later from LV.

25th March Saturday 2006.

The plan was some R&R by the pool, a visit to the Imperial Palace Hotel Car Museum and Blue People. The Sun did not play its part in our plan but the Imperial Palace Car museum is a little known gem nestling in the back of the Imperial Palace Hotel on the Strip and what's more you can get in for free. Having Lee with us and his inside knowledge not only of where the museum was located but by gambling a little and visiting the ticket office on the gambling floor free vouchers were available for the usually priced $6.95 entry fee. One of the unusual features of the exhibition is that most of the exhibits are actually for sale. This unique factor means the museum is a living changing kaleidoscope of car mania's dreams. They had every car style imaginable and a couple of neat bikes too. My favourite had to be the Mustangs in all their guises, Jono would have liked the Dodge Charger just like the Dukes of Hazards drive and Lee loved the T'birds. If you are in Vegas take the time to visit.

A superb Cadilac and 1947 Indian Chief.

26th March Sunday 2006.

Bit like New York I find Las Vegas too in your face and 'up' and today was break out time. I need the wide open spaces that come with riding a Harley through Nevada and Arizona. But first things first and time for a Caesar's Palace, Cafe Lagos buffet breakfast. Once more Lee's inside knowledge of all things Vegas paid of with a wonderful good value, at $14.50 each, buffet breakfast. Eggs Benedict are a tasty start to the day! Room mucked out and vacated and it was the Shuttle bus, with Bob - our SOL guy - to take us to Las Vegas Harley Davidson for our pm pick up; as an aside whilst on the bus I learnt my daily Americanism 'Bolt Ons' this is the slang for silicone enhanced 'Hooters' which is how the conversation on the bus was steered towards that particular gem of the female anatomy!

Maureen Steele soon had the paperwork sorted and let me get the Road Glide earlier than my after noon scheduled pickup, what a girl. The Road Glide is the great grandson of my all time favourite Harley the FXRT. The unique thing about the FXRT and now this 2006 Road Glide is the frame mounted fairing. This frame mounted fairing bike was not popular in Europe so was dropped from the line up about 2002 but it remains a firm favourite of the American bikers. The biggest difference I noticed with this '06 bike was the very light clutch lever operation which was especially good in the walking pace traffic for the five miles up to and over the Hoover dam. Jen noticed a big difference in the lower comfort levels compared to my FLHTCUI I ride in UK; but I was happy to be on the road again with the familiar throbbing of a Milwaukee vibrator between our thighs.

The planned routes A, B, C and D were all shelved due to the inclement weather on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon and our strong desire to visit Monument Valley. I will keep a Streets and Trips (US version of Microsoft Autoroute) of the actual route and publish it at the end of the ride to show how very much the plan has changed! On the Road by 1.30pm and soon following the clear instructions from the Garmin 2610, which had the added benefit of the version 7 of the map set for North America, South out of town on US95 and onto US93 at Boulder City towards the Hoover Dam. Just south of the Hoover Dam we stopped at Rosies, the stereo typical American Roadside Diner. Onto Mother Road Harley Davidson to get Lee a Route 66 t-shirt; alas the store was closed when we got there due to the heavy Hoover Dam traffic and the hour we lost by crossing into another time zone; but we were now onto Route 66 and it is definitely where I get my kicks!

I had used Map Source to find the Hualapai Lodge Motel in Peach Spring where I thought would be a good place for a staging point to visit the new Skywalk at Supi - but two problems.

a). The Skywalk is not finished yet and 2.) it is not at Supi but at Grand Canyon West a re-tracing of our ride by 50 miles! What to do, an extra 100 miles to view an attraction that is not even open yet or to ride on as planned? Watch this space for our decision.

27th March Monday 2006

Skywalk can wait for another day! An early start got our breakfast at 06:30 and on the road by 07:30; champion. Here is Jen on Historic Route 66, and apparently the section between Kingman and Seligman is the best part of the whole route. It was a cool ride and as we started to climb towards Flagstaff it got progressively cooler, and at an altitude of 6,000 feet it got to bloody freezing. But this time we were ready for it! Jen was missing our heated Corbin seat on the '03 Anniversary Glide though. Many people ride the Mother Road, Route 66, all the way from Chicago to Los Angeles, which I think could be quite a chore. It would be similar to riding from South Shields to London on the old A1, I am sure parts of it exist but all the road signs try to get you on the M1 and many parts of what were the old A1 now have different numbers, like the A167 from Chester le Street to Darlington but the section of US66 from Kingman to Seligman is a superb historical sojourn in time.

At Seligman we travel West on I40, at the posted limit of 75mph officer, to US64 and head due North to Grand Canyon Village. We inadvertently stumbled on a small gem at Valle-Williams in the form of The Air Museum Planes of Fame. In the car park is a working example of a Constellation. This one was used by General McCarthy in the late 40's and early 50's - just as I was busy being born. The Constellation was the first trans Atlantic flyer used by all the major air lines and I remember seeing them from the Queens Building at Heathrow when Buzz (my British Airways friend) and I would be collecting plane numbers. It was the time when the Comet 4C was taking over with this new fangled Jet Engine deal. We met the museum director Bob Reed who obviously loved his job keeping these historic planes in good flying order. Shirley was our personal guide and exuded her enthusiasm for the museum to us; I thought we'd not get out until we'd completed a test on our newly obtained plane knowledge. You have got to stop by just for the friendly welcome from Shirley, Sharon and Bob; also for their highly recommended 'Rest Rooms' that so far come second to those found in Caesars Palace on Las Vegas Boulevard!

North to Grand Canyon village which we skirted around for our renewed awe-inspiring view of that big hole in the ground meekly named the Grand Canyon. In this day and age of spin and hype I wonder how we'd name this natural wonder of the World today, as we know the common place stuff is billed as awesome but if you want a true definition of awesome then you come and sit a spell at the edge of the South Rim of the Grand Canyon; I defy you not to be moved to tears. None of our pictures can do it justice; indeed I bet some photographers spend a lifetime of waiting and watching for that perfect moment to capture the majesty of nature - "I walk in beauty, I see beauty before me, I see beauty behind me, I see beauty above me, I walk in beauty" this Navajo chant says it all; except "We ride a Harley in all this Beauty".

Grandview Point was the first tourist center for the Grand Canyon and people used to have to tolerate a 12 hour stage coach ride from Flagstaff, about an hour now, before arriving at Grand View Point for their first glimpse of the Canyon. We flashed along with cruise on our Road Glide listening to my Sony Walkman MP3 via the new Hardon Karmen sound system, "I listen in Beauty too!" Last time Jen and I rode this road we bought a slate painted Navajo item and there are many road side vendors selling Navajo stuff. Being early in the season we almost had the road to ourselves; except for the snow and cold it was perfect -but having the right gear and a newly resurfaced black top all was right in the World.

Whilst making trip plans I always try to cram in too much so being 'off plan' and just winging it meant that I could enjoy the moment; which is the way motorcycling should be. The best three rules for good riding are:

1. Your daily ride should be as long as you would have a pleasurable Sunday ride. This changes for all but for me 250 to 350 miles is fine. 2. Avoid riding in the rain. Mostly you can sit out rain as it is no fun riding in it. This for me is a tough rule as I take the Norwegian view that there is no such thing as bad weather but only bad gear! My FXR suite works fine and keeps me toasty warm and dry but I do understand this rule and would prefer never to ride in rain. 3. The last rule is never ride in the dark. So far we have adhered to this one. My last big trip I took exception to this rule and beefed up my headlights and running lights to specifically ride in the dark across Death Valley thus avoiding the killing heat of the day - rules are to be broken!

Exiting the Canyon onto US89 North we headed up to Page, we made our third and final retail therapy opportunity stop at a Navajo trade stall and sat a spell with Lisa. She told me more stories about 'Kokopelli' the Navajo Indian from 200AD who was adorning my new belt buckle - he was quite a lad! Seen by some as a God and by others as a nuisance! Very apt for me! This picture shows Lisa's lay by on US89 just North of Willow Springs as you begin the climb to Page.

Page has a lot to offer, it had pavements! This is unusual and what's more we used them to walk around the place. I joined the Best Western frequent user programme and immediately got a discount from the Wigan supporter in reception. Rack rate of $65 and frequent user rate of $48; $17 in my pocket is better than in Mr.Best Westerns pocket! All this and a high speed wireless connection; oh what joy! I wonder where we are headed tomorrow?

Night, Dave.

28th March Tuesday 2006.

First stop of the day was at Glen Canyon Dam, this dam is the one that created Lake Powell, a very popular holiday destination for many people. Page is the town associated with Lake Powell and as such there are boats. Loads of boats! The lake is really short of water which shortage has been associated to climate change.

Well today the only set item on the agenda was Monument Valley and perhaps a short day in the saddle. The gateway to monument valley is Kayenta, a simple 100 mile ride. We did stop off at Antelope Canyon as we had heard good things about it but the trip was $21 each and did not start 'till after 9 and the weather was looking decidedly iffy so we set off for Kayenta. As an aside Jen came out with a gem of "Once you've seen one rock you seen 'em all!"

Crossing a low visual impact area of mining (scruffy hole!) we stopped for coffee and gas and bumped into Tony an Ex Hackney, Ex Paratrooper, Ex Hawaiian Surfer now in the guise of a Red Bull Area Sales Manager! He was cool to talk to and gave us our first cans of Red Bull stating that a cocktail of Red Bull, Vodka and Viagra were a recipe for an interesting evening! More later.

Kayenta had a Best Western that we checked out, it was a little early to be sorting our nights accommodation so onto Monument Valley. It straddles Arizona and Utah on the Navajo reservation. Without the set perfect blue skies we did not get the best of the valley. Not arriving at Sunrise or Sunset we did not get the best of the Valley. Even so it was a spectacular sight and the visitors centre was good too; loads of Navajo craft stuff. I noticed a new visitors centre under construction so visitors of the future will benefit.

It was still real early so with the inclement weather Jen wanted to chase the sun and was prepared to put her butt to the test to ride some serious miles and head South for Sun and Sedona. I was enjoying the riding and getting confident enough to push the Road Glides performance envelope. We were prepared for a long cold hard ride. Flagstaff was soon in our sights and at 6,670 ft we had sleet! There was snow at the side of the road but the road surface was fine and we had made good progress. South of Flagstaff we got onto US89Alt. The scenery changed and as we descended a couple of thousand feet it got warmer.

At the top of the road we were treated with Alpine pass style switchbacks with greasy wet roads and rain close to sleet - Jen summed it up with a 'Challenging Ride' title.

Sedona is a picture perfect place and our first hotel stop was full but that was a result because we found a room at La Vista Motel. We enjoyed a wonderful Italian meal at Hideaway, which was well hidden away but well worth the search, fantastic and we immediately decided that Sedona needed two days!

29th March Wednesday 2006.

Sedona. Sedona Arizona. Sedona Arizona United States of America. I just had to say it three times. You gotta come, if you like scenery they have it. If you like Indian, they have it in spades and if you like Laundry then George has the best Laundromat ever! We've had a brilliant day. Firstly I got a FREE internet fast connection, secondly we did laundry and finally we had a Pink Jeep ride with Daniel: But of course the day was much more than that!

Whilst walking the sidewalks of Sedona checking out all the cool stores we stumbled upon probable the best Native American Store on the planet. Sure I'd been in a bigger more flash Sioux mega Native store in Rapid City, SD but this one actually had a sign up for trading Buffalo Skins! Seven rooms of pure joy to the Navajo fan at Clear Creek Trading Limited. We also met a couple on a Glide who were down from near Orange County Choppers, NY chasing the Sun with no luck in finding it like us! They told us a must see place was Jerome which was the largest town between the East and San Francisco at the end of the 1800's. It was full of miners, cowboys and whores! It went into a ghost town as times change and those old professions move on but in the late sixties was opened up by Hippie 'Tribes', so that town is on the plan for Thursday - it also has a challenging mountain pass style road so it at least needs to be dry and preferably warm.

Free WiFi Internet at a neat little cafe was a real bonus. At Ballys in Vegas it was $10.99 per 24 hours of connection; out here in the sticks free; go figure. I got Hacienda Harley Davidson, Scottsdale, AZ's number from the HD dealer locator on the web and called Ernie in parts and yes he had the last items on Joe Horsefield's wish list so I reserved them and planned to meet up with Ernie in Parts on Saturday when we are scheduled on their poker run (another little vignette for Andy in Parts at HarleyWorld Chesterfield!). Fed and Watered we made our way to the Pink Jeep pick up point where Daniel our tour guide introduced himself.

Daniel was spectacular and typical loud American, of which you know I can match volume for volume, but when he introduced himself to Jen she was her usual quiet reserved self; so Daniel said "My your quiet" to which she replied "Well I am not an American!" harsh but true. Two hours in the Pink Jeep and a stroll around Red Rock Canyon was an excellent aside to a biking trip. We saw deer and the remains of a carnivores' feast on an Elk. We saw Mesas (wider than tall and flat on top) Buttes (wider than tall and curved on top) and Spires (taller than wide) (see Daniel I was practicing my listening skills as my daughter Natalie advised!). Daniel rounded the trip of by showing us a spectacular sunset viewing spot.

The perfect day was topped of with the perfect meal once more at Hideaway.

30th March Thursday 2006.

Happy birthday Ivonne Curcio! I got wronged for not mentioning our good friends the Curcio's so Happy birthday Ivonne - well it saved on a card!

Today we planned to get to the start of Arizona Bike week by riding US89 Alt. to Tempe in Phoenix AZ. The ride from Flagstaff to Sedona on US89Alt. had been challenging in the wet with a slight sleet falling but today was bright and clear, if a little chilly, so the omens were good for a nice ride; and we were not disappointed. An excellent biking road and worthy of the adjective as best biking road I've been on. BUT I have now said that so many times. I have ridden well over 250,000 miles on various Harleys and been on many roads which are the best ever but have now reached the wisdom of it is not just the road it is the moment too. When asked about why we ride bikes many rely on the adage of "If I have to explain you would not understand", which is fair enough as a cop out! The reason we ride is because we are experiencing the moment, not thinking about what was or what is to be, just the moment we are in. It is the speed of the bike, the balance of the bike, the road, the road conditions, the gear selected, the passenger as one with you, the beauty around you all in that one moment - and we had all day of it. Bliss. Words are inadequate to describe so really - "If you don't ride, I cant explain"!

As we went through Jerome we saw about ten bikes parked at a cafe and stopped to have breakfast. This group were riding buddies from New Hampshire on rental bikes chasing the Sun and like us getting more cold than they bargained for. Indeed they had the added ignominy of knowing the weather was better back home in New Hampshire where in fact the snow we had experienced really belonged!

To add to my days joy my newly acquired 588 waypoints of all USA Harley Dealers' gave me two retail opportunities at Prescott AZ and Arrowhead HD in Sun City. Suzi Clemens, an Apache, served my with my usual t-shirt order of one for Lee (see two mentions today) and one for Barry Soanes and it would be rude not to get one for myself! Mind it is not as if I need another Harley shirt. The Prescott 'boutique' store of Grand Canyon HD is set in picture perfect surroundings, in Whiskey Row! We parked next to a Gold Wing who had more 'toys' than my Glide; he actually had a Garmin GPS2720 which I think is the newest version that also has dead reckoning for when you lose satellites. I had not experienced lost satellites whilst in USA as there are usually enough good links to give an accurate fix which is why us Europeans should be supportive of the Galileo project to put up our own system which will give us a much better European coverage than the present USA GPS system gives. But just as I was extolling the virtues of no lost satellites I went under a long tunnel on the Phoenix ring road, trying to find a Best Western on the other side of town, on a six lane highway, in rush hour with an impending off ramp whose number I did not know - then you lose satellites!

Arrowhead HD is a good one and the best thing was there was a bench in the sun where Jen could chill out whilst I did my store thing!

31st March Friday 2006.

First call of the day was to Superstition Harley Davidson. It is out to the East of town by about 20 miles and when we got there they were setting up for the party tonight. Quite a store and one we'd love in England but are a dime a dozen over here.

I asked about local rides and parks and was told about a Vietnam Veterans park so we bought some snacks and set off to have lunch. Whilst lunching I was checking out my local map and noticed a scenic drive out towards Roosevelt Dam, so lunched we went.

Just as the ride started there was a ghost mining town, we checked it out and it was very commercial so went straight onto the ride. It was a good decision. The road was the 'best' (we'll not go into all that philosophising about 'best' again!) and we were having Fun Riding our Bike!

The road twisted and snaked for 20 miles when we came across Tortilla Flats. An old Dutchman set up this restaurant in the early 1900's and it was still serving food today. Many people had made the effort to get out here and lots were on bikes. It reminded me of Hartside Cafe and Pass on a summers Sunday. I highly recommend US86 out to Theodore Roosevelt Lake as an interesting and rewarding ride; lunch at Tortilla Flats would not be a bad idea either!

We met a true country Arizonian and his kids sitting in back of his '54 Ford truck, sitting a spell and chewing the fat with this guy was interesting, he somehow thought we were Norwegian - perhaps our twinning with Bergen Chapter is rubbing off after all these years!

We both decided today not to stay the third night at The Best Western Inn of Tempe as the three hundred mile ride back to Vegas on Sunday morning was looking a bit daunting, the new plan was to do the Hacienda HD poker run, pick up Joe's parts and head towards Vegas sometime Saturday afternoon. The only flaw in this plan is the lack of civilisation on US93. Wickenburg was just North West of Phoenix then nothing to Kingman; we'll see.

1st April Saturday 2006.

When I decided to ditch Plans A through to D for the actual route to take due to severe weather restrictions I surfed the web to find an alternate plan. Part of that surfing showed up that it was in fact the start of Arizona Bike Week on Friday 31st March through to Sunday 7th April in the Scottsdale area of Phoenix AZ, so I delved deeper and found that Hacienda Harley Davidson had a charity Poker Run on Saturday 1st April as one of the many cool events scheduled for Bike Week.

First things first though and I had an appointment with Ernie the fastest parts man in the West (sang to the tune of Ernie the fastest Milkman! for you Benny Hill fans). Ernie had parts. I had called him from Sedona and asked for the final parts on Joe's wish list and he had 'em all except the left side tour pak light lamp holders but it was a good result for Joe. The only thing now missing of his wish list was the deluxe smoked Panacea Kuryakyn tail light for a V Rod and as any parts man will tell you Kuryakyn don't make that part yet!

Now the poker run. Brilliant organisation and setting for what the touring motorcyclists needs, that is like minded Harley Riding company and a route designed to give the local riders a good interesting ride. I had checked in via the website and was soon 'goodied' out with a route, a free (full H-D specification) t-shirt and a bag of items including a promotional trowel? First stop Chuys, which just happened to be 19 miles South and about 200 yards from the Best Western Inn of Tempe we had just rode up from! Next stop was Lakeshore restaurant at Saguaro Lake.

When the guy at the card station suggested the weather was better than South Shields I took him to task but I think I lost! At this stop we met Foto Bob who chatted to us before our departure for Mama's Italian Kitchen in Fountain Hills. It was here we noticed a young lady with a side arm! When questioned this was a .38 and capable of killing a person, she also carried a knife, mace, pepper and CS sprays! Her riding partner not only had a .38 but a fully automatic .44 too! We'd seen signs in government buildings requesting the unloading of guns but now were confronted with normal US citizens who exercised their right to bear arms - it was a different World when you consider that on my last flight I'd had a Swiss Army Bijou key ring knife confiscated as a lethal weapon! For sure I did not want to piss these two off so gave 'em a pen.

Stop 4 was Cocomo Joes on Tatum Blvd. which Foto Bob offered to lead us too with his local knowledge. I'd been doing fine with the find search on the GPS which some thought was cheating but when they realised we were from England they cut me some slack. Following Bob was a good choice for he knew a more scenic route with about the same riding distance as the GPS said but with GPS route was much more urban. Unfortunately for Foto Bob his Poker Sheet blew out of his back pocket on the desert road, I did see it go, I did stop and look but I did not find it so Foto Bob was SOL!

Stop 5 and the final card was at Community Church of Joy which as the name suggests was a Lutheran religious school campus. Very friendly reception with cold water and shinny beads as a welcome.

The final stop was at the Roadhouse, Cave Creek, AZ. This was some set up and a bike officiandos dream location. There were all sorts of bike related stuff on show and on sale. There was a very nice Indian Chief in the parking lot along with some very cool customs and a few Boss Hoss V8 powered bikes.

On checking our Poker hands Jen had a pair of Queens and therefore a souvenir Poker Run Sheet and I had a straight - 5,6,7,8 and 9! Second place so far. Brilliant, coming all this way and getting second place just at the 2:45 deadline. We had some miles to ride before our scheduled Wickenburg overnight but a $750 second prize was worth waiting for. Prize giving scheduled for 4:30 so we picked up our free lunch bag and chilled.

We noticed people were still being encouraged to hand in their poker hands so at about 4:00pm I check how my straight was doing and I had dropped to third, still a $500 prize so we waited. At about one minute to the prize giving I was advised my judge had marked my card incorrectly and I had an Ace high! Talk about pissed off; we had hung around for two hours and had miles to burn! Now it was my turn to be SOL!

But to keep it all in perspective we had ridden a brilliant 140 mile circuit, met with some really nice folks and helped support a worthwhile charity (and got Joes parts) so all in all a good day in the saddle.

Now Wickenburg. We'd stayed in this Wickenburg Best Western before and eaten at the Bar Seven restaurant before and were in for a real treat. Rodeo was in town and Rib Steak was on the menu, blow my Weight Watchers I had a 12oz Rib Special dinner and it was the very best steak I'd ever had, phewee!

2nd April Sunday 2006.

Last day in the saddle and a brain teaser to start with. The clocks had sprung forward, we'd be moving into Pacific Time zone and had to have the bike in Vegas by 4pm! We could be 2 hours out easy if we did the numbers wrong so to make sure we had a bright and early start and US93 north to Kingman all on our own. The limit was 65 but I had the cruise at 85, the MP3 with Elvis on full and in heaven - what a sunrise ride, breakfast in Dennys Kingman and we were set to go.

Still in my high speed cruise mode I rode at 85mph towards Rosie's on US93 just South of Hoover Dam and should have known better that Smokies wake up after breakfast. Well the story goes, in cruise at 85 a car passes at about 105! I think where did he come from. The Smokie the Bear in his cruiser at about 125!!!!! He never even glanced at me at my paltry 20mph above the limit he was on a mission. It took him about five miles and a work colleague to catch the miscreant who decided to flout the 65mph limit.

I slowed to 65mph.

Hoover Dam never fails to impress and with terrorist alert on high us tourists are dealt a bum hand because the fear factor that terrorism has managed to create. US93 is even being re-routed with a high rise flyover (it's no Millau Viaduct though!) but I guess it will give a good view of the dam; but I've ridden over it so if you want to do the same you'd better come quick!

Back at Ballys we left our luggage and headed for Nike town for the 'kids' latest Nike Air Shoxs then onto Las Vegas Harley Davidson for those must have last minute items and trade in the Road Glide; went and left my new CD in the player so someone will score for some fine country music!

The required luxury evening meal at Maggianos which was very tasty but the surroundings a little pretentious for my taste - Bar 7 Wickenburg for me - and onto bed paranoid about missing the 06:00 wake up call.

I write this finishing day from Dallas/Fort Worth airport whiling away the time before our BA flight to Gatwick.

Summing up:

The bike, I found the Road Glide a mighty fine bike, of course it will never match your own bike that you set up for the long haul but a perfectly adequate bike. Jen did not have the same view. Those bone crunching miles on a small pad made my $1,200 investment in the Corbin seat worth every cent! The new music system Harley are using worked fine and using my Sony Walkman through the adapter also worked perfectly.

The Route, although not our planned route we did enjoy the sites and sounds of the roads we travelled, each with its own spectacular views and experiences. Doing the poker run got us into some great local Phoenix byways and some very friendly Harley Riders to communicate with.

The Company, being in the promotional business equipped me with my 'Ice Breaker' business pens that definitely have the desired effect. We met many friendly people who were into Harleys or not but we broke bread, kicked tyres and chewed the fat - doing what comes natural when on a Harley Road Trip. Jen and I got on brilliantly (as usual) and a plan our future road trips together started to formulate - on the plane we read about a Spanish adventure revolving around Paradors; now there's a plan.............................

Please drop me an eMail and let me know how you liked or otherwise my ramblings,

Later

Dave