Viva Las Vegas!

By Steve Goatley

When you tell most people you went to Las Vegas to go to a museum exhibit, their first response is something like “Huh?” or  “man, you really are getting old”. If the person or persons you’re telling are motorcyclists and what you rode there to see was the Guggenheim Museum “Art of the Motorcycle”, they usually parry with something like “Yeh, saw it a couple months ago! Great show!” or “I’m gonna to try to make it out before it closes in June”. Bottom line, if you’re into bikes, and I know you are if you’re reading this, it’s an absolute must see! Do Not, I repeat, Do Not miss this one, even if you have to drive the car!

With my riding partner for this and many past adventures Tom Houston in tow, we made our way out of town via I-40. As you probably know, this is a pretty boring stretch of rode with not much “entertainment” along the way.  Having no earthly idea that this was the same weekend that the 20^th annual “River Run” in Laughlin was taking place, we began noticing small groups of Harley riders, as well as large numbers of trailered hogs heading in the same direction as we were. I recall the old joke “What do Harleys and German Shepards have in common?” reply “They both love to ride in the back of pickup trucks!”…. I guess I just don’t get it. I did my “Harley thing” in the late 60’s and a good part of the 70’s” so I’m not without perspective. So when I see a perfectly capable Harley Road King on a flatbed trailer being pulled by a Suburban with Harley wings plastered on the back window and wearing Texas plates, I gotta ask myself “Do these guys get it? One poor V-Rod rider we encountered must have been wishing he had the option to trailer his rig. We generally keep a pretty steady pace of approx. 80-85 mph on the interstates. As we approached a small pack of hog riders running (yes, they were riding) at I’d estimate 60-65 mph, we noticed one of the bikes was oscillating side to side quite severely. While passing I glanced over and saw this guy, obviously very nervous, trying to hold on to the handlebars of his brand new V-rod. It must have felt something like sitting on a clothes dryer full of tennis shoes during the spin cycle! Something was definitely wrong with this particular piece of Milwaukee Iron.

After an overnight stay in Williams AZ, we continued on to Vegas. Next stop Kingman, AZ. There we encountered more of the “ brotherhood” with many unloading scoots off the trailers so they could ride victoriously into Laughlin some 35 miles away. The last time I saw this many German helmets in one place was a couple of weeks ago when the History Channel did a documentary on the Nazis invading Poland!….. Get me outta here! After passing through a security checkpoint, we made our way onto and over Hoover Dam. That’s one damm impressive chunk of concrete!

Next stop would be Las Vegas and the Venetian hotel, home to the “Art of the Motorcycle” exhibit. Upon leaving this 2-story, architectural masterpiece of an exhibit hall, Tom and I both commented that even after spending a good 2hrs wandering about, we hated to leave. It must be akin to the feeling a good catholic would have after visiting the Vatican. It truly was a “religious experience” seeing this impressive collection. I’d like to go back again before it closes the 30^th of June. It was that good. So was the gift shop where Tom and I both made generous (but not tax deductible) donations to the Guggenheim Museum. That night the two of us as well as thousands of other pilgrims, marched up and down the “strip” taking in the sights and sounds. I hadn’t been to Vegas in over 25 years and was totally blown away by it’s opulence.

After spending less than 24 hrs in “Sin City” we made our way North on I-15 exiting Nevada and a corner of Arizona. Just past St. George Utah we exited at the Zion National Park exit. With temps in the high 80’s in Vegas, this day would prove to be much more accommodating. Overcast skies with on and off again light rain showers only amplified the natural beauty of this magical place. The moisture had polished the red rock formations and enhanced the shades of green and brown of the surrounding forests. The ride through the over mile long tunnel is pretty cool. Every few hundred yards or so, there’s an opening or “window” in the tunnel that tends to frame some particularly spectacular view of the adjacent rock formations.

After lunch just outside the park, we continued on to Jacobs Lake located in the cool (it was snowing!) pines of northern Arizona, and just a hop, skip, and a jump from the entrance to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Unfortunately, the park was still a few weeks away from opening. A hot cup of coffee and about 45 minutes later we were motoring by Vermillion Cliffs on our way to the last overnight stop, Lee’s Ferry Lodge and restaurant. That evening I had one of the best meals in recent memory. Too bad the room wasn’t equally as impressive!

After a nearly sleepless night due to a couple of beds that were probably in their prime during the Reagan administration, we geared up for our longest day in the

saddle. Leaving in the dark blue light that 5:30 brings, we turned on the driving lights and began what would be a constant battle with the prevailing winds. Probably 300 of the next 480 miles would have to rank up with some of the worst weather conditions I’ve experienced in nearly 40 years of riding. There was one stretch where the sandstorm, which resembled the one seen in the movie The Mummy Returns, completely obscured my view of Tom who was maybe 200 yards in front of me. When we finally did stop for our final fuel stop in Farmington, N.M., Tom said that sand fell out of his wallet when he went to pay for his gas!

Some 1400 miles later I had returned home to my point of origin. Though I’ve been riding throughout the winter months on a fairly regular basis, the next day I could feel a mild aching in my muscles and joints. It felt good. I knew this was just the beginning of what I hope to be a great season of riding. Hope to see a lot of you riders at the AMA Superbike races at Pike’s Peak on the first of June.