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As
I prepare for winter in Canada with sub
0C temperatures and plenty of snow and
ice I dread the annual ritual of putting
away my bike for the season, not to be
heard or ridden again until spring arrives.
This winter was going to be a little more
bearable for me because I was heading out
to Las Vegas in January for some warmer
weather, a Vintage Motorcycles auction
and some desert riding.
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Las
Vegas is well known as the gambling capital
of the world with all the neon lights,
mega hotel/casino's, shows, shops and all
you can eat buffets your heart can imagine.
But how much fun would riding a motorcycle
in the tourist filled streets of Las Vegas
be for this frost bitten Canadian? |
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Viva
Las Vegas ! |
|
As
the sun gleams over the desert mountains
my excitement grows as
thoughts
of
my days adventure about to begin. I
walked over to one of Dream Car Rentals
two locations on Las Vegas Blvd. to
rent my motorcycle for the day. I
was greeted |
|
with
a variety of Ferrari's,
Vipers, Porches, Muscle cars,
Harley Davidson and Custom
Choppers. Waiting for my decision
was a Sportster, a Fat Boy,
a Heritage Softail, Deuce,
a Wide Glide, a Road King and
2 custom hardtail choppers...
decisions, decisions, decisions.
I
originally wanted to rent the chopper but
needed storage space
for my cameras, rain
gear & gloves,
so
I decided
to go conservatively and picked the 2003 Anniversary
Heritage Softail with saddlebags
and windshield as my ride. The day was turning
out to look like
a good one with
picture perfect
riding weather
in the
teens
Celsius or
lower 70's Fahrenheit.
My plan is to
ride as much as I can for the day because my
next ride wouldn't be until the spring. |
I
sat down with Rich the owner of Dream
Car Rentals and asked him what
places he
would recommend for my ride.
He explained that
Las Vegas is set set up as a grid and
very easy to get around in. We have a
lot of great places to ride to. If your
going out for the day I would recommend
Lake Mead, Red Rock Canyon, Valley or
Fire, Mount Charleston a ski resort
is great but a little cold in the
winter. Roswell Area 51
and
it's secret
military base is about
2 hours
away. Hover Dam is another
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Some
of the bike's and cars available to rent. |
|
place
you can ride to and also take the
walking tour of the Dam when your
there. If you want to go further
you could ride to the Grand Canyon
stay overnight and come back the
next day. Los Angeles, Palm Springs,
St.George is a nice place to ride,
Rice Canyon and Zion National
Park is absolutely gorgeous. I
would also recommend you
to bring your own riding gear but
if you don't we can supply you with
your helmet
and leather jacket at no extra cost. |
|
Sal
from D.C.R. explained the process of starting and locking
the Harley. It sounds simple enough but I forgot that
you don't need the key to start the big Harley only
to lock and unlock it, so don't forget to take the
key out of the ignition when riding. Nevada has a helmet
law so I picked my helmet and jacket from the rack
and asked Sal what his recommendation would be for
my ride within a 200 mile range. He outlined a path
on a map that would take my ride down the strip, over
to Red Rock, Lake Mead, down to Hover Dam and back
up to the strip to my starting point, sounded good
to me so that was going to be my journey.
I
stuffed the saddlebags with my gear and headed down
the crowded strip. A new bike |
in
an unfamiliar city always make
me ride cautiously for the first
few miles. As
I passed dozens of casinos and flashing
lights I quickly felt comfortable with
the bike and my surroundings with courteous
drivers not seeming to be in any
rush to |
get
to their destinations. Red Rock Canyon
was my first destination it's 13-Mile
Loop with over 197,000 acres within
the Mojave Desert offers sightseeing,
Picnic sites, vistas, wooded canyons
and desert overlooks all within an
hours ride west of Las Vegas. With
every mile I traveled I was quickly
leaving civilization behind me. Straight
roads became winding roads and buildings
became desert cactus. I
couldn't
help but feel I was being
transported into the wild west, where
Cowboys and Indians ruled the day.
Names like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance
Kid, Jesse James, Geronimo,
Sitting Bull, Wyatt Earp and
The Ok Corral all
came to mind. My daydreaming
quickly came to a stop as a winding
curve suddenly came upon
me. I
quickly squeezed
my front
and rear brake to slow my speed
before leaning
the bike into |
|
|
Rode
this puppy for almost 6 hours, stopped
only for fuel & photo's. |
|
the curb.
I kept the big bike on it's two wheels
and kept my daydreaming in control
from then on. |
|
Local
stop area for a photo up
and information |
|
Over
hills and around red sand-stone mountains layered
through gray limestone I went stopping occasionally
at designated areas like Calico Vista point
to admire the crossed-bedded Aztec sandstone
and Pine Creek Canyon and Red Rock Wash to
take a few scenic pictures of my timeless surround- ings.
As quickly as I left civilization it reappeared
again as Route 159 turned into Charleston Boulevard
where the expansion of Las Vegas and surrounding
areas was evident by the construction everywhere
I looked. By this time I was riding for almost
two hours and decided to take a break and fuel
up for the
next stretch of my ride. After
shutting off the Harley I
suddenly realized
the key was missing from
the ignition, after a few "choice |
words" I
calmed
down
and
searched my pockets
with no luck. I convinced
myself that I must have put the keys in my camera bag
or left them in my hotel room for safe keeping. |
The
second part of my ride was going to take
me into Lake Mead and Hover Dam. After
a half hour of riding past shopping malls
and fast food restaurants my exit for
Lake Mead arrived. Lake Mead is very
large National Part that is open year
round for visitors It offers marinas,campgrounds
motels and boat rentals. It is also home
for Bighorn sheep, Mule deer, Coyotes,
the Kit Fox, Bobcats,
Desert Tortoise a large
variety of birds and various
reptiles and several kinds of rattle snakes. There
is a $3 charge when
riding through
Lake Mead and I can |
|
Entrance
to Bonnie Springs Ranch in Old Nevada
offers horseback rides, wild wild west
shows & a petting
zoo |
|
tell
you it's well worth it. After riding
a few miles I decided to bypass the
direction to Hover Dam and just ride
as far as I could into the desert
with daylight and fuel being my only
limitation. As
a Canadian accustomed to
riding in traffic the isolation of
the |
|
A welcoming
sign at Lake Meads National Recreation Area |
|
Desert
is appealing to me, with the sun
behind me the view of the winding
roads and mountains were spectacular.
An hour of riding had passed in
sheer isolation with no more than
a few motorists and an occasional
bird of prey seen up above. The
scenic ride along the North Shore
Road, approximately 40 miles from
Lake Mead Blvd to Overton Beach
seemed endless, just
when I thought civilization was
around the next corner, it
wasn't, I felt like I could ride
forever on smooth roads
that never had the misfortune of
dealing with freezing temperatures |
or
salt kept unfolding in
front of me. As all good
things must come to an
end my fuel gauge is telling
me I should turn around,
I haven't seen a gas station,
store or anything for that
matter for over an hour. I knew I had an hour and a
half before darkness set in and that would give me
just enough time and fuel for my ride back.
I have been to Las Vegas a few times in my past but
this ride has opened up my eyes to a Las Vegas I never
knew existed and will gladly visit again. |
I
want
to
thank
Richard,
Sal
and
Nick
at
Dream
Car
Rentals
for
making
my
ride
a memorable
one.
p.s. I never did find those *&%^# keys !
Article
& Photo's © The Canadian Classic Bike Exchange |
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Canadian Classic Bike Exchange
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