Las Vegas Nevada to Arizona and back
Day 1 November 6th 2015:
I left Eagle Riders motorcycle rentals in Las Vegas on a 2014 Harley Davidson Ultra at about 9:30 am.
My initial nerves subsided as I left the city and made my way south on Interstate 515 Route 93. As I passed Boulder City I descended down a hill taking in lake Mead for the first time. Around the corner I road across the Memorial Bridge an in to Arizona. I dove in to my first section of canyon riding with realisations of happiness. Coming out of the canyon I rode across the plains. My eyes were locked on the mountains ahead of me and I kept my hand on the throttle Arriving in Kingman, Arizona I took in the sights of a section of Route 66 before riding to Mother Road Harley Davidson at 12:00pm to collect my first poker chip and shirt.
Leaving Kingman I took the Oatman Highway which is part of the historic Route
66 to Oatman, a Wild West themed town. I was in awe with the fresh black top road cutting though an amazing cactus filled canyon.
Very tight and twisty roads during this section. luckily not
many on the road with me which allowed me to take it all in. Descending in to Oatman I passed a neat mine.
Upon arriving my first thoughts was wow, there is a lot of Donkeys. I walked around taking the sights in and stumbled across a vintage Harley display in an up stairs section of one of the store fronts.
After
Oatman I cracked the throttle riding in to the sun a lonesome desert highway to Lake Havasu. Linking on to Interstate 40 at Toprock I headed east for a short time before venturing south on route 95 towards Lake Havasu. Riding across the fabled London Bridge from the nursery rimes. Thankfully it never fell down while I rode across it. I collected poker chip number 2 at the London
bridge Harley outlet at 3:00pm. A great location with mesmerising views of the lake and bridge.
3:10 on to Yuma. After crossing Parker Dam. Route 95 turned in to one long stretch of desert highway riding pass
the military proving grounds. Made it to Bobby's Territorial Harley here at
5:52pm 8 minutes to closing for poker chip number 3.
Day 2 November 7th 2015:
I Left Yuma around 8:30am after a good breakfast. Heading towards Phoenix I came across a Border Patrol station set up. Being part deaf it is very important to hear the questions asked of you. Me thinking he was asking me if I was with the guy on the bike behind me I said no. Immediately this made tensions rise and I had to ask him what the question was again? Are you a US citizen? Well technically my answer of no was still accurate. I explained that I was Canadian and I was waved through. At
Gila bend the gps took me off to a road called Maricopa road. This was a very cool
desert highway with hardly anyone on it.
Today was all about the poker
chips. First stop Chandler Harley Davidson they were a friendly staff. They had a bbq going and a bunch
of bikes were out front.
Second stop was Mesa. Apparently they are going
under new ownership to be renamed Desert Wind Harley Davidson and have not received the new poker chips yet,
booooo. Leaving Mesa I wrapped around phoenix to the west for my third stop at Apache junction. The staff at Superstition Harley Davidson were very engaging. They had a car show on the go
which was very cool.
Continuing on the 4th stop was Scottsdale. This a huge
dealership. I had to park 4 blocks away as the streets were filled with
hundreds of bikes. As I walked in my attention was grabbed by the doobie
brothers playing on stage and a massive BBQ under way. My favourite
part was the sound booth for the bikes. Yes I know I am deaf. There
was also a tattoo parlour and a wedding chapel.
After taking in some shows at Scottsdale I rode to Arrowhead Harley in Peoria. Again they had a bbq on the go, free water. That
came in handy. Free water oh wait I just said that. Today I learnt the importance of staying Hydrated The sun took its
toll with all the stop and going under the blistering sun and I grabbed a
room for the night just off black valley freeway.
Day 3 November 8th 2015
I left Phoenix at 7:20 am and rode north up the black canyon freeway,
hooking on to the 17 interstate. I eventually veered off on the 179 the
red rock scenic byway towards Sedona. All I can say is WOW. Very cool
sights. The pinnacles and rock formations popped with the red rock.
After stopping in Sedona Harley outlet for another poker chip I headed towards Jerome
on the 89A. This road is amazing. It had me throwing the 900 pound bike
through the turns like a mad man. Game on. After a quick stop in Jerome I
continued higher elevations on 89a and found the snow on the sides of
the roads where it is shady. Spit. The summit was 7006 feet at the crest
and the turns continued down the other side. Let's do this.
Coming out of the mountains, I rode in to the open range of Prescott valley. A neat terrain of open pastures and large boulders. I took irons springs road through skull valley over to
Kirkland.
At Kirkland I then took the Baghdad road hwy 96 through the cactus forest
finding fresh black top and more curves. And I do mean curves. Wicked. After navigating my way to hwy 97 over to 93. I took it all the way
back to kingman again and eventually to Hoover dam lodge, where I
currently am residing for the evening.
Day 4 November 9th 2015
I arrived at Hoover dam around 8:30am and rode across it to the Arizona side.
There is free parking on that side if you don't mind a longer walk but
it wasn't too much farther. After walking both sides of the dam I took in the amazing sights and gave an appreciation of the history here.
I rode
back to north shore drive which is the lake mead recreational park. You
have to pay to ride it, but worth the admission. At first I was
disappointed with the lake being so shallow. But as I
kept going north to the valley of fire it turned in to a scenic ride of
jagged mountains with tan and red colours.
As soon as I turned off on
to the valley of fire road the canyon hits you like a freight train with
the bright red rock formations. Every 100 metres it seemed like I was
pulling over for a picture. As I went past the visitor centre a road
caught my eye splitting the rocks. I turned around and headed up the
cliff side. This was the best decision I made today. Wow, I rode it all the way to
the end to the white domes. After that I hit a few more side roads
before leaving the valley.
Since it was still early I made it for red
rock canyon I hit it at 1:00 and it was just too busy, the scenic drive
of one way traffic was slow but worth the $3. After that I went poker
chip collecting again. Red rock Harley Davidson and then on to the Henderson
dealership.
All said and done this was a great 4 day ride taking in some incredible scenery and talking to some amazing people.
At Kirkland I then took the Baghdad road hwy 96 through the cactus forest
finding fresh black top and more curves. And I do mean curves. Wicked. After navigating my way to hwy 97 over to 93. I took it all the way
back to kingman again and eventually to Hoover dam lodge, where I
currently am residing for the evening.
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