The Motorcycle Diaries
I wanted to share you with stories and pictures from my recent vacation. I decided recently with a couple of friends to take a motorcycle ride through the western part of the US. Initially, we wanted to ride on historical "Route 66" from Texas to California. Unfortunately we found out that the reason they call "historical", is because it does no longer exists (at least not in a functional way). My trip companions were my friend "Ben" from Philly and his friend "Haj" from back home. Both Ben and "Haj" are experienced riders that have several years of experience riding different types of motorcycles. Both are also married with three kids each, and "Haj' never drove in the US. Ben and "Haj" flew to Las Vegas a couple of days before me. I joined them on Friday night.Saturday, December 11, 2004
At 9.00 AM, we went to the Las Vegas Harley Davidson (Eagle Riders), and picked up three motorcycles. We chose Harley Davidson's Road Kings (around 800 pounds). We crammed our clothes in the metallic saddles of the bikes. My first contact with the bike was not very successful (I almost dropped it in the first turn during my test drive in the dealer's lot). This episode helped me free up my tension and apprehensions, but unfortunately kind of scared my two co-travelers. We decided to head "slowly" toward the Grand Canyon (some 300 miles away). We traveled the first day painfully slow behind the direction of "Haj" rarely topping 60 mph. We avoided the Hoover's Dam road as it is challenging, and rather decided to take an extra 60 miles to catch highway I-40. Needless to say that the views, and landscape were breathtaking. Once we reached I-40 after Kingman, Ben took the leadership of the pack, and the real experience started with peaks of speed, highways turns, climbs, and whirlwinds caused by 18-wheelers. My two companions were rightfully adamant at not driving over night, so we settle at the first little town we met after dark. We spend the night in Williams, Arizona (60 miles away from the Grand Canyon). This small town was almost a ghost town. The streets were dead, and the restaurants were empty. We decided that we will have plenty of time to party and go out at other stops and that we'd better rest up before heading toward the Grand Canyon.
Sunday, December 12, 2004
At Haj's insistence (he is an early riser), we departed from our motel at 8.00 local time. That was a bad idea, as it just finished snowing and we couldn't feel the extremities of our fingers because of the cold (in spite of the of the extra padding of the gloves). We decided to stop at Denny's, get the breakfast of the champions, and wait out till the sun raises up further. At 9.00, we headed toward the Grand Canyon. The road was a little icy but fairly empty. By the time we got there, the weather warmed up, and the view from the Canyon was simply amazing. We decided that nothing would top a helicopter tour, and indeed, the ride was one of the high moments of this trip.
On the way back, the ride on I-40 was smooth until I literally run of gas (as some of you know, motorcycle fuel indicators are not reliable!!). So there I was in the middle of nowhere, stranded with my motorcycle, while my friends went to the next town (Seligman, 15 miles away) to get me some gas. That wasn't the end of my troubles, as the drive gets dicier with more challenging uphills turns, and a 10-mile decline of 6% (Imagine every couple of miles, they had a flat off-road runaway for trucks if they lose their brakes!!). By the time we got to Laughlin, NV (a town centered around several casinos), it was around 6.00 PM and we were exhausted.
Monday, Tuesday, Dec 13, 14, 2004
I have decided to take the lead and increase our speed. In those two days, our quest was to reach California (or rather populated Cali). We droved through stretches of highway were we did not see anybody, except the occasional 18-wheelers with all the commotion they cause when they drive by you. This stretch of I-40 highway between the Arizona/ California border and Barstow was "a speed freak" dream (let's leave it there). We spent Monday night in Riverside, California where a friend of Ben took us to dinner. Tuesday, We headed toward San Diego, California, that we reached after 2 hours of highway driving with the usual traffic bottlenecks. We drove all the way to Coronado Island. At one point, following traffic, we almost ended up in one of the biggest military base of the nation. Soldiers had to direct us back to "civilian" roads. I liked the architecture, the ocean view, and the small downtown of the Island. After that we drove back on famous Pacific Highway toward Santa Monica (it is most definitely not a highway since there were traffic lights every one hundred yards!). We rode through famous and fancy areas such as Orange County, Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, and infamous such as Long Beach. We arrived to our prized destination of Santa Monica at around 7.00 PM.
Wednesday, Dec 15, 2004
This was the only day without motorcycle rides. We took an organized tour around LA (one of these tours where they take you to celebrity homes in Beverly Hills, and different landmarks such as Sunset Boulevard, Rodeo Drive etc). It was a fun tour. We had lunch at the world market, and coffee in Hollywood Boulevard. LA always remain me of my younger brother. My first time in LA, I flew to meet with my brother and his crew in their Class trip. That city will always be associated in my mind with my younger brother! The weather is simply breathtaking in LA and Santa Monica. In December, the temperature hovers around 75 degrees (to the point where I had to go buy short sleeved T-shirts), and is constantly sunny.
Thursday, Dec 16, 2004
By far, the ride on this day was the most challenging and dangerous. Once we hit I-15 in the San Bernardino Valley, Santa Anna winds decided to act up (apparently they are famous out West). The winds were blowing sideways at a speed of 100 mph. We saw a couple of 18 wheelers completely flipped sideways. It was quasi impossible to hold the motorcycles steady and straight. My companions wanted to stop but I am glad that we rode through it (as this was the highlight of the trip for me). As usual, once we got to Nevada (Primm), we were met with giant casinos. Primm remains me of a dear friend of mine back home. When we drove together from LA to Vegas in 2000, we stopped by Primm where he bought his then girlfriend a piece of jewelry to take their relationship to the next level (He is happily married to her for two years now). We got to Vegas around 6.00 PM. I was finally able to get out of my leather clothes and boots, and dress up for a change!
Friday, Dec 17, 2004
We learned in the news that several trucks were reversed by the wind on I-15 and that the highway was closed 1 hour after we crossed the valley! During the day, we took a small road trip to Red Canyon (about 25 miles from Vegas). I spent the rest of the day, riding through the different neighborhoods of spiraling Las Vegas. We returned the motorcycles that night. We covered around 1600 miles in 5 days of actual riding.
We spent Saturday night in Vegas (what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas!!!), and flew back on Sunday where I was greeted by my first snow in Baltimore!
This trip was a lot of fun, helped me learn more about my self, pushed my limits, and improved my team work skills. It also allowed me to finally explore the Wide Wild West. I rode through towns and locations that I heard about only in gas trading (Needles, Topock, middle of nowhere, no wonder delivered natural gas is expansive in California!!), or in movies and TV (OC, and Venice Beach). Finally, IT WAS A NICE BREAK (good for recharging my batteries before attacking the new year).
I hope that I did not bore you with my vacation story, and that you have enjoyed my motorcycle diaries and my pictures.
I wish a happy new year to all of you and your families, full of health, joy and success.
posted by Zarga @ 9:33 PM
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