| Author | Message | ||
     Captain_mark |
I had to travel with my boss to Las Vegas on business. She rides a well tricked out Nightster. She wanted to see some of the sights in and around LV by bike so she arranged to rent two Harley-Davidsons. We arrived early Tuesday, July 15 and went to the HD dealer on Eastern and Sahara. They could not of been nicer. I even wore all my Buell gear. My boss rented a Dyna Low Rider (she is inseam challenged) and I got a Dyna Fat Bob with controls forward (read foot controls forward). Very weird, and I needed to get use to this strange riding position. I had been tasked to come up with an interesting ride itinerary. So on Tuesday we headed to Red Rock Canyon - Bonnie Springs for Lunch and then to Mount Charleston by way of Lee Canyon, about 250 miles all in. We took off around 1:00 p.m. and headed out of town on Charleston Boulevard. All the stop and go traffic gave me a chance to get a feel for the bike. We followed the scenic route through Red Rock Canyon Park and it was amazing. The size of the canyon can fool you. We would stop at an overlook and the formations of rock looked enormous, but then you could see people, like tiny ants and realize it was bigger than you imagined. We had no idea what Bonnie Springs was, its on the map, so I assumed it was a small town. As we left the Red Rock Canyon and took the right to Bonnie Springs, it felt like you were in a psycho movie and the music just got creepy. Heading for a cliff wall, the terrain opened up and it turns out that Bonnie Springs is a resort (I use the word "resort" because that's what they call it) with a run down hotel, country store, little train ride, petting zoo that escaped their pens and were all about, and a small rodeo stadium. There was also a restaurant that had its menu on a bottle of whisky. They made a pretty mean grilled cheese sandwich (I am a vegie) and country chicken salad (my boss is not). Onward to Lee Canyon and Mount Charleston. As we headed up Route 95 at about 90 the temperature was in the 105 degree range. Taking the road to Lee Canyon starts out pretty straight and rises steadily to about 5,000 feet. The view in the mirror really gave the proper perspective of just how far we had climbed. It soon started to cool off and the road started to get pretty twisty. This was getting fun, but my inexperience on the Fat Bob was worrisome. Then there are the signs that say "Watch for Wildlife," "Falling Rocks" and "Gravel In Roadway." At 8,600 feet it was 70 degrees and getting cold. Heading down was great fun for the two flat-landers from Florida. It all can't be fun, about 7:30 we were in the Northwest part of LV and we stopped for water. My bosses bike came in and was spewing oil and smoke, even though the engine sounded fine. Not our bikes, so I didn't want to mess with it. Even though the rental office was closed, HD LV arranged to have the bike picked up and another (newer) Dyna Low Rider dropped off and they could not have been nicer about it. We had a meeting scheduled for 12:30 on Wednesday, so the plan was (notice the use of the word "was") to head up to the Valley of Fire at the crack of dawn and have breakfast at Sugars (a great little sports diner) and come back to LV by way of Lake Meade, about another 250 miles. When we got off Interstate 15 we headed into the mountains, after seeing the magnificent views we spot a sign, "begin scenic route." I cannot describe the awe-inspiring scenery that is the Valley of Fire. The ride was simply put, f__king awesome. We headed to Overton, a cool little town on a tributary to the North shore of Lake Meade. Sugar's wife was serving breakfast and was giving us tips on what to see on our return. She gave us each a couple of bottles of vitamin water - she said you will need it. We took Route 169 to Route 167 all along the Northwestern side of Lake Meade and finally Route 147 back to LV. We stopped on "Scenic Overlooks" about every half hour. Many of the overlooks were way too steep to balance the bike. The views and the roads were spectacular. Two negatives, Route 167 for about 30 miles has some of the sharpest bumps in the road and the heat. There were no clouds and it was approaching mid-day. The ride seems like it will never end, until suddenly we crested a mountain and looked down into the valley and 6,000 feet down is LV. Breathtaking. In town, with stop and go traffic, we both almost passed out from the heat. We got back to HD LV about 12:30, so the meeting needed to be postponed. It was a great 24 hours and well worth the $182.00 tab with tax and insurance. However, I would have had even a better time on my Ulysses. After conducting actual business, I flew out the next day and my bosses family (husband and 18 year old daughter) flew in. They are renting two more Dyna's and heading to Mount Zion and Bryce. I now have the bug for traveling even worse - but I will be doing it on my Uly. be good,  |
