USA 2012 - The Outbound Ride

Ready to ride - The Excalibur at 6am

At last, it was off down 'The Strip' at 6am to make the most of the cool and lack of traffic, to begin the ride.  We shortly left the freeway and the traffic behind, travelling through the Valley of Fire with its vivid red rock before heading for Zion City. 

Valley of Fire

The temperature rose to over 40degC so keeping cool was a constant necessity, and my new mesh riding suit in reflective light grey worked a treat with lots of through airflow to keep me reasonably cool.  We crossed a corner of Arizona to go onward to Springdale for our first stop just at the entrance to Zion National Park, now in Utah.   Huge mountains with different sedimentary colours either side were highlighted by the hot sun.  A heavy thunderstorm erupted just after we arrived, phew!

Majestic View Lodge outside Zion City, just after the storm

Next stop was Zion Canyon National Park and what a park it is!

Zion Canyon under cirrus cloud in the cool early morning

Climbing on sweeping twisty bends in cool early morning air, we saw some spectacular sedimentary rock formations, with lots of different coloured rock accented by the low sun, as we rose to a much greener plateau that we seemed to stay on for many miles.  However, as the sun got up and we descended a little, the temperature climbed 20deg in 20min, which caught a few out who had just layered up after feeling a little chilly!  Much of it was spent on huge plains with little or no vegetation or cultivation and mountains soaring either side, in the heart of cowboy country.  But, there were rivers and dammed lakes to break it up, although the hot winds meant that keeping cool was once again a challenge and I found my eyes watering uncontrollably when that wind was from the side and got inside my visor.

H-D Dealer near Provo - cleverly fitted into an old factory

After a compulsory dealership stop, which inevitably involved yet another T-shirt purchase, we climbed into cooler weather once again and to a ski resort hotel at Park City, still in Utah and just east of Salt Lake City. 

Apparently, I had run over a rattlesnake on the road!  I was moving into the outside lane and concentrating on the upcoming traffic to follow our leader to overtake and didn't see it, but did hear and feel the bump of something in the road.  I thought it was a bit of tyre carcass, but it seems not!  We did see some deer at the roadside earlier in Zion Park, and had been warned about the presence of rattlesnakes and some others.  The roads were terrific - straight and smooth, or with sweeping bends, to make wonderful riding.  We escaped another violent thunder storm just after our arrival.

Leaving Park City, it was a contrast of scenery as we passed from Utah into a corner of Idaho before returning again to Utah and then onward into Wyoming.  We met a couple of bikers at an ice cream stop by Bear Lake - "Bikers Against Child Abuse", who knew John & Dot and gave us a better route to ride for the rest of the day.

Huge plains, where mountains never seemed to get any closer, with straight but good roads that taxed my concentration to stay alert, although there was no traffic to worry about and hot prairie winds blew constantly.  We were off the freeway on state highways and there was very little habitation and what was there was well spaced out.  There were very large ranches, with the familiar arched entries with names over the top.  It is easy to run out of adjectives to describe the scale of the countryside.  We saw wild bison several times and many Black Angus cows.  Then, there was the contrast of some mountain ascents and descents through forested areas with wonderful sweeping bends and vistas, passing round a couple of huge lakes, and finally a 20 mile stretch following a fairly wide river abound with kayaks and white water rafters, all under a bright blue sky and temperatures in the upper 30s, to Jackson Hole at 6,200' at the foot of the Grand Tetons (Big Boobies) Mountains, which is part of the Rocky Mountains.  I became aware of the pack of pillion to take pictures and video while I was riding as we had few stops on this sector.  We stayed at the Painted Buffalo Inn.

I could see snow from the motel on their upper reaches.  Jackson Hole is very western themed and is a gateway to Teton and Yellowstone National Parks.  We stopped two nights.

On the second day, a small group of us went on a ride out to see more of the local scenery, and boy did we do just that!  First, it was a climb to the Teton Pass, cruising over more fabulous roads with sweeping bends among forested hills.  John, our leader, spotted a moose, but by the time a couple had turned round to try and find it, it had vanished.  There are plenty about and many elk too, but the trees give them good cover and nobody saw any more.

Teton Pass

At the Wyoming/Idaho State Line

After crossing back into Idaho again, we dropped down and to continue through Teton Valley followed by Swan Valley, both very beautiful, rode alongside an enormous lake/reservoir, crossing one of its dams.

A custom bike shop miles from anywhere

We encountered many Harley groups, all very friendly and, even though we were still over 600 miles from Sturgis, everyone is heading the same way! Wandering around Jackson Hole, I found it very old western in style with covered wooden boardwalks in the main street, mostly wooden buildings and many cowboy themes.  I enjoyed the scenes with some genuine cowboys riding around in their throaty V8 pick-up trucks as well as on foot, and it reminded me of years ago in Texas.

Jackson Hole, nestled in the foothills of the Grand Tetons

I enjoyed a buffalo steak and noted some of the quotes from behind the counter - "Of course we serve vegetarians, what do you think cows are?".  "How do you cut down on red meat, use a nice sharp knife" etc.   There were hundreds of Harleys in the town, some just promenading, others passing through, and I now couldn't wait to see the size numbers at Sturgis, the World's largest motorcycle rally! 

Arch of Antlers in Jackson Hole

We also had a chuck wagon cookout held on a ranch, with steak, beans, biscuit (scone to us) etc, followed by a brilliant show of western music.  700 folk were served their hot meal on tin plates in 22 min, plates and tables cleared ready for the show in 45 min, very impressive efficiency!

Next day, we were off to National Parks and Forests and what a great one it was. First, we headed through Grand Teton National Park on a very wide valley floor with the Tetons soaring to one side, snow and even a few glaciers up top.  We spent most of the day between 7,500 and 9,000' as we passed into Yellowstone National Park next, which made it relatively cooler.

Yellowstone has everything - high mountains, valleys, forest, geysers and lakes, although Yellowstone Lake should really be called Inland Sea as it is so huge.  The forest rose up steeply either side of the road on the way in, but I was curious about why there were so many tall dead trees, with no branches, sticking up beyond the mass of the rest.  It made the forest look somewhat odd, even petrified in places.

We found Old Faithfull and sat around while it sent out whisps of steam before finally blowing about an hour later.  It throws up a cloud of boiling water and steam about every 40-120 min and I was very glad we waited for it along with a substantial crowd of others, many of whom had come on Harleys, which were everywhere.  We rode along the Continental Divide for quite some time, the ridge from which water flows either to the east to the Atlantic, or the west to the Pacific. 

On the way out of Yellowstone, we spent many miles by the shore of its massive lake before encountering vast areas that had been ravaged by fire, perhaps relatively recently.  The trees were similar to the dead ones seen earlier, but were still blackened and only scrub had so far begun to grow on the forest floor.  It was really quite sad.  I also spotted a memorial to Fire Fighters in a lay-by, although we didn't stop, and suspect it was for those who lost their lives fighting these huge and fast moving fires, often started by lightning.  We enjoyed a really glorious descent of several thousand feet of sweeping bends through the Sleeping Giant Mountains with vertical drops to the side, but a terrific road surface to enjoy it on, to lunch in the former hunting lodge of Buffalo Bill.  After that, it was into Shoshone Forest at a lower level and in an area known as the North Absaroka Wilderness, which took us many miles alongside a white water river, with cliffs towering above us at times and very different coloured rock faces, but with taller mountains and snow peaks visible behind at times.  Last of all it was into Buffalo Bill State Park for the run alongside another lake, then some tunnels, then a river, and into Cody.  What wonderful riding!  We stayed in a log cabin village just outside the town.

Flag of Wyoming

In the evening, we went to a rodeo/stampede, which was real and very enjoyable.  I delighted in seeing kids of 5 being allowed to chase the calves to take a ribbon off their tails, and other 12 year olds bare back riding small bulls, without a lawyer in sight!

I get to sit on a bull

Cowboy lassos a calf

Leaving Cody in the cool of the morning, we spent a while in the Big Horn Canyon before climbing over 5,000' to chilly air with a fantastic outlook over the canyon.  We rode along the ridge of the Big Horn Mountains, peaking at around 9,500' and seeing some snow above us.  It was a great run for many miles along the ridge before a long descent back to just under 4,000' on more sweeping roads with a great road surface for swift riding to enjoy what these Harleys are made for.  We then passed through several small towns, where they always declare the population no matter how small e.g. 206 (I wonder how often updated?) precisely on the sign, together with elevation.  In one such town I was amused to see the Crazy Woman Saloon adjacent to Tongue River as we passed by!

On the Big Horn Mountains, overlooking the Canyon

Our highest stop at nearly 9,500'

Our stop for the evening was Buffalo, in the Occidental Hotel, a really historic place.  The owner gave us a full history briefing over breakfast the next day and what a history it was!  The hotel has been used by The Hole in the Wall Gang, including Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, several US Presidents, Ernest Hemmingway and other celebrities in its time.  The current owners took it over in '97 and had to restore it painstakingly to get it back into its former glory.  I had the pleasure of staying in the room, The Hole in the Wall, that had been occupied for some years by a lady who ran it after her husband lost it in a poker game!  It had a bath in the wardrobe and this was because she had become fed up with sharing bathroom facilities with the cattle men in the adjoining whorehouse!

Next day, we spent some time on freeway zipping along over miles of grassland before visiting dealerships at Gillette and then Sundance.  Then, it was into the Black Hills and onward to Deadwood, a few miles from Sturgis.  After checking in at Cadillac Jack's in Deadwood, John led a brief sortie into Sturgis.  Wow!  Never have I seen so many Harleys in one place, even with all the HOG rallies I have attended, and by a very large margin.  They were just everywhere.  We stopped 4 nights at Deadwood, so that was just a taster!

You could have your bike cleaned in a Bikini Bike Wash outside the hotel, and a groom and bride decided to do this:

USA 2012 - Las Vegas & Grand Canyon

I had tried to find a way of taking my own Harley over to the US for a couple of months, but time availability and cost made me opt for a tour organised by a UK company, with benefits of better support than I would have had on my own.  Visiting Sturgis is the Haj for a Harley rider, the mother of all rallies, and it was to be this year that it was to be done.  The trip was to take me from Nevada through Utah, Wyoming and South Dakota, to return via Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona back to Nevada.

My trip had to start in Las Vegas as that's from where the Harley was hired.  I hadn't been there since the 80's and it's obviously changed and grown.  My hotel, the Excalibur, was chosen by the tour organiser and it wouldn't have been my choice, a casino with over 4,000 rooms around it, with architecture more in keeping with Disneyworld, fast food courts to keep the punters spending, both rather tasteless, and a buffet of regiment-feeding size.  Mind you, most other hotels on the strip are of similar proportions.  It's easy to get into hotel casinos as you often have to go through them to get anywhere, but not so easy to get out due to the lack of windows and clocks together with minimal exit signage.  Gambling is, of course, the primary purpose, but there are many world class shows on offer too.

The Excalibur

You have to marvel at the sheer scale of the glitz and the excess of Vegas, even though its appearance is sometimes as misleading as its astro turf and plastic hedges when viewed up close!  It's hoovers and hoses, not mowers and clippers, that you seen out early in the morning when you get out and about to beat the 40deg dry heat that comes later.  And, where else can you see the Statue of Liberty, Brooklyn Bridge, a Sphinx and the Eiffel Tower side by side!

New York, New York

There were also the waters of the Bellagio, with its fountain show every half hour.  But, it served as a start and finish point for the round trip to Sturgis in South Dakota. 

I took a 45 min helicopter ride that passed over the Hoover Dam, with its new highway bridge and Lake Mead behind it, to get to the Grand Canyon.  It was very noticeably how low the water level had dropped.

Dropping 4,000'into the Canyon was fabulous, landing on a small flattened pad to take a short trip on the Colorado River to gaze up at the rock faces all around.  Afterwards, it was a short lift back up over the lip to the airport and a bus to Eagle Point.  Here is SkyWalk, a glass floored walkway above the Canyon, which opened only a few years ago, with spectacular views below your feet and outwards to the surrounding area.  Some vertigo sufferers clawed their way around it clinging onto the handrail or being dragged by unforgiving partners.  The Canyon could also be viewed from the edge where there were no barriers or guard rails.  I found it interesting that Starbucks have to give you a cardboard collar and a warning that their coffee could be hot, but similar warnings were completely absent at the Canyon and there was no barrier at the edge.  It was explained by our pilot that this was most probably because the area is Native American land and litigation is not as prevalent as it is elsewhere.  No doubt, in the fullness of time.  I was amused by a native guide who, when asked the time, looked up at the sun and said 12:40, only to then check his mobile phone and proclaim it to be two minutes slow!  Guano Point also offered outstanding views down into the Canyon.

Hoover Dam from the air

View above Skywalk taken from a helicopter

It concluded with a flight over Las Vegas on the return to the airport, my hotel visible on the right.

The above is an collection of some clips from the helicopter flight, a bit jumpy.

I saw four shows - Blue Man, David Copperfield, Nathan Buckley and a Circle du Soleil production.  The first was an utterly unique experience of 3 men covered in blue makeup, no spoken words and lots of percussion, much of which was produced by them on instruments made from plastic pipe, vacuum hose and various fittings.  It was very entertaining, ending in the audience being covered in rolls of crepe paper dragged over our heads from the back to the stage!

David Copperfield was outstanding with huge scale illusions and some up close magic with lots of comedy thrown in.  Impressive were his appearance on a Harley and a vintage car, each revealed within seconds from behind curtains.  Audience selection was random as balls or frisbees were thrown to them and by them, giving answers to questions that were, in one case, locked in a box that had been suspended in view above the stage just before the show began.  He's been around for some time but is still captivating.  Nathan Buckley is an illusionist also, and very impressive too.  The Circle due Soleil was just  breathtaking, a very cleverly staged show in and over a 1m gallon 25' deep pool, with swimming, high diving from the rafters, acrobatics, trapeze, clowns and lots of comedy.  A floor moved up to create a stage over the pool at times, and swimmers were held underwater until needed with the support of around half a dozen frogmen.  It was just awesome and top class. 

Ireland

UK was 'enjoying' its wettest quarter in a long time, lurching from hose pipe bans to severe flood warnings and from the need for more reservoirs to flood defences, in a matter of weeks, and a kink in the jet stream was to blame.  What a fine time to tour the southern half of Ireland on the Harley!  It started when I left home on a day when one month of rain was expected.  It was pretty grim, but I managed to avoid the worst of the surface water and my wet weather gear did its job.  Unusually, I picked up Jean in a dry Swansea, but we had been well doused again by the time the group of 13 of us on 8 Harleys had met up and got to Fishguard.  Ireland was the same with wild winds and pouring rain when we arrived at Rosslare in the southeast corner of Ireland.   It was a short ride from there to our first stop, thankfully with such wild weather, in Wexford.

Next day, after a gypsy fight in the hotel car park woke some in the early hours, but not us, and we encountered some sunshine as we headed north for Curracloe Beach, where the opening scene of Saving Private Ryan was filmed.  I was impressed to see how this relatively small beach had been made to look like the much larger Omaha Beach in the film with clever cinematography.

Then it was on to Wicklow Gaol, a rather grim penal facility and staging for deportation to the colonies, and to Glendalough, one of the most visited scenic places in Ireland, before we stopped in Bray.

We took a day trip from here, in the rain, to Dublin where we revisited some sights and found an excellent smoked salmon on soda bread lunch in a pub, which I enjoyed with a pint of the black stuff.

Leaving Bray, we returned to the Wicklow Mountains and passed through the Gap, where the weather was changing, but we could enjoy a stop and the view.

Then, we headed west, across the centre of Ireland, to seek scenery over the Slieve Bloom mountains and found rain, cloud, roads with a knobbly spine down the middle and cambers falling away to both sides, and saw nothing of the mountains at all!  We did see quite a few peat bogs, however, lower down.  We stopped in the drizzle to visit Birr Castle, where successive Earls of Rosse have designed and built astronomical telescopes, a 72" one of which remains in the gardens, and visited the museum.

After a rather tiring day of wrestling with these rough roads and the foul weather, we got to Galway for a 2 night stop.  We took a day to ride around Connemara, but cut our route down some because of yet more heavy rain and poor visibility.  We did, however, visit Kylemore Abbey, previously a very grand private home which was lost in a card game at one time and is now a nuns' retreat.

Under the cloud at Kylemore Abbey

From Galway, we rode south over parts of The Burren, a limestone expanse with almost no plant life and what green you can see grows in the cracks between the rock, and onward to the dramatic Cliffs of Moher at over 200m high and Killarney.

The Burren in the background from a stop in the sun

The people on the top are just barely visible, giving scale

!

It was a sunny evening, which was just as well as it gave us a glimpse of the mountains of the Ring of Kerry.

Next day, we rode the Ring but the weather had turned again, so we missed some of the best of the scenic views, although we did see the Lakes reasonably clearly at the end as we completed the 80 miles back to Killarney.  It was rather abound with coaches doing the same thing, and a few tractors and trailers that had made the most of the mowing opportunity the previous day, which made it very slow in places.  A bonus, while on the Ring, was to meet up with old C&W friends Russ and Gail Covey in Kenmare, for the first time in ages.  Russ seriously questioned my sanity when we dripped our way into the pub, but it was good to see them and we enjoyed lunch and a catch up before heading east for Cork, in the rain again.

From there, we called in at Blarney Castle to climb the castle's spiral stairs and for Jean to kiss the Stone.  I had done so before when on a HOG rally in Killarney in '06, and some say I am already a bit blessed with the Blarney anyway!

Jean kisses the Blarney Stone, barely aware of the drop below

Then it was onward to Waterford Harley Davidson to enjoy a chat, coffee and buy yet another T-shirt for my already too large collection, before stopping near Rosslare for an early ferry the next day.  Dry conditions prevailed until shortly before Swansea, when the heavens once more!

The memories of Ireland are rain, rough roads and scenery, in that order, but the craic of the group and the friendliness of everyone there more than made up for it.  They're already changing order as time goes on.  Besides, it's in the nature of biking that you have to accept the riding conditions you encounter and that we did, laughing about it in the post mortems at the end of each day!

Cascais 2012 - Home

The high winds continued to the UK and were pretty bad on the early miles from Portsmouth. Heavy rain decided to add to the misery as we came over the Cotswolds and I had to lift my visor altogether at one point because of the condensation on the inside and torrents outside. Fortunately, it was dry when we arrived home to unload.

The bad weather is forgotten and the memories of 2,000 miles of great riding, scenery, sunshine, the best rally yet and good company persist.