Featured Las Vegas Bike Fest On My (non) Triumph

Hey, gang! At the end of my Sturgis story this past August I promised more fun from Las Vegas Bike Fest. So here I am and here it is. I'll share a daily post (or two) for each day that we traveled. We left last Thursday Oct. 3rd and returned yesterday, Monday Oct. 7th. We'd planned to return to Tucson on Sunday but were having such a great time that we spontaneously and unanimously decided to spend an extra night. BTW, that's NOT me hitchhiking to the rally....it's my evil twin.

Day #1: Tucson, Arizona to Prescott, Arizona (approx. 275 miles)

Four of us did this trip together--Mr. Sandi & me and our two riding buddies, Greg & Russell. Once again it was me and "the guys". Oh, and my new mascot (thanks for the inspiration, @OsteKuste!) Javier the Javelina went along for the ride, too.




This is our good friend, Greg, with his 2008 Triumph Rocket III all fueled up and ready to roll. Greg also has a Victory Hammer and a Honda Valkyrie. He loves those "oldies but goodies". He just put on a new Mustang seat so was pretty eager to break it in. And hope that it didn't break him in!


Here's a Google Map of today's route. I tell you, doing these trips and sharing our adventures with my forum friends really does make me contemplate going into full-on nerd mode and getting a GoPro so I can video the riding. It's feckin' SPECTACULAR! From Phoenix all the way to Prescott we rode twisty amazing roads through mountains and forests. A large portion of today's ride took us through the Tonto National Forest. Truly stunning. We had perfect sunny weather with temps in the 70's and low 80's (ºF). Because I was riding with guys who don't seem to like to pull over for photo ops--plus the fact that the roads are small and twisty enough with little shoulder area--I don't have pics of the actual ride. But if you're so inclined, Google the Tonto National Forest and you'll get a sense of what today's ride was like. We stopped for lunch at the Beeline Cafe in the town of Payson, an iconic little restaurant that has been there for years. https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/arizona/beeline-cafe-az/





We arrived in Prescott just in time for check-in...and a beer. Prescott is a beautiful town that's built on a square with the Old Courthouse in the middle. We stayed at a famous (in Arizona anyway) hotel called the Hassayampa Inn. The temperatures as the sun went down were a blessed 60-ish ºF which for those of us who live in Tucson is quite "brisk"!





After a delicious dinner at Murphy's with the four of us, we retired to The Glass Bar at the Hassayampa for a nightcap. Those glasses on the table are filled with some delicious Woodford Reserve rye. That's Mr. Sandi standing at the bar, our buddies at the table, and I'm behind the camera. A lovely ending to a fantastic day in the saddle--then at the bar and the table. And the bar again. Tomorrow morning after breakfast we'll mount up and head west and north to Las Vegas and the Bike Fest!

 

Yep, Javier enjoyed himself a lot! About my evil twin, she used to be married but her husband died under very mysterious circumstances. But don't worry, she was acquitted of his murder so she's available again.

 

Day #2: Prescott, Arizona to Las Vegas, Nevada (approx. 260 miles)



We departed Prescott at 8am with sunny skies and the temps around 60ºF. Today's ride took us on Interstate 40.The famous Route 66 follows I-40 though most of it has been replaced by I-40. We decided to take a little detour off the interstate and ride into the small town of Seligman which only Mr. Sandi had been through before. It was a worthy detour but looks like the primary "industry" there nowadays is tourism for Route 66 "kitch".



Inside Westside Lilo's Cafe. This place has been around awhile (not as long as most pubs in the UK!) and was absolutely packed. In fact, a tour bus disgorged while we were there.


And on to Vegas.......

We stayed at the Las Vegas Bike Fest host hotel, the Golden Nugget. This is the view of "Rally Central" from our room on the 11th floor.



After checking in and having a beer (or two), we moseyed over to Rally Central where most of the rally action took place--bike shows, vendors, concerts, and some stellar people watching.



My mascot, Javier the Javelina, was certainly enjoying himself at his first motorcycle rally.




And what's a motorcycle rally without a friendly ax throwing competition?! That's Mr. Sandi and Greg going at it.





Later on today after dinner we went to a super cool event that was a first for this particular rally, the Hooligan Dirt Dash. I'll post photos of that in another post later today after I actually do a few errands (read, go for a ride) and charge my computer. So stay tuned for the flat track racing pics.....

 

Thanks, Bikerman! Love that Homer animated graphic. It "speaks" volumes. Yes, Vegas. Sunny, dry, and warm but not too warm. Kinda like Baby Bear's porridge--not too hot, not too cold. Just right! Sorry to read that your UK neck of the woods is cold and rainy right now. Hopefully that will change soon. Glad you're enjoying the Las Vegas Bike Fest adventure report! Just wait 'til you see some of the pics in upcoming posts, especially those from the craziness that is Fremont Street!

 

Yes, Steve! Disneyland for grown ups describes Vegas quite well. Mr. Sandi and I are lucky that it's a days ride from our house. I think we've ridden up there about half a dozen times or so since I started riding motorcycles. This is the 3rd year we've gone to Bike Fest on Fremont Street. The other times we stayed on The Strip. We've ridden to the nearby Laughlin River Run another half dozen times. Laughlin is 370 miles from Tucson and Vegas is 440 miles. The biggest difference is that there's always something to do and see in Vegas but that's not so true in Laughlin except during the motorcycle rally each April.

 

Day #2 continued: More fun and games from Las Vegas Bike Fest

Tonight we got tickets for the Hooligan Dirt Dash, the first time this event has been held at the Bike Fest. OMG! I haven't had this much fun and laughed my ass off so hard in ages. All four of us agreed we'd go back to Vegas next October just to go to this again! This was a total "run whatcha brung" sort of race night and included a pit bike (read, mini bike!) division. Plus, in between races they certainly kept us spectators entertained. I took some video too but am not sure how to share it.


The track was just in an empty lot by the Plaza Hotel and Casino. Evidently it's the arena that is used for the National Finals Rodeo. We could see our hotel, the Golden Nugget, from the stands. So this was all happening right downtown!


Prior to the racing, all of the riders in every division paraded around the track then were individually introduced. Of course, they all had interesting nicknames and bios. One of the main sponsors was Firestone Walker, "805" beer in particular. So there was a LOT of beer flowing. I think our group alone scored a couple free cans apiece. One of the 805 reps would just walk by our seats and hand each of us (another) beer. Darn.


Most heats had six to eight riders but the main event had twelve. Right off the bat there was a crash and three riders went down. All were ok and they simply called everyone back to the start and started the race all over again!




Here was one of the between races "events"--the keg rolling competition! These guys rolling the kegs were fully involved in racing but came back out to the track between their heats to "roll a fatty".


Another very popular between race event was the beer chugging contest. Or I should say contests? They had every version possible of beer chugging competitions going on. This one in this picture was a relay. Our buddy, Greg (Triumph owner, of course), after ingesting a couple of those free 805's, decided he needed to be a part of the competition and not settle to merely spectate. So down to the track he went. He wound up in about last place but he actually enjoyed his beer a bit more than the guy that 20n, I think! I'm not even sure that Greg's relay partner got a chance to drink his beer. Out on the track anyway.


Here's a shot of one of the pit bike races. These guys were amazing! One guy could wheelie that mini-bike down the length of the track (not during the race, though). However, the one injury of the night came during a pit bike heat. We talked to one of the riders the next day and he said the guy had a compound fracture of his tibia. Caught his left leg in a dip in the track and it wound up under his bike.


I saved the inflatable dinosaur race photos for last. And I have a hilarious video of this if I can figure out how to post it. I laughed so hard during this that I literally had tears in my eyes. Feckin' hilarious!



Tomorrow we hit bike shows, Fremont Street, and one of my local favorite bands, The Garage Boys!