to follow… soon

Today we set off into the Mojave desert for the real ‘desert riding’ experience. Harry, Andy’s best man, lead us out of Las Vegas direction California and the Mojave reserve.

The plan was to ride to 29 Palms, a mid-sized desert army town that serves the local marine base, via Kelso and Amboy (famous for many reasons including being used in films) along the old Route 66.

With the exception of getting lost on the way out of Las Vegas the trip was a smooth ride with plenty of other Harley riders to greet the customary V wave. Just like state borders the roads are often straight and reach for miles.

Just as the Pixar movie Cars highlights the old Route 66 is a mere shadow of it’s former self. The Interstate 40 diverted all traffic from the route and thus left most if not all businesses to slowly in bust. We stopped off at Roy’s Cafe in Amboy and topped up with fuel and witness the deterioration for ourselves. (see the photo below)

After Amboy we came across a salt plane that was surreal. The white salt was deflecting the already scorching heat. We took a few snaps and kept going.

The only thing left to do when we arrived at 29 Palms after 300km of desert riding was to stuff ourselves with ribs, burgers and beer

We’ve arrived in Las Vegas safe and sound. Immigration and customs were a doodle too, a new experience for America

The heat in this place is incredible though. It’s like opening an oven when you step outside the nicely air-conditioned Casinos. This week in particular they’ve been experiencing record temperatures. Great!

After a short taxi journey to our moderately priced hotel, the Tuscany Suites, we headed towards Eagle Rider west of the strip to pick up our beloved Harley.

On the way over on the plane Phil and I discussed getting two bikes for the first four days so we could ride independently and then hand them in for an Electra Glide for our big journey north. It didn’t take us long to realise though that it was probably safer to get one bike and stick with it. The roads here are crazy and it’s been at least three years since Phil last road a bike.

At Eagle Rider chaos reigned! A group of about 15 Germans had just dropped off 10 bikes having returned from a week long trip. All of them larger than life, all of them with beards, all of them in leather jackets and not one of them without a tattoo of some description. A great bunch… it’s a shame I didn’t get to take a photo of them

We finally got our bike, which much to my disappointment was purple. When we arrived earlier there was a nice black one outside which I hoped was ours. No such luck!

Sitting on the bike for the first time was an incredible feeling. I’d been waiting for this moment for a while and it was finally here. My first thought was shit… what do all these controls mean! My Kawasaki has pretty advanced controls, but these were just crazy! I’ll take a picture of them tomorrow.

After a successful trip around the compound without a pillion and then with Phil on the back, we got the thumbs up from Greg, our technician, and we were off.

Safely back at the hotel we parked the bike and headed for the casino for some food and MGD’s (Miller Genuine Draft).

Gambling tally: $3.00 up (only to be lost by Dad who clearly has no poker talent!) all square

… and finally Ben trying to work out all the controls of the monstrous Harley!

We’ve just got on the plane. Dad’s tired already, but then i’m not suprised. Gatwick is an absolute maze and made worse by the building work going on just about everywhere. Hopefully a few G and T’s will help him relax

As for me i’m going to put on phil’s soundtrack for bikers and catch up on some sleep. Naturally that may be tricky through 22 mins of kraftwerk

Next update Las Vegas!

Happily minding my own business having my hair cut in Guildford when the 73 year old assistant comes up to me and asks if she can get on my bike and have a ride….

… so I said yes.

Phil Bourdon has come up trumps! Today he gave me two CDs with covers no less… I’m really chuffed and very grateful to Phil. Cheers.

P.S. ideas (clean ones please) on what to get Phil as a thank you present in the comments section please. Keith?

Only two weeks to go until our big journey. I’m so excited. I guess it’s comparable to a little kid waiting to open his Christmas presents, except in this instance I get to ride a big fat Harley!

Phil has come back off skiing holiday and I have just returned from Jersey. That means there are only 5 more working days to survive before is hit the road. Not to forget the minor issue of Jill’s 57th birthday

I’ve also come clean about the scratches on Phil’s new Shoei matt black helmet. Rob, a friend of mine, rather unfortunately dropped the helmet (from a very low hight) the other week whilst stumbling out of the Madhuban Indian restaurant in Sheet. In addition to the scratches a screw popped out that will need to be replaced before we head off… another trip to the bike shop it is then to see Red.

Still to buy/organise:

- dark race visor for Ben
- insurance for Ben
- final route
- work out tech wizadry… blogging by mobile (Nokia N95) etc.
- and of course the soundtrack

Now that I come to finally post this it’s actually more like one week to go…

Only four weeks to go until we head West! There are still a few things to sort out, namely:

- Soundtrack
- Phil’s jacket and trousers. I think he’s planning to buy something out there.
- Shades, duh!
- Itinery, yes worryingly… Ken is all signed and sealed, but there are still a few other friends to contact.

So here’s the question. Do you just go along for the ride or do you try and look like a real Harley rider and go all the way? Well my mind isn’t made up yet… BUT my friend Warren seems to have pipped me to the post anyway!

I’m told this is a sneak-preview TheWoz’s next episode available now! You can check out his website at thewoz.co.uk and his latest episode entitled “Return of the Tash”.

The website is now pretty much complete. Expect to see some photos, video and podcasts soon.

Other features will include:

Stay tuned!