Macumber Macblog

I left Vegas early on Saturday and got caught in construction in Henderson. It’s hard to believe how built-up Vegas and Henderson are. I stopped at Lake Mead and took a breather and some photos. Lake Mead is down even further than it was last year. I guess when the lake is completely drained and there is no more drinking water they will figure out a way to control the population growth and development in Las Vegas and Northern Arizona. It is sad to look at the photos of the Lake as it was shortly after opening and look at where it is now.

After Lake Mead it was a short jaunt down to Hoover Dam to get some more photos. It looks like they are building a bypass through Hoover that goes way over the canyon. Judging by the height of the bridge supports it looks to be an ambitious project.

After Hoover I rode through Kingman, AZ and jumped on I40 headed to the Grand Canyon and then on through Flagstaff eventually bedding down in Albuquerque for the night.

  

written by mark

A lot of fun in Vegas. We had a private concert with Aerosmith on Wednesday night. On Tuesday night I had a team dinner that ran until about 2100 and then was able to hook up with my buddy Dan and do a little gambling. I was on the bike that night and realized it didn’t save me any time. It was still a pain in the ass to park.

Finally on Thursday night I had a whole night to myself and went out with Dan and four other friends that work at Cisco – Craig, Mark, Neil and Bobby. I hadn’t been able to really hang out with Dan since we were able to get him onboard at Cisco earlier in the year. Dan taught me a lot while at Stratos/Corecomm. My leaving Lubrizol to work with him in the ISP business is what enabled me to get into Cisco and to this side of the industry. We have kept in touch over the years and he’s definitely one of those true friends who has an impact on your life – though you might not see him that often. Bobby, Dan and I had worked together briefly before Cisco (Corecomm) and Bobby had since relocated to London and is now heading up a new team in Islamabad, Pakistan where he will be moving. Dan is still up in Cleveland where he and I used to run around together.  Our buddy Mark took a picture of us walking home down the strip. I had a rough go of bad luck in gambling, but had a great time losing my money with such good friends. We also ate an excellent Meal at Roy’s on Flamingo earlier in the evening.

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Sheldon and I didn’t roll into Vegas until about 2100 PDT because of all the sightseeing we had done. We stopped at the Harley Davidson dealer in St. George to water down and so Sheldon could pick up another riding shirt. The St. George to Vegas leg was brutal. It had to be at least 120 on the asphalt. We made it without keeling over. Once we got to the hotel (MGM) we were supposed to stay at and stood in line (sweating profusely) we found out that we didn’t have rooms. The hotel clerk asked me if I was sure I had a reservation there. I explained that I had just ridden across the country to this specific destination having had a confirmed reservation here for several months. Finally a manager came and grabbed us and informed us that we were being specially recognized by Cisco and that we would be given our own room in one of the Signature Towers at MGM. The bad news is that I had to walk all the way back to the parking garage with all my gear, repack it, and drive to the Signature. It also meant I wouldn’t be rooming with my good buddy Dan DeSantis who had just started at Cisco in February and whom I hadn’t seen in a couple of years. Anyway, it turned out that I was designated as a “Sales Champion” by Cisco and the room was pretty sweet.

written by mark

I woke up early after a good night’s sleep at Sheldon’s and took in the sunrise. The valley that we were in was really pretty in the morning.

Sheldon and Kelse recommended that we take the scenic route to Vegas. After Wasatch and the day’s riding we had the day before I wasn’t about to argue with them. We made our way down UT89 to Salina and had an early lunch at Mom’s Cafe. I had some more liver and onions. It’s so rarely on the menu anywhere, I couldn’t pass it up.

From Salina we went through some great country. There were lots of horses, cattle, elk and some buffalo in one spot. In Wyoming Sheldon had also pointed-out a herd of antelope to me. All animals that are great to look at, but also great to be aware of as the elk in particular would make for a bad day should you hit one on a bike.

Eventually we parted ways with Kelse as he continued on down toward his home in Kingman, AZ. I really enjoyed riding with Kelse. From that point Sheldon and I headed on to Zion National Park where the country went from big to bigger. We went through lots of twisties in Zion. Love those yellow signs with the curvy black arrows. We also took in some beautiful views. My head was on a top the whole ride. There was a pretty long tunnel through one mountain that cooled us off a bit and then we rested on the other side and took a few photos and caught some Gatorade. At this point it was getting to be a much hotter ride. We were getting close to the desert.

 

written by mark

I spoke with Sheldon, my buddy from work, and we realized that we were pretty close to each other at this point. Sheldon and his Uncle Kelse were coming back from a week at Sturgis and they were bed down in Rawlins, WY. Rather than meet in Fort Bridger, we decided that I would head out early and hook up with them in Rawlins. Rawlins is undergoing a bit of an oil boom and there was a large Sinclair refinery outside of town. Along the way in Arlington, WY I stopped to gas up near a wind farm and took some pictures of the Arlington countryside.

Sheldon lives in Salt Lake City and the plan was to drive together to Salt Lake and to bed down at Sheldon’s house. The crosswind along I80 in Wyoming was beating the crap out of us and Kelse mentioned it would be great to get off the interstate. Sheldon suggested cutting through Wasatch National Forest and I was happy to get off the highway and get some better riding in. I am really glad we did. There was a lake in Wasatch called “Mirror Lake” and it sits at about 10000 feet elevation. We stopped and rested a bit and I took some photos of Sheldon, Kelse and the beautiful area around the lake. You can see from the photos that they don’t call it Mirror Lake for nothing.

I should mention at this point that Kelse is 74 and has been to Sturgis 21 times. Sheldon told me that Kelse is a “million miler”. It was good talking bikes with Kelse and hearing about several classic bikes that he had personally ridden until the odometer flipped over 100,000 miles. Kelse and Sheldon proved to be excellent guides in this part of the country and they were great company too.

 

After touring through Wasatch we headed toward Sheldon’s place outside Salt Lake. We stopped and took in a couple of views of Park City, UT where they held the 2002 Winter Olympics (above).

Sheldon’s home has some pretty amazing mountains in all directions. Sheldon’s wife made us a superb dinner and we all we sat outside in the driveway and took in the scenery.

written by mark

I left North Platte at a decent 0800. We had some showers the night before but it was already clear and hot in the morning. I was not sure where I would end up today but was shooting for central to west Wyoming. I had made arrangements to meet my buddy Sheldon in Fort Bridger, WY on Sunday afternoon. He was coming back from Sturgis with his uncle and we were going to ride into Salt Lake together and then make the Utah-Nevada leg together. Sheldon was raised in Boulder City and knows the hot, desert leg of this trip well. I thought it would be good to have a riding buddy regardless, but was especially appreciative to have company on the most difficult leg – through the desert.

I stopped for gas and breakfast in western Nebraska and had a great conversation with a farmer in McDonalds. I could not believe how windy it was as I approached Wyoming in western Nebraska. The elevation was starting to creep up.

Not far outside of Laramie, WY I stopped to rest and took some pictures of a peculiar tree that seemingly grew out of two large rocks. I also took some photos of the surrounding Sherman Mountains. The photos don’t do the terrain justice. At this point, the landscape is seeming to really open up and get way bigger. I don’t know how to describe it other than to say you feel closer to the clouds (you are) and that the horizon is much more imposing.

It is still just 1300 local time and I am thinking I won’t try to make Fort Bridger today, but that I will at least make it to Rawlins, WY. As it turned out, I must have taken a nail in the rear tire when I stopped at the Sherman Mountains overlook because just as I am approaching Laramie, WY – I can feel the rear end of the bike getting away from me. As luck would have it there is a Hampton Inn just as I pull off in Laramie and I pull under the overhang to see that I have a rear flat.

The manager at the Hampton is great. I ask him if there is a bike dealer anywhere in Laramie and he directs me to Frontier Cycles which is just a mile down the main street. I called Frontier, who deals in Suzuki and Kawasaki and explain my predicament. Dale at Frontier tells me he thinks he has a 17″ Bridgestone that will do the trick but that he cannot balance the tire as his shop doesn’t service BMW’s or bikes with a single-sided swingarm. We both decide that I may get lucky on the tire balance and that an out-of-balance rear tire is better than no tire at all. Can’t tell you how much I appreciated the guys at Frontier Cycles in Laramie. Dale sent one of his guys to the hotel parking lot with a portable compressor and we got the rear tire aired up enough for me to drive it down to Frontier’s garage. I owe them a “thank you” card here shortly. They got the new tire on and had me in-and-out of there in a couple of hours. The tire felt great to me even though it was slightly out of balance. I ate at a little sandwich shop while they did the work.

Later that evening I had some killer fried oysters and a Cajun ribeye at a restaurant called “Tommy Jack’s” in Laramie. Laramie is home to the University of Wyoming and there were lots of students in town getting ready for the beginning of the new school year.

written by mark