Las Vegas, Nevada
“Happiness in this world, when it comes, comes incidentally. Make it the object of pursuit, and it leads us a wild-goose chase, and is never attained. Follow some other object, and very possibly we may find that we have caught happiness without dreaming of it.” --Nathaniel Hawthorne
I’m currently on a flight from Las Vegas to New York, I am flying over so much beautiful scenery that it’s ludicrous taking photos of it all – desert, mountain ranges, snow, forests, attractive winding roads that make me want to ride and ride and ride. Nevada was a yummy taste of the beautiful American countryside on a terrific motorbike – the Triumph Bonneville T100.
Picked it up the morning of Friday 22nd and for a great price, so I was happy to see it was in great condition. This bike has a classic layout which is a bit taller and heavier than my Suzi Intruder and with foot pegs a bit further back than on a cruiser. I felt it out as I rode the streets heading to the edge of the city – being taller and heavier, it’s less ‘flickable’ than my motorbike and has a lot more torque with a modern 865cc parallel twin (compared to my bike’s simple and smaller V-twin).
Las Vegas traffic can be intense and riding on the right-hand side of the road adds extra mental work to do as you consider and re-consider that you’re perceiving the flow of traffic in intersections. I don’t enjoy city riding – there’s a lot of people not ‘present’ while they drive their cars and no shortage of people peeking at their mobile phones on top of that. City riding is a continual process of risk mitigation and problem solving as you consider possibilities and figure escape plans. That paid off for me the next day.
Stopped at the edge of the city and marvelled at what was in front of me. Nevada desert, American roads. As striking as you’d imagine – and it only got better.
My ride took me through Lake Mead state park where I don’t really know how to describe it. It was wide and expansive, great roads and little traffic. I loved it.
I stopped off at the Hoover Dam – something I’ve always been interested in seeing. The tours here are amazing but time was short so after a stop, I rode on.
Then, back and around Lake Mead to ride through the Valley of Fire. This is a gorgeous part of the countryside – I had no idea what I was in for and thoroughly enjoyed the fast long curves, undulating heights and astonishing landscape.
By this stage I had gotten really comfortable with the bike and was wringing it out to it’s redline through the gears – don’t tell anyone I was screaming through the Nevada desert at 100 miles an hour. Ho ho, pure absurdity. This bike pulls hard all the way up through to 90mph where it tapers off – the T120 Bonneville has a bigger engine than the T100, more power than anyone really needs but it’s not about ‘need’ is it.
Reached Overton which is a small one-diner town, filled up with fuel and pulled into the diner where once I’d ordered, they told me they’d just put a fresh pot of coffee on and suggested I have ice-cream with my apple pie. Why not. It’s perfect. The coffee was great and the apple pie a generous and deliciously rustic serve in a diner that was genuine and quietly of itself as the locals talked and ate.
After taking it easy, I hit the road – I’d stopped off a number of times to enjoy where I was and I was seriously behind schedule. The winter sun was close to setting after it’s short day and I’d certainly be riding in the dark. The smart choice would have been to track up and reach the motorway for a safest ride back to Las Vegas, but I followed my heart and rode out back towards the Valley of Fire.
I think I know why they call it that. I was treated to a beautiful roaring red dusk painted across the sky and the desert landscape. No photos as I didn’t stop on the ride back, but my video of the ride shows it all (this is #3 of 7 on my YouTube channel).
Rode through Las Vegas to my hotel, had a drink in a quiet bar on the original Las Vegas strip (not the famous one) then enjoyed a good meal.
Next day I rode out the other direction, motorways funnelling me out of the city. A driver hit the brakes and locked up in front of me, I assume driving too close to the car in front of him or her and/or being inattentive.
This is why it really bugs me when people drive close behind motorcycles. The 3-second following distance rule is not a joke, it gives time to evade. No such thing as just a fender bender for a rider and had a driver been following 1-second driving distance behind me, I would have had to switch lanes at speed instead of simply as risk mitigation as I was slowing down. This one went well, I knew I’d kept 3-driving-seconds to the car ahead, that there was a good gap in the lane to my left, a wide area on my right and over 3-seconds of space to the driver behind me so I had options – but situations get complex quickly so you have to be considering your escape plans constantly when you ride, especially when the traffic is heavy and your options are constantly changing and being taken away like a driver close behind you or cars to your left and/or right. I’m not in it for city riding, it’s a lot of work.
I love the 3-second rule. I wish it were used more often.
Rode the Lee Canyon Road up Mount Charleston through 3000, 4000, 5000, 6000 feet elevation. The Bonneville is fuel-injected and computer controlled so it adjusted to the thinning air no worries. My Suzi Intruder has no computer and runs the old-fashioned carby so it gets a bit breathless as the altitude gets high.
Snow started appearing on the sides of the road – I learned in conversation later it had snowed last night – and by the time I reached the junction, there was blankets of snow.
I hadn’t fuelled up when leaving that morning and had only 10 or 15 miles range further than the petrol station on my route – and looking at the road ahead twisting upwards, I knew there was the possibility of ice on the road. If I had to turn back, I might run out of fuel and I didn’t want to encounter ice at all really, or snow in the middle of the lane. So I reluctantly turned back and was treated to a beautiful view of the desert valley as I rode back down the Lee Canyon Road.
It doesn't really come across in the photo - it was glorious.
Pulled into a service station for some fuel (they’re all pay-at-the-pump here) then went in to buy some water and a snack. There’s plenty of indoor smoking in Nevada and this place practically had a haze along with an old guy smoking to the side with a majority of the store dedicated to cigarettes and alcohol. There’s a good slow pace in these genuine spots and I find it remarkably easy to slot in. After buying some water, beef jerky and a moon pie (I passed on the nicotine toothpicks), I sat out the front and chatted with a couple selling jewelry and wares out the front. I took in the sparseness and the cool dry air between me and the mountain ranges. A country guy (imagine a Credence Clearwater Revival look) sat nearby and we got chatting, complimenting my bike and telling me about the ’72 Bonneville he used to ride.
I can’t tell you how pleasant it is, time is let go of so easily in country community here and there’s a companionship in humankind that is genuine and as simple as it should be. All that discussion and meditation on being present and mindfulness is effortless to these people. It works for me, I like it here. I like the kindness in spirit.
From here, I rode down and glanced across the edge of Las Vegas to Red Rock canyon.
This is a beautiful little loop passing the Red Rock, common with motorcycle riders and a tourist favourite. There's also a larger one I didn't have time for but being a Saturday, contained a procession of tourists anyway - so I relaxed and enjoyed the view.
Chatted with a couple of Goldwing-style riders and a sports-bike rider and recorded a couple of my T7 Tips videos before reluctantly riding back to drop the Bonneville off.
It’s been a real enjoyable motorbike. More electronics than I like and I prefer air-cooled to liquid-cooled engines but there’s a reason for that stuff and they’re genuinely good reasons. I didn’t like the engine note at idle and low revs, but beyond 4000 rpm the engine note would roar through the exhaust with a sound remarkably similar to a modern muscle car, very satisfying. This might be the engine I get in the Triumph Speedmaster that I’m considering buying if I can’t find one of the rarer first-generation air-cooled 790 engined Speedmasters with bee-yellow paint that I really like, so it’s been an interesting and damn enjoyable experience.
I won’t be riding in New York or Washington DC, so this was my last ride for 2017. It was a real good one. I’ll try another bike when I ride somewhere in the south of the US, I don’t know where yet – I have nearly a month where I don’t know where I’ll be. It will be an adventure.
Thanks for reading!