Couple months ago I hooked up with my buddy uwjberg in Vegas and rode Death Valley - incredible ride, check the pics HERE. Returned last weekend to go check out a couple of local Vegas riding areas, Logandale, on the border of the Valley of Fire, and Apex, near Nellis Air Force Base. Unfortunately, we had some, uh, logistical problems at Logandale. To start with, I went to fish my camera out of my bag early Saturday morning to find only my spare camera battery and no camera. After a frantic call home, I was relieved to find out that it hadn't been stolen - instead, it turns out I'm just an idiot and somehow managed to not actually get my camera into my bag in the first place. I already know I'm an idiot, so I was able to take this news in stride. uwjberg's camera would do the job fine, anyways. So I thought. Soooo...Saturday, we drove the hour+ to Logandale only to find out we didn't have to the key to the DRZ. We promptly shit our collective pants, loaded the bikes back into the truck, and headed back to Sin City. We reversed our plans and decided to go back to Vegas, get the key, then ride Apex on Saturday instead, since it's only 15 minutes or so out of Vegas. I'd ridden for a few minutes at Apex last year when uwjberg had only one dirt bike - it's sort of a more gravelly version of Moses Lake's dunes here in WA, I guess. Fun riding, for sure, but not the main attraction of the weekend. We dinked around there for a couple of hours, popped some wheelies, did some donuts, the usual sandy desert tomfoolery, then headed back to Vegas while we still had enough energy left to sit at a bar and watch Saturday's UFC girl-fight while some tramp-stamped chick in lingerie stood on the bar and poured shots down the throats of drunken tourists. Good times...sorry, no pics of that. Nice ass though, I gotta admit. Now, Sunday, with DRZ key firmly in pocket, we returned to Logandale. Unfortunately, during our first real picture stop of the ride, uwjberg's camera gave up the ghost. The zoom lens must've got some sand stuck in it or something, it kept saying "ZOOM ERROR!" and refused to snap any pictures. A bummer, because actually riding in among the rocks of the Valley of Fire was a great photo op. Last year, I rode through the Valley on a sportbike, so I was really looking forward to being on a dirtbike where I could get up in the rocks and get some good photos. Not meant to be, with my camera laying on my bedroom floor at home, and uwjberg's camera eating a shit sandwich in the bottom of his Camelback. So, hey, trust me, it was really scenic. Wish I could show you all. I posted up a few mediocre pics of the street ride last year if you're interested, HERE. Instead, you can see uwjberg forgetting the DRZ key and us attempting to pop wheelies and generally rumble/stumble/bumble through the sand and dirt. Enjoy. Or don't. Thought we were ready to rock at Logandale - uwjberg's DRZ400S and Husaberg FE501 What's missing here? uwjberg's "oh shit I forgot the key" face Coupe de Ville, Nevada style An hour and a half later, back at the ranch, delighted to have the DRZ key Saturday afternoon, ride attempt NUMBER 2, now at Apex An hour or two of fookin' about at Apex Breaktime, no kickstand required A few pics from Sunday's Logandale excursion, before the camera crapped the bed I think the looks on our faces here pretty much sum up how the whole weekend went: uwjberg me Actually, joking aside, the weekend rocked, can't wait to get back down there again...which won't be until autumn, because there's no way I'm riding in the desert when it's 115 degrees in the shade...though I may need to get down there sooner just to sit in an air conditioned casino, drink beer, and stare at women that have no interest in talking to me, which I always enjoy.
great report, as always. some good riding and questionable fitness levels, followed by drinking, staring at hot servers, and generally walking around too much on the strip. i've learned my lesson, and will be making several copies of my key shortly. maybe next time the camera won't crap the bed, and we can document getting lost in the desert and not being able to kick-start the 'berg. can't wait for next time...
Nice bikes and nice ride. Those wheelies are fantastic, i wish i could land one of those Thanks for sharing the pics mate.
Heh, thanks, nowhere near as cool as the pics I've seen you post up though man! As far as the wheelies go, I'm terrible at wheelies. Uwjberg's modded DRZ just does pretty easy power wheelies in first gear, so even a chump like me can pop up a semi-mediocre looking wheelie in first gear off the throttle. I can't actually ride them out or anything like that. I have no skills. But they do look pretty good if you snap the pictures at the right time!
I keep saying the same thing over & over... nice pics... nice pics. But they really are! Hey! My son grads from Cal-Poly Pomona next weekend & will be loading up to move to Seattle. He gots a job somewhere there. I told him he's nuts. He's used to sunshine 360 days a year & freezes up when its colder than 70 deg.F. He doesn't have a bike right now but says its one of the 1st things he's buying with all the $ he'll be making... (starving student to being employed) Anyways, he'll be looking for some guys to get out & explore the great Northwet. But anyways.... nice pics... good story!!!
Tell your son to check out pnwriders.com, there are always quite a few rides and get-togethers posted on there, good site for motorcycling in the northwest. Tends to be a younger crowd, lots of sportbike riders, but dual-sporters and cruisers, too. Good stuff. As far as the weather goes...yeah, I'm guessing it's going to be an adjustment! Summer here is beautiful for riding, the rest of the year...well...you get used to it!
Thanks! I sent him an email with the website address. Don't be surprised if he looks you up. He's a good kid. He loves dual sporting. We've ridden together since he was a little skupper. We've ridden all around Death Valley... looks a lot like whats in your pics. He won't know what to do around slick roots, ice, clay, snot rocks, deep ruts etc etc..... Be gentle on him....
