Jonesin for a Ride!

Archive for the ‘2011 Sturgis Trip’ Category

Route for Day One-August 3, 2011

[findmespotmap v=3 start=”2011-08-01 15:00:00″ end=”2011-08-04 07:00:00″ id=”0-2100758″ type=t sv=yes wx=station]

This was out first gas stop in Barstow where we discovered that my bag was just barley hanging on to the bike. It was time to break out some rok-straps and do it right! Since Shai isn’t a little guy anymore, had to take this shot….

John, Sharon, Akzl and Big Steve will leave tomorrow morning at o-dark thirty and will be heading to St. George UT, which is where Shai and I will hook up with them on Thursday.

Shai and I arrived in Las Vegas at 2:00 p.m. PDT on Wednesday, 281 miles from OC. At Stateline it was 102 degrees, but with our misters we were ok.

45 minutes later we checked into our hotel, Tuscany Suites and Casino (thanks Song, great place!) and headed straight for the pool, where I enjoyed a much needed beer and cooling down.

After the pool we went for a short walk where I discovered that this casino is right next door to a “Gentlemen’s Club”.

Shai, aren’t you tired yet and ready to go to bed??

A bit later we will go out and see what is happening in Sin City.

Tomorrow will be a short ride and we will meet the rest of the gang in St. George

Breakfast…..? Check.
Dressed……..? Check
Gas……………? Check
Misters……….? Check
Ready for desert heat of 100++ degrees……

Once again it is off to the 71^st Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in the Black Hills of South Dakota. This particular year is a bit nostalgic and a revealing for me….

My first attendance was 17 years ago in 1994, and since then I have only missed one rally. I have gone so many times now that I don’t carry a map and don’t need the GPS anymore as Utah, Colorado and Wyoming all seem like my back yard.

In 1994 John, Stretch and I trailer our bikes out to Sturgis for the one week. We wanted to see what the Rally was about and to find out if we wanted to ride out there the next year. The following year I rode out with Stretch to hook up at the rally with John, Sharon (his wife) and their 6 month old boy Akzl. Because they had a new addition to their family, they trailer one more time. The next few years John and his family would ride.

Back then, Sharon and Akzl would ride out with John on their one motorcycle with a sidecar. I would be riding solo.

Now, 16 years later, I again will hook up with John, Sharon and Akzl, along with Big Steve. But this time John will be on his bike, Sharon will be riding her own trike and Akzl’s will be riding his own bike!   I’ll be taking Shai on the back of mine – yes, a family trip to Sturgis….

I’m sure John will be packing the Rolaids worrying about his family as each one of them have thier own wheels  to handle (as I would be too). Akzl may be only 16 1/2, but he is smart and has had the proper raising and training so I am not worrying (easy for me to say).  But really, how cool is it to be able to ride half way across this great country of ours at the age of 16 with your own handlebars!  How many kids get to do that!  I would have only been able to dream it, Akzl gets to live it.

Back then, the excitement was our first trips.  Now, the excitement will be watching the young ones enjoy it.