Harleys Rule The West...In The Summer

Friday, August 3, 2007.


This morning I had to hit a casino for breaksfast, and ended up playing the slots! Oh, the addictive nature of the dings and rings, the colored lights, and the random reinforcement. I was behind, I was even, I was behind, I was ahead, I was even, I was behind...behind...behind. Oh, well, they got my $20.


Next I went for a bike ride of a little over an hour. Oh, does it feel good to exercise while traveling! Leaving Ely, heading west on Hwy 50, the Loneliest Road in America, I hit this scene..over and over again. Ever time I cleared a mountain range I went down into a long valley about 15-25 miles across. It was 70 miles or so, at least, between any sign of civilization.

In one pass, I stopped to take pictures of the dry lake bed that appears as a white layer between the cliff walls, and the Harleys came roaring by...both ways. For sure, Harleys run the road in the West in the summer. It was 95 degrees and, of course, dry. These riders probaby died ten years ago but just don't know it and don't rot because their skin is luggage.

While taking forever, it seemed, to cross the large, flat expanse between one set of mountain ranges, I started counting the dust devils that were swirling several hundred feet into the air: I counted six at least.

It was more open spaces, more Harleys in a never-ending cycle. Thank God for XM radio! Moving toward Reno, I came across Sand Mountain. There were 4-wheelers racing up and down this thing for Chrissake!!

After leaving Sand Mountaing behind, I saw this rider up ahead walking a bike. I pulled over and the young lady practically begged me for a ride to the next town. She and a group of 24 left New York two months ago on a cross-country ride to raise money for Habitat for Humanity. They expect to reach San Francisco on Aug. 8. They ride about 70 miles a day. I asked how many had been hit by cars and she said that one rider had, and that he was near death. All the riders were beech-nut brown! I'm sure some dermatologists will be happy about 30 years from now! But, it's an adventure for them and they're supporting a good cause.

I checked into a hotel in Truckee, CA, near Squaw Valley where I'll do the workshop. Just down the street Ziggy Marley put on a concert in a park, so I jumped on the bike and rode down there. Met a young couple with their first baby...8 weeks old. They're already teaching her how to go hear quality music.

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Mike S.