Motorcycle ride from Calgary to Vegas and back !

With a conference to go to in Las Vegas (for work) and a boss/friends that enjoy riding as much as I do, it was easy to make the decision to go for an adventure motorcycle trip of 4,500 kms !! Going through 1 Province and 5 States (Alberta, Montana, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, Nevada).

The gang, Peter, Darcy, Ian and me.

Day 1, we met at Pete's house at 8:00am Saturday and without wasting any time we hit the road south. Stopped for fuel and breakfast in Nanton and discussed the plan, route and next stops.
I rode a BMW R1200GS, Darcy and Pete had the K1300R and Ian a Honda Shadow 750 (with a smaller engine and gas tank Ian was forced to make a few more stops, but that was fine as riding for more that 2 hours straight is tough anyway..) First day we rode around 760kms all the way from Calgary to Butte Montana, after checking in the hotel we went for food and beers.





Day 2 started with a 6k run at 7:00 am with Pete around Butte. I wanted to run a mile for Ed under 6min and it was quite a way to wake up ! We had a quick breakfast in the hotel and off we went for another day of 750kms all the way to Provo Utah ! The highlight of Provo was riding to a bar without a helmet @#$% (took a lot of crap on facebook when posting the photos..), but hey, when in Rome ....

In the morning the temperature was around 4c, the mountain tops were covered in white stuff ! and at one point we go some snow showers for a little bit while riding.... Darcy and Pete decided to just "plug in" their wimpy heated vests, I just had heated grips (which actually makes a huge difference) and poor Ian, well he had to suck it up with nothing to be plugged !













Day 3 started again with another 6k run at 7am with Pete. This time my mile of the day felt a bit easier... (probably because it was a flatter road :--). We got on the bikes and rode another 610kms all the way to Las Vegas Nevada !! The ride through the canyon in Arizona between Saint George and Vegas (14miles of turns) was fast and exciting @#$%^ . Ripping through corners at over 140k/p/h was an adrenaline rush ! The heat in Vegas is not normal, it was 43c and we could feel the burning ! (now I know what a marshmallow feels when is been roasted in a fire pit :-)))




Days 4-6, I will probably omit a lot here, since "what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas...." so I will leave it to your imagination :--). Since we got to Vegas with a day to spare before the conference, I went out for a 6k run again with Pete early morning (7am and it was already 38c!!). I did my 6 minute mile and called it the day. Went to the pool the rest of the day and enjoy quite a trip to Old Las Vegas with Jeff, Pete and Cameron were we experimented the taste of famous "Garbage Fries", sort of nachos, but fries instead of chips. Las Vegas is an exciting city that literally NEVER SLEEPS.. We were out in the streets until well past midnight, and the crowd wasn't normal.. Conference was excellent and we came back with tons of new knowledge and great ideas.

A few highlights worth mentioning about Vegas:
1. Wahlburgers (right on the main strip)
2. Garbage Fries in Old Las Vegas (Place called Park on Fremont)
3. Caesar Palace
4. The Venetian
5. Beers cheaper than water.... so keep hydrated with it !!


Day 7 started with breakfast at the conference before we hit the road !. We loaded our bikes early morning and leaving Ian behind getting his bike fixed at a local shop we decided to take the longer road and go through the Zion Park, that way we can reunite with Ian by the time we get to Provo Utah. Leaving Vegas the temperature was around 41c !! smocking hot. I was really looking forward to hit the Canyon that sits right before Saint George, beautiful 14miles canyon with tons of turns and fast ! (Pete was probably doing 160, while I was a bit safer under 150k/p/h...) took a few pictures and chase him down !. Going through the Zion Park was an amazing experience, fun roads and cool views with a tunnel that is 1.1 miles in length !. After that we went through some Mormon towns with really nice temples. One quick Stop in Salina (were there was a street celebration of some sort, but sans alcohol... We got to Provo and guess what??? Ian was just getting there too after a long ride by himself on the i15... We checked in and went out for dinner at Sizzler (amazing food)





 
 

Day 8 from Provo to Missoula. Long day on the bike, probably close to 1,000kms. We stop at Jan's Cafe (mandatory stop for the Tour Divide cyclist) but we couldn't see any... After that we rode in the rain for quite a while. From Butte to Missoula was a different country road, nice and with lots of turns, different scenery from what we were seen the last few days. Arrived to Missoula and found a cheap Super 6 hotel right across from the bar called "Press Box" amazing food and beers/






Day 9... well the trip was coming to an end.... so sad....., however we rode in the south side of Glaciar Park throughout an amazing twisty road, fast and with an unbelievable mountain view!. We stop for pictures and had some food at Saint Mary before crossing the border. Took over 600 pictures in the trip, probably stop in over 24 gas stations !@ burned at least 250liters of premium gas (that is around 325CAD), rode over 4,500kms, went through 5 States and 1 Province, had a blast hanging out with the guys in different bars, hotels, gas stations, and of course Vegas!







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