Photo taken from the Colorado Belle hotel - Full Moon Fever
Looking east from Laughlin, Nevada across the Colorado River to Bullhead City, Arizona.
The t-shirts we bought at the Laughlin River Run a couple of weeks ago have "36th" stamped on them. I guess that means the River Run started in 1982. Back then Ronald Reagan was still in his first term as President, the Cold War was very hot, and the infamous "River Run Riot" was 20 years off in the future.
Laughlin is about 100 miles south of Las Vegas and could easily be labeled "Vegas Lite." There is a Strip that has around eight major hotels, all with casinos. Large banners advertise upcoming shows and concerts featuring artists such as Pit Bull, Willie Nelson and George Thorogood. For homesick hungry southern Californians, there is an In-N-Out Burger right across the street from the Colorado Belle that is open until 1:00 am.
A sea of mostly Harley Davidson motorcycles along with hundreds of vendors take over the parking lots along the Strip during "Bike Week." The vendors are very cool. My wife upgraded her amplifier and speakers on her Street Glide; now she can actually hear music at 80 mph on the freeway. Thanks to J&M Motorcycle Audio. Then after having a few too many vodka and cranberry juice cocktails, she went over to the LED lights vendor, Glowride Custom LED's (yes, she walked over), and bought an LED light system. Given her condition, they were nice enough to ride her bike over to their space.
Laughlin is about 100 miles south of Las Vegas and could easily be labeled "Vegas Lite." There is a Strip that has around eight major hotels, all with casinos. Large banners advertise upcoming shows and concerts featuring artists such as Pit Bull, Willie Nelson and George Thorogood. For homesick hungry southern Californians, there is an In-N-Out Burger right across the street from the Colorado Belle that is open until 1:00 am.
A sea of mostly Harley Davidson motorcycles along with hundreds of vendors take over the parking lots along the Strip during "Bike Week." The vendors are very cool. My wife upgraded her amplifier and speakers on her Street Glide; now she can actually hear music at 80 mph on the freeway. Thanks to J&M Motorcycle Audio. Then after having a few too many vodka and cranberry juice cocktails, she went over to the LED lights vendor, Glowride Custom LED's (yes, she walked over), and bought an LED light system. Given her condition, they were nice enough to ride her bike over to their space.
Not to be left behind in the bike upgrades department, I had the Vance & Hines folks install headers on my Fat Boy. Gone are my slip ons and headers with catalytic converters. Most after-market pipes and FuelPaks cannot be legally sold in or shipped to California. And I got a great deal. Two good reasons to buy shit in Nevada. I read that River Run amounts to 10% of the Laughlin economy. No wonder everyone is so nice.
One of the big attractions of the Laughlin River Run is the nearby "old Route 66." This refers to the remnants of the Mother Road that still exist and can be ridden safely. The Route 66 town of Oatman is a short 45 minute ride from Laughlin. Today, Oatman is part ghost town, part tourist attraction and part wild burro rescue. Oatman was a gold mining town until 1941 when the mine was ordered shuttered by the US government. The burros are descendants of the pack animals used by the miners and are a big part of the charm and history of Oatman. Most of the shops have bags of "Burro Food" that cost $1.00. But the day we were there, the burros didn't seem very hungry for the dried food cubes. Of course it could have something to do with the fact there were around 10,000 people in Oatman that day, all of whom had a bag of burro food. But then a shopkeeper told us they actually like carrots. She also mentioned carrots give the burros the runs, so tourists are discouraged from the practice. Maybe next year I will smuggle some in.
Our take aways from Laughlin are the constant rumble of bikes on South Casino Drive, the outdoor bars with endless amounts of alcohol available while you listen to tribute bands doing Guns 'N Roses, Alice In Chains and AC/DC songs (really good bands, by the way), midnight runs to the hotel gift shop for Advil and ice cream, hot engines idling at traffic lights in Bullhead City with the temperature hovering around 105 degrees and loving every minute of it (well, almost loving it), resisting the urge to buy one more "River Run" t-shirt, and being around some very cool people.
I overheard an "old timer" commenting to his friend that Laughlin "isn't what it used to be." I'm sure it's not. For one thing - since the River Run Riot, the major hotels have a strict "no colors" policy. River Run has been called an over-policed swap meet. I can attest that Las Vegas cops are everywhere (we talked to one of them for several minutes; he was very nice too.) Bike Week in Laughlin usually averages around 25 arrests and one stolen motorcycle. My neighborhood probably fares worse over any given 4 days.
But the gatherings give us permission to be loud and crazy, and as Donald Charles Davis put it: "to chase the American dream of being an outlaw. It seems that everyone here is at one with the Hells Angels, Mongols and Vagos and all these civilians differ from patch holders only in the extent of their commitment to this alienated identity. They did not join. So their lives did not spin off in radical new directions. So they may not quite belong. But they are here . . . "
Well said Rebel.
No biker deserves to be bored . . .
I overheard an "old timer" commenting to his friend that Laughlin "isn't what it used to be." I'm sure it's not. For one thing - since the River Run Riot, the major hotels have a strict "no colors" policy. River Run has been called an over-policed swap meet. I can attest that Las Vegas cops are everywhere (we talked to one of them for several minutes; he was very nice too.) Bike Week in Laughlin usually averages around 25 arrests and one stolen motorcycle. My neighborhood probably fares worse over any given 4 days.
But the gatherings give us permission to be loud and crazy, and as Donald Charles Davis put it: "to chase the American dream of being an outlaw. It seems that everyone here is at one with the Hells Angels, Mongols and Vagos and all these civilians differ from patch holders only in the extent of their commitment to this alienated identity. They did not join. So their lives did not spin off in radical new directions. So they may not quite belong. But they are here . . . "
Well said Rebel.
No biker deserves to be bored . . .
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