Our trip through the beautiful state of Utah was COLD! As a matter of fact the general term was FUCKING COLD! I asked the German nationals I was riding with if this was an actual measurement in their country and they informed me that it’s a Fahrenheit term. We had an amazing ride despite the rain, snow, hail, and horrific winds we endured. Isn’t this why we ride, to be close to nature? We definitely were haning out in it all..and was the most blissful 10 days ever. We started our adventure in Flagstaff where the Eaglerider crew had spiffy new rentals ready for us. Micky pointed out the bright fire engine red 2011 Heritage and said “I picked that bike for you because of your horns.” Everyone knows I wear a beanie helmet with little 3″ chrome horns so her sense of humor was appreciated.
Our cast of 11 included 9 riders from Germany, one from Austria, and I would represent the U.S. as we cruised along the 1,400 miles of scenic Utah roadways. There were 5 of us who were journalists/photographers, 2 were a husband/wife film crew who were to document our adventure and the other 4 were married partners in the Eaglerider franchise in Flagstaff and the newly opened shop in Sedona, AZ. Basically, we shot our way across the state of Utah, catching sunrises, sunsets, and scenery like I’ve never witnessed before.
We kicked off the trip with a cruise to the south rim of the Grand Canyon and took a helicopter ride through the jurassic geology. I love flying but not everyone was quite so enthusiastic while they clutched barf bags as we dipped and dived through the canyon. Later as we cruised the roadway along the canyon we ran into some German tourists who had rented their bikes from Eaglerider also and were touring the copper state’s parks.
Next order of business was to make Monument Valley. The pretense for the DVD we were filming was a spoof on the movie Easyriders, since many of our initial miles were mapped out over the same roads Fonda and Hopper cruised for the cult movie. We sent our days laughing and creating images/footage of what will later be made into a promotional film for the tour company based in Germany and for the Flagstaff/Sedona Eagleriders. It was great to get to hang out and ride with such creative individuals. Evenings were spent doing a show-n-tell of the day’s images accompanied by shots of Jackie (Jack Daniels). I’ll share more once I get myself stabilized. Pretty sure I’m going to need rehab after this trip…
Hang on for the rest of this adventure…..
