It’s not so Easy – A film by Peter Fonda and Cliff Vaughs
Check this out. For you n00bs out there, listen up! 😉
It’s a motorcycle safety film produced by the late Cliff Vaughs in 1974— Cliff was one of the makers of the Easy Rider bikes and built the most famous bike in the world: Captain America. He got with Peter Fonda a few years after Easy Rider to make this film. Its a blast from the past. Plus its got my Childhood Hero Evel Knevel! I can’t believe it didn’t win an academy award 🙂
Cliff Vaughs shows up about 7:30 in the film RIP Cliff!
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It’s still a saturday
Still, one of the best songs ever made. Hows your Saturday?
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Sail on down the line
Great song you don’t hear much. It’s a Saturday morning. Sail on down the line…
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It’s not about the nail.
I don’t recall if I’ve posted this before, and I’m too lazy to go back and check to see if I did. It came up in a conversation today, and it still cracks me up. If you’re a guy, you’ll understand.
It’s been pretty damn hot lately. We hit 120 one day, and a couple of days over 117. Its monsoon season in the Valley, and we’re starting to get some pretty bitchen thunderstorms. When it rains in the desert, the sky just opens up and DUMPS. Its bad ass. Those are even fun to ride in, because they don’t last long. I freaking love the desert.
The nice thing about living here is although its too hot right now to go explore somewhere, you don’t get that feeling that the clock is ticking on a long ride. I love that. Mrs Zip and I are planning on a ride to Nevada for a BACA rally in October, and I’d like to go check out New Mexico before that. I’m thinking Alamagordo to see some nuclear history, or Roswell for the fuck of it and see some Aliens. Texas is also an option: Route 66 in the panhandle, or El Paso to bring back some killer Salsa and eat some Texas BBQ. There’s the Abandoned set where John Wayne Re-created the Alamo thats only 900 miles away in Bracketville, or go see the stockyards again in Fort Worth and get a killer steak.
I need to stop. this is giving me the ride hornies.
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Ron Swanson
Turns out, I don’t watch a whole lot of mainstream TV. I barely care. This Ron Swanson guy though, cracks me the hell up.
look at me once, loot at me twice…
Look at me again and theresagoannabeafight!
Remember the stray cats?
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Riding Arizona
I’ve been chomping at the bit to make a few miles since I moved here 6 months ago, and I finally got my chance. Twist a throttle, see a thing and get out of town.
Wednesday morning at 6 AM I hit the road. The thing about the desert in the summer, is you have to hit the road early; its the coolest time of the day. Heat wears you out on long rides and if you can, avoid it. It’s the secret to riding in Southern Arizona.
My dad always said take twice the money and half the clothes. I loaded up the night before, got the rest in the morning and got the hell out of town. With the morning commute going, it took about an hour to get out of the city. I hit the 17 and headed north. The road opened up and a killer day was ahead. Up to the Mountains of Flagstaff. The weather got cooler, and the ride more focused; It was turning out to be a fucking cool ride.
Life can load you up with insignificant bullshit over time. This ride was to get some of that out, examine it and see it for what it was. It’s funny how a long ride can do that. I’ve always said that you need a 3 day ride; the first day all the bullshit drains out — the second day you are back to being yourself; the 3rd day is pure inspiration. I was on day 1 of a long ride. The bullshit drained out pretty fast. I had time, and there was lots of road ahead.
I got gas in Flagstaff, and up through the best road in Arizona — the Sunset Crater/Waputki Loop. It’s on the edge of the Mountains and the high plains, and you get a little of both.
Up through my old stomping grounds of Northern Arizona and Southern Utah, I finally landed to see an old friend in St George, 500 miles later. It was good to see him. We hung out in his garage and drank beer till 1:30 in the morning. A much needed shot in the arm. Good old friends are a rarity; I’ve had a few, but maybe this was one of the best. We laughed, bitched, and solved the worlds problems all in his garage. It was a killer evening.
I loaded up and rode down to the Harley Dealership to get a new back tire. It took them about 2 hours, and a little bit of bullshit to get it done. I rolled out, and headed south on 1-15.
I hit the Overton Nevada loop to get off the Interstate. Great side route, but its always been full of those tar snakes that in the heat, make your bike get all squirrely: They’d paved that road since I was last on it, and it was pretty nice. it was 2 hours of a great ride. All to the Eagles. I twisted through some desert turns in the 100 degree heat, and milked the hell out of the fact that this was a great ride already on day 2. I decided to ride into Needles California instead of Kingman AZ for the night. Maybe I could see a little more road, and milk it out some that way. My only other option was Barstow, but I didn’t want to ride that much of the Interstate.
I rolled into Needles California and found an old familiar sign:
Needles was hot. 105 degrees. I got a room for the night, cranked up the AC and tried to find the Penguins game on TV. It was the playoffs, but apparently this motel didn’t have that channel. No matter; Mrs Zip kept me in the loop over text as to the score. I was beat, and eventually fell asleep before I’d learned the ending. I woke up to find we’d won the series and was moving on to the Stanley Cup Finals. Hell yes.
I got back on the road and headed East. Toward Oatman. Crossed the mighty Colorado river:
I got a gopro about a year ago, and have been screwing around with it a little bit. I shot some footage that didn’t turn out, but shot a few that did.
There’s a lot of movie history at the Colorado River:
I’d argue that Steppenwolf and Easy rider made Peter Fonda famous here.
I’d also Argue that his father Henry Fonda at a young age also got famous here from the Grapes of Wrath:
Then, I rode into one of my favorite places: Oatman Arizona.
I rolled through Kingman, and north into route 66. I enjoy the hell out of that ride. the weather was cool and my bike purred. I don’t know that I’ll ever get sick of that road. I took as much of the side roads as I could, and by dusk I camped out in Bellemont Arizona on old route 66.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTY2Z0XBiQg
I broke my phone somehow on this trip, and lost a lot of my pictures, or I’d have more. I had some cool shots. Dammit….Shit does happen 🙂
It was nice and cool in Flagstaff. I rode through Winslow, and headed south to home.
Great ride. There’s so much of Arizona I want to explore and will. This was kind a re-connection trip. See an old friend, re-visit some old roads I’ve ridden before and see how things have changed. A lot has. For the better.
I think it’s time to head east now, maybe to Santa Fe, West Texas or even Oklahoma. There’s plenty of road to explore.
4 States, 4 days 1,142 Miles