After breakfast we headed north east to Durango Colorado.
When they made the movie, they just bolted to Taos, with a piece of toast in their mouth while they drove, probably. Who cares. Peter and Dennis were hanging out in an RV, and the bikes were were in a panel Van, making miles. We took the scenic route, up to Durango.
Cool little town. We took some time and walked roundBruno, John, Graham and I. Just outside the train station
We spent our time, then headed east. Found us a cool waterfall.
Beautiful.Group shot of the Easy Rider Inaugural Tour Crew
Up through Wolf Creek Pass
Wolf Creek Pass. 10, 890 feet. My bike was sucking air, but she wanted to see all this bad as I did. A great ride on a Harley-Davidson methinks.
I couldn’t help but have this song in my head. Like, the whole time. My gift to humanity is useless trivia, and random thought. I present CW McCall, Wolf Creek pass. white person trucker rap, from 1975. Give you an Idea of the road, anyway:
We rolled down from Wolf Creek Pass, and had lunch in a place I’m not sure the name of. We turned south, somewhere. We were hungry, and ate a gourmet meal at a greasy roadside shop. I think I had a buffalo burger with jalapeno’s on the side. And fries.
On our way into Taos, we stopped at a bridge crossing the Rio Grande river. The weather was hot, and some of us had some Ice coffee at a hippy truck while it held out. The rest of us had some some ice water and cokes. My ass was sore, and needed a break. Vendors and lots of bikes is all I remember. This was memorial day weekend, and everyone was taking advantage of it.
Rio Grande Gorge BridgeThe Rio Grande River. This river ends up being the border between Texas and New Mexico, looking that-a-way.
Aussie John gave me a lot of pictures for this blog. About 100 miles back, he also reminded me of good touring music. I listened to this, as we rolled into Taos. The desert was wide, the weather was good, and we were rolling 8 miles a minute, most of the time. I knew that somewhere, I had deadlines and commitments. I just didn’t have them now. It was on the hotter side, but still…. a perfect day of riding.
We pulled into Taos, and I saw 2 spots from the movie on the way in, that we’d see tomorrow. I felt thrashed, but happier than hell. What else would I rather be doing? It was a hot day, and a long day and I fell asleep about as fast as I sat down. This was the first of a string of 300 mile days.
Day 7 – Easy Rider Movie Location Tour – 280 Miles
After breakfast in Kayenta, we loaded up and headed out. Today would be a short day, but not short on scenery. Monument Valley was a few miles away. The wind had died down, the feral dogs were behind us, and we rode on in. I never get sick of this place.
In 1969, they rode it at dusk. We rode it at dawn.Easy Rider Screenshot from 1969. In 45 years, the scenery hasn’t changed much.Dr. Phil, Riding Captain America through Monument Valley. Riding this bike just makes you feel cool all over.
EagleRider had another plan for us. A tour through the valley floor. Another reason why they’re the best at what they do. This wasn’t just a motorcycle tour, everything is about the experience. Its just their mindset.
Little guy (me) didn’t go the bathroom before we left, so I had to get that handled. I was holding everyone up, and they took the opportunity to give me a ration of shit coming back to the tour trucks. lol, perfect. Felt like I was home. All in good fun.
Our tour guide was Navajo, and shared his stories. We weaved around the valley floor while he told us of Navajo life, history, a little bit of the language, and locations. A great little tour.
Two Mittens, Monument Valley2 Mittens, screenshot from Easy Rider in 1969Mr and Mrs Tczap, and me (Mr Zip). Enjoying a tour of valley floor.
The draw of this place is that you can’t really take it all in. A picture is worthless, you just need to see it.John Ford Point, Monument Valley. For 2 bucks here, you can sit on a Gelding and pretend you’re master of all you survey. I like this beast, makes me look taller.They Call it John Ford Point for a reason…The biggest difference between me and Ana, is she makes this look good.
A fun couple of hours, and another nice break. Some good conversation, and a good amount of laughs. Everyone had a good time I think. We headed back to our bikes and down the road again.
I ran ahead, so Bruno could get some pictures. The hill from Forrest Gump.
This is my State. Pretty proud to live here.
We ran the 24 miles to Mexican Hat. I first ran through here in 2009, with my 12 year old daughter on a daddy daughter weekend. It was dusk when we hit Kayenta. No room, at any inn. It was dark when we ran through Monument Valley, and headed past Mexican Hat on the bike on the way to Bluff Utah, where we finally found a place to stay. I remember passing the Mexican Hat lodge Inn in the middle of the night. Cool little place, lots of neon and out in the middle of nowhere. Kept thinking how this would be a good place for an old school biker retreat, like they used to do it back in the day. One year later, I got together with some good friends in B.A.C.A. , of which I’m a member of, and it ended up happening. My buddy Drifter knew the guy that owns the land directly below Mexican Hat, and now that retreat happens every year. Kinda cool.
Mexican Hat
From there we headed to Bluff, Utah for lunch. Twin Rocks Cafe.
ehh, I’d have named it something different.Getting ready to head out. On to Four Corners.Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico. The only place in the US you can be in 4 states at once.Pete and Linda took their turn, heading into Farmington.
The Captain America bike turns heads. A lot of thumbs up, from people in the know. Bruno was riding with me still, and about 30 miles outside of farmington in Ship Rock New Mexico, I sped up and so Bruno could take this shot. Seems like most of my adult riding life I’ve been rubbernecking for old roads. He sent this to me today. I quite love this shot.
The Tczaps, crossing the San Juan River. I dig this picture.
We headed into Farmington. We checked into the Hotel there, and I had the chance to finally take the Captain bike out. I took it. Stopping at red lights, rolling her down the main drag for a few miles…. It was pretty cool. You know people are looking, and you just can’t but help feeling completely bad-ass. After all, this is the most famous bike in the world.
And yet, and the end of this day I went down and did my laundry at the Hampton Inn. It was time. I called Mrs Zip, found out what was going on at work, and slept like a baby. Good day.
We left Flagstaff, Fueled up and headed north on highway 89, toward The Sacred Mountain Gas Station from Easy Rider. This was the first Movie Location from Easy Rider I’d ever found, and I’d ridden by this a dozen times. I was on my way home, on a Sunday, and blew off the next 2 days chasing down Easy Easy Rider in Arizona. Riding is fun enough. Chasing down a mystery makes it even more fun.
Sacred Mountain Gas Station in 1969Sacred Mountain Gas Station from Easy Rider Today
We pulled in, took some pictures and doubled back. Not far up the road.
Sunset Crater to Wupatki is one of my favorite roads on the planet. This trip, it became maybe my favorite. We were pulling in to pay the park fees, and Steve had asked me to go ahead to the turn off and wait for everyone. Bruno, an Italian Photographer and all around good guy was my passenger for the day.
No lie, right as I started out, I wasn’t born to Follow by the Byrds came up on my Ipod. Another good omen.
It was perfect. The morning still had shadows and the sun was coming through the trees. I was wanting to stop to get a picture where they picked the hippy up in the Movie, but I got pretty lost in the moment . Sunset crater road and scenery haven’t changed since Easy Rider was filmed. For a couple of minutes, I was in 1969. For me, that was the best moment of riding the whole trip. If you go down there to see this, I highly suggest taking that song with you. Beautiful. I also had plans to have a buddy of mine meet us there, dressed up like a hippy, so we could pick him up for for the full effect. It ended up not working out. Next time. Some cool visuals from the movie, on that stretch of road (by the way, click on any image to enlarge):
We rode all of it. I rode up the 30 miles up to Waputki, and Bruno and I waited at the turn off. Bruno is an interesting guy. For living in Italy, he’s seen more of America than I have. He has the artists eye, and was good company. Wupatki is where they stopped for the night after they picked up the Hippy.
Wupatki Easy Rider Camping Scene in 1969We were there. You could be a trifle, polite.A small thing to ask. They’re buried right under ya.
Talking about Easy Rider, Hippies, and Camping on Government Grounds.
We headed out of Waputki. Only a few miles to the main road again, and back to making miles. This is where the best song of Easy Rider was filmed. When they were filming, Dennis pushed for them to film in monument Valley at dusk. When you look at the cinematography, he wasn’t wrong. Its a big part of why this movie sticks with those who ride. At this point, we were well into our trip. I’ll be honest, I was starting to forget what day of the week it even was. On vacation, thats a good thing. I’d seen all these places, but never consecutively and not like this. It was always bolt to a spot, figure it out, and bolt home. Seeing it as one long ride was pretty special to me. My bike was purring, the weather was great, and the road wasn’t ending anytime soon. Found a new scene on the way there. We left highway 89, and headed toward Kayenta. I’ve ridden this before, but when I did I was always heading the other way.
“Hey Mister can you tell me…Where a man might find a bed”.“He just grinned & shook my hand….No was all He said”.
The road into Kayenta was windy. The road into Kayenta is always windy. No complaints, we Knuckled down, and enjoyed the ride. We got into Kayenta early. I think it was like 3 PM or so. The plan was to ride into Monument valley, do a tour and eat Navajo Tacos. Looking at Monument Valley when we came in, it was a dust bowl. Steve postponed the original plan, and we’d do it tomorrow. A few guys went in, but the rest of us took a nap and hung out and relaxed for a while. I forgot to pack a swim suit, and some pool time would have been nice methinks, but a nap was almost nicer. After a couple of hours, Graham got restless, and we decided it was time to watch Easy Rider. We set out.
Kayenta Arizona Accommodations.
We found a Motel nearby, that in exchange for bringing in hungry people to eat, they’d furnish a television and a VCR. Graham talked them into it. We watched Easy Rider.
Watching Easy Rider, and Having dinner.
It was pretty cool to see on video the places we’d rode on the previous days. We headed back, and slept for a night. A good meal, and a nice break. Another good day was going to happen tomorrow. Day Five – 184 Miles View Larger Map
I woke up early, got some coffee and decided to jump on the bike and scout the perimeter. In a couple more hours, we’d head out. I crossed the Colorado, took some pictures and enjoyed the morning sun. Made me think of one of the times i’d been here, in 1991, with Missus Zip.
Route 66, California. This sign has been here forever.Old Route 66 until 1947Colorado River morning. Behind me is the bridge from the Grapes of Wrath.
Random thought about bridges. As I sat there that morning and drank my coffee, I realized that 2 bridges connected 2 Fondas, crossing the same river. Peter, from Easy Rider, and his father, Henry from the Grapes of Wrath. They were both about the same age, and their respective movies made both of them famous. Both bridges are a stones throw from each other. I don’t know that any of this means anything, but to me it was interesting.
Grapes of Wrath Bridge, Route 66, circa 1940
Time to head back. Finished my coffee, and back to the fold. Kickstands up in 20 minutes.
Graham is a stud. she was there.and ready to Ride. Nice Bike.
We headed out. On to Oatman, one of my favorite places.
We rode this, on our way out.And this. One of my favorite bridges. Exactly like the movie. The Red Rock bridge (to the left) was torn down in 1977.I can almost hear the Chorus…..
When you get off the exit at Topock, this looks exactly the same. Frontage road to the old Bridge.
Then through Topock, and on our way to Oatman Arizona. The road started bending more, and the ride was good. I don’t know how many times I’ve ridden this road, but its always good. The first time I found it, this road was gravel almost all the way to Oatman. Then route 66 hit a revival, and it got paved. We rolled into Oatman and bummed around for about 45 minutes.
Paul and Big D, cooling off.The crew, Oatman Arizona
We headed out of Oatman before noon.
Short break in Cool Springs, Arizona. Behind us, Arizona’s nipple.
Out of Oatman, to Kingman, where we had lunch at some 50’s diner. We headed on toward Flagstaff, wound through Seligman, Williams, and on to Bellemont. More Easy Rider there. We pulled in, late in the day just like in Easy Rider. It felt pretty cool to show these places in person to other people.
Hey man, can I get a room?Just like in 1969The owner wasn’t there, so he wasn’t able to deny us a room. Wouldn’t have mattered, we had reservations in Flagstaff. Either way, you have to ride off and shout “you asshole!” Just like in the movie. I’m sure the owner would understand.Our Crew, long day. Good Picture.One last goodbye. Keeping it Real.
we headed the 10 miles into Flagstaff, fairly spent.
End of the day, Flagstaff Arizona
I had some work to do that night, so I had a couple of drinks at the bar, back to the room to get them done. A great day. We had a lot more ahead of us. Tomorrow we’d hit a few locations for the movie, and head into Monument Valley. Day 4: 205 Miles. View Larger Map
I woke up, and was looking forward to todays riding. This was my old stomping grounds, and I’ve never hit it where the riding wasn’t good.
We’d gassed up the night before, so it was blow and go down interstate 15 till we hit the first section of Route 66.
We headed south from Ludlow, down old Route 66. Until 1972, this was the main road, and to be honest I’ve never not gone this way if I was in the area.
I have a soft spot for Amboy. I first came here in 1989, with my wife to be and met the original Owner, Buster Burris. My wife and I were on our first long bike trip. We ate at his cafe, and he took the time to talk to us. He told us about what it was like back in the day. He had 7 tow trucks, going 24 hours a day. He was slinging hash and filling rooms. His garage didn’t have an empty bay. He said you could barely cross the road, it was so busy back then. Buster was an old man. His face was weathered, but had a light in his eye, and I could tell he was telling me about his ass-kicking years. He told me about Goffs, and how it was an older version of route 66. When the freeway was opened in 1972, it was like someone just turned off the traffic. He’d been here since the 1930’s, and now things had changed for him. He was now in survival mode. He even bulldozed most of the town he owned, so he didn’t have to pay taxes on it. Buster was a character, and my wife and I will always remember that conversation.
Believe it or not, Amboy is a lot busier than it was in 1989. Buster’s widow sold the town, and since then Amboy and route 66 has made a comeback. When I’m coming through this way, I always try and buy something to support the business. I like Amboy. It’s the closest thing to travelling back in time that I know of. Cool place.
Roys. This place is a landmark on Route 66The EagleRider Crew in Amboy.
Bob, one of the EagleRider owners did a cool thing at this point. He spaced us out and let us ride a few miles apart. I appreciated that. I could see it coming a few days before when we were heading into furnace creek. You can tell Bob is a biker at heart; Alone time, on a bike in the desert is a beautiful thing. Its how I normally ride, and it was a nice change, I think for Everyone. The Eagles were the song of the day, and I distinctly remember this song coming out of the Street Glide. There’s something about the Eagles and the Desert that just fits.
Twist the throttle, open her up and feel yourself breathe. I’ll always remember that stretch of road that day.
We stopped for gas on our way up through Goffs, and then onto interstate 40. We missed Needles, and straight through to the Park Moabi exit. Shawn had a surprise. It was a short day, and we were staying at Pirates Cove. Pirates Cove beats the living hell out of anything in Needles. Good Call.
It was early in the afternoon, so we headed down, had a few drinks and ate lunch. At 3, EagleRider told us to meet them at the dock for a cruise up the river.
Pete and Linda. 2 of my favorite people this ride.Our Crew. Living Large, and heading up the River.The Easy Rider Bridge, we’d cross that tomorrowBob and Shawn, having a beer and a Broment. (uh, bro’s having a moment…)9 miles up the Colorado River, 9 miles back. A perfect day.
The ride up the Colorado was great. It was nice to talk a bit, and get to know everyone. We came in before sundown, and went to the bar for dinner and a few drinks.
Big D. Belly up to the Bar!
I need to say a little something about Graham here. Graham is from the UK, and we became pretty good friends on this ride. He knows Easy Rider like I do, and the man has mojo. We teased him pretty hard, about words like “Aluminum” and “Route”, and at the end of the day he pulled out the King’s English card. A fun guy to ride with. He found a waitress he fancied, and asked her to ride with us tomorrow. This story will come into play in the next blog post. A really nice gal.
We drank, got a little stupid and had a whole lot of fun. I was really starting to enjoy this ride, and the people that came on it. We hung out till they closed the place, and ended up on someones patio. shooting the bull, and having a good time.
We all shared 2 room suites. I was with Daniel, otherwise known as Big D. Big D is from Switzerland, and speaks German, and very little english. All I know is that dude can drink, likes heavy metal music, and is the only guy who rode the whole trip without a windshield. The man is hardcore. I think he had more fun than all of us combined.
A bit of a late start this morning, but no big deal. We had a short day. I enjoyed Furnace Creek Ranch. Nice accomodations, and the weather was cooler here than other times I’d been to death valley. Around 100 degrees. Normally, this place is a blast furnace. We mounted up, got gas, and explored Death Valley.
I used to ride to this area on a friday night, after work. I’d forgotten how much I missed the desert. It’s open, wide open and rugged. The desert gets in your soul somehow.
We rode up to Zabriskie Point, and took a few pictures. Apparently, Zabriskie point was also a counterculture film about America in the sixties. One I need to check out.
Pete, taking pictures of the ladies. Thats how Pete Rolls.Brandon, in his natural habitat. Brandon is a good egg.John, and the Captain.
We left Zabriskie Point and headed the 16 miles to to Badwater Basin, the lowest point in the US. I’ve been to death Valley a bunch, but I’d never been here.
My bike was starting to stretch her legs. Really enjoyable ride.
Badwater Basin, Death Valley CA – About 3/4 of the way up that hill is sea level.
From there we pressed on. More open road. I was really enjoying this ride.
Heading out of Death ValleyCoyotes
The Aussies taught me a new word. “crack a ton”, means break 100 MPH. I likey.
We rode to Shoshone, California, got gas and had lunch at the Crowbar Cafe and Saloon. There’s not much in Shoshone, and I’m not quite sure the crowbar was ready for all of us to show up.
Crowbar Cafe and Saloon- Shoshone CA
Then on to Baker. Cooled off at the Mad Greek, got an ice cream, then headed into Barstow.
We got into Barstow in the late afternoon. The Motel there had lost the ability to program keys, and the pool was out. Not that big of a deal. The nice thing, is the train behind the Motel only raged past every 30 minutes or so. It was kind of funny. I think EagleRider thought more about it than we did.
I stayed in that night, doing some work. The Whitehursts from the UK got married that night. At least I think.
Everyone had been checked out on their bikes, we had a welcome dinner the night before and were all ready to ride. left the Hotel after breakfast, mounted up, and headed out. First stop was LAX, a couple of miles away. This is where Billy and Wyatt sold the 2 batteries of whatever-that-white-powder-was before their ride to Mardi Gras.
Getting locked and loaded, ready to start out. Finding Easy Rider.First Stop, LAX. Painting a picture of what happened here in Easy Rider in 1969. That punk Phil Spector was a no-show. Fokker.
From there, we made miles. Headed out of the city…. a long way from the city, because that’s where we wanted to be. Out of LA, to Death Valley. More Easy Rider there — The scenery started to open up, and the riding started to get nice.
First Gas Stop. I have no idea where this is. California, something.
You can tell a lot from a crew by the way they ride. This was a good crew. Everyone kept tight where they needed to be, and loose where they wanted. They’d done this before. Steve, Our tour guide got a flat in the California desert. Hazards of going first I guess. No matter, we had a spare bike and EagleRider had it handled. That spare bike came in handy. We hydrated at a rest stop for a short time, and that was the last bike incident of the trip. We headed north on the 395 towards Ballarat.
Rest stop in California, Swapping bikes. If there are road hazards, Steve will take a bullet for the team and run over them for you.Open Road Ahead. I’ve missed the desert.
San Bernardino county is the largest county in the US, and it took us awhile to cross it. Stopped for lunch in Trona, California. Trona is a funny place. Pretty clearly a company mining town. I gotta say, They make a good burger. We were all fired up. Shawn and Bob busted out Captain America. This was the Easy Rider Tour, after all. It had to happen.
Busting out Captain America in Trona
Graham from the UK is hardcore Easy Rider. He’s got a replica Captain America bike signed by Peter Fonda. He knows the movie by heart. A great guy. Amicable, and really pretty damn funny. We started throwing movie references at each other by now. He was the first to take the helm. It seemed right.
My turn on the Captain.
We headed out of Trona, and made the 20 miles into Ballarat, where the movie really began.
Shorty Harris’s Home, Ballarat.Ditch your watch.Like Captain America DidShorty Harris House Now. It’s fallen in more since I saw it last.The bike and I, Ballarat. A good moment.
It was here that one of the top 5 most embarrassing moments of my life happened. We were waiting for Graham, who was riding Captain America and missed the turn off to Ballarat. We were waiting for him, before I talked about what happened here in the movie. I took a drink of water (A man needs to hydrate), right when Bob said “Graham couldn’t make the turn, riding with an erection”. I lost it. It was then I spewed water all over the nicest lady you’ll ever meet, Martine from Beligium. She took it in stride, and I’m pretty sure I turned red.
Recovering from spraying Martine with Water. Eggghhh..Heading out of Ballarat
I never set up a song for this trip. when we left, I shook the ipod and whatever played, played. Half way up the road, Born to Be wild started playing, just like it did in the film. Another good omen. It was perfect. We were starting the riding part of the movie, and I was eating it up.
From Ballarat, we headed the 80 miles to Furnace Creek for the night. Its an EagleRider tradition to crack a beer in the parking lot, and toast to the days ride. The first day was under our belt. Had dinner with Graham and the Aussies, then turned in for the night. Great first day. I slept like a baby, looking forward to another one.
Flew into LA a couple of days before, and the next day headed over to EagleRider for a meeting about the trip. Met the EagleRider crew, and talked about the route.
I’ll admit, I had no idea what to expect. I just saw a group of people from the UK, Switzerland, Brazil, New Jersey, Belgium and Australia. Just names on paper. Could be good or bad, and I had no idea. I was ready to ride and I’d figure it out as I went along. Met Steve, our tour guide for the first time. He seemed professional and pretty easy going. In the end, my instincts weren’t wrong. Brandon was on his first run with EagleRider on the chase vehicle, and felt we were both kind of in the same boat in a way. We spent the morning getting a few things ready, checking out a few locations, having some lunch and shooting the shit. We drove over to LAX to find a spot to park the bikes for our first stop, just as a plane was coming in right over our heads, just like in the movie.
A Good omen. The first of a few on this trip. It was starting to feel like I’d finally gotten here.
We headed back to EagleRider to get ready for everyone to arrive and get everything ready. We spent some time loading Captain America, a spare bike, and double checking equipment and tools. I paid attention and tried to learn a thing. Getting a feel for this tour, and how EagleRider works.
Easy Rider Tour Signage. EagleRider did this right. Official Tour of the Movie. No one else can claim that.
I knew they’d built the bikes for this ride, but I’d never seen them up close. I am not gonna lie – I had a woody.
First thing you notice on the Captain America BIkePretty damn nice job methinksThe Billy BikeAnother Shot
Beautiful bikes. EagleRider did a good job.
About the bikes: no, they’re not hardcore original. Even Peter Fonda didn’t ride the whole route on a hardtail. They’re softails, and V-twin engines. They’re made to ride. They look pretty damn good.
Got to drive the EagleRider van to pick people up. They launched a whole lotta tours that day, so it was kinda hectic. The focus for them is customer experience. In my 2 weeks, it showed over and over.
When everything was somewhat settled, they gave me my bike for this trip. 2013 Street Glide. Six speed, 103. 11 miles on her.
2013 Street Glide. My bike for this ride.
We all got our bikes going, headed to the hotel. Then dinner, at Gene Simmons Rock and Brews. Pretty Cool Place. Conversation was good, and we were all looking forward to tomorrows ride I think.
Everyone was a stranger at that point. That would change. In the morning, we’d ride. Quick Easy Rider stop at LAX, then on to Death Valley where the movie really starts.
Exactly one week ago, about this time, I was sitting in the Court of Two Sisters, a Restaurant in the French Quarter of New Orleans, wondering where the last 2 weeks went.
After 2 weeks of riding, I was pretty beat. We’d ridden half way across the country, But I really didn’t want it to be over. Met some solid and quality people on this trip, got to tell about the movie that I love and spend years figgering out, and had the longest stretch of riding I’d ever done at one time. Basically, I just had the best time of my life.
I was going to do this post each night on the road, but I wanted time to think about it some. Even one week later, I’m still not sure I’ve digested it all.
So anyway, going to take this day by day, as I remember it, starting over 3 weeks ago. Ill get through as much of it as I can. A post a day, for the next 15 days should cover it.
To me, it was the best time of my life. I wanna do it again.
