The weekend of October 7 to 9 I decided to take a ride out to Palm Springs for the American Heat Rally which is held there every year. Palm Springs is a little over 100 miles away from where I live, but I thought it would be fun to check it out considering it's still considered "close to my house" (meaning I wasn't going to have to cross any state lines).
The rally itself was fun but rather small. Website promoters of the event claimed there were over 100 vendors, but I doubt it. The event included a "women only" bike show, and I don't know if women had to build the bikes or just own them, but it seemed kind of exclusionary and sexist to me... I've never heard of a "men only" bike show.
While the vendor area was kind of dead, the place to be was the Kickstand Bar and Grill. Mitch Bergeron was set up at the bar with all the people from his shop and a multitude of the bikes he's built over the last few years. He seemed to be the only builder at the event - and that may have been because he lives in the area.
It's fun to visit Palm Springs, but it's normally too hot for me to stay more than a couple of days (thank goodness for the large number of bars in the area). This year the weather cooperated and hovered in the 90s with the occasional gust of wind, so I wasn't burnt to a crisp by the end of the weekend. If the weather is this cool next year I might even go back...