As the warm, dry desert air raced through my hair on the way to Arizona Bike Week (from April 30 to May 1), the landscape that surrounded us on the 10 Freeway provided scenery that was incredibly profound. "Hey look, there's a cactus! Oh wow, another dead tree! Whoa, more dirt!"
When we arrived in Glendale around 7 p.m., we headed straight to the Nitro Syndicate show, and calm hit me like a ton of bricks (well, maybe being hit by a ton of bricks isn't very calming), but I felt a sense of relief meshed with a feeling of being at home: A place where bikers and enthusiasts alike can let it all hang out, man!
We made it to the University of Phoenix stadium-home of the Arizona Cardinals-just in time for the fiery stage performance and ear-piercing sounds of Buckcherry. They rocked it, but the audience looked a little light, probably because a good amount of the Nitro participants and vendors were unwinding with drinks at the Billet Bar and other fine establishments. After the show we ended up meeting up with some of the industry folks, and what happened next I don't think I should publish in good faith.
The next morning I stumbled out of bed to make the rounds at the Nitro show with Mr. Ernie Lopez. Since this was my first show, Ernie felt compelled to show me around and introduce me to his pals in the industry. We hung out with Danny and the guys from Count's Kustoms for a little bit, chatted with Mondo from Denver's Choppers, then stopped by Kevin and the gang's monster semi from Thunder Mountain Motorsports for a little powwow.
We started to work up quite the appetite from shooting photos of hot women and sweet chops (pictured throughout this spread), and luckily Jason from Sik N Twisted Psycles saw the starved, desperate looks on our faces. He threw us a couple of burgers that his wife Danielle was kind enough to pick up for the crews of Sik N Twisted and El Pitts' Vegas City Choppers, thus feeding two hard-working magazine guys from STREET CHOPPER. Thanks, guys!
Once we absorbed everything we could at the Nitro show, we packed up our equipment and headed to the ABW Cyclefest at Westworld in the neighboring city of Scottsdale. We stopped at the Jim Nasi booth to B.S. for a moment, and checked out some of the cool products and choppers you'll probably see in an upcoming issue of STREET CHOPPER. After talking to what felt like 1,000 people, we decided to call it a day.
On Sunday, we headed to the AHDRA drags at the Firebird International Raceway in Chandler. Doug Vancil of Albuquerque, NM, took first place in the Screamin' Eagle Top Fuel event; Larry Edmondson Jr. of Battleground, IN, placed first in the Screamin' Eagle V-Rod event; and L.E. Tonglet of Metarie, LA, won the Screamin' Eagle Destroyer event. The drags were packed full of ear-blistering fun and excitement, and living legend Willie G. Davidson (grandson to William A. Davidson, one of the original founders of Harley-Davidson), was present to catch the excitement of the drags first hand.
For the most part, I really enjoyed Arizona Bike Week; however, it was kind of a hassle to go to one event, then drive about 20 to 30 minutes to get to the other event, and then drive back about 40 minutes to one hour back to the hotel to crash (figuratively speaking, of course). It would be ideal if the event organizers put their heads together to make it easier for eager motorcycle enthusiasts to enjoy the festivities in a centralized location. Even if the event promoters don't pull it all together next year, I'll still be there for more desert fun and debauchery.