Sixty riders met at McDonalds Friday morning for the 2007 Alien City Ride, what has become a traditional spring “ride of passage” for many of Roswell 's middle-age motorcyclists. In keeping with tradition, Bill Owen, now the former mayor of our fair city, led the group up North Main , but not before a staged “smashing of the cell phones,” a la Wild Hogs . Strong winds were predicted so our "speed" group of nine riders elected to go west through Capitan, Socorro, Magdalena, Springerville and Payson, then up through Flagstaff to Tuba City . At 650 miles it was quite a bit longer than the prescribed ride through Albuquerque and the reservation, but once in the trees we avoided the worst of the wind -- except from Springerville to Show Low where it was downright frightening.

One of our group hit a rock on his Deuce and bent the rim so badly it wouldn't hold air. We tried to beat it back into shape with a big rock. It helped a bit but still had to stop every ten miles to air it up again. The dealership in Flagstaff didn't have a wheel so he rented a truck and drove it to Las Vegas for a new wheel. We continued on to Tuba City in the dark and the cold rain. Thank goodness for Aerostitch suits and electric vests! As the last to arrive we got the last of some very bad food. Total mileage for the day was 650.

Dawn broke cold but clear and we headed for the Grand Canyon . Much to our surprise it had snowed the night before and the trees were flocked. My thermometer showed 37 degrees as we rode along the south rim and stopped for breakfast at the Bright Angel Lodge. It wasn't much warmer as we headed to Williams in off-and-on rain. We proceeded down I-40 to Seligman where we turned off on Route 66 all the way to Kingman. Warmer but the wind was back. We encountered a lot of very neat classic automobiles because there was some big Route 66 celebration along the way. Eager for our destination we didn't stop. The last block of the trip was the worst as we crept our way up Las Vegas Boulevard to the Travel Lodge, which turned out to be a real dive. About 400 miles Saturday.

There was only time for a quick shower before the Las Vegas Supercross, which was very cool -- sort of a cross between a motorcycle race and a rock concert. It was really exciting to see those guys ride. Finally back to the hotel around midnight but we hadn't eaten yet. We grabbed some quick lasagna at the Planet Hollywood shopping mall. The rest of the group was beat and went to the room but I couldn't resist a visit to the casino, where I spent most of the night. Even though I won about $300 I would have gladly traded it for a couple of hours of sleep.

I stumbled out of bed long enough to get our group picture made and the speed group was on their bikes waiting for me. I packed up as quickly as I could then led the group north out of Las Vegas . After breakfast in Mesquite I felt a lot better as we headed toward Zion National Park . At the turnoff in Hurricane I noticed the group was no longer behind me. Assuming I'd made the wrong turn I backtracked and caught up with them only to drive 45 miles before someone noticed we were going the wrong way.

“OK, Bob, lead us to Zion !” The group affirmed my sense of direction and we made a U-turn. Zion Canyon itself, the most spectacular part of the park, is accessible only by shuttle bus but the climb up out of the park, including a mile-long tunnel, is incredible -- but very slow going.

We stopped in Page, Arizona , for our first good meal of the trip, at a place amusingly named the Dam Café – named, of course, for Glen Canyon Dam. We joked about being Dam hungry and the food being Dam good. Our timing was such that we managed to cross spectacular Monument Valley in total darkness and, again, were the last riders to arrive at Mexican Hat. The Hat Rock Inn was basic but clean and we stood around a campfire drinking Polygamy Porter, a local microbrew with the slogan, "Why settle for just one?"

Monday I was up early and rousted the rest of the group. After breakfast in Bluff we pressed south to Shiprock and Farmington . We had a really good lunch outdoors at Bruno's in Cuba . (They've opened a temporary place across the street from where the old restaurant burned down.) I made it back to Roswell at about 6:30 with something like 2300 miles behind me. This morning my neck hurts a bit but it will be better in a few months, when motorcycle season is over.