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Well, I’ve been in Vegas for two full days now.

I have to admit, it’s not really my kind of town. Sure, it’s cool to see all the lights and the sights. The people, the noise, the seeming lack of depth.

I’ve learned something about myself the past few days. Both with being in Vegas and with going to bike shops. Let me explain. Before today, my favourite bike shop to visit was California Choppers. I talked about my visit to that shop in this post. I loved meeting the guys there, and the history of the shop. I also enjoyed Jesse James’ shop because it was so low key and unassuming.

Today, I headed out to visit a few shops. I began by going to Arlen Ness’ new shop. Now, I hope I don’t offend anyone, but I’m not a big fan of Ness. I guess his style just isn’t mine. The shop was very upscale, fancy, clean, etc. I lasted all of five minutes there and I was ready to leave. I didn’t even bother pulling out my camera.

I then headed to Denver’s Choppers. It was a beat up, small hole of a building that I would not have found without my trusty GPS. There was one guy in the shop and he came out from the back and welcomed me. He asked where I was from, and as soon as I mentioned the miles I’ve done, he reached out and shook my hand and invited me to come into the back of the shop. He told me that Mondo, the owner, would be back shortly and I should stick around.

Now, Mondo and his partner, the late Denver, are pretty well known in the custom bike world. They go way back to the birth of the chopper. Some of you remember me talking about Indian Larry in my last post. Well, Mondo was the guy competing against Larry on Discovery Channel’s Biker Build Off when Indian Larry had his accident and died.

Sure enough, Mondo showed up and greeted me warmly. We chatted for about twenty minutes about bikes, history, clubs, etc. It was amazing. He was quite busy with a number of bikes in his shop as well as getting things ready over at Vendor Village for the bike show, and yet, he had time for a guy who had been riding for 5,000 miles. He got it. I could have stayed there all afternoon, but I wanted to respect his schedule.

He invited me to stop by his booth at the bike show and spend more time chatting. I will certainly do that.

From there, I headed over to Red Rock Harley Davidson. According to their sign, they are the largest Harley dealership in the world. To be honest, it was just another Harley shop. Yeah, it’s big. But they have the same parts on the wall, the same clothing on the hangers, the same jewelry in the cases. Once again, I spent little time before I headed back to the hotel.

Now, I need to be careful how I say this. It really is just my take on it. But one shop seemed to be about the culture. The other two were more about the image. There is a huge difference between the two. And I guess I’m attracted to one far more than the other.

And that brings me back to Vegas. I realize this town is called Sin City for a reason. I get all that. But it’s like the lights, noise, billboards, etc. are all just an image. Covering up an emptiness and lack of depth. Turn off the power, and the city is empty. In need.

Compare it to sitting at the Grand Canyon as the sun is setting. Or alone on my bike riding through Death Valley. Turn off the power in those places and you still have … well, a sunset at the Grand Canyon and beautiful roads and scenery in Death Valley. Nothing is lost. The beauty of those places comes from the foundation of what they are. In Vegas, the “beauty” is all a facade.

It’s why I love guys like Vince Antonucci. I enjoyed lunch with him yesterday. He wrote a book called “I Became A Christian And All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt” He moved here to Vegas because he wanted to start a church right on the Strip that would break through the image and get to the heart of this city. it’s going to be a tough go for him. And yet he welcome it. I dig guys like that. A lot.

I’m looking forward to the bike show and meeting some more “twitter friends” over the next few days. But when I hit the road again, I’m going to take a deep breath, find an open road, and just feel the wind on my face again.

See you in a few days.