2018 Laughlin River Run
By Tom Neal
Bigfoot Trails Basecamp | Independent Adventure Media
Triumph Chopper
For many years, the Laughlin River Run fell on my wedding anniversary. In 2018, my wife and I finally made it out there. Living in Lake Havasu City, it was a no-brainer to attend the rally.
We fired up the bikes early, threw on sweatshirts, strapped the helmets onto the bikes, and hit Hwy 95 north out of town.
I love riding in the desert, except for one thing: the roads are straight. Not many curves.
But today, we didn't care. We just enjoyed the cooler weather, the sun on our faces, and the nice cruise up to Laughlin.
I wanted to stay in Arizona as long as possible, keeping the helmet off until I absolutely had to put it on.
Well, I kind of screwed that up.
Somehow, I managed to ride through California for a few miles without realizing it. Oops. California is a helmet state. I didn't even realize we'd crossed back into Arizona until I saw the “Welcome to Arizona” sign.
Once we got into Bullhead City and turned toward Laughlin, we hit the stoplight right before the bridge crossing into Nevada. I reached back, grabbed the brain bucket, and put it on.
We rode a whopping six blocks through town before parking the bikes and walking around.
I'd wanted to attend the Laughlin River Run for years after first seeing an Easyriders video about the run and bike show. As we wandered around vendor row, we tossed a few bucks at some shit we probably didn't need, but got anyway.
That's part of the experience.
After hanging around the vendors for a while, we headed over to the bike show. Honestly, I was a little disappointed. I was hoping for more, but there were still a few bikes that really caught my attention.
If I'd ridden all the way down from Washington just for the show, I probably would have been more disappointed. But coming up from Havasu, it was still a fun experience.
After grabbing a bite to eat, we decided to hit the road. Temperatures were already in the 90s, and we wanted to get back home before it got too hot.
It was either that or hang out inside until the sun went down and ride home in the dark.
We opted to head home.
Great ride home!
Once we were out of Nevada, I ditched the helmet and shirts for the final sunny stretch.
That was a mistake.
By the time we rolled into the garage, I looked like a lobster.
Burnt to a crisp.
All in all, it was a great anniversary ride with plenty of laughs, sunshine, motorcycles, and a little bit of that classic desert freedom.
Sometimes you don't need a huge adventure.
Sometimes a cheap anniversary ride with your wife is enough.
About the Author
Tom Neal is the founder of Bigfoot Trails Basecamp, an independent adventure media project built around real experiences. He’s spent most of his life around vehicles, motorcycles, racing, travel, and projects that tend to take longer and cost more than originally planned.
After decades of doing all that stuff, he’s learned that the best stories usually aren’t the ones you planned. They’re the people you meet, the places you stumble across, the things that go wrong, and the moments you never expected.
That’s what he wants to capture with BTB.
He doesn’t want to write about adventure from the outside. He wants to go experience it, then tell you what happened.
Bigfoot Trails Basecamp | Independent Adventure Media
