Death Valley Dec 2011 - Day 1

[LA-DUC]

Headed to Death Valley for a last group ride of the year. Lucky enough to make time along with two other friends I met through this forum. Dietrich and DGJ. A pic so you know who the f we are. Left to right - Dietrich...LA-DUC...DGJ.


Dietrich rode from Phoenix to LA. We rode out together from there. There were stops to empty gear bags and throw on layers. We hauled ass as usual out there and really proved that at our speed its best to travel in small, like minded groups. So much fun to travel in formation. Watch the lines of other riders you respect. All the old folks were left at the old folks home to drink up their prune juice and discuss the merits of safety, ATTGATT and keeping their front wheels planted firmly on the ground....all the greenhorns that love to jog and can't run for an extended period of time were left to babysit or plan their next cafe racer mod. Only three remained and it was perfect. The porridge was just right.

It was cold. All the gear was on much more quickly than expected.


Made it through Ridgcrest to find that Trona no longer sells gas. We did not plan on this. We are SOL. Either backtrack 25 miles or make the run 45. Gas lights not yet on...we press forward. David and Dietrich are running power commanders. David is running high compression pistons and a power commander. I am not. Guess who ran out of gas first? Guess who did not run out of gas and successfully brought some back. Lol.

From here we are five minutes from the offical entrance to the entrance to Death Valley National Park.


We get to the gas station and fill up...not a bad view. 91 was running at almost 5.50 a gallon. Captive audience.


Stop for lunch at a cool spot...killer bar...burger...and beer selection.

All single bottles of craftsman beers. Heaven at this point in the day. I had a Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout...a fav.


We proceed to begin moving at speed. And we are feeling it. The air and altitude all mean that our motors are pulling extremely strong. The road turns, but is not tight. Visibility is good. Road had been paved in the past year. Suffice it to say that I hit a new downhill high of 140 even. I could never pull above 132 before this.

Stop.


And GO!!!


The three amigos.


We always stay at furnace creek lodge inthe middle of the park. I recommend this place to anyone wanting to check out Death Valley. Central to all the things to see. A short walk to be over served at the swank hotel up the road.

We got there safely , but as we pull up an officer walks over to us as we still sit on the bikes and reports that there had been a call reporting three Ducati's driving at extremely high speeds and passing cars at will. He asked if we might know which way those guys were heading? While laughing a bit we said that we in fact did not know them - but clearly understood that we would tell them to slow down and behave themselves. Cop was being way cool. Seeing as how our average speed over the past hour was probably 100 or so that could have gone very differently...and has all year long for me (long story). He went on his way and we didn't see anyone else that evening. But do not kid yourselves...cops are all over the park.

We checked in. Walked up the hill. Had some drinks. Walked back down and had a few more. It was a good night catching up with good friends.

Close Day 1.

[GTRossi]

friggin awesome post.

i so love a road trip story - great pics and sounds like a balls-out adventure.

so true about finding the right people to ride with, like minded in capacity, willingness and stamina. i've done a bunch of big rides (2,000 mile +) with my buddy keith - many of you met him when we rode down to the famed sport classic forum get-together in santa cruz (he was on an aged 900ss) - it's always a total blast to be in sync on a ride like that.

thanks for posting - i soooo need a trip like that right now!
watching "it's better in the wind" - a great film short on pipeburn.com, makes me want to find some dry weather and ride for a week straight.

[rapete]

Excellent pics!

[poolagent]

Excellent…

[RudolphHart]

Great pics, thanks for sharing. I liked the cool cop's attitude, kudos.

[vinylengraver]

Excellent story!
Me and my bike will visit that place one day.

[DGJ]

It wouldn't be a trip to Death Valley without running out of gas. This is the second time it happened. Luckily Justin's hybrid sport classic always miraculously pulls through but Dietrich and me were left to cup ourselves in the cold, in the middle on nowhere. Pics to prove it:

Thanks for the post Justin!

[aeolian]

Excellent story!

[CAlexio]

Nice write up Justin.. How's new job?

[LA-DUC]

Originally Posted by CAlexio

Nice write up Justin.. How's new job?

Good to hear from you. All is good my friend; very good. Damn the man.