February 22 & 23 2014
Ride Report &
Pictures
For the Death Valley Ride.
18 bikes and 26 riders joined us for this great ride to Death Valley.
8 bikes meet up with us at the Cajon Pass meeting location. Rich W. hooked up with us outside of Victorville. It's about a 2 hour ride to Baker but we made it in a little less than 1 hour 45 minutes. We topped off out gas tanks and went over to Denny's for breakfast and to meet the rest of the group. The group consisted of Me, Greg R, Joe and Donna, David W, Phil and Vicki, John G, Rich W, John MacDonald, Elmer and Nancy, Don CC, Mike and Miriam, Sonny, Dennis, Charlie and Teresa and from Arizona Rob and Brenda, Ron N, Greg and Debbie and George and Helen. After breakfast we got on he road a little after 11:00 and headed out for Shoshone for a splash of gas for anyone that needed it. It was a 224 mile trip from there to Beatty NV. Our first stop was at Badwater which some of you my know is the lowest elevation in the continental US. We meet a nice fellow from Germany that was a tour guide for a group. He was telling us to make sure we drank plenty of water and even offered us some if we needed it. After about a half an hour we got back on the bikes and made our way through the park. I lead the group thru Artist Pallet which is a nice one way road through some beautiful colored rock formations. Next stop was Dante's View which is 5400 feet above the floor of Death Valley. For me it is a must see if you ever go the Valley. It seem you can see for ever. Then it was off to Beatty for the night. We arrived around 5:15 to check into our rooms at the Motel 6. We gave our selves some time to refresh and at around 6:30 we all walked over to this saloon and diner for dinner. There are not to many place's to eat in Beatty so we took the advice of the motel clerk and ate at KC's saloon. Having 26 people was a bit of a challenge for the staff but they did there best and the food was good. After dinner some of us walked over to the candy store for some ice cream.
Sunday was the return home day and some of the group had to leave early for there long ride home. The rest of us meet up at 8am for breakfast at the Denny's in the Stagecoach hotel. We wanted to leave around 9am but I think it was closer to 10am. The group I was with came home through Panamint Valley over to Olancha and hwy 395. I don't think we could have asked for a better weekend. The weather was perfect with a high of maybe 80 degrees. The roads we good with no traffic and we had no problem with parking anywhere. It was great to see so many come along with us. It was just like the old days of the VRCC SoCal. Seeing old friends and making new ones. These bikes we ride to me are just incredible. Mine is 15 years old with over 125,000 miles and it rides like the day I bought it. I know all you Valkyrie owners out there feel the same way. So that's about it and thanks again for the great weekend and everyone ride safe and often.
Dave
Sonny's You tube video of the Death Valley Ride
Pictures to come as they come in to me.
|
|
Southern California Event Calendar