Celebrating Life In Death Valley: My 50th Birthday Ride

[WoodsChick]

Happy Bday WC!! Excellent adventure, as always!!

Thanks, slydrite!




WoodsChick

 

[budman]

C H I C K

arty 5 0 arty


Well done... well done

 

[Outta Control]

C H I C K

arty 5 0 arty


Well done... well done

So uhh. When we celebration your 50th Dennis.

 

[WoodsChick]

C H I C K

arty 5 0 arty


Well done... well done

Whoa, dude! Don't burn the place down!

Thanks, budman
Really. Thanks for everything...for giving me a place to document a large portion of my life. It is very much appreciated




WoodsChick

 

[budman]

It is my honor.

 

[WoodsChick]

We bypassed Saline Valley Road, electing to take the big bikes down Lippincott Pass instead of up it. This took us here for our first stop in Death Valley...

Dumping gas already...

Death Valley is pretty amazing...

I'll save you, Stevie! Let me get the shot first, though...

Happy girl...

I told y'all that Paul was special, didn't I?

Sacrificing the virgin...

 

[WoodsChick]

Whole lotta fast here...

The road from the Ubehebe Crater to Teakettle Junction was nothing but a roost fest! Little dusty, though, eh, Steve?

Seriously, the most fun road out there...twisty, fast, rocky, bermed...huge fun on the supermotos...

Stevie demonstrates a perfect standing u-turn...

Stevie, Steve, Dan, Glen, Paul, David, Eric and me at the Racetrack...

Tsk...kids these days...

Cruising the playa for moving rocks...

Coolest thing ever!

Yeah, they don't know how it happens, either...

WoodsChick

 

[YanaBanana]

Happy Birthday! arty

Looks like a great time -- with the Rolling Stones, too! (ok, Slidin' Stones...)


Love your reports!!


Yana

 

[WoodsChick]

I think we all pretty much agreed that the Racetrack was a highlight...

After goofing around on the playa for awhile we saddled up the horses and headed up the backside of Lippincott Pass...

It's all downhill from here...

Glen pretty much looks like this all the time...

Paul threading his 630 through the rocks...

Stevie leading the charge, as usual...

I dig the look of Steve's TE610...

Dan still thinks it's a dirt bike, and he's making it look like one...

Nice body English, David...

WoodsChick

 

[WoodsChick]

My turn...

Eric needs a faster shutter. Love these tires!

They work great in the rocks and on the pavement...

Hey, look! I did get a picture of Eric!

Heading down into Saline Valley...

A well-deserved rest at the bottom...

We headed up Saline Valley and it was pretty much just full throttle for miles and miles and miles. Rocks, sand washes, more rocks, more sand...on and on and on. Didn't stop to take photos, although if I'd been strategically placed I could have caught David and Dan's shenanigans. Eric's GPS said top speed was 93mph through there, and David and Dan were in triple digits. Needless to say this section was also a highlight for us.


Well, I did catch the aftermath of one of David's finer moments...

No harm to rider or bike, but good lord-a-mighty that thing is heavy!! I thought for a minute there we were going to have to wait for the next rider. By the way, I think spellchecker got it right...

Oops...got company. Gotta run...more later!

 

[WoodsChick]

I think David only has 2 speeds...stop and full throttle...

More quality father/daughter time...

Dan's Penske shock was having some mounting issues...

It was looking like we'd be rolling into town under starry skies...

The shadows were stretching across the valley...

David, Eric, Paul and I waiting for the others where Saline Valley Rd meets the pavement...

Yeah, it was getting pretty cold. The polar fleece balaclavas were pure gold on this trip!
Besides, when I wear mine it makes me want to change my name to Tanya and rob a bank

Just as I suspected we would, we pulled into Big Pine under the cover of darkness. We all fueled up while Steve trucked the 1/4 mile or so up the road to pick up Stevie where she'd run out of gas. We bombed up 395 into Bishop and piled into Astorga's for dinner. As soon as David got all his gear off he realized he didn't have his wallet. He'd left it on top of the pump in Big Pine. He suited up and raced back for it. We plowed through a ton of chips and salsa while waiting for him to return...

Tired but happy after a 250-mile day so far...

After dinner we bundled up again and prepared for the frigid 40-mile ride into camp. It was pitch dark out and we'd been gone about 13 hours so we just hauled it all the way in on the highway. The hot springs tub was beyond wonderful that night! David, Paul and I closed down the tub pretty late after a long therapeutic soak under brilliantly starry skies. What a great way to end a super-cool day of riding with some of my favorite people
I can't think of anything I'd have rather done to celebrate my milestone birthday, and I'm already wondering where I want to go for my 51st!

Oh, and I hereby declare that every campsite I choose from now on shall have a private hot springs in it arty

Thanks for letting me share my birthday ride with you folks!




WoodsChick

 

[boney]

 

[SRAD600]

Very cool, looks like you guys rode a bit of everything. I like the mix of bikes, 400's to S10's.

 

[Butch]

You so rock.

 

[Cabrito]

Happy Birthday WC.

Death Valley is pretty special.

Thanks for taking us along. (again)

 

[2strokeYardSale]

Epic ride report and pics, thanks. HBD!

Possible first use of the term hellacious conflagration on BARF.

 

[Blankpage]

Damn. No wonder his tool pack is so heavy...

I saw a couple of those this weekend. Must have fallen out of someones backpack.

 

[WoodsChick]

Very cool, looks like you guys rode a bit of everything. I like the mix of bikes, 400's to S10's.

You so rock.

at Butch

Thanks, fellas! Yeah, an eclectic mix of machinery, for sure, but it all worked out.



WoodsChick

 

[WoodsChick]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

I still have a little trinket of appreciation for you that I mentioned when I saw you a few months ago...

Where's the campsite with the hot tub? That looks like something I saw on the way to Las Vegas, but you weren't that far south... was the water as hot as the Mammoth springs usually are?

Hey, Jenn! The tubs are at Benton Hot Springs southeast of Mammoth. The water is as hot or as cool as you want it. The tubs have faucets or hoses that make it really easy to regulate the temperature. They even have shower heads that you can hook up arty

Happy Birthday WC.

Death Valley is pretty special.

Thanks for taking us along. (again)

Thanks, Cabrito! I Death Valley! Can't wait to hit it up again next spring.

Epic ride report and pics, thanks. HBD!

Possible first use of the term hellacious conflagration on BARF.

Thanks, YardSale! And, really...what else can you call 50 candles on a single cake?

I saw a couple of those this weekend. Must have fallen out of someones backpack.

Yeah, I think a lot of them fell out down in DV. Nothing but rocks with some sand thrown in for good measure. Good thing I like rocks...




WoodsChick

 

[SFMCjohn]

You are an astute man, John Yeah, I've been kind of thinking it might be time to go to a 0º bag instead of the 15º one I'm using now. I'm looking forward to some warm evenings on the river this summer Maybe we can actually do a ride together this summer? That would be cool!

WoodsChick

Hi WoodsChick,

Warmer is better, but I guess we'd never know that if we didn't get cold once in a while ... ha!

A ride would be very wonderful! I was sorry I missed you guys earler this year for the Carnegie day ride ... I'm sure our paths will cross at some point ...

We'll be in Stonyford on Friday and Saturday, 5/17-18, for the Sheetiron ... Ft. Bragg is OK, but we enjoy the campfire and weather better in Stonyford and so make our way back to Stonyford for Saturday night too ... we'll have a couple of boats for the nearby reservoir ... Also in Benton Hot Springs on 5/24-25 ... couldn't get a campsite there for Memorial Day, so we're going to try the B&B rooms ...

That's the plan, anyway ... I like camp ground meet-ups ...
A BARF camping pot-luck this summer would be fun ...

Thanks again for the ride report ... we'll probably be hot at Benton Hot Springs in May ...

Happy b-day, I'm blazin' a trail for ya,
-- SFMCjohn