Here's my Death Valley ride summary: My Friday started at 3:00am - early yes, but couldn't sleep anyway, too excited! I was on the road at 4:00am, greeted by dense cloud cover which kept the temp relatively warm. I decided to slab it down 5, then 198 to 99 to Tulare. Uneventful ride, nice little sunset over the central valley, little to no expansion joints on 5 south, arrived in Tulare at 7:15am. I bummed a free breakfast at the hotel and met up with the other fearless riders - Hans (with wife Michelle in tow) on the yellow VFR, Rod (Heidi on back) on the GS1200, Guido on his '02 VFR, me on my SV1000S. Hey, this ride was 50% VFR! We followed Ismat's route to Bakersfield and it was gorgeous. Rolling hills, oak trees, green pastures, rocks, streams, wildflowers- absolutely lovely. The roads were good and I got a bit of sporty riding in - woo hoo! Ismat may be a bit of a weather weenie, but he does put together a great route! We stopped in Bakersfield for tea (a civilized lot, we were) and Rod did a bit of shopping at the nearby Cycle Gear - you know how these BMW riders are always on the lookout for more stuff! Back on the bikes and up toward Lake Isabella (sp?). This was our first encounter with the dreaded 'rain'!! A bit of a sprinkle, hardly dampened my leathers which dried quickly using the Karl Marsh air, engine, body heat technique. Lunch at a terrific Mexican restaurant in Lake Isabella where we witnessed Rod consuming the largest chimichunga known to man. Ever see nature videos of snakes eating their prey? Back on the road. It was cold enough in the mountains to have Michelle and Heidi looking like marshmellows as they put on every available piece of clothing for the ride to Lone Pine. I think the anesthetic effects of the cold helped me, remember my day started early and I was on the SV. Pretty scenery through Joshua trees and out to 395. We were all happy to arrive at the Dow Villa and hot showers. Just after we got in, a hoard of Brazilians on rented Harleys arrived. One had taken a spill and sported broken fairing and side bags. I'll forward a pic on Guido's and my bikes looking good next to these cruisers. Gary and Jane joined us on Lone Pine. As a result of Gary's recent surgery, he was unable to ride but they wanted to joint the group and check out the desert bloom. It was a quick dinner and early to bed. We started the next day with a terrific breakfast at the Totem Pole and hit the road by 9:00 (actually, my day started at 6:30 with a long soak in the spa - oh yeah!). If you guys thing Hans is grumpy in his posts, you should see him first thing in the morning! The ride out to DV was the most difficult of the trip. Guido led us through super thick fog and cold, but the valley was very nice and sunny. The bloom was spectacular. Fields of yellow and blue flowers covering the valley floor. Gary, serving as our own personal biologist, gave us lots of info on the area. We took a group photo at Badwater and headed south to a place recommended by a ranger for bloom viewing. For those of you who have never been to DV, you must go. This place defies description, it is simply awesome. We weren't the only ones interested in the bloom, however, and there was a bit of traffic. Overtaking became a sport, led once again by Guido. I got to open up the SV on a long stretch and was quite impressed with the speed and stability (modesty and a reasonable nature prohibit me from stating the exact speed!). Heading out of the valley we were greeted by a long line at the pumps and possibly the most inefficient service station on earth. We had a good time, though, and helped out a metric cruiser dude. The place was chaos - prepaying, credit cards, pump sharing, mass hysteria and confusion at the register...... in the end I came out $9 ahead! First round that night on me! The ride out of the valley rocked! Michelle decided to ride in the car with Gary and Jane, thus 'freeing' Hans to pick up the pace a bit. Hans, Guido, and myself chased each other up the hill and out of the valley on absolutely terrific roads. Howee! Only near miss of the trip came when a guy (not our guy) on a GS1200 nearly t-boned Hans from the side of the road. After the twisties, Rod and Heidi caught up and we had a high speed cruise (90+) back to the hotel. Excellent! Like I said I (or rather the service station) bought the beer which was happily consumed in Hans and Michelle's luxury suite then off for a nice dinner. Chamey was the beer of choice at the restaurant (Belgian for 'ass kicker' I think, 8% EtOH!), and the food was spectacular. It was chilly yesterday and we met an hour earlier for breakfast to get a jump on a long day. Hans and Michelle went their own way and were planning another night, perhaps on the coast. We said goodbye to Gary and headed out. The trip back found high winds (nice lean angles Rod! He didn't even need corners) on 395 and through the Joshua tree section. We had a bit of light rain heading down into Bakersfield, yet I found this to be one of the most pleasurable parts of the ride the scenery and rain combined to make this a real treat. Lunch in Bakersfield and back through Coalinga. Green, sunny, lush up the 25 - spectacular. The only real rain came as Guido and I headed up the 101 just outside of Hollister. We got dumped on, and my leathers finally got damp. But even that was just for a bit, and I had a dry ride home after that. I rode 1400+ miles on this trip, enough to possibly impress Karl? The SV was actually more comfortable than I thought it would be and a real blast to ride, not to mention the prettiest and most photogenic bike on the trip! Thanks to those who came, this was a real memorable ride! Carl It rocked. Probably some others will provide details, or I will later - I'm too tired right now - but it was an excellent ride. Beautiful scenery, great company, and some very tasty roads were enjoyed by all. Hans and Michelle are taking an extra day to come back via an alternate route, Gary and Jane were heading home up 395 today, and Guido, Carl, and Heidi and I rode back from Lone Pine today - 410 miles for us, more for them... Rod
