The oh well, i didn't make it to Death Valley

[demenshea]

With good intentions, I headed to Visalia Friday to overnight and then meet the pashnit DV troopers( a group of crazies riding to Death Valley in the cold and damp) in Bakersfield. Well, after a nice dinner in Visalia and some martinis and a comfortable bed complete with handsome, attentive bed mate of the canine variety, I arose to clouds, temps below 50, and an outlook that would have kept me in Nevada until friday when the passes were clear. So, the DV chickens decided to make a day, riding locally and having some fun of our own. After all, what were our alternatives?? ;): Tough we ain't. :lol:

We were geared up ready to leave at 9am, but my clock still on "daylight wishful thinking" kept me off kilter all day. The riding group were pahnit friends, Jamileh, David (Curvemaster) and Bruce (TripleTee). We headed to Coalinga to the twisty bit of Hwy 198 then to Hwy 25 to Tres Pinos. From there we parted ways and I headed to Panoche Rd. for a trip into the twilight zone and a further disturbance on I5, which i despise nearly as much as I80.

All in all it was well worth the discovery of some new to me roads, great company and a wonderful lunch in Tres Pinos. My riding was off all day. I felt lucky to get home intact. Some rides are like that, chasing what we perceive to be the perfect curve, i found several but mass slogging to get to them and riding so off kilter i felt lucky to stay on the road. I hate winter. I just don't get out enough.

But here are our photo contributions...
The HOT bikes...WOW :thumbsup:

Bruce's Tiger
http://www.demenshea.com/moto/2009/022109_jamileh/100_4038.1.jpg

Jamileh's Guzzi OMG *drool*
http://www.demenshea.com/moto/2009/022109_jamileh/100_4039.1.jpg

David's Sprint
http://www.demenshea.com/moto/2009/022109_jamileh/100_4040.1.jpg

Wow...what great looking bikes!!
http://www.demenshea.com/moto/2009/022109_jamileh/100_4041.1.jpg

Group shot that the illusive Jamileh managed to avoid all day!
http://www.demenshea.com/moto/2009/022109_jamileh/Donna%20039.jpg

198 out of Visalia is boring to say the least...not much different from Hwy 50/I80 for us in Sac. But a quick top off in Coalinga got us to the good part!!

All u need a sexy red Triumph, Red Bull and cell phone! :whistling:
http://www.demenshea.com/moto/2009/022109_jamileh/Donna%20041.1.jpg

[demenshea]

The vista at the top of 198 was awesome...fog in the valley below and a verdant green landscape.
http://www.demenshea.com/moto/2009/022109_jamileh/Donna%20043.1.jpg

The intersection of 198 and 25 we encountered a large group of mostly BMWs coming from 25. They looked all smiles. Note up the hill the nice tank truck we had to pass in the twisties prior to the intersection.
http://www.demenshea.com/moto/2009/022109_jamileh/Donna%20045-1.jpg

Another group shot taken by the infamous Jamileh.
http://www.demenshea.com/moto/2009/022109_jamileh/Donna%20047.1.jpg

Oak on 25
http://www.demenshea.com/moto/2009/022109_jamileh/Donna%20055.jpg

Gorgeous Hwy 25
http://www.demenshea.com/moto/2009/022109_jamileh/Donna%20059.jpg

To gas or not to gas...i wish i had as after double backing to Panoche and riding to I5, i was pushing the limits a bit.
http://www.demenshea.com/moto/2009/022109_jamileh/Donna%20061.jpg

Now Panoche Rd...hmmm described in a word...GOAT!!!
I never stopped for pix...shame on me but i borrowed a couple from Tim so you could see just how "fun" it is. I must admit, i loved it!!
http://www.pashnit.com/pics/road5/PanocheRd/154_5470_900_500.jpg

No matter how many times you repair crap...it remains crap :rofl:
http://www.pashnit.com/pics/road5/PanocheRd/154_5468_900_pothole.jpg

http://www.pashnit.com/pics/road5/PanocheRd/154_5472_525.jpg

U get the idea...

I5 wasn't too bad as it was Saturday not Sunday. I kept within 7 mph of the speed limit, something not easy for me. Got home at dusk with nary a drop of rain. :singingrain:

[sweptwingnut]

:smiley: ride D!! All these ride reports is making me anxious to get the bike out of the garage!

Keep'em com'in! :cheers:

[Luna Tique]

:smiley: Breaking out and going for a ride :riding: :yahoo:

What a fantastic area :thumbup:

Thanks D for thinking about us shut -ins.
It takes my :(: and turns it into a a big :D:

[Gitana]

Looks like fun, even if you didn't make it to DV! Nice bike, BTW.

[demenshea]

We have lucked out with some gorgeous weather between storms. U gotta run with it!! And man were those some wonderful roads!!

Thanks for the bike compliment. I LOVE my bandit!!

[KansasKawboy]

Great report D, I'm ready to ride more than a short ride.

[ridingAK]

Great report D, I'm ready to ride more than a short ride.

Me too! I'm so hoping we can go out and ride this weekend.

[demenshea]

Great report D, I'm ready to ride more than a short ride.


I can't agree more!! This little 500 mile jaunt was but a tiny taste of what i really desire. I am going to head to Death Valley, next month for a floral tour taking several days. I'd like to loop down to Joshua Tree NP while i am there and then venture up through eastern Nevada before heading back to Sacramento.

I too am really ready for a distance tour!!:thumbsup:

RidingAK, i hope you get out this weekend!! How's the snow up there???

[KansasKawboy]

No riding this weekend, snow starting tonight. I can work around the house and stock pile some kitchen passes.

[ridingAK]

We had some snow yesterday, but it melted, and today is gorgeous! Unless there is a dramatic turn in the weather Nut, BB and I will be on the roads tomorrow!

[demenshea]

We had some snow yesterday, but it melted, and today is gorgeous! Unless there is a dramatic turn in the weather Nut, BB and I will be on the roads tomorrow!

I look forward to the photos!!!! :LT:

[KansasKawboy]

Is there a problem getting to Death Valley? TylerR didn't get there a few weeks ago.

[demenshea]

Is there a problem getting to Death Valley? TylerR didn't get there a few weeks ago.

It isn't getting there that was the problem so much as the extended weather reports.

There were recent rain storms that literally closed the valley down. All the interior sans the main road in and out were closed due to flash flooding, mud and rock slides, so it was pretty limited where you could ride. I was looking forward to riding Titus Canyon a killer 26 mile one way dirt road winding though a vertical rock wall. But since that was out, i wanted to wait. Plus I needed to go to Yerington, NV to check on my father which is north of DV and snow was predicted. I was afraid I couldn't make it back over the Sierras to home without my motorcycle chains!! :rofl:


Paulo 2T Welcome!! Definitely get out for a distance tour. I can't spout enough kudos for that sort of ride. Quite soul freeing and creates every bit of the adventuring spirit that comes with this sport. I always feel like i am the only rider out there with special abilities...u know get getting handed your a$$ for over confidence.:lol: Seriously, it can't be beat in the adventure department!! :clapping:DO IT!!!

[KansasKawboy]

Now I'm really lost I thought Death Valley was a desert. But I guess when it does rain in the desert it causes lots of problems.

[Astir]

I imagine it is like around here. When we do get rain it is usually and inch or two within an hour (we get @ 10 inches a year). The ground is too dry for the water to soak in so it flash floods through the arroyos with tremendous force causing amazing destruction. Builders cut through the mountain but vegetation needs tremendous help to get established, so the effort is not put into it, so the rain washs all kinds of debris onto the road. Towns whose drain system was built a long time ago are the worst, because they build the system for 10 inches a year instead of 2 inches in an hour.

[KansasKawboy]

Thats what I thought. I've read a lot of Louis L'amour westerns that are set in that part of the counrty and sometimes there would be a storm like that.

[Astir]

I love Louis Lamour (and Tony Hillerman) I love reading books that are based on areas I am familiar with, not to mention portraying culture I see every day.

Flash floods are really amazing. When I was a kid there was an arroyo behind our house that was about 30 feet deep and about 100 feet wide. I saw it rim to rim twice. VERY scary, and completely over in a matter of minutes. Another time in Alamogordo, it was raining in the mountains but not in town. We heard a really low rumble, and went out side to check it out. There was a flash flood through the middle of town moving boulders half the size of cars, not to mention cars, and pieces of house. We found all kinds of cool stuff in the street when it was over. Keys, TV's, vases, not to mention new landscape material for us! :lol:

http://www.lascrucescustomhomebuilder.com/master/images/27/49_0.jpg

Anyway, if you are ever riding out west in the rain or you see rain uphill in the distance. Be VERY careful crossing low areas. Chances are everything will be OK, but always keep careful watch uphill.

[TylerR]

Now I'm really lost I thought Death Valley was a desert. But I guess when it does rain in the desert it causes lots of problems.

Yup... on our return trip from DV in 2007, we encountered just about everything from flash floods to snow to rock slides and everything in between. This is what about an hour's worth of rain can do in the desert:
http://fancyfeettr.smugmug.com/photos/484465892_EZk69-L.jpg

We ended up planting people in the rushing water (lots of debris in the bottom of that dip) and rode the bikes through one by one. Everyone made it through fine but given the lack of roads open and the memory of this experience, we felt that the time and cost for a trip to DV would be better spent another time. :cool:

[Astir]

:eek: Thats what I am talking about. Be so careful when it rains in the desert!

[Luna Tique]

WOW A picture IS worth a thousand words :perfect10:

Thanks TyerR for posting it. :thumbup:I would bet in the weeks following that storm there were beautiful flowers everywhere

[KCDakar]

I have seen a lot of flash floods that filled arroyos with violent force. It is really amazing to see rain far off in the distance and in the next hour a huge flood happen where you are and not a drop has fallen on you.

I got caught in an ice storm in NM a few years ago and when I could finally get off the highway I was in Grants NM. The streets were flooded with a thick red sludge around 6" deep. It had been MUCH deeper by the looks of things but was now starting to recede. I had to drive through it to get the last room in the whole town. I was so cold it took me twice as long to get my gear off. Man I was cold! (Hot pizza never tasted so good!)

The next morning the sludge was like concrete and I had to go back and forth with hot water and pore it over my brakes to get the wheels to free up. Oh and it was still freezing outside! It was at that point I found my battery did not like the cold...:grump:

[TylerR]

I would bet in the weeks following that storm there were beautiful flowers everywhere

We went in 2005 after some fairly big storms and the valley was blanketed in wildflowers... silver lining to the chaos... it was stunning.
http://fancyfeettr.smugmug.com/photos/485129809_6K3tU-L.jpg

[demenshea]

I have seen a lot of flash floods that filled arroyos with violent force. It is really amazing to see rain far off in the distance and in the next hour a huge flood happen where you are and not a drop has fallen on you.

I got caught in an ice storm in NM a few years ago and when I could finally get off the highway I was in Grants NM. The streets were flooded with a thick red sludge around 6" deep. It had been MUCH deeper by the looks of things but was now starting to recede. I had to drive through it to get the last room in the whole town. I was so cold it took me twice as long to get my gear off. Man I was cold! (Hot pizza never tasted so good!)

The next morning the sludge was like concrete and I had to go back and forth with hot water and pore it over my brakes to get the wheels to free up. Oh and it was still freezing outside! It was at that point I found my battery did not like the cold...:grump:

OMG...what a scary tale. I too have been in flash floods in Santa Fe, NM and it was not fun! I avoid rain when i can which is what kept me home from the DV ride!

[demenshea]

Did someone say wildflowers in Death Valley...

I'll do a post when i return this year...i am awaiting to go either the end of March or first part of April. The flowers this year are supposed to be nice, but not nearly the banner year that Tyler posted.

Early last year...http://www.demenshea.com/moto/2008/021508_dv/100_2801.1.jpg
http://www.demenshea.com/moto/2008/021508_dv/100_2813.1.jpg

NV desert...
http://www.demenshea.com/moto/2008/050108_girlypreride/100_3076.1.jpg

[KansasKawboy]

Quite a change from a river of mud to a sea of wildflowers.

[KansasKawboy]

I love Louis Lamour (and Tony Hillerman) I love reading books that are based on areas I am familiar with, not to mention portraying culture I see every day.



I'm a big Louis Lamour fan also. In one of his books the main character is in Leavenworth, KS and meets a man that is going to set him up to go back west and asks him which hotel he's staying at the Universal or the Planters house. My Great, Great Grandfathers brother managed and later owned the Planters House. I thought that was really cool.

[Astir]

How cool is that! Did you know before you read the book?

After reading Lamour books, I use to do stuff like putting burlap sacks on my horses feet to see if I could still see the tracks. Never look directly into a fire, oh man... it was soo much fun to read. I was jealous of a friends horse because it would but its nose under water to drink. That was the sign of a bold horse you know...

[KansasKawboy]

How cool is that! Did you know before you read the book?

After reading Lamour books, I use to do stuff like putting burlap sacks on my horses feet to see if I could still see the tracks. Never look directly into a fire, oh man... it was soo much fun to read. I was jealous of a friends horse because it would but its nose under water to drink. That was the sign of a bold horse you know...

Yes I knew about the hotel, but was very surprised to read that line in the book.

I read some of his books from time to time as it makes me more aware of my surroundings.

[Luna Tique]

Thanks TylerR great picture of the desert in full bloom:thumbup:http://www.demenshea.com/moto/2008/050108_girlypreride/100_3076.1.jpg

Nice :thumbup:
Anyone know what the flowers are in this picture taken by demenshea? They are beautiful

That is is really cool about your family history KK:thumbup:(Speaking of that when is the big trip planned?)