Please let me preface this.
1) No bikes were damaged in any way during this ride...
2) I originally posted this on ADV rider...I'll link the pics as quickly as I can, but I've had several comrads ask me to post this on Xplor in the meantime.
Last May (5-17-2008) I had the opportunity to visit out Arizona, Nevada, and CA for the first time.
To make a long story short, my wife and I flew to Phoenix, AZ. We rented a car and drove to Sedona, AZ, spent three days there, then we were off to Williams, AZ to pick up an antique train that took us to the Grand Canyon for two days. Next for the final leg of our trip, we drove to Vegas, stopping at Hoover Dam on the way over.
I wasn’t going to let this be a “Bike Free” vacation. So low and behold I rent a BMW GS1200 for the day from BMW of Las Vegas. (These guys went out of their way for me. They offered to let me pick up the bike on Friday evening, they even went as far as to lend me maps!! Thanks Joe and the rest of the staff!!!)
I reached out to our brethren on the “West Coast” US ADVRider boards for some information and the hopes of meeting up some locals, but unfortunately there was a “Big Bear Rally” going on the weekend of my visit.
HOWEVER…a couple ADV riders offered up their precious dirt GPS tracks from Vegas to Death Valley, CA along with some advice….Basically, 12 miles outside Vegas I’ll pick up the dirt, and end up about 90 miles away before I hit the tarmac which will bring me to Death Valley National Park, where I’ll pick up the dirt again…
With the help of our own ROB23, we scouted out their tracks using Google Earth and Map source, and put together what would become the “Ride of my life”!
All I can say is that you’ve never ridden until you’ve ridden out west. The mountains are breathless. The desert is tranquil…It’s just something that you really have to experience to completely understand…
First off, let me start be saying that I don't regularly ride a BMW GS1200. Most of you know the bikes I ride…Either a 2 stroke or my X-650 with full knobbies…The bike was a 2007 stock GS with Tourance tires…It handled amazing well for a street bike…and I’m so glad I worked the Explor event last year, because I would never have guessed how to pick that bad boy up…It took all my might!
Second point to note, while planning our vacation, my wife tapes a “Travel Channel” show about Death Valley. This show talks about temperatures as high as 114 degrees, and several tourists dying when then decide to go on a hike…needless to say not a good show to watch and then plan a solo adventure through. I’m hoping that when I arrive in the area, I’ll eventually find someone to ride with out there…
In any event, I never found that second rider to join me. My wife is worried now that I pick up the bike the day before the trip…I prep her with some strict directions…1) My laptop contains the route file
2) My route is broken down into 3 legs. I will call her after completing each leg for a status report, and in the event that she doesn’t here from me within timeframes, to call the authorities and tell them she has my route, and she last heard from me at “X” leg of the trip.
3) I include the phone numbers for the Death Valley Park Rangers, CA Highway and NV Highway patrols.
4) I reassure her that I’ll ride especially reserved, I’m bringing extra water, and food…and I’ll be just fine…
So I start off on my journey at 5:34am at about 75 degrees in Vegas.
http://picasaweb.google.com/MrChristianGiordano/DeathValley2008/photo#5202136057532254898
I head out of town about 12 miles and pick up a dirt road called “Old Spanish Trail”, and I quickly learn what my ride is going to be like…
http://picasaweb.google.com/MrChristianGiordano/DeathValley2008/photo#5202136117661797106
First the road is hard packed sand/dirt. It soon turns into a rocky, boulder laden trail that soon tests my skills on the GS…Here’s where I lay it down for the first time…OOPS…(Glad I bought the insurance for $30 extra!)
http://picasaweb.google.com/MrChristianGiordano/DeathValley2008/photo#5202136156316502818
About 20 minutes later I come to realize that I’ve left civilization, and I get that warm and fuzzy feeling when I see my first cactus:http://picasaweb.google.com/MrChristianGiordano/DeathValley2008/photo#5202136177791339330
http://picasaweb.google.com/MrChristianGiordano/DeathValley2008/photo#5202136203561143138Then I happen upon this sign (Spring Mountain National Rec. Area)
http://picasaweb.google.com/MrChristianGiordano/DeathValley2008/photo#5202136126251731714
At this point I’m about an hour and a half into my journey…I’ve realized that the last paved road, car, house OR PERSON, that I saw was quite a bit ago…so I figure, hey I’m sure I’ll bump into someone out here…It’s freaking Saturday….Well, three and a half hours go by and all I see is Desert, Mountains, Trails, a Turtle, Dragon Flies, and a few Jack Rabbits…THAT”S IT! Really!!
http://picasaweb.google.com/MrChristianGiordano/DeathValley2008/photo#5202136495618919650Let me say I was a bit uncomfortable at times….(Would I get bit by a rattlesnake next time I fall? Or perhaps I would come upon Desert Pirates, that might take my bike, food, and money, and leave me there to die? Hmm??)
At one point the road narrows down into nothing more then a dead end,
http://picasaweb.google.com/MrChristianGiordano/DeathValley2008/photo#5202136358179966002however, unlike NJ this dead end is a desert plain…My GPS says there should be a road less then a mile away…the sand feels somewhat packed…So I proceed straight through it…I eventually find a set of tracks, and eventually I find a quad trail….Here the sand gets deep and turns into sugar.
http://picasaweb.google.com/MrChristianGiordano/DeathValley2008/photo#5202136435489377426
http://picasaweb.google.com/MrChristianGiordano/DeathValley2008/photo#5202136448374279330Eventually, I find a paved road, and shortly thereafter I run into three other riders on Harleys. They wave, and I stop…Unfortunately I couldn’t get them to join me on my expedition to Death Valley…They were like “Wow!! You came from where on that? (GS1200) from that direction? One of them was a local, and mentioned that he had a 250 2 stroke in his garage…They were intrigued with the BMW’s dirt capabilities…and they were surprised I just came out of that trail, on the GS….
Shortly thereafter I make it to Shoshone, CA. This is the end of my first route and the refueling point for both gas and water…I call my wife from a payphone, as there’s no cell service out here!http://picasaweb.google.com/MrChristianGiordano/DeathValley2008/photo#5202136727547153954
The next route takes me up pavement, and shortly after I come across thishttp://picasaweb.google.com/MrChristianGiordano/DeathValley2008/photo#5202136749021990466
and thishttp://picasaweb.google.com/MrChristianGiordano/DeathValley2008/photo#5202136757611925074
Now I’m excited…Check out the temp
http://picasaweb.google.com/MrChristianGiordano/DeathValley2008/photo#5202136770496826978
And now we enter Death Valleyhttp://picasaweb.google.com/MrChristianGiordano/DeathValley2008/photo#5202136779086761586
and the famous “West Side Road”http://picasaweb.google.com/MrChristianGiordano/DeathValley2008/photo#5202136847806238402
This is a 40 mile dirt road, straight through the center of Death Valley…At first it’s a bit “Washboardy” but either I got used to it, or it became smooth.
Now look at the temp:
http://picasaweb.google.com/MrChristianGiordano/DeathValley2008/photo#5202136869281074914
and finally here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/MrChristianGiordano/DeathValley2008/photo#5202136920820682546
This road was really amazing…at one point the only way to describe it is to refer to the moon. It becomes a gravel road through a white crusty/chunky surface that you could walk through…it was like a farmers field when it’s first plowed…huge chunks of dried mud…
http://picasaweb.google.com/MrChristianGiordano/DeathValley2008/photo#5202136950885453650After a bit, I finally made it to the northernmost point of the valley. Here I learned that Death Valley is 180 feet BELOW sea level…Interesting factoid…
Believe it or not, there are a couple resorts here, along with a golf course!
http://picasaweb.google.com/MrChristianGiordano/DeathValley2008/photo#5202136980950224754
At this point I’ve completed route 2…still no cell services, so I call my wife from a payphone…I’m slightly behind schedule, so I tell her that I’m hitting the pavement straight back from Death Valley, bypassing route 3.I was told to make two stops in Death Valley. One at a Dante’s Peak…This was a fun 12 mile road that snaked it’s way up to a peak where I could look down upon my route threw the valley floor…This was amazing overlook. I could see the path I traveled in the below valley basin…
http://picasaweb.google.com/MrChristianGiordano/DeathValley2008/photo#5202137006720028562http://picasaweb.google.com/MrChristianGiordano/DeathValley2008/photo#5202136993835126658
The rest of my ride back was on tarmac. This was another amazing segment. There were parts of this road that were straight and level for as far as I could see. No side roads, no cars, nothing…The GS made 100 mph seem slow after awhile. It easily hit 130mph…and a good part of it was spent around 115!!! Try that in jersey!!!If your interested in the full album of pictures, feel free to browse through them here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/MrChristianGiordano/DeathValley2008
If you get the opportunity, I really recommend this trip…Till next time, ride safe!
Christian Giordano
Here's my favorite shot:
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07 X-Challenge - -Xplor BlueRidge (08) Group Leader/Sweeper -Xplor the Pines (07) Group Leader -PB500 Group Leader (06,07)
