Badwater and back

[NevadaWolf]

Forgot to do a ride report. Please forgive any spelling or capitalization mistakes, my iPad hates me.

First major ride of the year, yippee!

I love elevation markers, whether it is a USGS benchmark, a boundary sign, or a simple "You are here" monument, there is just something about knowing the magical number of feet above the sea i am current at. That said, when I learned i had missed the elevation marker at Badwater, the lowest point in all of North America, i was annoyed.



Curiously, while one would expect there to be a benchmark at this place, there isn't. The nearest one I can locate is on the other side of the valley at Dayton Harris' grave. But i digress...



I woke up just before sunrise and headed south. It was a chilly 20-odd degree morning but within a couple hours of the sun rising, the temp had warmed up enough that the ride was stunning. Crystal blue sky and crisp air made the terrain really stand out. I love the region around Hwy 95. The geologic record is there for everyone to see, including the old shoreline of Lake Lahontan. The desert really shines through central Nevada. Joshua trees begin dotting the land around and occasionally there are big horn sheep and burros along the road.


(Obviously taken on a different trip... )

Al the way south to Death Valley was beautiful. I opted to head straight to the Furnace Creek Visitor Center to pay my fee as I also wanted to begin collecting National Park stamps (maybe kinda hoping to do the 50 Parks Iron Butt tour thingy). Encountered some visitors who asked me about my ride and we started talking about places we have been. The fab thing was both of them were as tall as me and had similar short inseams. Great thing about bikes is there are many others who share the same experiences!

Continued my way to my goal and found the Badwater lot full of tourists. Winter is a great time to visit and many took advantage. The pool itself was calm and reflected the surrounding mountains perfectly. I stood there admiring the place and listening to the hum of dozens of languages around me.



Heading back, I figured i was so far behind schedule for a quick down and back that I decided to take a side loop called Artist's Drive. WOW! What a beautiful segment of road. The layers in the mountains, the colors of the minerals and types of rocks, the narrow one lane twisty road that cut through the terrain, and the sapphire sky that capped everything, it was just perfect. I filmed most of the ride when an SUV wasn't going 5 MPH in front of me. Must get that video up for you to see.





Heading back, I decided since i was off schedule, just go ahead and blow the schedule to bits and deal with the day as it was. One of the towns I always bypass when i head south is Rhyolite, an old mining townsite. The ruins still stand and several Belgian artists have set up the Goldwell Open Air Museum. I have always seen pictures of the pieces, but never seen them myself. I made the turn and headed up into the town.









Afterwards, the sun was getting low and it was going to get dark. I knew I wouldn't make it all the way back home, but I figured I would go as far as i could. Riding up through the night, with a bare sliver of a moon, and the bright stars, ahhhh this is why i ride.

Spent the night in Tonopah and was up early to head north towards home. However, during my walk around, i saw my rear tire was beginning to show signs of wear. I made a quick run out to get a pic of the new solar array out in the middle of the neighboring valley and then did another tire check. The wear was now definite and that unfortunately cancelled any side trips to get pics of the desert for Motofool. Rode 100 miles and did a check while oiling the chain. Ugh, now the threads/cords (some sparkling silvery stuff) was really showing. Only had 100 miles left to Carson and one of my shops so pushed on.



Luckily no incident, they had a tire in stock, found me someone to install it, and my girl is now sporting a new shoe for running on more roads. Made a few side trips to Virginia City and Dayton to grab some pics and make sure I milked the ride home for all it was worth.





Total trip: 822 miles

Link to original page on YouTube.

[algs26]

Awaiting video...

You should ease up on the burnouts.

[Motofool]

Thank you !!!

[Alex]

I love that area. I try to get out to DV every year in the April/May timeframe.

[JohnnyBravo]

[alex.s]

looks sweet. reminds me of some places i've driven through in central cali

[NevadaWolf]

Thanks everyone.

Added a video to the original post. If you don't like music, watch now or kill your volume.

[allanoue]

Great video

Thank You Teri!

[csmith12]

Cool stuff Teri.

[greenaero]

Great stuff! I went there 3 years ago and some of your photos look almost the same as the ones I took. Thanks for sharing

[NevadaWolf]

I keep forgetting @Alex has provided a Spotwalla shortcut. Changed the badly done Google to the accurate Spotwalla map.