Celebrating Life In Death Valley: My 50th Birthday Ride

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...

Thanks, WR Yeah, the west is pretty special. We're fortunate to live here, for sure!

Thanks, Jerry! We only get one go-around and a finite number of heartbeats. I don't want to waste any of mine!

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...

Haha! I knew it!

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...

Thanks, Steve!

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 Dean's spellchecker got it right

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

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 :laughing



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



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

Thanks! We camped at Benton Hot Springs! Northwest of Bishop, CA on the CA/NV border. They swear they're not a campground, they just rent out hot springs tubs by the hour or overnight. This is another ride that just Eric and I did in February..
http://www.cafehusky.com/threads/honoring-presidents-in-the-eastern-sierra.31337/

Yep, happy ending for the wallet...it was still on top of the pump! He has a really sweet old photo of his wife and baby son (he's 14 now!) in his wallet and that was what he was most worried about. I told him I'd scan it and send him another copy just in case he loses it again. And, yeah, he's an animal on a motorcycle. So is Dan. Dan did a dual sport ride with us once on his Suzuki DL1000 V-Strom. It was gnarly!