Lee Hart's Web Site

Friday, January 30, 1998

I finished installing the hard drive that my mother sent out and checked my email. After a quick shower and finishing packing my bike I'm on my way to Death Valley for the BMW riders rally that started this whole trip.

The 260+ mile trip into Death Valley from Corona was fairly uneventful. It took me longer to pack than I'd planned (mostly due to doing laundry, as well as putting a new hard drive in my nephews' computer) so I didn't leave until 1 PM. The maps I have didn't show many interesting routes into the valley so I ran a bit of slab on the way in. (Later I had a look at someone else's map and saw that I really need to get better maps). Once I got into the valley things became a little more interesting. The sun was out and it was warm (not hot) and the scenery was very interesting. There were also very long stretches of wide open terrain with almost no traffic. One most of these stretches I ran around 90-95 MPH. When I'd see a car (every 5 minutes or so) I'd slow down to 75-80. This bike really rides well at 90-95. Above this there's some buffeting going on and riding becomes more of a chore. If I had to describe Death Valley I would say that it was a lot of very interesting scenery separated by large distances over alien-like terrain.

Even though I topped off shortly before entering the park I crossed the half tank mark before I got to Furnace Creek (where I was staying). I knew that Furnace Creek had to have gas or I wasn't going to get out. It did of course but like many riders I topped off frequently while riding around the valley, even if premium fuel was ~$1.90/Gal.

I arrived around 5 PM. Check-in was uneventful; like several riders I first went to Furnace Creek Inn, forgetting that it was Furnace Creek Ranch where I was staying (altitude 190 ft below sea level). Their reservation computers were linked and I was quickly on my way. After dropping off my gear at my room I topped up my tank and headed up to the café/saloon area to grab some food, meet some of the other riders and check out the other bikes. I had never before met such a mixture of presidents, old farts and idiots. Of course I had to join them. (Well, I don't think I've qualified for the old farts. By joining the Internet BMW Riders list I became a President of the IBMWR and by going to the Death Valley Days III run I joined the exclusive club of village idiots; I have the name tag to prove it.) Lots of interesting bikes and even more interesting modifications to them.