Road Through Death Valley

We were up well before the larks on Sunday morning, excited & apprehensive about the day's ride ahead. The support van was loaded up with a large coolbox containing bottled water & soft drinks, buried under copious amounts of ice to ensure cooling drinks for the riders & pillions to re-hydrate themselves whenever we stopped. Once the luggage was loaded, neckties wetted, camel packs & hydration jackets donned, we were ready for the off.

The ride down the mile or so length of The Strip went like a dream, with the numerous sets of traffic lights smiling their green lights down on us, graciously allowing the group to remain as one unit, as the pillion riders, cameras at the ready, clicked happily away at the sights & landmarks on Las Vegas Boulevard. Temperatures were cool, in fact barely 85F, so it was no sweat as we joined the motorway, heading west towards Pahrump (yes, Pahrump! It's a great name, isn't it?) By the time we stopped for fuel at Pahrump (!) a couple of hours later, it was beginning to get quite warm (that's flippin' hot to you & me!)

Several miles down the road saw us turning off for Death Valley, first climbing ever upwards on the twisty roads taking us up through the hills, then descending ever downward, hundreds of feet below sea-level to the site of an ancient, long forgotten sea-bed. White salt deposits lay like snow on the baked, dry sand of the valley floor, & it was hotter than Hell down there. You know when you open the oven door & peep in to see if the Yorkshires are nearly ready? You get a blast of the hottest air in your face, & that's just what Death Valley feels like. It was around 120F, & very possibly more than that.

We rode for several straight, flat miles, before beginning to ascend on curvy roads again, which fools you into thinking it's over, & you're on your way out of it at last. But no, the road winds downwards again, for a second, deeper dip into the fires of Hell. On & on the road goes, until we finally put Death Valley behind us, in exchange for the altogether more bearable temperatures of the High Sierras, eventually arriving around 2pm to a little town called Bishop, for our overnight stay. The first thing we all did was to get our cozzies on, & straight into the pool, to indulge in a relaxing swim, & bring our body temperatures back within normal limits. Nothing ever felt so fantastic as lounging in that pool did, with a can or two of Bud to help keep fluid levels up on the inside!

Well ridden everybody!