Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Death Valley Bound

I’m off tomorrow for what I try to make an annual ride…the 12th Annual Death Valley Daze. The Daze is a motorcycle rally that attracts riders who are, for the most part, from the Southwest, although one year a hardy rider rode out from Florida. Some will stay at the Furnace Creek Lodge, but the real rally goers (the purists) will camp---on the grounds that if you ain’t camping you ain’t at the rally.

A week or so ago the night-time temperatures dropped into the low twenties, which was pretty appalling, but it looks now that days will be close to 70 and the nights in the low 30s.
The advantage of taking the hack is that I can haul enough gear to camp like King Farouk: Extra sleeping bag, folding chair, plenty of cooking gear, and extra down to wear around the camp site in the morning.

Death Valley is my favorite scenic spot in t
he Southwest…even in mid summer, when the bike can get so hot that you can't touch the brake and clutch levers with your bare hands. I’m looking forward to sitting around the campfire with old (and I do mean old) friends, kicking lies and telling tires.

1 comment:

Robinbiker said...

Last week, I ride to Death Valley with some of my riding buddies I met in the club bikerkiss.com. We got many cool photos there. I am not sure how can I post our photos on your blogs?

Deserts form because of any number of precipitating factors. Most commonly, it is because of moisture-laden air being diverted, say, because of mountains or wind patterns. This dries out the air and the earth, causing the temperature in both to rise because there is less mosisture to cool it. The prevailing winds in the area become hotter, compounding the heat problem more.