Death_Valley_Page

Winter weather arrived in Southern California early this year. Last year, it wasn�t until the middle of January before the winter chill came around. This year, November and December not only brought along frigid temps but rains as well. It�s been raining every week since the start of December so all the mountain roads I frequently ride have been snowed in. Thus, I hatched the idea of riding in the desert. Desert brings about memories of warm sunshine and smooth, clear roads. What better place to go to on a cold and frigid December day�.or two. And what better place in the desert to frolic about on my Hayabusa than Death Valley. I�ve always wanted to visit this great National Monument but the distance always put me off. Such a trip just can�t be done in a day. However, I recently got three full days off from work so why not use that for this trip? Why not indeed!

The weather forecast for my planned trip days said sunshine and low 60�s on day one. Cloudy skies and 50�s on day two. No problem I thought. It should be warmer in the desert. So a quick call to my chosen night destination for motel reservations got the ball rolling. I�ve never been to Death Valley so I was excited to say the least.

Day One:

I rode down my street at 7AM Wednesday. The sun was out but the air was very cold. I had on my Joe Rocket Meteor winter jacket, winter gloves, & Joe Rocket Ballistic pants with thermals. I thought that would be enough. I tested this ensemble out the prior weekend under the same temperatures for about an hour and they kept me warm.

I chose Ortega Highway again to head out of town. This road is close to me and it promised no traffic whatsoever on this workday (work for everyone else but me!). Ortega Highway delivered on the fun and no traffic, although the temperature there was very cold. I could feel some air seeping through my Nolan N100 helmet and it felt freezing!

After Ortega Highway, I hopped on Interstate 15 Northbound for Nevada. I15 differs from regular freeways in that it�s designed to move lots of traffic fast across state lines. In this case, I15 had 4 lanes with a large divider in the middle. It was also fast. I was cruising along at just under 90 mph and although I was passing many cars and trucks, there were also quite a few cars & SUV�s passing me. There was really nothing particularly scenic about this part of I15. Like I said earlier, it�s designed to move large volumes of vehicles in the most efficient way possible. So, the designers said, �To hell with scenery!� Thus, I had nothing to do but keep the throttle on and point the bike straight. This also meant I had plenty of free time to think about how cold I was getting. My feet and hands were getting a bit cold. Then my bladder started to bother me. I couldn�t believe it. 45 minutes into the ride and I�m already uncomfortable. I tried to concentrate on other things. I noticed how smooth the Hayabusa was running. I could barely feel any tingling from the bars, footpegs, or tank. It was silky smooth. I found it amazing how Suzuki was able to quell the vibes from this big 1300cc motor with only ONE counter-rotating balance shaft. The tactic worked. I started to ignore my body discomfort, but only just so.

Somewhere around the city of Ontario, trouble loomed. All of a sudden, the empty and fast flowing I15 filled with cagers in all lanes with their brakes lighting up. This was beyond just slowing down as traffic moved slowly then came to a complete stop. Luckily for me, I15 has wide lanes, giving me plenty of room to split in between cars. In addition, drivers were very polite. They pulled over as soon as they saw my bright lights coming up. So I split lanes for about 10 miles, which was more than enough for me. At the end of the traffic congestion, the reason for it became clear. Up ahead was the transition lane to Interstate 10, which leads east towards Los Angeles. Most of the cagers where jockeying for position to get on that transition ramp. I couldn�t believe it. Even out here, I had to deal with traffic congestion caused by that damned place called Los Angeles.

After getting through the traffic, my bladder and now stomach cramps were really bothering me. I had hoped to make it all the way to Victorville, about 120 miles out, before stopping but I didn�t think I could bare the discomfort any longer. So as soon as I saw a Chevron gas station, I pulled off the freeway to use their facilities for gas and restrooms. I topped up the Busa�s tank and went inside the mini mart to use the restroom. I had a bit of trouble getting my Joe Rocket Ballistic jacket & pants �unzipped� to do my thing, thus it took me a bit longer in there. When I finally came out, two guys where standing there waiting, looking a bit miffed that I took so long. Sorry guys. Blame it on Joe Rocket. I must have looked like a space man with my colorful riding suit and my flipped up Nolan helmet.

Back on I15, I felt a better. I got a little warm at the gas station but as soon as I got up to speed, my extremities started to get cold again. I tried to ignore it for I had many more miles to go this day. I knew I could tolerate a lot of cold so I felt confident it wouldn�t be much of a problem.

A few minutes went by and I passed by a large valley, which was interestingly called, �Valley of Enchantment�. I snickered while wondering why it�s called that. Soon, I reached the small community of Lytle Creek, named after the same name creek. Here, I15 must cross the San Bernardino Mountains to move vehicles from the coastal plains to the Mojave Desert. The Army Corp of Engineers must have picked the lowest point in this large mountain range to get the Interstate up and over, since I15 seems to parallel the mountains for a few miles as it followed Lytle Creek. Then, I15 suddenly turns and began its ascent up the El Cajon Pass. The grade is only about 6% but it is a long grade spanning about 15 miles. Big trucks slow to 40 mph in low gear as they struggled to get up and over the pass. Cars and SUV�s also struggled a bit and tried to maintain 70 mph. My Hayabusa and I however barely noticed the grade. I was able to maintain 90 mph easily and I passed what seemed like hundreds of vehicles. There were many tall mountains to my right & left. Nearby was Sugarpine Mtn. at 5,478 feet, and Cleghorn Mtn. at 5,319. The peak of El Cajon pass was 4,260 feet. That�s low compared to some of the mountains surrounding the area, most of which towered above 5,000 feet, the highest being San Gorgonio Mtn. at approx. 11,502 feet, which was located way to the East of me. Most of these peaks where snow covered. The San Bernardino Mountain range acts as a large barrier between the Mojave Desert and the Coastal Plains. It must have seemed insurmountable by the early pioneers of California. But today, crossing the mountain range took very little effort and time.

On the descend down El Cajon pass, cars and trucks gained their speed back. Many were back up to 80 mph and over. It was easy for me to maintain 90 mph since all I had to do was back off the throttle to control my speed. Not so for some cars. A few of them went by me at probably over 100 mph. American drivers are so na�ve about the use of engine braking & lower gears. Most just rode their brakes to control their speeds. Some let the reins loose and rocketed down the pass! It was almost comical. When I15 leveled out in the Mojave desert near Victorville, I quickly caught up to the downhillers and passed them.