Click II below to stop auto-scroll. Ace-buddy Jeff volunteered to haul me & bike to LAB2V start...
...in his "dualie" which is...
...a monster-truck with double-wheels in the back. VERY COOL!
At the start-hotel (Palmdale, 80 miles from my place), looking out my window at my bike...
At 6pm, turkey dinner! WooHoo!
Miss Molly came out to "observe LAB2V". Deal: Picture for a t-shirt from my sponsor, the Red Line Synthetic Oil Company :-)
Co-rider Tom locked our bikes together (good idea, as his LAB2V bike of 3 years ago was stolen during the event)
Rider check-in remarkably smooth...
Tech-inspection for spark-arrester and noise...
HERO helmet-cams wildly popular this year...
My green bag upper-right. "Green bag" (later on) is significant...
The race is on! I am 5 miles from the start, hopelessly LOST :-(
So, I latched-on to these GPS-equipped BMW riders...
Ha! Literally 30 miles later. I discover ride-buddy Peter is on one of the BMW's. We did not recognize each other as we both were on new bikes!
Paul (L) and Peter (R) would save-the-day. Both GPS equipped.
GPS nice because it tells you the above hell will only last XXX miles.
Uh-oh. That's a 600-lb bike that Peter has to lift. I told him "I will always help, but only *after* I take the pic!"
Fabulous 50's diner (refurbished for a movie)
I made all the checkpoints...
Far-left is co-rider Tom, who had earlier dropped out due to bike issues. Tom was to be the nav-lead for me.
Continuing on...
Another checkpoint...
Finally! A section to "make up time". VERY FAST section :-)
Barstow city-limit. WooWoo!
Sorting out my gear. This my only Red Line sticker boo-hoo!
Bummer is not being at "event hotel" (in Barstow, I was not). This means must haul-bag every night/morning. Note bag proximity to exhaust pipe (remember this point)
GPS sometimes has "a mind of its' own" as Day-2 it took us in circles
Rider down (mostly hidden). Never saw a rider thrown so far from the impact point. This hurt :-(
Easy stuff...
Very little of this graded-road...
All of it VERY dusty. Global warming?
#3 "wrong place in line". I did this "#3" for 300 miles :-(
Sand was frightfully deep/soft ("worst case")
"Planned shot"... Photographers-dream...
My hero's... Peter & Paul
I decided to let my bike nap, in the soft/cool sand :-(
Paul had the navigation-lead, did a superb job. The course is *not* marked.
A beautiful section...
Note as a tag-along rider, I do not get to pick the stop/picture points...
So multiple-shots from limited-locations. *Not complaining*.
Dry-lake. Awesome!
Peter remembered "scenic spot coming"...
I am looking at the amazing gadget in my right hand...
Peter's awesome Leica camera...
Paul is (honest) "pondering our near-term future"...
Sad fact: Memorial-crosses all along the route...
Mr. Fixit (me) pulling bungee-cord out of my wheel...
Exiting the graded section...
We came across this sweep-truck hauling smashed-bikes...
Snapped "single-sided swingarm" approx a $1,000 part!
Award: "Best smashed plate" (not the same bike as the busted swingarm)
IMO coolest plate :-)
At rest-stop in Sandy Valley everybody got 1.5 gals gas
And a mandatory wash for (honest) "noxious weeds"
At this place/time, a *fabulous meal* provided by Sandy Valley high-schoolers (gas/lunch comes with entry fee of $129)
We thought "easy from here" no-it-was-not!
This guy a "BMW legend" oh-yes he could ride!!
Made it! Arrived at the final-checkpoint, Orleans casino/hotel in Las Vegas
Superb room for the price $99.
Wide-angle view out my window...
Zoom... Note airport control tower in the middle of pic...
Morning: Bikes outside everywhere. This bike chained to tree in front of hotel!
Heading home. FIRE! Recall "green bag close to exhaust pipe"? This was "serious flames".
TOO CLOSE. Black-blob is my (melted) Mac computer. I'm doing an entire story on (both) of my fires. Stay tuned and... Thanks for reading along!
