| Death Valley Bike Ride | April 9-18, 1988 |
After climbing numerous peaks in the Death Valley area, I decided that it was time to appreciate the desert from a different perspective: from two wheels rather than from two feet. The roads in the area are good and traffic light: perfect for a leisurely bike ride. So, early Saturday morning ten bike riders and one sag wagon driver met at the junction of 127 and 178, just north of Shoshone. After leaving some cars at the campsite selected for Saturday night in Greenwater Valley, the riders and their bicycles were ferried in three vehicles to the Death Valley Visitor Center where the bike ride was to start and finish.
The first segment of the ride, from Visitor Center to "Pyramid" Pass, tested everyone's strength, endurance, and determination: 3,080' gain in 13.3 miles against the wind! At an abandoned trailer park near the pass we recovered our strength as we ate a well deserved lunch. From "Pyramid" Pass we coasted into Death Valley Junction and then, with the help of the wind behind us, on along 127 to the junction with 178. This part was a real breeze! The six miles from the road junction to our campsite, however, capped a tiring day -- another 600' elevation gain against the wind!
With rehydration stops approximately every hour and a leisurely lunch, we covered 62 miles in about 9 hours that day. Except for the wind, the weather was perfect for the ride-- that day. Saturday night the campfire was bright, vital fluids flowed abundantly, and the munchies (including marinated and pickled moths) were plentiful. Ron's Desert "Dino" made its first appearance at the campfire.
Sunday morning we hit the road early (7:30 AM) heading for Salisbury Pass -- our only elevation gain for the day (approximately 1,200' was going to be completed early with smooth coasting left for the remainder of the day (Hah!). The gain to Salisbury Pass went fairly smoothly, though slowly, and the drop from pass to the Valley floor (-4,000') was worth all the pain of the previous day's hills. After hitting the Valley floor we noticed that it was quite a bit warmer than we experienced the previous day. Nonetheless, we pressed on -- to Badwater for lunch. Desperate to find shade, the riders sprawled beneath picnic tables, exhibits and rock crevices as they ate lunch in the relentless heat. Here a few riders gave up and hit the sag wagon, a few others chose to get a lift to the "Artist's Palette" loop, while the rest pressed on from Badwater to the Visitor Center. At the Visitor Center we learned that the temperature that day was only 93 degrees (in the shade). We also heard about the ordeal experienced by the three riders that chose to take the "Artist's Palette" loop (they capped their day by negotiating a series of steep hills in the same sweltering heat rather than taking the straight line along the Valley floor).
From the Visitor Center, the riders and their bikes were ferried back to the remaining cars at the Greenwater Valley campsite. From there most everybody chose to take a refreshing and healing dip at the Tecopa Hot Springs outside of Shoshone before heading home. Despite the miscellaneous aching body parts, everyone appeared to have enjoyed this desert experience and the leaders have began to plan for next yea's spring time bike ride in the desert!
All participants appreciated Leora Stoller's gracious offer to drive the sag wagon for two days. Many thanks to Suzanne Thomas and Ron Jones for assisting. The remaining relentless riders were: Keith Jones, Jim Farkas, Claire Beckman, David Hattenschwiller, Margot Lowe, Andrew Britis, and Alan Melgard.