Floribama Riders

The RawHyde folks have circled the wagons. I immediately locate a beer, a chair and some shade. There is some talk of additional riding but the rock garden has turned my forearms into wet noodles. I have just enough strength to hold a beer, and eat dinner. To bed on a surprisingly warm, clear desert night. The wind picks up a bit during the night.

Sunday: Up again before sunrise. It's warmer than other nights, but we notice the same just before sunrise cooling effect we have seen other mornings. Odd. After another great breakfast, we have a conference about what we want to do today. We decide to do Hunter Mountain and the Racetrack. This is supposed to be very scenic, but a long day, estimated at 170 miles. The first 12 miles are along a smooth dirt road, then about 15 miles of pavement. When start up Hunter Mountain and go another 15 miles before stopping and filling up the bikes again from our support truck, so that we will be sure to have enough gas for the day. We start on up the mountain. The road is said to be closed by the Forest Service because of snow and mud, but it was not actually closed. It turns out to be a very easy ride, a few patches of mud from snow melt, and the small snow banks are no trouble at all. The scenery is awesome, great overlooks over the valley floor. We ate lunch on the mountain, looking out over the valley, and explore some side roads.

We descend to the valley floor and pick up a smooth road bulldozed into the valley floor. It's smooth enough and straight enough that we can easily run 80 mph across most of it. Because it is cut into the valley floor, there is a tall bank on either side limiting visibility of upcoming turns. We're all caught by some unexpectedly tight turns, and have to use the banks as berms. I've never ridden a berm at 70 mph before. Fun!

The Racetrack is a flat, dry lake bed. The surface is cracked, and hard as concrete. We don't leave any visible footprints as we walk around on the lake bed. There are some rocks on the dry lake bed that seem to move around, leaving visible tracks in the lakebed. The best theory is after a rain, a thin sheet of ice forms on the surface. The wind then blows the rocks around on the ice, leaving a trail in the softened surface. The movement has been well documented, but no one has ever seen them move.

More info on the Race Track can be found here:

 http://geomaps.wr.usgs.gov/parks/deva/ftrac1.html

We left the Racetrack and rode back out on a fairly difficult jeep trail. Eventually we reached a smoother part of the road, and pick up the pace. On the way out, we spread out again because of the dust. We reached a point where the wind was blowing across our route pretty strongly, so I can close in on Jack without being blinded by dust. I decide to have a little fun, and start working on a pass. As I get close, he begins moving left, and then I see why, he is setting up for a right turn. It's too late for me to do anything except complete the pass in the little room left, and then do a huge flat track slide to make the turn. It felt great, and Jack said it looked good up to the point where he was blinded by my dust. That was not my plan, but it was fun, and neither one of us crashed, so all was well.

Ron managed to flatten his rear tire on a rock. He rode it out to the pavement, then to a service station where the RawHyde folks fixed it while the rest of us had a nice, cold beer. One of the best beers I've ever had.
 

Back to camp around 6:30 PM. Another fine meal, this time pork tenderloin.

Many more pictures from this trip can be found at:

share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8Acsmrdi0bt2Gd