Guoseph
Well-known member
[2018 Death Valley Noobs Rally, a trip report 5 years in the making]
I first read about the Death Valley Noobs Rally in 2014, after coming back to motorcycle riding and discovering the AdvRider forum. Unfortunately, the scheduling of DVNR is very tough for me to make. I have two kids with birthdays on 3/27 and 4/2 so every year it seems like we have a conflict with one or the other birthday party. Finally this year with the schedule shifted just ahead a few days, I knew I had to make time for my first ever DVNR.
Here we are packed up and ready to roll:
There's one on the inside too:
So many places to explore out here:
We got in on Tuesday evening and woke up to a nice morning Wednesday:
DVNR Day 1 - Panamint > Saline Valley Hot Springs > Steel Pass > Saline Valley Warm Springs
On Wednesday there was supposed to be an overnight ride and camp to the Saline Valley Warm Springs, however, due to weather it was cancelled. I was able to connect with Mike and Tim and their friend Paul, who were originally planning to add Steel Pass, Lippencott, and Hunter to the ride. These guys looked like seasoned adventurers and still planned to go anyway, so I invited myself to tag along for the ride. The weather turned out to be dry for the entire trip, but we did have a very windy night (more on that later).
Maiden run on the new Mosko Moto R40 setup packed and ready to head out:
Since the main ride was cancelled, our planned refuelling at the Warm Springs was also cancelled. I had borrowed my Drew's 5.3 gal tank so I wasn't worried but Mike and Tim each carried a dromedary bag filled with gas. Tim's gas bag cap was leaking a bit so he and I went up to South Pass while the other guys were getting ready so he could dump his fuel bag into the tank. Turns out South Pass was in the clouds and it was a cold 20 minutes while we waited:
Coming down South Pass into Saline Valley it started to warm up and the road was nice a smooth. However, some of the embedded rocks are quite large and quite sharp, as I found out with my very first pinch flat and road side repair. Thanks to Mike for filling up my tire with his air pump while I took my commemorative photo:
Stopped to help me with tube change at the Lippencott turn off.
We setup camp at the Warm Springs before heading out again. I was so sure that it was going to rain and flood I set up my camp at the top of a small hill, come morning they're all gonna be washed away and I'll change my name to Noah.
After setting camp we set out to do an out and back to Steel Pass. this is where this noob found out he had bitten off more than he can chew. Leaving camp we basically ride a wash with alternating rocks and fine loose gravel all the way up toward the pass for about 20 miles or so, and since we were running out of daylight (pinch flat partly to blame) the pace was quick and stops were few. I have never ridden much rocky terrain so I was fighting it the whole way out. Then we started climbing the pass and fatigue really set in and I started making stupid mistakes, I stalled my bike and dropped it within sight of where the group was stopped waiting for me. They didn't rush to my aid, nor did they take any photos, so I guess we are even
. At this point I decided I needed to conserve my energy to safely ride back to camp and decided to wait for them until they backtracked. Here I am parked, exhausted, and wondering how much I'll be testing the new Baja Designs lights later.
It always looks easier in the pictures, I did force myself to loosen up on the bar and stop fighting the bike, so the ride back down was a lot better.
I first read about the Death Valley Noobs Rally in 2014, after coming back to motorcycle riding and discovering the AdvRider forum. Unfortunately, the scheduling of DVNR is very tough for me to make. I have two kids with birthdays on 3/27 and 4/2 so every year it seems like we have a conflict with one or the other birthday party. Finally this year with the schedule shifted just ahead a few days, I knew I had to make time for my first ever DVNR.
Here we are packed up and ready to roll:
There's one on the inside too:
So many places to explore out here:
We got in on Tuesday evening and woke up to a nice morning Wednesday:
DVNR Day 1 - Panamint > Saline Valley Hot Springs > Steel Pass > Saline Valley Warm Springs
On Wednesday there was supposed to be an overnight ride and camp to the Saline Valley Warm Springs, however, due to weather it was cancelled. I was able to connect with Mike and Tim and their friend Paul, who were originally planning to add Steel Pass, Lippencott, and Hunter to the ride. These guys looked like seasoned adventurers and still planned to go anyway, so I invited myself to tag along for the ride. The weather turned out to be dry for the entire trip, but we did have a very windy night (more on that later).
Maiden run on the new Mosko Moto R40 setup packed and ready to head out:
Since the main ride was cancelled, our planned refuelling at the Warm Springs was also cancelled. I had borrowed my Drew's 5.3 gal tank so I wasn't worried but Mike and Tim each carried a dromedary bag filled with gas. Tim's gas bag cap was leaking a bit so he and I went up to South Pass while the other guys were getting ready so he could dump his fuel bag into the tank. Turns out South Pass was in the clouds and it was a cold 20 minutes while we waited:
Coming down South Pass into Saline Valley it started to warm up and the road was nice a smooth. However, some of the embedded rocks are quite large and quite sharp, as I found out with my very first pinch flat and road side repair. Thanks to Mike for filling up my tire with his air pump while I took my commemorative photo:
Stopped to help me with tube change at the Lippencott turn off.
We setup camp at the Warm Springs before heading out again. I was so sure that it was going to rain and flood I set up my camp at the top of a small hill, come morning they're all gonna be washed away and I'll change my name to Noah.
After setting camp we set out to do an out and back to Steel Pass. this is where this noob found out he had bitten off more than he can chew. Leaving camp we basically ride a wash with alternating rocks and fine loose gravel all the way up toward the pass for about 20 miles or so, and since we were running out of daylight (pinch flat partly to blame) the pace was quick and stops were few. I have never ridden much rocky terrain so I was fighting it the whole way out. Then we started climbing the pass and fatigue really set in and I started making stupid mistakes, I stalled my bike and dropped it within sight of where the group was stopped waiting for me. They didn't rush to my aid, nor did they take any photos, so I guess we are even
. At this point I decided I needed to conserve my energy to safely ride back to camp and decided to wait for them until they backtracked. Here I am parked, exhausted, and wondering how much I'll be testing the new Baja Designs lights later.
It always looks easier in the pictures, I did force myself to loosen up on the bar and stop fighting the bike, so the ride back down was a lot better.
