Memorial Day in Bitter Springs

[dad2bike]

What a ride.
It was awesome to ride with you all. I was pushed for the entire 60 miles.
Riders that joined in:
dad2bike
TJ (my son)
desertdweller
slomo
HHH
Skidmark
Gary (Gamblers)

TJ & I are pooped. I'm getting some rest and will look thru my pics later.
Not sure how many HHH was able to get. We kept on the move most of the ride. I got some and 1 video. My 1st one with this camera. I hope it worked.

This is the 1st DESERT ride I've been on with you M2W guys. You all are awesome riders. We did the whole ride without injury. That says a lot about you. Bitter Springs is known for not being very forgiving.

I'll see about some other rides in the future. Maybe an overnighter up north where it's cooler.

[skidmark]

Thanks for leading this one and tell Gary thanks for sweeping the whole day. I really liked the area and it is oh so close for me. The ride back was on a desert race course and was whoop city all the way to the asphalt. Any time you wanna take me out and show me some more of the areas you know I'm always ready.

[desertdweller]

Thanks Dad2bike for leading us through some great terrain. I love riding new areas. You have a great sense of direction and led a great group ride. BIG thanks to Gary for sweeping in the dust all day, we really appreciated it.
One mile from the trucks I decided it was a good time to test the soil.
I am a little sore, I think without my chest protector I would have a shoulder injury right now. That was my worst get off lately. I HATE swapping out in 4th gear and going over the bars and then after hitting the ground, hearing the bike coming at me and NAILING me in the head. Glad I had all the gear on.

Things I learned today

I will be obsessed with the Mantahorn until I go back and give it a go!

I know now that my bike will go aprox. 55 miles with my new desert tank.

Desert tanks come in all shapes and sizes.

I can get up at 3:30 am real easy if I am going riding!

I need to get a bunny.

[HHH]

Tom, Thanks for leading the ride. Bitter Springs was a new area to several of us, and I'm sure we all appreciated the introduction to it. I certainly did.

Skidmark and I headed to the meeting place at sunrise.




The guys are getting ready as the sun comes up.


We made sure slomo's riding bunny was set for high speed.


We're off! Some guys took the trail just to the right of the dirt road.



Desertdweller was one of them and got nabbed by a rock. Nothing serious, and he's back in action.


This is Gary, who rode sweep and made sure we didn't get too lost or too hurt. Thank you and you were great!


We aren't going to see nice roads like this until the end of the ride.


Desertdweller shows off his elbow. He either fell off the bike earlier or was fighting off puppies.


slomo. maybe he is wondering what lies ahead.


now the trail is starting to show some character. (i didn't get as many trail photos as i wanted because i was hanging on, crashing, or both)


at the next break, dad2bike uses gestures to help explain something inexplicable.


gravel wash (there was a lot of gravel wash on this ride).


gary pulls up at a break. you know how you feel when you're gassed, and the next guy pulls up without trying hard? that next guy is gary.

[HHH]

Now the trails are showing some character. slomo going down the rock steps separated by tasty gravel. i followed and almost (almost!) ate the gravel.


some of the singletrack went through through little canyons. no good pictures because i was trying to survive. end of one of the canyons.


we take a break in a wash. it was still early, so the rock wall provided shade from the morning sun.


during the break, Desertdweller refuels from his custom made fender tank.


dad2bike lead us to Bitter Springs, the namesake of this ride.


we touched the water, but didn't drink it. sorry, no Man Versus Wild footage today.


the water looks yucky. "bitter springs" = now i get it.


on the move again.




this is right after a pretty steep downhill (light dirt to the right of slomo's red helmet).


more trail character, in the off-camber downhill variety.




moving ahead... this is the top of a climb. great views!


slomo had to work a bit to get up the hill. so here's the victory pose.


i quickly rearranged the rabbit to the super fast position on slomo's bike for better luck.


desertdweller SO WANTED to go down the insanely steep trail on the other side.


thankfully for me, we went down an easier way. back to gravel wash.


heading back to the trucks now. just gravel wash and then dirt roads. to keep it interesting, desertdweller's bike ran out of gas. sneaking some gas from slomo's tank.


after it ran out of gas on the dirt road, skidmark and slomo become the rocket boosters for the space shuttle. just not as fast.


meanwhile, gary had gone ahead and returned shortly with fuel. problem solved!

Thanks everyone for a great time on Memorial Day!!!

[HHH]

After everyone left, skidmark and i took a dirt road back towards vegas.


suddenly skidmark decided it was time to fix the dangling turn signal. note that there are no humans for miles and no fresh tracks on the dirt road. but, safety first!


this had to just be an excuse to one-up desertdweller's gas can mount.


to skidmark's credit, the repair held all the way home and did not need any fine tuning along the way.

it's a little creepy riding on the dirt road that hasn't been used in a long time.

finally, we hit pavement. i felt like it meant we were nearing home.


this lead to Northshore Dr along Lake Mead. a short parade through the park with the boaters and campers, then we were practically home.


i liked the dirt road route instead of the freeway. i am also SO GLAD that we didn't try it in the dark to get to the meeting place by 6AM!

awesome day! thanks all.

[erik™]

now i kinda wish i went on this ride... cept for that whole sleep thing!!

looks like a great mix of technical and sand n fast stuff. my kinda ride.

maybe i shoulda just stayed up....

Originally Posted by desertdweller

One mile from the trucks I decided it was a good time to test the soil.
I am a little sore, I think without my chest protector I would have a shoulder injury right now. That was my worst get off lately. I HATE swapping out in 4th gear and going over the bars and then after hitting the ground, hearing the bike coming at me and NAILING me in the head. Glad I had all the gear on.

glad u and the bike are ok! gear is good!

[skidmark]

Great ride report. Great pics. Especially of slomo's mascot. Love it.

[desertdweller]

Just a few more pics to add.

SLOMO with HHH in tow


Skidmark in action on his high dollar KTM


SLOMO navigating a waterfall


My new desert tank!

[Dirtbag]

Wadda ya think H? Could i have made it thru there with Miss Daisey?