I love reading ride reports that cover multiple weeks across thousands of miles. But now and again, you find yourself in one contained location that merits its own report. Speed Week on the Bonneville Salt Flats of Utah is one such place.
I literally felt like I was on another planet. No vegetation for miles. The adrenaline pumping sound of every imaginable engine racing along the bleeding edge of R&D attempting to set land speed records. From 50cc sidehacks... all the way up to whatever this was and more... Make that a lot more.... Turbo 'busa with nitrous kit all the way from New Zealand. The Legend of Burt Munro is very much alive on down there and out here.
And now in the true MC-Shifter style of non-linear story telling, I will digress. I'm actually in Bonneville this week for a documentary I'm filming about a rookie driver who is making his first attempt at a land speed record. His mount, pictured above, is not an ADV bike. But the oval with the number in the center is close enough to an ADV sticker in my book. The process of getting here has been as harrowing as any ride I've done. The car is a 1967 Ginetta G4. A little known Brittish car from the '60s. Very light, and as you can see very small. That's me standing there. And the driver behind the wheel, sunk down with his arse barely an inch above the ground.
Under the hood is a 1-liter as in ONE liter inline 4. It's a Cosworth MAE. He is competing in 2 classes. Modified Sports and GT. It's been a very educational experience. In an adrenaline, octane-fueled kind of way. Race. Refine. Repeat. I've never raced personally, so it's amazing to be this up-close to the action. The vehicle seems to be infinitely tunable and, nearly so, configurable.
It's pretty amazing. There are lots of thunderous engines out there. But the Ginetta has a sound all its own. As you can see from some of the pics, we have boom mics covering everything. So I will have very high quality video as we are filming in HD and recording in stereo. As soon as I have that available, I will post. Please enjoy the pics and words for now. And thanks to all for chiming in and following along. Here we are on the starting line:
Ever since I saw World's Fastest Indian, I've been curious about the Salt Flats. It's such a trip. Every time of day is magical. But so far, a high point has been sunrise: It plays with your mind at times because you see all this white stuff and you expect it to be snow. But it's all just Salt. First run of the day. This was just awesome. The Salt is a 26 square mile photo opp. Almost every pic is a souvenir in and of itself.
my wife and i love Bonneville. this was 2006 sept <a href="http://s616.photobucket.com/albums/tt250/spacely33/?action=view¤t=P9051177.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.advrider.com/advrider-photobucket-images/images/s/spacely33_P9051177.jpg" border="0" alt="bonneville"></a>
The variety of vehicles out here will blow your mind. In a good way. I mean you really feel like you're on another planet. If you even have a little gear head in you, you gotta see it. It doesn't take long to see how so many catch Salt Fever:
Salt Rats. I have a new found love for these things. You don't have to race to get caught up in the magic of the whole event. There's something about these old retired roadsters that connect you with the spirit of the place. When parked, they just look frozen in time. These guys looked like they were on their way to Margaritaville Apparently you can catch salt fever at a young age
The energy of a place like the Salt Flats breeds it's own mystery. When you see statements like this in other places in the world, they seem rote. Here, they ring true in a very profound way: Participants and spectators come from all over the world. And it ain't cheap. Unless you're local, it's a huge commitment of time and money to be here. Love of speed conquers all
I spoke with the driver of this car sunday - 600cc air cooled parallel twin- basically stock pre civic. Car was called evil tweety
The Ginetta is a tiny car. Kind of like a baby in a way. It's amazing the amount of adults needed to fuss over it at all times. Here is a wide shot of its pit: 3 canopies. One Trailer. A Navigator. A Flex and Hummer H3 (slightly pictured). A gazillion tools. A crew of passionate people fueled by power bars, very little sleep and God knows what else.