Nevada - food for the soul: delicious dirt on big bikes

you gotta steer with your ass, joel.

YeeHaw! Another good wan! Love these RRs!

Day 4 continued




When we arrived in Jarbidge, the sun was out and it was pretty warm.









During the time it took for lunch, and waiting for Dennis the gas guy, things started to change weather wise.
The temperature dropped to 43° and the rain was really coming down.
I remember Dennis saying, "I don't know where you guys think you're going, but you sure are going to have fun getting there."









It wasn't long after leaving Jarbidge that we saw some sun breaking through the clouds. That made Bartek pretty happy!









Next thing we knew, we found ourselves on the road to Hana.
What gives, isn't Nevada supposed to be a barren waste land?
Nevada is so underrated as an adventure riding area!






We dropped down out of the rain, and onto some large fast roads, but the clouds were building everywhere.





No matter how fast we tried to go, we weren't going out run the storms this day.





Our track was headed directly into that big ass cell.





We rode until common sense told us to stop.





That will get your attention.








We stopped to form a plan.

The view in front of us.





To the left.





And behind.





We decided it was too dangerous to keep riding.
Bartek and I opted to set up the roach motel and hope for the best.





We had two hours of heavy rain and hail - this wasn't even the worst of it.





It was cold and wet in the motel.
Eventually, there was too much water streaming in and all we could do was sit upright, in the puddles.
An open tarp is awesome.





Eventually the storms passed and the sun came out, giving us just enough light to make some dinner and get out the bedding.









Another exciting day in Nevada.






I'm going to be away from the computer for a couple of days. We have a trials event at the Boreal Ski Area.
If there are any locals that are interested in checking out trials, this is a good time to come out and take a peek.

​

Thanks, Joel!
Matt thought it might have helped that I'm a "lady" (to use the term loosely) and I have a young-sounding voice.
Not sure how much you want to work on that aspect of my pleading technique...








From Jarbidge to the cow pasture/storm shelter




Closer up





Zoomed in on the Roach Motel. That lightning was so freakin' scary!






Overall tracks for Day 4. I was too lazy to break out the photoshop, so I just covered up some leftover tracks from Day 3...
You get the gist.





Have a great weekend, you guys!

P.S. bigdon
I was going to let you sneak in without saying it...
But, now it's friday!
pop the top, pop the top, pop the top!


Say hi to Rambo!

Cool song... must save that link

With the approaching lighting and being the tallest thing for miles around.... Can not be a good feeling

That makes my shoulder hurt just to see it.

Great report, liked the PICs and your story is a interesting read. I thought about going with a tarp to save weight but I think I'll keep the tent.

Just finished going through the 9 pages, this ride is an epic adventure! Love the Nevada desert my self!

Hey Mike,
We are always looking for the hard way, we're a little slow like that.

dino702,
I'd like to share what I packed, but first I must focus on getting through the report.
if there's anything left in my tank when this is over, I'll get into details.
I can tell you that 4 spare tubes were the heaviest things in my luggage and the bulkiest items were the dehydrated food.
Normally, I like to remain self-sufficient - you never know when someone will unexpectedly leave the group...

Hey Joel,
Steering these big bikes with the throttle is the way to go, until it isn't.
I've tried to ride smaller bikes this way - with mixed results. It seems you have to have gobs of excess hp to make it work.

Too funny!

Hi ibgary,
I see you're from CO. So, you won't be easy to impress with big vistas or pretty mountain pics.
How about this - during the 7 days and 1400 miles we rode in NV we didn't come across a single motorcycle, grandma riding a quad, or side x side or ute or whatever they're called.
Not a one.

Hi macaroni,
Nice to see you!

It helps to live on an island to appreciate that song. Glad you liked it.

You are so right. The first time LittleWan and I rode through the San Juans in CO, we were freaked out by a story on the news.
It was of a motorcyclist who was struck by lightning on the top of his head and killed instantly.
We rode that exact stretch the very next day.

See above You were really lucky, Rob.

Thanks Ladybug0048!

Thanks i4bikes,
I'm not one to tell others what to do, but from now on, I'll be looking to shed packed weight from somewhere other than my tent.

Hi RuffnReadyXJ,
Welcome aboard.

Day 5
7/25/15
Storm shelter to Eureka
303 miles



After a peaceful night's sleep, we made breakfast and packed up.





We must have enjoyed between 3 and 5 inches of rain yesterday, and this morning the roads were in near perfect condition.




Moist and tacky with no dust.









The roads were mostly fast today. We were headed to Wells, but first we were stopping at Metropolis.





So strange.
I've seen this in MasterMarine's report before, but it looked slightly different this time.





Next stop, downtown Metropolis.

















I was really impressed with the quality of construction here, steel reinforced concrete, power run throughout.
It was like looking at a bombed-out newer building.





We went to check out Threemile Hot Spring, just outside of Wells.





It reeked of sulfur and had some things growing in it. Not very inviting.





We filled up in Wells, did a quick lap on their motocross track, then headed towards Lamoille.


Bartek is very easy to travel with, he can put up with serious discomfort and never complain.
He likes to have one hot meal a day, but it's not an absolute requirement.
Today he said, "I'd like to sit down and have a steak."
That's his way of pampering himself.


We stumbled across O'Carroll's Restaurant in Lamiolle.
Can you believe that's a steak sandwich in front of Bartek? It's like a day at the Spa.





Our next stop was Lamiolle Canyon.
This place was amazing, I had no idea there were ever glaciers in NV until I read it in MasterMarine's report.
It was great to see the canyon in person. It felt like a smaller version of Glacier National Park.





















A quick stop in Spring Creek to top up the tanks...



Next stop, the Ruby Mountains.

Sorry for those ginormous photos in BigWan's last post.
I changed the upload size for my SPOT maps and forgot to change it back before Matt did his last photos.
Apparently, Bartek's phone takes massive pics.



The morning's riding





heading towards Metropolis. Lots of cell reception here, we had a long chat.







Metropolis from space.

Matt and I were on the phone while he was on the Mx track,
I thought there would be more SPOT pings showing his ride, but they didn't show up






Steak stop for El Bartek





and, Lamoille Canyon

Great report,as usual.I always love reading a Wan report thanks so much for taking us along.

Thanks for your work on another great ride report !!!

Yea, not much going on at three Mile Hot Springs. Bummer though, they rode right by Twelve Mile Hot Springs
up Bishop Creek just below the dam. Bishop Creek Dam was mentioned on the Metropolis plaque. Really nice spring
have stayed there a few times.





Nice place to stop next time through that area.

Thanks again.

Great RR as usual Wans!!!Thanks for taking us all along
I watch your videos over & over & over again (great music!)

Very thoughtful (LilWan) on sending the parts guy donuts

He was too quick. Did laps before SPOT could catch up.

I like the 2011 version better.