The Mobius Trip

[DRRambler]

Looked worse than it was, but it was a ton of fun

[DR. Rock]

of Smelser Pass behind us,



we continued on into Buffalo Valley on our way to HWY 305 which we'd have to take a couple miles to our fuel stop at Battle Mountain.

The thrills and spills weren't quite behind us, though.



Rocky, sandy, silty, rutted... some places you could open up, others where you'd get buried and thrown.





I'd stop and take pitchers, then hustle to catch back up, channeling Neduro in a little high-speed run



Another less-exciting hill climb:

[redroom]

Whew! That is one rock'in ride report installment. The photos are superb and the vids right on. Definitely some front page material in there. Great happenstance too; cows visit the cowboy camp, eclipse, sheep vibes all interspersed with great views and a Rollie Free imitation to boot.

After reading this installment you may also consider some sort of a "transition to reality" installment. Hard to imagine the extent of culture shock upon returning to the City.

All the best to the team,

[La Donna Fugata]

Originally Posted by DR. Rock

across Grass Valley, and on to Sheep Ranch Canyon.

Holy Shit....I rode that shit.

[cyberdos]

Originally Posted by La Donna Fugata

Holy Shit....I rode that shit.

[coachcampana]

I love reading this thread and seeing your photos. Thank you!

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

[McDOPE]

Spectacular photography, as always, ....and so much appreciated. You made my Wednesday even though it was your Monday. If you next trip concludes in Denver as projected and you need a place to store bikes with a full moto shop, lift etc. you are welcome to use my stable...and share with nine other bikes.

[jayR]

Love your ride Report...


"It's called the Dragon's Gap, or The tale of the Deal, or something like that. It's pretty neat; an 18 mile chicane, with elevation changes"

actually It's called The Tail of the Dragon or Deals Gap and you are right, it's pretty good!!

[malibu_dan]

Originally Posted by La Donna Fugata

Holy Shit....I rode that shit.

You rode the shit out of that shit! Love that shot--I'm guessing it's your desktop right now.

[DR. Rock]

Originally Posted by McDOPE

...If you next trip concludes in Denver as projected and you need a place to store bikes with a full moto shop, lift etc. you are welcome to use my stable...and share with nine other bikes.

Hmmmm... Careful what you wish for.

[DR. Rock]

We pushed on towards Battle Mountain.



As we got closer, you could see the impact mining was having on the area,





it was tough to see what road we needed to be on based on the GoogleEarth images, but I hoped it would be evident once we were at ground level.



then...







We followed the main road, which seemed to have been built for massive vehicles, and it looped around the mines,



and dumped us onto HWY 305.

[DR. Rock]

and revisited Battle Mountain.



But this was a quick fly-by... gas,



snacks,



check e-mail, phone home...



wave "hi" to our friends here... where we slept,



(Who says we don't have inflation? A room was $35 in 2009 -- now it's $45!)





Where we ate lunch,

M3-2009:



M9- 2012:



and did laundry:

M3-2009:



M9-2012:



We barely slowed down this time... heading for the hills:

[DR. Rock]

for a few miles up Rock Creek / Bateman Canyon.



and it was just as good going in the opposite direction.







as I mentioned in the video, I'd spied a potential short-cut to get us to Crescent Valley that went north of Havingdon Peak (ahead in photo below) instead of the long way around the south. Whether we took it or not would completely depend on our boots-on-the-ground reconnaissance.

[DR. Rock]

so we took it. I felt a connection to the black sheep we passed.



We started to climb into old mining area,



I believe this was the "Gold Dyke" Mine:



I was running point for the first part of the short-cut, just to scout it out, but I prefer riding sweep, so I let everyone else pass,



Ahhh, the tassels always look so good, don't they?

[DR. Rock]

"The Park", we reached a fork in the road:



They both had equal chance of leading to Crescent Valley, or of dead-ending at a mine. My intention was to take the road that looked better traveled. We ended up flipping a coin, and took the road to the left.