Finding Tooele, WSBK or bust!

[jabandsnort]

So my buddy Geddo and I decided it was time for a road trip and figured what better excuse than to check out the 2008 WSBK races at Miller Motorsports Park. I'm not much of a writer, so I'll let the pics do most of the talking and let Geddo chime in when/if he wants (his pictures are better than mine)

Packed up and ready to go




Then Geddo showed up




We decided to go hwy 120 through Yosemite, it was awesome





We stopped at about 5,000 feet to close the vents on our jackets and bundle up



Good thing, 7,500 feet was pretty chilly



and then came the summit....

[Lambo]

Nice weather.... ATGATT eh?

[jabandsnort]

Well, it wasn't much as far as snow goes, but you gotta remember we're California boys... needless to say we made it through and headed to Mammoth Lakes to camp for the night

The roads were awesome, and although we were riding on highways we tried to stick to the road less travelled.



We would go for an hour or more without seeing another car

[jabandsnort]

I'd like to say we rode some dirt as well, but this is as close as I'd get



The Guzzi stayed on solid ground, for now....




Next up, Lake Mammoth

[jabandsnort]

This was the first use for our new camping gear/tents. Eureka Pinncle Pass for Geddo, and an REI Half-Dome for me.



Both tents were great (for warmer nights) but we soon realized that our also new Marmot 40 bags weren't up to the 30 degree temps to come..they do pack small though, I fit all my camping gear (Tent, Bag, sleeping pad, and pillow) into one Medium Ortlieb bag. Here's a pic of the Half-Dome without the rainfly, can you say ventilation!?!




Realizing that riding was more fun than watching someone else ride, we decided to spend an additional day on the road instead of getting to Miller in time for Saturday's qualifying...so, on to Zion National Park

[jabandsnort]

Traffic was a bitch



Considering where we were by mid-day, we were happy not to see any "hitchhikers"



Not really having a plan, we figured we'd just get to Zion and find a campsite...not knowing that most were booked up. Ah well, who needs running water? Sandy river banks make great camping spots...

[jabandsnort]

Zion was, of course, beautiful, but it was a shorter ride than I expected.

[GB]

More pics... and more cowbell

[Metal Doc]

I BMW and a Guzzi, what a pair

[AKDuc]

Cool!

Looks like fun.

Almost went myself.

Looking forward to more.

Mark H.

[jabandsnort]

Heading out of Zion, we ran into these guys. Nice to see there are a few left



From Zion, we headed North to Wendover. Would've liked to stay closer to the track but we made our plans sorta late and the hotels were booked up. Wendover, for for those of you that have been there, is less than the perfect resort destination...



Regardless, we were happy to get cleaned up after roughing it for the last couple of nights. After all, we had a race to go to tomorrow. Geddo has all the pictures of the event, so I hope he chimes in here, but in summary:
80 across the salt flats SUCKS
Miller Motosports Park is nice
The EVENT itself was lame, almost no vendors, poor manufacturer turnout, horrible announcers... etc. We won't be back.
80 across the salt flats sucks even worse in the evening with high winds and trucks going 90mph.

[jabandsnort]

Back on the road the following day, things got fun again. Nevada is a desolate place, and it's a long way across, but once you get used to the long lonely highways (hint: the Sirius radio helped) it's actually kinda nice..





I think it was in Ely, NV. where we saw this cool mural

[Geddo]

That's actually in Tonopah. I will try to get some pics up tomorrow.

[Bocephous]

[Geddo]

Packed up and ready to go...


We were glad we fueled up before Yosemite, $5.10/gal for regular


Yosemite is a small place, you have to get down reeeeal low to see it



Lots of snow on those mountains, little did we know we would experience it first hand




jab gives the snow covered adv salute from 10,000 feet


Eastern side of the Sierras, you can see Mono Lake in the distance. MMMM Mobile Restaurant, we ate here on the road out and back. Why?? I dunno!


We took the scenic route to Mammoth Lakes, this is my first on bike picture. I got pretty comfortable with this and later took a lot of video too. This is the scenic road to June Lake.


We made it to Mammoth just to find out the lake campsites were closed, we camped in town instead. I think jab thought I was going to have second thoughts so he locked up my bike