Miller Motorsports Park, Tooele, UT. AMA Superbike Races. June 21-25, 2007.
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Thursday started out with a slight chill in the air at 4:15 in the morning. I went up the 14 to meet Mike at the Avenue K exit in Lancaster. I arrived just before 5, and Michael made it there not long after. I quick ride through the cold zone along CA-58 (North Edwards), and then a stop in Kramer Junction for gas. 111 miles down, 668 more to go. The route followed a path of gas stops I use often, especially during my mega riding of 2003 while collecting NPS Stamps - the Ultramar in Baker, followed by Craig Road in North Las Vegas - 305 miles down, 474 to go. After leaving Las Vegas, I knew the fast sections were coming up. About 15 miles past Craig Road we turned off of I-15 onto US-93 - The Great Basin Highway. The initial stretch is fairly straight as you head north. About 50 miles after leaving the interstate, we almost had a bit of a bad luck. I missed the NHP cruiser coming towards us until it was too late. I was enjoying the mostly open road, and had crept up to the low 90's. He turned on all of his lights as I chopped the throttle. We cruised along at 75 for a few miles, but the trooper did not turn around. Not long after that, we did hit the stretch of road where US-93 is in a narrower valley and it does have a few turns and a wildlife sanctuary along the road, meaning that we needed to slow down to 80 or so for the remaining ride into Alamo and gas. At the station in Alamo, Michael talked to a few other riders and got the scoop that the trooper was flashing those who were exceeding 85MPH. 394 miles down, 385 to go - 1/2 way there! Michael led from Alamo. He almost missed the turn onto NV-318. This road is a great find. It traverses up several basins as it goes north. It has a decent bit of fast straights with some minor twists every so often. It's also a bit shorter than staying on US-93, and saves a couple of mountain passes (although on a bike, those are not necessarily bad). We gassed up in the credit card only pumps in Preston. My range can be much shorter when there is a liberal application of the throttle, so I wanted to splash in a gallon of fuel, especially since we climbed a thousand feet since Alamo. It had been 120 miles since Alamo, and the next gas in in Ely, 30 more miles up the road. Not far after Preston, we turn onto US-6 for the ride into Ely, NV. And a mountain pass with some curves! Yeah! In Ely we ate lunch at a decent joint full of locals on the main street, the Silver State Restaurant. I had a good Elk burger. Even at the over 6,000' elevation in Ely, it was 103 when we left. After lunch, it was gas up and go, continuing on US-93 and US-93A to Wendover, NV. 663 miles down, 116 to go. We cooled down as well as we could in Wendover for the trip across the salt desert. I go out my cool vest and soaked it in the bathroom sink, and then poured some more water into the jacket (I wear a Joe Rocket Phoenix mesh jacket and pants). The ride over the salt desert was fast, chasing with a car or two at high speeds. A quick stop to top off the gas tanks at Lake Point, and then final few miles to the motel, Super 8, just west of the SLC airport. 779 miles, about 12.5 hours. After relaxing for a bit, we rode into town and had some Mexican food at the Gateway Center. I took Michael along a zig-zag path through Salt Lake City, stopping along Temple Square, and up to the State Capitol, and finally to the 'This is the Place' Monument. Then it was back to the motel as the sun set, along with a stop at the Phillips 66 Mart near the motel for beer, water, and snacks. Some crew members from Jordan Suzuki were also at the food mart.
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Friday it was a working day. My employer, Easton Bell Sports, has a DC
in the business park where the motel was. So it was a quick mile to the DC
for some work. Michael had not been there before, and he was in the middle
of a project that involved some of the DC employees. He got the tour and
had a few meetings while I just holed up in the conference room and worked.
By early afternoon, the DC Operations Manager, Steve, who had ridden his BMW
into work, took us out for an afternoon ride. Joining us was Steve's
friend Russell. Lunch was at Ruth's Diner in Emigration Canyon, then up
the canyon,
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past East Canyon Reservoir to Henefer, then I-84 to Morgan, and then back the the Reservoir, then over the hill to I-80, where we split off just east of town. I took Michael over to the entrance to the Kennecott Copper Mine, but motorcycles are not allowed on the property. So it was back to the motel for a delicious meal from the food mart. It was here that Michael noticed that his bike was using a bit more water than normal. His problem had us stumped, never were there any leaks, just a loss of water. And no water in the oil.
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Saturday was a lazy morning. Breakfast is free at the motel. Then it was a trip to the track. We went to Marcel's trailer to hang out. I watched Marcel go out for his qualifying sessions (he is racer #767, running in both SuperStock and SuperSport classes). Marcel did qualify for the SuperStock race on Saturday.
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We took the bikes around to the viewing area at the attitudes to watch the FX and SuperBike races. It was hot again, 100+. I have a few shots of the action on Saturday. Saturday night had us eating at an Asian buffet in Tooele, and then stopping along the Great Salt Lake for some photos at sunset.
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Sunday was another day at the track. By now Michael's bike was really
losing water. There were 3 races, Marcel did finish in the points for his.
Sunday was a hair cooler.
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We met a DC employee and his wife for a meal at the gateway center.
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Monday it was time to go home. We left near our target time of 8:00. Since the status of Michael's bike was unknown, the scenic route through Nevada was out in favor of the superslab, I-15. First gas stop was in Nephi, and we added more water to Michael's bike. Along the way to the second gas stop in Beaver, Michael's bike started cutting out. So with a heavy heart, he decided to rent a U-Haul to get the bike home. We could not find a U-Haul dealer in Beaver that had a truck, so he called to the next town and secured a 10' truck. While Michael went down to Parowan to get to the U-Haul place, I went into Beaver and bought some tie down straps. I met Michael in Parowan and we loaded the bikes into the truck, secured them , and took off for home. A late afternoon lunch was had in a Cracker Barrel in St. George. Later on, we stopped at a favorite Sunday destination when we ride with the VTX folks, Domingo's Mexican Restaurant in Boron, CA. After unloading the bikes at Michael's house, I took off and made it home by 11. Totals for the day - 290 miles riding the ZRX, 447 sitting in a U-Haul.
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It was quite an adventure!