Wow!  2009 was rapidly coming to an end, and I hadn't done a SaddleSore in almost a year.  Sound familiar?  (hint see last 2 year's rides).

Sylmar to Boulder City SS1K - 1,018 miles - 15 hours, 28 minutes.

Mom decided to move her winter quarters to Boulder City, NV.  Since she had just moved in in September, I wanted to visit and see the new place before she and her rig came out to Southern California for the holidays.  Sensing an opportunity for a SS1K, I quickly threw together this very straightforward route, ending in Boulder City so I could spend the night and take my time coming home on Sunday.

The weather reports had clear skies and the temperatures, while cooler than the previous weeks, were still moderate.  I had to plan for a pre-dawn ride through the high desert with mid-40's temperatures, and Las Vegas with mid-80's at sunset.  So I decided to keep the mesh gear out of the closet and not switch to the winter gear, knowing that I would need several layers to pull off the ride.

The initial clothing was:

Feet - thin socks + riding socks (Silver Sokz) + boots

Legs - long johns + boxer briefs + Joe Rocket Phoenix mesh pants

Torso - long sleeve thermal shirt + t-shirt + Joe Rocket Phoenix mesh jacket + windbreaker

Hands - thermal gloves + Olympia gel gloves

Head - balaclava + head wrap + full face helmet

It was 55 and foggy in Sylmar at 3:57 am when I left and stopped at the Chevron for the initial gas receipt.  A few miles up the freeway, I was out of the fog.  I climbed my way into the high desert, traveling on CA-14.  My toes were chilled, but that is normal.  My fingers were a bit chilled, but I felt I didn't need to dig out the over glove covers.  Traffic was light making it easy to cruise along just above the speed limit.  After passing Owens Lake on US-395, the sky was starting to get light.  Stopped for gas in Lone Pine at 6:49, having completed 189 miles.

It was time to switch to the tinted visor.  Taking off from the gas station, I realized by the chill around my neck I forgot to zip up the windbreaker.  I pull off to the side of the highway and corrected this error.  Since the Owens Valley has high mountains along both sides, the sun remained out of sight until just before Big Pine, just in time for me to start to head east, right into the sun.  I was now at 4,000' and some warmth from the sun would be welcome.  CA-168 is a great ride.  It follows a stream, sometimes being the streambed right up a narrow canyon to cross the mountains on the east side of Owens Valley.  A stretch is too narrow for a center line.  It straightens out for a bit before the pass and then drops into Deep Springs Valley.  After crossing Deep Springs Valley, it crests another divide and then into another valley where it meets CA-166 and later NV-166, continuing east until I got to US-95.  US-95 has a good amount of traffic and is fairly boring, except for the short, but slow ride through Goldfield, a historic mining town.  I pulled into the first gas as I get to edge of Tonopah.  165 miles since Lone Pine.  It is now 9:27, time for a quick snack of a beef stick and a cheese stick (I live off of those beef & cheese packs when riding), a few cheese & peanut butter crackers, and my first bathroom break of the day.  I use a Camelbak so I can drink water every 50 or so miles.  I also suck on a hard candy after each gas stop.  I had the slowest leg of the ride completed, CA-168 has many slow turns.  The remaining legs will be much faster.

Tonopah is at 6,000'.  Although the sun was out, the air was still chilly.  Still I did shed the balaclava (and only that).  It is 165 miles from Tonopah to Ely on US-6.  There are no services along the route.  Not counting cars in the cities of Ely and Tonopah, I only came across a dozen cars coming the opposite direction for the leg.  They say that US-50 is America's Loneliest Highway, but I think US-6 has it beat.  It crosses a few passes at just above 6,000' and drops in the basins between the passes which are about 5,500'.  So the temps were cool the whole way.  There are a few scattered farms along the route, and in Currant there is an oil field.  There was some snow on the hill sides when I got to Ely (6,400') just before noon.  I got gas right at the junction of US-6, US-50, and US-93.  Another quick break for the bathroom and a beef & cheese stick package.  The glove liners were bothering me, so into the saddlebag they went.  I kept everything else on.  My toes were still a bit chilled, but I knew I would be dropping about 1,500' in Utah, and the temps would rise a bit.

I would be following US-50 all the way to I-15 in Holden, Utah.  First US-6/50/93 headed south for a ways, finally turning east and losing US-93.  US-6/50 crossed into Utah and slowly lost elevation as it went east to Delta.  In Delta, my neighbor Chris & I were fortunate to have a good lunch in 2008 at the Top City Cafe during it's last few days of operation.  Lack of tourism and a drying up city had forced it to close its doors for good.  The cafe was vacant when I went by.  In Delta US-6 heads off northward.  I followed US-50 until Business Route I-15 in Holden, eventually getting onto I-15, and then stopping for gas at exit 167 in Fillmore, Utah.  188 miles ridden since Ely.  711 miles completed, and only 307 left to go, mostly on I-15.

It was now almost 4:00 mountain time (3:00 pacific).  I did run into the nearby Carls Jr. / Green Burrito for some fried mini burritos.  I shed the windbreaker since the temps had risen and my toes were no longer chilled.  I was now back down to 5,000'.  I-15 stays around 5-6,000' as it heads south through Utah, until south of Cedar City.  For a freeway, I-15 is fairly picturesque.  The elevation eventually drops, first to 3,500' at Leeds, and then to St. George at 2,800'.  I stopped for gas at exit 4, at the south end of St. George, at 6:05 mountain time.  165 more miles completed

The end was near, so it was just a gas and go of less than 10 minutes for the stop.  I negotiated the traffic circles to get to the freeway and continued south.  Crossing into Arizona, I-15 goes through the Virgin River Gorge, one of my favorite stretches of freeway.  Exiting the gorge, it was just high desert riding into Nevada.  The sun was close to setting and finally was behind the mountains by the time I got to Apex, north of the Las Vegas area.  Since I was so close to the city, I left my tinted shield on.  I-15 loses quite a bit of elevation as it approaches North Las Vegas.  It was quite warm now, I was starting to sweat a bit under my long johns and shirts. 

As I approached the city and its lights, I considered stopping to change shields.  But with me being so close to the end, I kept on.  With the tall screen on the Connie, I can run comfortably with the visor up when the windscreen is raised up.  I only really needed to run this way at the very end, the rest of the time was on brightly lit freeway or city streets.  Some event was going on, so traffic was backed up on the I-515 freeway.  I almost started to split lanes, but then remembered that I wasn't in California.  So I plodded along for a couple of miles until I was past the exit causing all of the problems.  It was smooth sailing from then on.  A quick stop for gas and the final receipt at the Shell in Boulder City.  It was 7:15.  Then it was 2 miles to Mom's new home.  I arrived at 7:25, made my log entry, gave mom a hug and then rushed to the bedroom to get out of the hot clothes.  Mom made a wonderful dinner.  I slept well that night.

Dotted line in yellow is my route for the SS1K.

The return home (dotted line not in yellow on the map) on Sunday was a leisurely trip (and much warmer - no layers needed).  I left around noon, heading south on US-95, and then west on NV-164 to the border near Nipton.  This is a nice alternative to the freeway, and not too much longer.  Nipton road in California is a bit rough.  Nipton is a tiny town along the railroad.  A B&B/Hotel is there and a cafe.  I might go there for a weekend of train watching sometime.  Eventually, I was back on I-15.  Traffic was so-so until just before Barstow when all came to a halt.  I lane split up the hill and got off on old CA-58.  I cut through Barstow, taking old US-66 to Lenwood, eventually getting back onto I-15 by the outlet malls.  In Victorville, I stopped for gas and again followed old US-66 through town, stopping at Johnny Reb's for some 'que.  I've been to the one in Long Beach quite a number of times.  The food at the Victorville location is just as good, and the atmosphere is the same (except for the fact that the Victorville location is bigger in size).  Then it was the normal path through Pearblossom to home.  5 1/2 hours total time.  291 miles.

March 11, 2010 - My certificate arrived!