Death Valley is another favorite National Park of mine. It’s a playground for me and my camera. Some see just a desert, a barren wasteland, and the madding stillness of silence, but all of this grips my soul and makes me feel a sense of wonder and deep part of it all. I keep finding myself coming back every few years to soak it all in. Death Valley has been on my bucket list of places I would love to ride my bike. Today I got that chance. Let me tell ya what, it is HOT here even in the morning. I planned to get up earlier, but I hit the snooze button a few time.
I didn’t quite make sunrise on the Valley. I got out the door around 6:20am. It was already 81 degrees. I wasn’t expecting hills on this route but there were some. Badwater is 282 below sea level. total elevation gain for the ride was 1266 ft. and the total loss for the day was 1293. It was a fun hot ride with maybe 10 cars on the road. I saw a few coyotes trying to find breakfast. When I arrived at Badwater I had intended to rest a bit, but the flies… I took some photos as fast as I could and hopped back in the saddle. By mile 28 I was out of water and it was 111 degrees. Thankfully I had phone service and called Kelly. She came out to the rescue with a cold Powerade (thank you Coke and Eric Heitman!) My plan was to just refill the bottles and finish my planned ride of 50 miles but when I got off my bike I was super dizzy, so I called it a day.
We returned to the room for me to shower and then we checked out. We headed to The Ranch 1849 Restaurant for a hearty breakfast fit for a hangry cyclist. That glass of orange juice was just what I needed to get me out of my bonked state.
After breakfast we went to a few of the tourist places like Artist’s Pallete, Devil’s Golf Course, and Zabriskie Point. At Artist’s Point Kelly was doing a panoramic video and I chirped really loudly she almost dropped her phone. I laughed so hard I almost peed myself. When we were young, my dad would always say what does a 500lbs canary say, then he would roar out this loud chirp that made us all jump. Anyway I found it amusing to scare her in the peace and quiet of Death Valley.
When we satisfied our need to take photos we headed to Las Vegas. We did a quick drive through of Red Rock Canyon because it was about to close, so we didn’t get any photos. We grabbed Panda Express for dinner. Then we found a cheap hotel for $50 on hotel.com. I was apprehensive about it but when we got there it was fabulous! Rumor Boutique Hotel is off the main strip but since we weren’t spending anytime enjoying the nightlife it was perfect for us.
Tomorrow is a short ride through another favorite park of mine, the Valley of Fire. Can’t wait for Kelly to see this incredible place of colors!
Be blessed!
