Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

vehicles was to be a minor problem. Moving eight cans of fuel, 20 gallons of water, food, firewood, shelter, sleeping bags, and a couple of ice chests for liquid refreshments the 64 miles took three and one-half hours. Several stops had to be made to reload and retie the pile of supplies. It was well worth all the effort as the hot pools are super, the camping is free and the area is a scooter rider's delight. Each day of the trip we were lucky and treated to a nice surprise. Everyday the jet jockeys from China Lake Naval Air Station put on a show for us. Mock dog fights, super low level strafing runs and just plain fancy f] ying was enjoyed by all and it was also free. The visit from Janet and her girlfriend from Fresno at Margarita time while in the hot pool was interesting!! One young rider got sunburned eyeballs looking at the scenery. The trip to the Racetrack can be . made several ways. It can be visited on the way in, on the way out, or a backtrack of about 40 miles from the campsite. If the weather is good, who cares about a little extra riding. The "bypass" is located 10.3 miles from the Hunter Mountain/Grapevine Canyon j unction. The road goes east, arrow straight, so it is easy to spot. Its not bad for the first several miles but once the first sharp turn is made the going gets rougher. From the base of the moutain its all uphill until the summit, then a slight decent, a left turn and the "racetrack" comes into view. Once there we set out on foot to find the source of the famous sliding rocks. Its a no-no to use vehicles on the dry lake bed. After a short hikt we found their birthplace in the southeast corner of the lake. The rocks, mostly limestone, tumble down the cliff and roll out onto the lake bed. From there they start their unusual gyrations. The rocks have been mentioned by explorers and prospectors as early as 1900, but were not studied until 1950. Most of the rocks are in the 20- to 50-pound class but some as large as 200 to 600 pounds have been noted. Movement by some of the sliders has been charted and a big one once cut a furrow 220 feet long. Smaller rocks have slid 800 feet with right angle jogs and even complete loops. Experts believe wind is the most probable explanation. They claim a 100 mph blow would be enough to move most of them over a slick wet surface. As dryas it seems, it does rain here. Accounts of the fierce wind have been published but on my three trips here, there has been no wind at all. In fact the dust from the bikes just hung in the air. I will say that the wind at Ubehebe Crater 20 miles up the road does blow. On one trip it was a real effort just to stand on the crater rim and not get blown into Nevada. There is one interesting story about the rocks. One visitor took a rock home (this is a no-no) and placed it in his back yard. Weeks later he wrote a nasty letter to the rangers in Death Valley complaining that it had not moved and he now believed the whole sliding rock thing was a hoax. We did the ride the long way, covering some 78 odd miles and all riders and bikes made it without incident. One bike did receive a couple of bent spokes from being dropped on a unsoft rock. Back at camp we made ready for the next day's ride. By the campfire I passed on a few tidbits regarding the valley's history. Saline Valley has been passed over by most seekers of mineral-wealth. A few talc mines are now back in operation after years of idleness. The Saline Valley Salt Works is nothing now but a faint memory. It~ ruins, unfortunately can hardly be ,found: AIdW of the "ram'towers that 'e I m ~ 00 Q') ~ ... C'J ~ >- ~ ('lj :s c ('lj ~ PARKER 400-SAN FELIPE 2S0-BAJA SOO-BAJA 1000 1982 SCORE Open Class 22 Points Championship BILL HOLMES DAVE CHASE SPECIAL THANKS OUR SUPPORT SPONSORS Husqvarna Motorcycle Company, Mark Blackwell. Niles Ussery. Scol Har

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