Impossible Route: Death Valley Day 5
March 5 – Furnace Creek to Race Track: 101 Miles
Our heavy mood had lifted and we had great vibes, hot coffee, and some amazing cinnamon rolls that Biju had scored. It was a fresh start for the new day.
Today we climbed from below sea level up one monster of paved climb. I was surprised how we had seemingly recovered, or perhaps the smooth asphalt was a contrast to the playground of sand we had become accustomed too.
Tyler saw a false summit up ahead and attacked! I countered, seeing the real summit was another kilometer away. We raced to the top as if we had just started our expedition, and somehow we were flying near 400 watts. This should’ve been impossible, having ridden 40 hours in the last four days! We high-fived and went on a detour of the abandoned rhyolite mine.
Adventures like this, when time stands still, are so cool.
Next we hit Titus Canyon. It was a stunning kaleidoscope of colors and shapes, and amazed us like kids in a dinosaur museum. There were serpentine tracks laid down a woven tapestry through the mountains.
I won’t ever be able to describe it, and the videos will only halfway do it justice. I’ll just say, it was definitely one of the most amazing descents on a gravel bike I have ever done!
We emerged through a crack in a wall-like mountainside and returned to the valley floor.
We took a right on Hidden Valley Road and enjoyed a direct tailwind on pavement.
We made it to Uhebe Crater just in time for sunset, and celebrated finishing the day!
Tyler noticed something was missing. “Now where the hell is the RV?” A cold wind blew in and crows sailed like kites above the craters edge.
Unfortunately, our camp was another 16 miles to the south. Let’s just say it made for some sad dark riding for us to get up that mountain. Thinking it was a shorter day, we didn’t have our lights, and so we hopped in the truck for the last 10 miles to the campground. We figured we had ridden at least 10 miles off course to go to the mine for photos and videos and sightseeing. So we made the most of the day, and declared the course certainly was “possible.”
