High Plains Heat
5,561 Miles
After a soggy ride in 2018 it was an easy decision to ride out west this year and better ensure good weather. In my first major trip in 1986 I had ridden to Lake Tahoe and into Northern CA, and thought this would be a good destination. So we mapped out a route that would take us to Lake Tahoe, Yosemite, across the Loneliest Road in America, Death Valley and even Las Vegas. It was difficult to not have some repeat rides but we did the best we could. Red River NM and Emporia KS were the only two overnight destinations that we had previously stayed in on our bike trips. The first day was another Iron Butt day, and our longest to date at 1,133 miles. We rode across northern Utah and Nevada which turned out to be a far better experience than I had imagined. It would be hard to say the ride across Death Valley was fun but everyone should do it at least once. Riding at 122F was quite the experience. We named the ride this year as a nod to the site of High Plains Drifter that we visited at Mono Lake in CA and the number of days we rode at elevated temperatures. It's easy to rate the most recent trip as one of the best of all time, but this one really was and I think it will remain there for some time!