View GPS track of Day 5 in Google Maps
The night before I had used one of the motel’s computers to do research on Bonneville. Jeff M had sent me a link with great information. I saw that the Salt Flats usually open by 7 AM. So my goal was to get there as close to 7 as possible. I got up at 5 AM (I am not a morning person and had been up late) and slabbed it west to Bonneville. There was a huge Harley sponsored ride following a pony express route, many many Harleys headed to Sacramento. I passed a lot of them. I arrived at 7 AM Pacific time. Dohh.. it was 8 AM Mountain time. But it turns out that was early enough as folks were still preparing for their runs.
This was an amazing e
xperience for me. I still have my Dad’s old Hot Rod magazines that I used to read when I was a kid, that have pictures and tell the story of land speed records and attempts by folks like Craig Breedlove and Art Arfons. It was cool to be at the location where so much speed history has occurred. Since there were so few folks out there I didn’t get charged a fee to get on the salt. I first went out to the pits. I was shocked to find that you could walk freely from pit to pit and rub shoulders with these guys. I was able to get close enough to touch the engines of cars. I was able to talk to guys on the teams, one the guy that did all the electrical; because I had leathers on he thought I was the rider of a 500mph jet bike. Another was the father of the driver and a crew member of the Mormon Missile. This father was very proud o
f his son, said he built the hopped up Duramax diesel motor for the car. The father related the story that when the driver was young he and his brother used to fly around on Honda XR75s. They used to jump across the road from ditch to ditch so much he considered putting up a warning sign. The car was idling and sounded great. They were pouring buckets of ice into the intercooler to cool it. They were also putting the body panels on; it was getting close to time to go.I also spent some time in the Speed Demon pit to look at their car. The switched from the 8 cylinder motor they had made a record with to a 4 cylinder Mopar. They were waiting for a transmission to put into the car. These crews were interesting to watch. Speed Addicts, intelligent folks with long histories of trying to find out how to go very fast. They also reminded me of NHRA mechanics I have seen, able to thrash at a moments notice and respond to almost any issue as they come up.
Also in the pits was a motorcycle with a turbine engine, and a snowmobile that were planning on making record attempts.I saw the Mormon Missile driver getting into his driving suit to make a run. I had been warned that they lock down the course when a run is made. So I jumped on my bike and headed over to the spectator area. This was an area at approximately the middle of the speedway at 5.5 to 6 mile. It was fun to ride on the salt. It was very easy to ride on and it would be fun to see what the top speed of my bike is. ;-) When I got to the spectator area I met two hardcore land speed racing fans, almost groupies. Also a Frenchman on business was there. One of the fans was from Minnesota and had driven his white 1955 Fairlane to the salt and had rec
ently had it up to 120mph on the salt. He felt that speed was his drag limit. The other fan was from Colorado and had a rusty old Subaru. He had a huge lens on his camera. These guys were fun to listen to, they new incredibly detailed facts of recent speed runs and enjoyed sharing their knowledge with us. They both had radios on so we could hear when the course was closed, and actual speed numbers as they happen. It got kind of slow out there, all you can do is wait for the car and track to be ready for a run. I am glad I brought sunscreen as the salt really reflects the sun.Eventually the Mormon Missile made its first speed run. You could hear the car spooling up and shifting before you could see it. Then it streaked by, very fast….. I heard them call out on the radio 355mph. Later it started its backup run. But in accelerating the turbo spun up and the boost caused the wheels to spin and the car spun out. But the crew pushed the car back and another attempt was made. This time it went through the traps a bit slower but a record was made at 341 mph, and I was there. :-)
Here are the records set during the week:
World's Fastest Motorcycle, BUB 367mph
World's Fastest Snowmobile, ~205mph
World's Fastest Hydrogen Powered car, Ohio State University 303mph
World's Fastest single-engined Diesel, Mormon Missile 341mph
Top Speed 425+ running just a small block, Speed Demon SEE VIDEO
200mph Jet Bike, Mike Carlton.
http://www.landracing.com/forum/index.php/topic,6381.0.html
It was afternoon and I needed to get as far north as possible today. So I rode off of the salt into Wendover to use a car wash to get as much salt off of my bike as possible. Then I headed east on I80 to Winnemucca. Along the way I really started to get fatigued. My late night and early wakeup was catching up with me. So at Elko, NV I pulled off looking for some grass to lie down in. I found some at a Casino just off the exit. I tried to find as inconspicuous a spot as possible, hoping that a security guard would not notice me. I took my rolled up Gerbing liner with me to use as a pillow. I put my earplugs in and tried to sleep. I don’t think I actually slept, but I did get rested after lying there about 20 minutes. I then went down the street to a Wendy’s for a lunch of chili. After the rest and the food I was good to go, feeling refreshed.
At Winnemucca I headed north toward Oregon. This is very desolate high desert area. A place you can really make up time. After seeing one of the largest deer at dusk, I took it a little easier. Late at night rabbits kept trying to commit suicide, running across the road in front of my bike, stopping a the last second. One didn’t stop fast enough. I did get a late night Iron Butt type experience, riding through a moonscape in the dark. All I could see was what was illuminated by my headlight. I rode for an hour not seeing any lights or a soul. Kind of eerie. I ended up arriving at Burns at 10PM. After I checked in a very loud fire alarm siren could be heard across the whole town.Go to Day 6 of 6
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