Stage 14 — Lake Havasu to Palm Desert
Stage 14 – Lake Havasu, AZ to Palm Desert, CA – 241 miles
The morning was clear and comfortable. After reviewing the scroll chart directions, many riders opted to bring extra gas since there were, in some cases, more than 85 miles between gas stations. Most of these old bikes can only run about 48-52 miles on one tank. A spare gallon was not enough, so both our riders added an extra Rotopax container to their saddlebags to ensure they would make it the whole distance. The ride would take them over the Parker Dam and then through Joshua Tree National Park. Some of the photos below: Frank Trapp in the early morning, our Team waiting for the start, Shinya and his team, Linda on her Indian, the German team, Spitfire – our Cannonball nurse – and Cris, and the last picture is Jersey John on his Thor.
For the crew, the sight-seeing route to Joshua Tree was not on our list. We drove down to Parker and straight onto the 10 freeway. Oh well, at least the drive to Parker was interesting.
After setting up shop at the hotel, our usual procedure, the crew waited out the arrival of the riders. We didn’t hear much — so no news is good news. Our remaining riders on The Honeymooners got split up, but both came in for their full miles. Let’s see if Cris has picked off another one to move up the winner’s list?! Below are photos of the riders arrival at the final check-in point for stage 14.
He burned his hand on hot oil on the previous day’s ride. In the photo above Spitfire is dressing his wound. She rode on her newer-model Harley behind the riders tending to all of their medical needs, and there were many.