On January 14-15 we had one of the best Tonopah rides ever.  We left Denny's in Sylmar at 7:00 AM sharp on Saturday and sky's were blue and the weather was fair.  Never got below 41 degrees going through Mojave.  Road conditions were clean and clear. Left our our first fuel stop in the city of Mojave and headed for Randsburg Rd.  Up till then I was leading the group at a respectable 80/90 mph clip.  20 miles outside of Trona at the stop sign where we make the right hand turn to go on the road to go through "Immigrant Pass" David (Newbie on this trip) forgot to put his foot down at the stop and dropped his bike and broke his right side foot peg. This caused a minor delay. 
The ride up Immigrant Pass was awesome. No traffic, no debris on the road and clear blue sky's with miles of visibility! On the way down towards Stovepipe Wells there are a set of Whoopdes that will launch you for some airtime, if hit them at the right speeds, and did in fact launch my ass a few inch's off my seat!  Stopped at Stovepipe Wells, where they have new updated fuel pumps and your choice for all three grades of gas. 
Had a great lunch at the Stagecoach in Beatty.  The last 92 miles into Tonopah was uneventful, and the temps dropped back down to 40 degrees when we fueled up in Tonopah at 1:45 PM.   Everybody secured and covered their bikes and to our rooms we did go.  The afternoon was spent watching the Playoffs and drinking and getting

friendly with Wanda our bartender.  By the time we had dinner (6:00 PM)  most of the guys were half blitzed.  So this meant that after dinner back to the bar we did go to finish this process.  Most everybody was in their rooms and asleep by 9:30 PM.

SUNDAY morning,  Weather was clear blue sky's and SNOW on the ground! This was the kind of snow you want to ski in. The kind of snow that blows all over the place with the wind.  The temp was 25 degrees and the Nevada Road crews had the Hwy cleared of snow.  The decision was made to leave one hour later, to let the sun do its thing and heat up the road. So instead of 8:00 AM we left at 9:00 AM.  The Sun did warm it up a bit, the temp was 27 degrees now.  The first 40 miles or so was a bit cool, until we dropped in elevation, at which point the roads were clear and the temp was 32 degrees.  Pat and Marty again went to sub-light speed and the three of us made a short section of the last 50 miles into Beatty.  The rest of the ride was smooth and the temps got into the 40's by the time we hit Stovepipe Wells. 
40 miles outside of the city of Mojave, we hit winds coming from various directions, but mainly from the right side.  That caused the big rigs and RV's to pull over or slow down to 40 mph.  We no longer could stay in staggered formation. the wind was causing us to lean at such a harsh angle, that between the wind and the changing directions, we could not ride a straight line.  It caused some of us to change lanes even though it was not what we intended. 

By the time we made our last fuel stop in Mojave we took a 1/2 hour break to heat up and gather our courage to continue on. By the time we had left Mojave the wind died down and was now blowing at our backs. Traffic was good till we hit W. LA then back to the reality.  Oh by the way did I mention that traffic SUCK'S on the 405 on Sunday evening. Got home around 5:45 PM.

 All in all this was one of the best Tonopah rides ever, it was also the largest.  We counted 59 bikes in the parking lot in Tonopah Saturday at dinner. With two more coming in from the desert on dual sports bikes at 8:30 PM.   This ride sees snow on the ground every few years, and it is always windy going through the desert in the afternoons.  So none of this was unexpected.  The views were awesome, and the friendship renewed rewarding.  I hope to see you there next year.