Ski Resorts and Rocket Factory - Wasting a Saturday ST-Style!

[NewsMag]

What happens after a big push at work ends, it's Saturday, the weather is perfect, and you have a shiny, brand-new Metzeler Z6 front tire - combined with the need for a solid road test of the recently completed fuel regulator mod? Well, Ladies & Gents it's time to exercise the STOC Motto and GO RIDE!

You can see the scenery confronting me as I look down the driveway. Most of the leaves have departed at my home altitude (fall lasted about a day and a half this year), but some of the aspens are still holding on to color, and it looks quite nice!


http://www.st-owners.com/gallery/files/1/8/2/7/000Driveway.jpg


Here you can see the starting conditions for the ride, and the fuel guage has just started flashing one bar, but could be made to indicate non-flashing 2 bars if you tilted it a little to the right - so it's literally on the cusp of one bar.


http://www.st-owners.com/gallery/files/1/8/2/7/001StartODO.jpg


There's a nice country gas station with separate fuel hoses for each grade 1.3 miles away, so we're off to see just how much fuel one bar gives you. Being in the country it's 15 cents per gallon more than the going rate, but it's clean, close, and convenient, and $2.899 for premium seems a bargain these days - especially after WeSTOC! The ST1300 takes 6.86 gallons when it flips to one bar, so you have about 0.8 gallon remaining when this happens...


http://www.st-owners.com/gallery/files/1/8/2/7/002Gaspump.jpg


Gotta take it easy for the first hundred miles with a brand new tire, and I like the 10 miles rule of thumb just to warm the tires up. So over Trapper's Loop and back to the top to the Snowbasin Ski Resort turnoff gives me 15 miles of 55mph sweepers - just the thing for a tire warmup! As I begin the journey, I can see that the early signs of Utah winter have "unfolded." :rolleyes:


http://www.st-owners.com/gallery/files/1/8/2/7/003FallSigns.jpg


The nice thing about ski resorts is that they inevitably have twisty roads leading to them. The nice thing about living where I do is that there are three ski resorts within 30 miles and little traffic thereabouts. Perfect roads for moderate speed scrubbing of new tires! Here's how the new front tire looks after the warmup miles. We can see that there's still plenty of shine to work off, and the right side needs a bit more work than the left. No problem!


http://www.st-owners.com/gallery/files/1/8/2/7/004TireScrub1.jpg


Quick zip up to the Snowbasin base area gives many opportunities to use the sides of the tire without getting too crazy. Here's a pic of the Olympic finish line. The large green sign to the left of the bike is the electronic scoreboard. The run near it was the finish of the Men's Donwhill and Men's Combined. The rightmost run was the finish of the Women's Slalom and Giant Slalom. We went to the Men's Combined race and were thrilled to see American Bode Miller grab the Silver Medal (some Aussie dude got the gold). The crowd stayed after the race was over chanting "Bode, Bode" until he came out and talked to everyone - and then he actually APLOGIZED to the crowd for not getting the gold!


http://www.st-owners.com/gallery/files/1/8/2/7/005Snowbasin.jpg


Just up the road is the new Snowbasin base area and lodges. These are opulent and comfortable thanks to the Olympics. Now you can go in there and get a re-heated hamburger for $15 or so, and with some hassle and proper ID you can even get a tiny $10 3.2% Utah Budweiser! I decide to pass on lunch here.


http://www.st-owners.com/gallery/files/1/8/2/7/006SnowbasinLodge.jpg


Another interesting thing about ski venues - to be an Olympic venue there must be two acceptable roads for access and egress. Most ski areas have only one. So the new road in is also thanks to the Olympics, and makes this resort half an hour closer to my house! Having completed the new road, the old road (which is now closed Dec 1 - June 1) remained, with lots of mega twisities for tire-scrubbing! Down the old road and around Pineview reservoir and you can head up the one road to Powder Mountain Ski Resort. I decided to do the reverse of my Farkel Page Photo (http://www.st-owners.com/gallery/showimage.php?i=436&c=) to capture this rustic ski area. At its lodges you'll be lucky to get a can of coke and stale 7-11 package of cookies, but it has character and lots of good skiing for cheap.


http://www.st-owners.com/gallery/files/1/8/2/7/007PowderMtn.jpg


Our third area ski resort is now called Wolf Mountain, having been acquired by the Wolf Creek Resort. This place used to be Nordic Valley, and was a cheap day of babysitting for your kids. Hasn't been open for the last two seasons, and today it was the site of a kid-infested Halloween party - so no pic taken.

Got about 50 miles of good side-scrubbing in, so it's time to head to the open spaces for some hig-speed work. Over the North Ogden Divide which was closed for improvements last year. They may have improved the stability of the grade, but the pavement still sucks. Lotsa traffic too.

Headed North on US89, right past Smith & Edwards, a local institution. Their advertising is quite interesting...


http://www.st-owners.com/gallery/files/1/8/2/7/008SE.jpg


And their slogan may be more clearly explained by their methods for inventory control...


http://www.st-owners.com/gallery/files/1/8/2/7/009SEInv.jpg


To Be Continued... :04biker:

[NewsMag]

US 89 in this area is also called the Fruit Highway. This area is renowned for "stone fruits" like cherries, peaches, apricots, and the like. At this time of year they are down to melons, apples, pumpkins and other gourds....


http://www.st-owners.com/gallery/files/1/8/2/7/010FruitHwy.jpg


Now into Brigham City for lunch. There are a few local restaurants and every chain in the universe. I went to this place...


http://www.st-owners.com/gallery/files/1/8/2/7/011Dixie1.jpg


I've been told it's "real" southern BBQ by a guy who lived in Florida, Los Angeles, Kentucky, Mississipi, and Maine before he moved here. I figured he might know. I went for the pork bbq sandwich with tots and a cherry shake. Note on milkshakes in Utah - they are NOT like milshakes anywhere else. In Utah a milkshake is soft serve with the flavoring halfway stirred in - whether fresh fruit or a syrup, and are served with a spoon. Good thing, too, because no way would you get that stuff thru a straw!


http://www.st-owners.com/gallery/files/1/8/2/7/012Dixie2.jpg


Now I'm sure you are wondering just what is that orange stuff in the squeeze bottle and souffle cup? It's another Utah icon called "fry sauce." Debates rage as to exactly what it is - one side claiming it's ketchup mixed with mayonnaise and the other claiming it's ranch dressing flavored with ketchup. Given the runny consistency of this sample, I'd go with the second explanation. I ordered the BBQ "spicy," and it would pass for "mild" anywhere else in the country south of the Mason-Dixon line.

I did see an interesting decoration on the way out...


http://www.st-owners.com/gallery/files/1/8/2/7/013Dixie3.jpg


Now satiated, it's time to head out into the desert north of the Great Salt Lake. Lots of open space here, and it's a good place to go fast. Moved along for a bit at STOC nominal, or Two Georges if you prefer. (Ask Don Feyma for an explanation)...


http://www.st-owners.com/gallery/files/1/8/2/7/014GoFast.jpg


One of the logical things to put in the middle of nowhere is a rocket plant. My route would take me past ATK-Thiokol (formerly Morton Thiokol) which consists of a bunch of chemical stores bunkered in around the hills with lots of safety distance between, and maybe 100 propellant mix stations and test labs all at least half a mile apart from each other. Here is one of the larger ones used to mix propellant for the Space Shuttle SRBs. Those slides look like a lot of fun until you consider you are shooting out of them headfirst onto asphalt...


http://www.st-owners.com/gallery/files/1/8/2/7/017Thiokol.jpg


Just down the road is the ATK "Rocket Garden" where we see examples of the products down the years.


http://www.st-owners.com/gallery/files/1/8/2/7/018RocketGarden.jpg


The large horizontal motor at the back with the NASA logo is the Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) for the Space Shuttle - there are two used each time. The USN (Navy) missile is the Trident II D5 strategic nuclear weapon carried in SSBN (Boomer) submarines. And the tall, skinny USAF Air Force missile is the Minutman III strategic land-based nuclear missile, and the raison d'etre for my current employment (not at ATK Thiokol). Thru mergers and incompetence of competitors, ATK now produces all three solid rocket motor stages of the Minuteman. The fourth stage liquid is produced by Aerojet.

Given that the ST looks so nice next to the (relatively) low tech arrary of solid rocket motors, I thought it might be nice to see it next to some (relatively) high tech machinery... ;)


http://www.st-owners.com/gallery/files/1/8/2/7/019FarmTech.jpg


To be continued...

[NewsMag]

You never know what you are going to see in the middle of nowhere. Leaving the rocket plant behind I looped around into the town of Tremonton, which really wanted to be called the town of Tremont, but the Post Office decided that sounded too close to Fremont, Utah and added two letters. Remember that biker gang (http://www.st-owners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6803) I saw in Vernal, Utah? Well I found where their boyfriends must get THEIR rides... :)


http://www.st-owners.com/gallery/files/1/8/2/7/020Chopper1.jpg


You can see that these "Pocket Choppers" are even smaller than scooters!


http://www.st-owners.com/gallery/files/1/8/2/7/021Chopper2.jpg


There's a lot of real chopper detail on them, too!


http://www.st-owners.com/gallery/files/1/8/2/7/022Chopper3_906840.jpg


Anyway, proceeding back home at lower elevations you can still see some fall colors out. Nothing like New England, but nice just the same...


http://www.st-owners.com/gallery/files/1/8/2/7/023FallColor.jpg


So, five hours later, lots of twisties and high speeds later, the journey is complete. Going slow and then going fast sure uses a lot of gas!


http://www.st-owners.com/gallery/files/1/8/2/7/024FinalODO.jpg


And the new Metzeler Z6 front tire is scrubbed in all the way down to the heads of the little elephants on both sides and ready for some serious twisties!


http://www.st-owners.com/gallery/files/1/8/2/7/025TireScrub2.jpg


Weather and work permitting, may get to do some twisty carving before the snow sets in.

[AZST]

Steve,

Thanks for taking us all along on your ride. Great stuff....laughed my *** off at "Hot Nuts"....obviously ivy league marketing genius !!!

Don't think I have ever seen "85" octane...maybe I am just not paying attention.

Could you explain what appears to be a rocket play ground- I understand those things aren't "live" but what the hell is that--some makeshift museum for lost tourists?? I know those slides on the side of the building are deadly serious but I think I would look forward to routine fire drills to break up the monotony of making rockets. Very cool.

Looks like great fall weather there Steve...I am sure those hills will be covered in snow soon.

--Bryan
04ST1300A
STOC# 5197
:04biker:

[Doobage]

Most excellent post. I wanna come ride up there!

[Horst]

Great post, great pics ... I can see the BBQ pork sandwich, but tots & shake :confused: why not a salad and diet coke ? .... :D

Horst / ST1100A
British California :)

[uptoblackwood]

Thanks for the post Steve....wish I was riding today. Great weather here in Dallas....going East would have been just the ticket here today.

[clmixon]

Steve,


I was laughing when I saw the Creole Hot Nuts. When I was working as a flight paramedic in the late 80's the guy who created that product was a flightline dispatcher at Petroleum Helicopters named Tommy. He and his wife roasted different mixtures and then tested them on us at work. We always replied, "too mild" no matter what he did! Needless to say we got 2nd degree burns a couple of times.

He finally got a good product after he quit using us as testers :rolleyes: and managed to sell the brand for some nice money. Now I see that it has market penetration in rural Utah. I am going to send him a link to the thread, he still works at PHI, just now in "Marketing"....

Looked like a great ride,

Chris :04biker:

[Bytes_U]

Thanks for the ride report Steve. An enjoyable read on this cool rainy eve in SW Ont.

[Mellow]

Steve, as usual, your ride reports are thorough and an enjoyable read. I felt I was along with you during the ride.

Thanks for just a great report.

[EdsST]

Great pictures - too bad we in the flat land of Florida have to travel many miles to get to where we can get rid of our chicken strips

[Clair]

Nice post. Love the ride up and over Trappers Loop ... nice fun high speed curvy road. The road into Snowbasin, the new one, is also fun and a good practice road. I love the old road out of Snowbasin, on the north east side. Fun, twisty, just have to watch for the cops there in the summer, they love to hide and catch sport bikers going too fast. The posted 35mph is kinda slow for part of it. The snowbasin area is a great place to practice twisties I think, and for those of us down here in SLC a great place to ride to. Up I-80 for some fun high speed curves, the up and over East Canyon for fun switch backs (saw a moose there the other day). Then to Morgan and over to you. I usually go up to the top of Trappers, then into Snowbasin and down to whatever road that is that takes you to Edan, turn around and go back through Snowbasin (gets the twisties both directions) and then back down trappers loop. Sadly, once snow comes and closes East Canyon it sucks getting there from SLC. A very boring ride up I-15 ...

Nice write up, hope to meet you some day and ride with ya.

[AgSTreak]

Excellent post, Steve. Once again, thank you for taking us along. You got style man!!! :bow1: :bow1: :bow1:

[NewsMag]

Thanks for all the kind words, guys.

Now for your questions:

Brian AZST - in higher elevations the gas stations drop two points of octane from every grade. Regular is 85, Hi-Test is 87, and Premium is 91. Due to less oxygen a lower octane fuel (which ignites at lower temps and is easier to burn) is preferred. Average elevation around here is 4500, and my house is at 5600.

The Rocket Garden is the ATK corporate museum. As you can see, the rockets are pretty big, so it's an outdoor display of their product history.


Horst - Salad and Diet Coke? Probably a better choice, but I kinda wanted to rant about Utah shakes and "fry sauce." Plus the tots are darn good here - they make them a couple hours up the road in Idaho. Driving by when the tots are being pre-cooked is like heaven!


Chris Mixon - I don't think we can get Cajun Hot Nuts here, but they were using the bag as a wall decoration. Great to hear the STory behind them!


Clair - You can always do 80 to 84 in the winter - less boring than I-15!