Picto Diary - 09 August 2020 - Speed Week Day Two
Above: B1b and Drums. Bonneville Salt Flats. Speed Week. 09 August 2020.
In Search of Authenticity Tour
Out and about in the F350
At the start area. Watching some of the same vehicles/teams that we had visited in the pits a couple of hours earlier.
"The land is the appointed remedy for whatever is false and fantastic in our culture." Ralph Waldo Emerson
Above: Bishop 'n KAT. Bonneville Salt Flats, UT. Speed Week. 09 August 2020
In Search of Authenticity Tour
Out and about in the F350
Salty dogs?
"The land is the appointed remedy for whatever is false and fantastic in our culture." Ralph Waldo Emerson
Above: Anatomy of a start. Bonneville Salt Flats, UT. Speed Week. 09 August 2020. Four images.
In Search of Authenticity Tour
Out and about in the F350
No first gear... as it were... a push from a pick-up get's 'em up to speed.
We weren't paying much attention to who's who... or what speed records were being attained. The event is being run by the Southern California Timing Association. They have their own FM radio signal broadcast throughout the event area to keep people apprised of what is happening. We were told that spectators AND entrants were half or less of what is a typical year for Speed Week. Still, just seeing it... observing the starts and talking to a lot of the crews was worth the trip.
This seems to be a pure American thing. A lot of sponsored teams and just hobbiest gear heads, most from car country Southern California, trying to put together vehicles that go fast.
Truth be told, this type of event is probably on the wane. Most of the participants seemed fifty plus. Young people are not growing up these days interested in cars and motors.
I've been to a few motor events.... Moto GP at Laguna Seca, once; a couple of Nascars at Las Vegas; 24 Hour Le Mans; are ones that come to mind. I can't claim to be an aficionado. But, I know enough to appreciate what these guys are doing... their mindset and passion. The closest I get to where they are is my riding of high performance motorcycles. I get a sense, riding the bikes, of the elan they experience by going faster than anyone else.
If people stop trying to set records.... what does that mean? Philosophical question for the day.
"Go to the woods to lose sight and memory of the crimes of your contemporaries." Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Above: Sail Boat. Great Salt Lake. Tooele County, UT. 09 August 2020.
In Search of Authenticity Tour
Out and about in the F350
As much as I contemplate this image, it just doesn't seem to fit in Utah. The horizons of the Great Salt Lake are far enough away that, from certain angles, including this one, you can't see the other side of the lake. The lake appears as an ocean.
"The land is the appointed remedy for whatever is false and fantastic in our culture." Ralph Waldo Emerson
