Weather and Wind At the Bonneville Salt Flats

Did you know, that when you’re on the Bonneville Salt Flats you can actually see the curvature of the earth? It’s an amazing place. Dangerous, beautiful, harsh…and then there are those moments where there’s not a peep from anything remotely connected to anything mechanical. It’s peaceful and then suddenly you’ll see bugs, big bugs, and strange ants running around.

The weather can change very fast. Plus you can watch it happen real time. Day 2 of the Bonneville Motorcycle Speeds Trials was an example. As skies began to darken, the lightning flashed overhead.

Standing upright at 5 feet 10 inches made me the the highest object on the Flats. This made me nervous.

Life on the Salt is harsh.

Options for photography on this second day were rather limited, simply because of the course. There are no corners, no pit lane, and the service road crunches like hard packed snow when you drive over it. There’s no shade, and the heat was intense.

Photographers need clearance before driving to some locations to shoot.

That said, everyone is friendly, communal and it feels wonderful.

It’s easy to shoot from the access road, with the mountains behind you. If you want to shoot from the control tower side on the other side of the track, you need to obtain an extra pass. Not difficult, but they’re not handed out like candy either. Which makes sense. People get disorientated, very easily.

I waited all day for the streamliner class to take to the track. As luck would have it, technical issues and crosswinds made sure it didn’t happen. So for Day 2 it was the RWB class. That’s Run Whatcha Brung.