Cycle Americas: October 2009

From Sequoia National Park Tom and I were able to get a lift to Bakersfield with Ari (thanks!) we then started heading east on the quietest roads we could find. We passed fields and fields of commercial agriculture and Tom helped himself to a few tasty oranges before we entered the sierra foothill at which point we thought we found a good camp spot by the road. On closer inspection the ground was covered with used shotgun shells and then we heard some guns being fired off and just round the corner a family of Mexicans were doing some target practice! We decided to keep cycling for a few miles before finding a spot that was mostly out of sight of the road. Conveniently right at the bottom of a climb that we would be embarking on the next morning.

The next day we rode through some rolling hills in the early morning through Caliente, CA, into a gradual climb through a beautiful canyon (with an excellent tail wind) and ended up at Twin Oaks at which point we found out that a road we thought we could take east dead ended just out of town. A kind gentleman from the town, the local security guard, gave me a map of the county and we found some dirt roads that we could cycle on to carry on east and so began our adventure in the Sequoia National Forest.

From Twin Oaks General Store we cycled up hill for about six miles to the fire station and saw a bob cat on route. The lady in the general store said it would be only 2 miles, she also warned us not to enter the wilderness because of 'lions, tigers and bears oh my!'(exact quote). At the fire station we both loaded up with around 12 liters of water. We then headed into the Sequoia National Forest on Piute Mountain Road, very curious what the following days would bring. This is one of the beauty's of creating a travel itinerary on the fly. It lends to much more spontaneity and randomness.

The following pictures were taken about one mile into the three mile push that lay ahead.

We ended up making it to a really nice camp spot just as the sun was setting.

The next morning we woke up just before sunrise and were greeted by a magnificently painted skyline.

We embarked on what would end up being a 6 mile slog, switching from pedaling to pushing, up into the Sierra Nevada mountains of Sequoia National forest. We met several hunters along the way, good ole boys who gave us various inncorrect distances to the top of the climb. "Oh it's 1/2 mile till the top then smooth sailing" said one, "That guy was bull shitting you, it's four miles to the top!", and the third "you got a lot more of the same " as we pushed by him, swearing and panting all the while. Two mile later we reached the top and ecstatically crested the hill and begin an exciting 5 mile downhill. Then we entered what seemed to be an alpine valley that was filled with Jeffery pine trees and giant granite boulders jutting out of the landscape. The photo below is of a ranchers cattle we wondered upon grazing in a field.

We passed a sigh for the Pacific Crest Trail boasting a waterhole and campsite 3/4 of a mile south so we pushed the bikes into the forest to settle down at about 3 P.M. There was a flat spot for a tent but the water at the waterhole was less than desirable and we decided to make do with what we'd brought up the hill. We woke up early the next day as we weren't sure what road conditions and climbs we would encounter. The first few miles were undulating before we started a magnificent decent down to the Kelso Valley (the three picture below were taken on the way down).

A welcome sight.

Tom ripping.

Tom is the small cyclist in the bottom left corner.

The Kelso Valley road(see photo above) started with a two mile hill before descending for around six miles to Jawbone Canyon Road. Jawbone Canyon Road was a blast. There was a fairy gentle uphill for six miles before a ten mile downhill to Route 14. The downhill was pretty crazy and we hit speeds of 40-45 mph which was pretty scary but also a whole lot of fun!

This blog entry was brought to you by Tom and Chris