I did the Lost Sierra Loop back-to-back
with the Smoke
and Fire 400. The Smoke and Fire 400 will be a separate Trip Report.
Our bikes:
Diana’s: 2022 Platypus, 51 cm, Rene Herse 27.5”x2.2’ tires.
Choco Handlebars, friction shifters, 38x24 crank and 9 speed cassette
Michael’s: Stock Salsa Cut Throat
May 25
Miles: Approx 50 miles
I left SF at 5:15am and met Michael at the trailhead at 9:15
am. Michael is uncharacteristically late. When he arrives, I find out that his
bike fell off his bike rack. This is one of my worst fears and I neurotically
check my bike over and over and worry about every bump I hit in the car. I always
thought (hoped?) I was just overly anxious… Luckily for Michael, that little
strap over the back tire kept his bike from falling completely off the rack.
Turns out the front portion of his rack was too far forward on his front tire
(he had bottle cages that prevented him from putting the front rack closer to
his front fork) and the front portion of his rack slid off his front tire and
his bicycle toppled over onto the back end of his rack. Everybody says they transport
their bikes with front racks just fine, but this is the single reason I don’t
ride with a front rack! Anyway, Michael immediately pulls over and shoved his
bike in the car and he meets me at the trailhead. We’re riding by 10am after
some tune-ups to our rigs.
The beginning of the ride isn’t the best. It’s on a fire
road where ATVs are cruising by and it’s a little dusty. However, after the
first few miles we start getting some better views. The beginning of the ride
is always a little hard. We don’t have our trail legs under us yet, but we are
so excited to be riding. We just take it slow and grind up.
We both get flats on our tubeless tires and I think to
myself that I’m swearing off tubeless. However, Michael advises me that I gotta
keep riding to get the sealant to seal whatever caused the hole and he’s right.
After a few ride, stop to pump, ride, stop to pump iterations, my tire holds
air.
We make it into Taylorsville and we buy 4-beers and fill up
water here. We’re both shocked the beer is only $2/can. I carry the beers in my
Ortlieb Panniers and we grind up on China Grade Road. I’m riding on my easiest
gear but I’m hardly going faster than walking pace. During this stretch I will
get demolished by some insect and not realize it. I’ll end the day with
15+ insect bites and hate life for a little while. I also fall while clipped in
and snap my Cateye computer wire. This is sad because I love getting my mileage
at the end of each day.
![PXL_20240525_235828130.jpg]()
After getting up China Grade Road the only thing separating us
from sleep is finding a place to camp. Most trips Michael and I don’t know
where we will camp and just wing it. We both suffer from paranoia that when we
stop for a campsite there will be a pristine campsite just around the bend.
So 2 miles later we pull a little ways off of the road hoping for a view,
getting none, but deciding we don’t want to ride at night. We crack open our
beers, eat our dinners, and are asleep by 9:35pm.
May 26
Miles: Approx 50
I am woken up by tons of gunshots and the sound of a
chainsaw. I have never been happier to be camping a little ways off the trail.
This noise goes on for an hour? I’m in a deep deep sleep and can’t quite pull
myself out of my slumber. I almost think it’s a dream until I hear the loudest
CRACK. I have no idea what’s happening out there. Michael and I whisper to each
other in our tents. Mostly. “oh my god what
is happening??” I really don’t know what would have happened if they had
spotted us, would we have run?? We fall back into uneasy sleep.
Michael and I are riding by 6:30am. 1 minute into our ride
we see what all the noise was. Whoever was out in the middle of the night cut
down a big tree. It’s really sad and I’m sure it was illegal.
We immediately have a very steep grade to deal with so we
just hop off the bikes and push up. We want to get to the top of Mount Hough but
its snowy up there and really muddy. We ditch the bikes by the side of the road
and walk up the muddy road. At the top we can see Mt. Lassen and we’re really glad
we made the trek up.
We walk down, hop on our bikes and are about to have beautiful
ascent. This is literally the best single track I have ever ridden. I cannot
recommend this enough. I plan to go back again in the future.
Michael gets a flat tire during th edecent and despite his
best efforts, he is unable to get his tubeless tires to hold air. He puts a
tube in and we continue down. We lose probably an hour. When we cross Highway
70 we decide to take that back to the car instead of riding more gravel. We don’t
want to get back to his apartment super late with an early day tomorrow. We’re
back to his car by 5:30pm.
Some things that I changed from our Death Valley and Ordaho
misadventures:
- I built
my own wheels that could run tubeless tires. The video is of me installing
my spokes. I’ll spend over 2 days building the wheels and going to my local
bicycle co-op to use their wheel truing stand. These tires were a labor of
love. Sadly, as I finished my second wheel I was doored on my way home while
riding my bicycle, and my rim got totaled. So, I actually built 3 wheels for
this trip. I did not get the information of the man that doored me. However,
with my new skill I plan to build some bitching tires for my [future] Homer.
Speaking of which, I’m in the market for a 51 cm Homer if anybody out there has
one! I
- I used 27.5 x 2.2 tires (instead of my 43mm
tires)
- I bought the Tosco Bars from Rivendell but I
ended up switching back to Choco bars because the Tosco bars put my arms at a
higher angle and when I’m climbing hard hills I had a tendency to pull my front
tire off of the ground. I learned this test riding some gravel north of San
Francisco. So not a change, but just following up for folks that follow my
adventures.
- Clipless peddles. I actually am surprised that I
liked these as much as I did, falling over in them and all. The pedals I use
are dual sided, one side with clips and the other without.
For folks interested in switching up your lunches or
dinners, I recommend you all try out Huel. I’ve been eating their Hot and
Savory meals for years when backpacking or bikepacking and love their stuff. It’s
vegetarian and way cheaper than backpackers pantry. If interested you can use my code and save
some money on it (and I’ll save money on my next purchase too!)
