I spent a lot of time in HS & college visiting directly to the south of you in Inyo County. Bishop was a second home for a while.
Thanks for the ride report and tailwinds both ways next time! On Thu, Jul 1, 2010 at 10:55 PM, Daddy Longlegs <[email protected]>wrote: > Greetings Fellow Riders, > > In celebration of the end of the 2nd fiscal quarter, the Rivendell > riders of Mono County California decided to undertake a festive jaunt > to the top of (or as close as we could get) to the top of Tioga Pass, > eastern gateway to Yosemite National Park in the beautiful High > Sierra. > From our assembly point in the June Lake Loop the ride would take us > north on Hwy 158 to the junction of US 395. North on 395 to Lee > Vining, CA ( Proud Home of the most expensive gallon of gasoline in > the U.S.) and then westward and upward to Tioga Pass. The trip was > approximately 50 miles rt with 5000' of climbing. > For those of you unfamiliar with the Eastern Sierra allow me to give > you a little background. > Mono County encompasses about 3200 sq miles from the crest of the > Sierra Nevada, eastward into the Great Basin to the Nevada border. > About 15,000 people live in the county and as far as I can tell Mrs. > Longlegs and I are the only Riv Riders here. However, on a per capita > basis of 1 Riv rider per 7,500 people, I reckon that puts Mono County > darn near the top of the class in the Riv Rider population density > category. > There are miles of open road here and very little traffic. The > possibilities for s24O's are endless (90%percent of the county is > open,gubbmint land). When we are out and about it's not uncommon to > surprise dear, bear, wild horses, coyotes, mountain lions and bobcats > along the way. As a matter of fact we watched a doe chase a bobcat > around a hillside for 10 minutes, just the other day. At the moment > wild flowers are in full bloom everywhere. It's an amazing time to > ride.. > About an hour before the MoCoRivriders were scheduled to assemble for > the ride, Mrs. Longlegs discovered that Pesty, our diabetic cat, was > out of insulin. So off she went on an emergency run and the big Ride > was down to one rider. > The 15 mile per hour tailwind heading north to Hwy 395 was not > auspicious. A beautiful day, yes. Perfect 75 degree temperature, yes. > Cranking 1000 vertical feet downhill in the first 18 miles with wind > at back, definitely excellent. > However that very same breeze, when it came time to start climbing the > pass, was now square in the face. > Normally,in these parts, the mornings during the summer are fairly > calm. Sometime around 1 pm the wind will come up, out of the mountains > and funnel down the passes, increasing in intensity as the afternoon > progresses.The ride had embarked at 10 am with the hope of avoiding > the afternoon zephyr. > As a side note: Tioga Pass(Hwy 120) is a segment of the new ACA Sierra > Cascade route. If anyone is planning to ride this section and is going > North to South we definitely recommend hitting the pass as early as > possible! > The Official Bicycle of the MoCoRivriders is a 68cm Atlantis. The > bicycle and this bulky rider cruised up the highway into the pass and > topped out at 9500' about 1/1/2 miles shy of the Yosemite Park > entrance in a little over 2 hours. the average grade, according to the > GPS was 3.9 % Some short steep portions probably hit 6%. The canyon > narrows down near the top and the wind is funneled down between the > mass of Mt Dana to the South and Tioga Peak to the North. As the road > came 'round the shoulder of Tioga Pk. into this defile the headwind > ramped up in intensity significantly. The breeze became stiff. It was > a sign. That sign said, Turn around. Haul ass down this hill and get a > well deserved cold beverage of your choice down at the gas station at > the bottom! > And so it was written. > The Atlantis performed admirably going down the highway. We flirted > several times with 50mph.The bike tracked straight,stable and true, > although the wind kicked us around a couple of times Traffic was light > enough to allow this rider to take the full lane for the majority off > the downhill run. On three occasions we pulled off to let vehicles > pass-by. The shoulders of Highway 120 above 8000' are sketchy to non > existent. Taking the lane is recommended > It's sort of like riding Devil's Slide on Hwy 1 out by Pacifica for 9 > 1/2 miles. Fun!. > Enjoyed a beer and some excellent victuals at the Tioga Mobil Mart at > the Hwy 120/395 junction and then headed home, into the wind. > Took some snapshots, they are here: > http://picasaweb.google.com/108387001740020584799/MoCoRivRiderTiogaRide > (don't know if I pasted this link correctly) > Two hopes: 1) that this is not too long a post, especially for a first > timer 2) that we'll see some of you folks for a ride in the Mono Zone > > Cheers, > Daddy Longlegs > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]<rbw-owners-bunch%[email protected]> > . > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en. > > -- Cheers, David Redlands, CA "Bicycling is a big part of the future. It has to be. There is something wrong with a society that drives a car to workout in a gym." ~Bill Nye, scientist guy -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
