Highest Paved Road in California

Begone pure mountain biker. Leave us to our folly and arrogance and holier than thou attitude!
BTW, I don't consider 5.1 % a grade.:lol:
Have a blast in Co. Dean! Hermosa creek's gonna make you cry with joy!!

 

Trust me, the Everest challenge is much tougher if you "race" it, in fact it actually is a USA cycling sanctioned race. I know guys who've finished top five in the VQ who said the Everest Challenge was the hardest thing they have done on a bike. It's like doing the VQ two days in a row

 

Our buddy just did the Mt. Evans hill climb in Colorado...ends up at over 14,000'. Gnarly. I could barely breathe riding at the top of Mammoth.

 

The climb up from outside of Bishop to Tom's place is tough, but I've done it so it can't be epic by true roadie standards. Just gear down and plod your way up. From Tom's place up to Mosquito flat trailhead on Rock Creek road is about 9.5-10 miles. Never ridden up that and I'm sure it is a real PITA. IMHO the major issue is not pitch or elevation, but traffic. From Tom's place up, there is little or no shoulder for bikers and there are some tight hairpin turns. I've seen many riders going up and down, but the pucker factor is too high for my comfort.
R

 

Then never ride the Hwy 1 thru Big Sur.

I've rode with some people who keep telling me about the Tom's Place ride. We were going to do it this year but now I'm not sure if we are. Still I'd love to do it, shoulder or not. Early in the day on a weekday would help with the traffic as long as it isn't a Friday. I really like those all day climb rides.

 

I know what you mean by no shoulder but how much traffic can there be? I rode the Mammoth Scenic Loop then down 395 up 203 to Twin Lakes then Lake Mary 3 weeks ago and that wasn't too bad. I would assume the only cars going up to Mosquito Flat would be hikers. I am sold on this ride, its on like Donkey Kong in 3 weeks.:bang:

That one is on my list for next year. We are going to Beaver Creek in July and it happens to be on the way.

I am a couple of years away from being man enough for the EC, that is a tough ride. But my plan is to slowly do all the climbs, between now and then.

 

Take Horseshoe Meadow road from Lone Pine. It only goes to 10,074' but the views from the switchbacks are incredible. I'd post a picture but I'm using a laptop.

 

I'd guess that traffic flow on a weekend is similar or maybe a bit heavier than the Mammoth scenic loop. But in general, both roads would be pretty similar riding conditions except for the pitch. I'm sure that you could avoid some traffic with an early start. But probably not entirely since a lot of the flow up Rock Creek road are fishermen heading up the the lake and they roll out early.
R

 

Bergsteiger, I was actually going to do this in a few weeks also. I'm going to try and do this one day (starting in Bishop) then Tioga pass into Yosemite the next then maybe Sonora pass the final day if I feel up to it.

 

That sounds awesome. Another beautiful ride I did last time was Village to Main Lodge then down to Reds Meadow and reverse. The climb back up to Minaret Summit is great, no traffic except the shuttle bus every 20 minutes. The view of the Minarets/Banner/Ritter are epic.

Thats a great ride, part of EC.

 

Typical Deano

Dean, Dean, Dean...pray tell why you throw grenades? You have always been a provoker of thought and debate, as well as extreme resentment, anger, white rage, and hypertension. "That's why I love you MAN!!!"

 

I rode this today on a borrowed road bike. Not a perfect fit but OK. 39x25 for most grades. (I'm not so perky after 3 days on Mammoth mtn). The hardest part of the ride is just out of Tom's Place. The road narrows and winds through a canyon. It's very bumpy and hand-numbing. Some of the bigger bumps are sprayed day-glow orange as a warning. You can get launched on these when descending.

After the canyon the road gets wider and smoother - thank God.

The traffic above Tom's Place was unbelievable (Saturday after all). Car after car, diesel trucks, RV's, etc. One pickup made no attempt to go around me while his dog leaned out of the window and barked. MF$%^&$. I would only repeat this on a week-day.

 

Hey I rode that about ten years ago on my MTB. But only down. Traffic was no problem cuz you're as fast as the cars!
Be prepared for it to be really hot, but it sounds like you know the area, altitude effects etc already. I think Rock Creek is absolutely beautiful. And a great trailhead into the Sierras. IMO the best time is late September when the aspens are in their golden glory, and the weather's cooled off. Have fun.

 

I am jones-ing to ride Big Pine to Westguard Pass to the Bristlecone Forest. Far less traffic than most or all the Eastern Sierra paved roads (apart from the Red's Meadow Rd which is mostly shuttle-bus only).

Maybe weekend of 8/23?

I might camp at Grandview (8,000'); descend to Owens Valley and climb back up. Pit stop at my car/ ice chest - then up to 10,000' and back to beers at 8,000'.

 

That sounds great. I just saw something about Big Pine Creek Campground as a great place to camp, so now I'm jonesing to get up to that part of the world too. I'm free that weekend.

 

I would say to be prepared for anything.

I arrived at the trailhead to Rock Creek Lake very late one fine August night, threw my sleeping bag on the ground and woke up the next morning to snowflakes.

The backpackers that were already up at the lake came scurrying down saying it was blizzard conditions with 35mph winds.

It was so cold, combined with the high altitude, it took my friend's Honda Civic 20 minutes before it warmed up enough to run on all four cylinders.

In August.

 

Man, that sounds kind of stressful, I do not want to drive 350 miles into the Sierras to deal with traffic on a narrow road. Hmmm, maybe I'll try the other side, up to Bristlecone from Big Pine. How much of the climb would you say was bumpy? I rode The Mammoth Scenic Loop in July and while it was scenic and very low traffic, the road was quite rough which made descending slow and annoying. 203 down to Devils Postpile is awesome, smooth road, low traffic and very beautiful.

 

The narrow area was about 25%. Traffic goes with such a popular area - camping and fishing. I've heard of much less traffic on Whitney Portal and Onion Valley climbs but Onion Valley road has cracks that are sealed but not filled.

 

I climbed Mosquito Flat Thursday and Ancient Bristlecone/White Mountain Rd on Friday. Both of these are great long climbs with plenty of steep sections and 10,000 foot summits. Since I climb them during the week, I don't encounter much traffic when I go up. YMMV.

 

Here you go: