Objective: Log a couple of long days in the saddle, practice some bike-packing, and escape the cloudy weather. Location: Geology Tour Road, Joshua Tree National Park Outcome: Success. Details: Sandy conditions and long 4-6% grades combined with a loaded bike made for a couple of painful rides. I haven't had lower back pain on a ride in a few months, but after riding 4.5 hours with 5 liters of water and camping gear on my back, I was feeling it! Plus I still didn't have enough water, most of the ride was at 3000-4000' elevation and very low humidity, I drank 4 liters Saturday and still went to bed thirsty so I could have oatmeal in the morning. This was my first bikepacking trip but I had everything I needed from backpacking, save a $30 rack. I was able to travel pretty light since it's the desert, but for longer trips water would definitely be an issue. I would be interested in trying a BOB trailer for trips like this. I've done some road touring, but it's even sweeter to load up a mountain bike and pedal away into the backcountry for a couple of days. “We need the possibility of escape as surely as we need hope; without it the life of the cities would drive all men into crime or drugs or psychoanalysis.” –Edward Abbey, Desert Solitaire
Smart looking set up you got there. JTree carrying all your own water is brave. Having know water supply along the route make things so much easier. Good job on the ride!
WOW solo desert back country trip is definitely not for the faint hearted.....like me. Awesome pictures and RR.
Very cool. How far did you go? If I remember, the trail gets very loose down by the lakebed. How much vehicular traffic did you have to contend with?
Nice RR and sweet bike! I always wanted to do a trip similar to yours out in the desert. You reminded me. I'm going to pick up one of these in the near future for the summer : \\/
I've been thinking a lot of this lately. I want to try some local stuff first with some climbing but nothing crazy. I have a BOB and I have racks but I think I'll try the BOB first.
When you do buy one be sure to get the one with the longer reach, never know when you may get a 29inch wheeled bike. Dean
I took Berdoo Canyon Trail until it ended at Dillon Rd near Indio/Palm Springs, then turned around. Coming down to Dillon Rd wasn't bad, but climbing back up was hike-a-bike at several points due to sand. Everything within the park was rideable. The road gets lots of 4WD use, I probably saw 20 trucks/jeeps Saturday and around 5 Sunday. Everyone was courteous although I did get a few strange looks.
The next time you do this, schedule a group one. I don't like scorpions or rattle snakes near my sleeping bag, but I'd love to do that kind of bike-packing.
Thanks for posting about the trip. I've never considered bikepacking, but it would be cool being able to cover so much distance.
I've done plenty of rock climbing at JT... but never did any biking... too sandy for my taste. But beautiful pics!
