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Tour of Mammoth Challenge ride report
We planned on an 8:30 meet-up at Shady Rest Park, and were met at 8:45 by USFS law enforcement (the website said 9:00). It was rather obvious who she was there for, as she drove right to us. I think from now on we might have to keep our event times and locations off the website – no need in advertising.
Myself and Les were the only riders there at 8:45, and she was disappointed to find that our bikes were street legal – sorry, no green stickers here. Joe and Jason arrived around the same time the Law did, but decided to wait it out. Smart move I guess, as Joe’s bike is still Censored the Censored (Joe’s fine #1). Once the forest cop packed up and moved on with her crime fighting duties, Jason and Joe drove up to unload.
Unfortunately, Les wasn’t there to ride… He was there to inform the group that: He, Tom, and Brad weren’t going to make it. It seemed that a night of heavy drinking in the June Lake area took its toll on the boys. Food poisoning, hangovers, and sore body parts from the previous day (not necessarily in that order) put the kybosh on their plans. Les invited our group to stop by their camp on our way through (for beers). We liked that idea, and agreed to meet up with the Long Beach crew later in the day – their camp was located somewhere off the Bald Mountain Road.
We said our goodbyes to Les and proceeded to start our ride… Well not really. Joe’s bike wouldn’t start… and it was leaking fuel out of the float bowl overflow (Joe’s fine #2). After multiple failed jumpstarts, carb disassemblies, and a few temper tantrums (Joe’s fine #3,) Joe finally got the bike fired up (but was still leaking fuel). Our 9:00 start turned into a 9:45 start - this would be Joe’s second offence at “Shady rest lagging” before a ride… (Resulting in Joes fine #4)
Once on our way, we enjoyed some nice flowing Censored Censored singletrack, and made our way over to the famous “Joaquin Jim’s single-track trail” - and we did both the old and the new sections.
I know what you’re thinking, but don’t worry! Our tour guide had his trusty copy of the MVUM map and he made sure to keep the group on “legal” roads!
After killing some of the whoop sections around Censored , the group opened up their throttles and blasted across Crater Flats – 78mph on the speedo… and putting the pass on a lone Mtn Bike Rider.
There were quite a few OHV’s around the Glass Creek area, and the free campground was packed solid. We just cruised on by – no need to stop here. Next was the “Deadmans 52 inches or wider singletrack,” and at the top we ran into Sam (another Mammoth M/C member)! We exchanged pleasantries, and Sam decided to join our group and ride with us to Mono Lake! Now we had 4 riders. We continued over to the June Lake Junction, hitting up some of the well used quad trail and “single track” in the Censored Censored area. There were lots of trees down everywhere through this section, and there are no signs of our “forest managers” cleaning them up either… I guess they’re too busy closing trails and there isn’t enough time to maintain the one’s we already have. Fine by me.
We arrived at the June Lake Junction at approx 11:30 and decided to take a break (drink cold beer). It was here that we were joined by Craig, a June Lake local, who was interested in joining the club and wanted to ride with us. Craig was sporting a 300cc KTM two stroke and a tall can of Bud light – a perfect fit.
Our group talked and drank for about an hour before heading back out.
From the June Lake Junction, we worked our way over to Mono Mills - using mostly jeep roads to get there. At Mono Mills we said goodbye to Sam. Sam’s back wasn’t 100%, and he decided to play it safe and take the mellow way back to Mammoth. So after bidding Sam farewell, our group then headed over to the “Mills trail.” The Mills trail is a collection of old abandoned logging roads – It’s fun and fast – sometimes turning into singletrack! After the Mills, we hit up a few sections of twisty single-track that eventually spit us out into Censored Censored area. From Censored Censored we hit up even more Single-track: “Earthquake Fault,” some “Crater Loop short cuts,” and the famous “Censored Censored single track!”
We were close to “Camp Long Beach” when your fearless leader (myself) sprang a leak in his front tube. Lucky for me we were close to their camp, so I limped the bike down the bald mtn road. I figured the boys might have a bike stand (& cold beer), which will make my job a little easier. Not only did they have a stand, they also had cold beer! What luck! As it turned out, the old spare tube I carried failed to hold pressure. Being folded up in a fender pack for 1000 miles wore some holes through it. Tom saved the day (& my ride) by producing a tube that actually worked. Thanks Tom, I owe ya!
After changing the tube, we said farewell to Joe and Craig. Both guys had prior engagements and had to head home. Before Joe rode off, I reminded him of all the fines he had racked up – he seemed to take it well.
Myself and Jason also said our goodbyes to the Long beach crew, and thanked them for the help (beer).
The fun trail over to Big Springs had its moments, and we charged hard over to Censored Censored Censored which led us to the start of the “best of the best” single track section. After doing the best cut ST in the Eastern Sierra, we headed over to Mammoth Creek and crossed it at Censored Due to the huge snow pack, the creek was more like a roaring river. During his crossing attempt, Jason got sucked into a huge sinkhole – hucking him up and over the handlebars. It was a perfect dismount and swan dive into the river! No big deal though, the CRF started started right up and we continued over to the last road section leading us into into Shady Rest Park.
It was 6:00 when we finally finished.
A little over 100 miles of sand, silt, pumice, and whoops – connecting some of the toughest and least traveled trails in the Mammoth Lakes area!
See our Route on a map...HERE
We're sorry for the Censorship in this ride report
Due to the "fragile nature" of the ongoing "Route Designation Implementation process," we cannot discuss specific locations on the web. It's not that we don't trust you - it's that we just cant afford to.
As we type, Anti Access groups are targeting Eastern Sierra singletrack for immediate closure... We also have an increase of quad and UTV driving idiots (not all), who are destroying motorcycle single-track at an alarming rate.''
We will not contribute any information to these groups.
Become a member, attend a meeting, and make yourself known.
Thanks for your understanding.
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