Truncated SoCal October Bikepacking Adventure

(Apparently a late October bike trip is good for my home team.  Giants won the World Series in 2010 while I was out with Nate and Jesse in Moab.  This year they killed it while I was out with Errin, Jason, Ben, and Michael.  Go Giants 2012!)

Our little crew of Errin, Jason, Ben, and I met up at LAX.  We drove to Idyllwild to meet Michael with the intention of touring the Stagecoach 400 enduro bike race route - 375 Miles of mixed terrain riding consisting mostly Southern California desert and San Diego County pavement.  Didn't quite go according to our hopes, but adventure was had all the same.

Here are some pix and brief comments for your viewing pleasure.

Errin loading up.  On our way soon!

Idyllwild is a neat community and The Hub is a big part of that.

The home of Siren Cycles and Siren Mary.

Little Zander is a ripper!

Jason and Ben, putting bikes back together, and conferring with Brendan.

Zander!

High hopes:  Me, Errin, Michael, Jason, and Ben.

First dirt in the waning light.

Speed of Light Reflector!  Our ironic totem for the remainder of our journey. 

Morning coffee.

Morning light.

Down the wash and into the day.

Los Bros.

Shelled, with more miles to go.

Into the canyon.

Errin at ease.

Jason loving life!

Ben.  Always poised.

Michael's ready for the road ahead.

Next mourning after camping in the wash

Beautiful morning climbing out of Fish Canyon before the going got tough.  

Steeper than it looks.  This section came after several miles of pushing our 45lb bikes through ankle-deep sand...   We were all daydreaming of a sweet downhill to come.  Or delirious from dehydration.  Same thing, right?

Salsa Fargo in repose.

The following morning after we'd decided to pull the plug.  There would be yummy breakfast and apple pie in Julian CA on the way home - almost enough to soothe the ache we had in our bellies for a different end to our ride.  I'm pretty sure any of us would have given up pie for about a dozen fresh tubes and a few more days in the saddle.   (Michael and Errin have better write-ups of what happened at the links above... Ten-plus miles of unridable deep sand and angry desert plants kind of did us in.) 

Shelled.

I haven't got my thoughts really sorted out about the ride yet, save to say I think we made all the right choices for the situation at hand, and that this small taste of bikepacking has definitely piqued my interest.  It's always good to find yourself inside the pictures you see and dream about.  Time to plan another trip!

Thanks to Brendan for his route and for trying to set us straight.  Good man, that one.

And special thanks to Jason and Erik and Errin for all the swell gear they lent me.  With no bikepacking and limited touring experience, I was definitely the n00b on this trip.  That and young twins at home impacted my fitness.  Still, I had fun, and hope I placed limited drag on the others.  I literally couldn't and wouldn't have been out there without you guys.

Thanks for a swell ride, and even more for how gracefully we transitioned into the urban adventure / hanging out on the porch part of our week together.