No Mints Adventures

How about an early season bicycle tour on the scenic roads of the Eastern Sierra .. This is a sag supported bicycle tour starting in Bishop, CA that takes us on a giant loop on little known roads to the North. We start this little adventure by heading to Benton Hot Springs for our first camp. From there, we head east and then north for a stop in Lee Vining, the gateway to Yosemite. For those with still a little pep in their legs, Tioga Pass lays in wait. Heading north you will ride into an unpopulated portion of western Nevada and then back into California where we will encamp at Grover Hot Springs near Markleeville, home of the famous "Markleeville Death Ride." The ride from Markleeville takes us over impressive Monitor Pass, down to Hwy. 395, and then onto Bridgeport where we will camp under towering "Matterhorn Peak" at Twin Lakes. Then onto scenic June Lakes, followed by our last camp at Crowley Lakes via Mammoth Lakes before finishing our last short day to Bishop.

( From Bishop, California )

May 19 - 26, 2010

8 Days - 50 to 80 Miles/Day

[ Cycling - Camping - Sag Support ]

$240

Physical & Skill Level Requirements: (Moderate) We will be cycling anywhere from 40 to 81 miles per day …… with some pretty substantial climbing thrown in on the various passes that we have to climb up and over. Your lowest elevation will be 4,000' and your highest will be 8,000' to 10,000'. Consequently, you should be able to handle these conditions without depending on the sag wagon. The sag, of course, will be available for emergency situations. So in short …… be fit. If you have any concerns about your ability to do this trip, then get a hold of us and we can talk things over a bit.

Roads Conditions in the Eastern Sierra. You can expect temperatures to be quite warm in the Owens Valley where we start the ride and you can expect warm to cool conditions at the higher altitudes. It is not likely, but we can get rain, and even snow in these higher elevations. So…… be prepared for any and all conditions. We will be routing you on back roads for the most part with occasional stints on US 395 where a good shoulder does exist on most of its course.

Vehicle Support (Sag) : This is what your support vehicle looks like. It is in reality a home made RV and is where Margy and I live about 4 months out of the year. In spite of the ugliness of this vehicle, it has proven to be a reliable work horse that can travel almost any road with the possible exception of a hard 4 wheel track. It is a 1999 Isuzu NPR with a 4 Cylinder Diesel Engine.

Luggage: Keep it Light! Be prepared to arrive here in Bishop with 60 lbs of gear or less. This does not include your bicycle or food. We may have a will have a set of scales to verify that everyone is within the weight limit. We figure if everyone holds to the 60 lb. limit, the truck will have capacity for 20 riders.

-- Email or Phone Us - You can use the "Sign Up For A Trip !" or call 1-760-872-7630. We work better with email.

-- Our Reply - We will then reply, either to accept you on the trip, or possibly we might have a question or two for you first. If you have not traveled with us before, we will need to talk to you, so we'll give you a call.

-- Money! You pay us on the first day of the trip ……. $240.

What You Get for Your Money: Your money pays for all the various expenses involved in running our web-site, mailing, printing, and phone costs, etc. In addition, if enough of you sign-up, you subsidize our traveling expenses. For the trip, we supply you with maps, campsites and a pretty expensive van to carry all your gear. Margy and I do all the driving of the van. We sometimes will act as guides, although that is a bit spotty as we have a hard time riding as fast as most riders that sign up for our trips.

Camping & Cabins/Motels Options: This is primarily a camping trip where we carry all your camping gear in our sag vehicle. However, for those of you who don't mind paying the extra expense, there is lodging available near all our campsites. All our camps should have showers. For those of you who opt to stay in lodging, you will need ride to and from your lodging on your own with a small day pack.

Equipment:

-- Bike Gear: You will need a road bike in good mechanical condition equipped with low gearing for some of the substantial climbing that we will encounter. Please have the bike equipped with new tires and a couple of water bottles. There are few bicycle shops along our route and we carry only the minimum of repair parts and tools.

-- Camping Stuff: You will need a tent, sleeping bag, and sleeping pad. Also bring your personal cooking gear such as sauce pan, plate, cup, & silverware. Don't bring a stove as we will provide you with that.

-- Clothing: Even though you are cycling in the clear rain free environment of the Eastern Sierra, still, the occasional rain storm does come our way …. So make sure you have foul weather gear.

Food: This trip is predicated on each of you cooking your own meals in camp. However, because we are located close to restaurants at most of our campsites, you will certainly have the option to partake of the local cuisine. In fact, it is possible to ride the entire trip without cooking a meal. But for those of you who want to save a little money or have special dietary needs, here is how it works. We will supply each of you with your own food bin. Each day , we will stop and meet you at a grocery store where you can get what you need. That means you don't need to carry a whole bunch of food for the trip …. Just buy it one day at a time. We don't have a refrigerator so that will encourage you to keep your produce purchases to a minimum. Again …. We provide the cook stoves …. You don't have to bring yours. For those of you who have not traveled with us before ….the food arrangements might seem a little confusing? ….. So if you have any questions, feel free to write or call.

Cancellation Policy - You can cancel at anytime. However, because we are limiting the number of riders we can take on this trip, we ask that you cancel well in advance of the trip so that we can let someone else have your spot.

Sign Up Maximum and Minimum: The maximum number of cyclists we can have for this trip is 20 including Margy and myself. When you sign up, indicate if you want to be placed on a stand-by list if the trip is full. For those of you who have never been on one of our trips, we would like to talk to you on the phone somewhere along the line before you are officially accepted.

Roster: We'll send out a roster by email as soon as we have a pretty firm idea of who is going. Sometimes, knowing who is on the roster lets you share equipment, flight bargains, etc. The roster is usually sent out 2 to 4 weeks before the trip. We generally include each person's name, physical address, email, and telephone number.

Information About You and Us! As a final word, participants must understand that these are not commercial trips; you will not be supplied with the hand holding care that is generally given on "higher end" trips and therefore I expect most of our participants to be somewhat self-reliant individuals. Most of the trips tend to be of a unique nature that I seldom have done before and, sometimes, things go awry. Often these mishaps are my fault, sometimes they are beyond control. At any rate, I expect you to accept whatever unexpected and adverse conditions we meet with good humor and grace. Complaining to me about trivial annoyances is not acceptable. If you want and expect a trip that is tightly scheduled with little or no surprises or discomforts ….. this trip is not for you..

Day 1 (Wed.) May 19 - Meet in Bishop. For those of you arriving early, feel free to stay at our place this night prior to the start of the ride. We will have a pasta dinner waiting and ready for you at 6 pm. We have plenty of parking for all vehicles and you can leave them here for the duration of the trip. We have a few beds and plenty of floor space for sleeping. If you don't like the idea of communal sleeping, we can direct you to campsites up in the mountains or motels in town.

Our address is: 306 Altair Circle (Starlite Estates). To get here, drive into the middle of Bishop on Hwy. 395. Turn west on West Line St. (Hwy. 168). Go 8 miles, then turn right onto Starlite Drive just after a large forest service sign. Go one mile and turn right on Altair Circle.

Day 2 (Thurs.) May 20 - to Benton Hot Springs (47 Miles--1,800' Gain)

Ride starts at 8 am at our place, 306 Altair Circle. Pretty easy day, starts with a 2,000' descent into Bishop where we will stop at a super market to load up on food for the trip. We then cycle to the Laws Railway Museum in the small suburb of Laws. After that we have a long unrelenting straight stretch to the town of Benton, followed by a short easy climb to The Inn at Benton Hot Springs. 760-933-2287. Our campsites adjoin numerous private hot spring enclosures to help you wipe off your salt and road grime. For those of you who want a little luxury, you can always rent a room at the inn.

Day 3 (Fri.) May 21 - to Lee Vining (47 Miles - 4,000' Elev. Gain)

Yes …. Your first true day of climbing as we head to the base of the giant Eastern Sierra. On the way, you will be treated to unparalleled views of mammoth Mono Lake, the source of much of the fresh water shipped to the millions of people in Los Angeles. For those of you who feel a little short changed on miles, feel free to make the 3,000' climb up to Tioga Pass, gateway to Yosemite National Park. We stay at the Mono Vista RV Park. 760-647-6401. Lee Vining has plenty of motels and restaurants for those who are luxury handicapped.

Day 4 (Sat.) May 22 - to Wellington, NV (68 Miles - 4,000' Elev. Gain)

We start the day with a route close to the western shores of Mono Lake, followed by a climb to Conway Summit and a beautiful descent into Bridgeport for an early lunch. Shortly thereafter, we head along the east side of Sweetwater Mountains into Nevada and our camp site at Wellington Station Resort 775-465-2409 located on the beautiful Smith River . One of the highlights of this day is dinner at the Hey Day Restaurant …...which serves family style Basque dinners ….. Guaranteed to replace the calories you burned today.

Day 5 (Sun.) May 23 - to Markleeville/Grover Hot Springs. (42 Mi- 4,500')

After a climb over minor Jack's Pass, you will skirt the shoreline of Topaz Lake before starting the hardest climb of the trip over 8,500' Monitor Pass. While struggling up this wonderful grade, reflect on the thousands of riders that will be following you in July on the infamous Markleeville Death Ride, a brutal one day event that has riders climbing over 15,000' in one day … with Monitor Pass being just one of 5 climbs. After a screaming descent, you will pull into the small village of Markleeville for lunch, and then onto Grover Hot Springs State Park 530-694-2248, our camp for the night.

Day 6 (Mon.) May 24 - to Twin Lakes/Bridgeport ( 81 Miles--8,000' Gain)

This is definitely the toughest day of the trip as you will have to climb back up and over two passes, Monitor & Devils Gate. After summiting Monitor, you will cycle to Walker for lunch followed by a long gradual climb to Devil's Gate. After arriving in Bridgeport, you will cycle through lush grasslands to Twin Lakes at the base of Matterhorn Peak. Our campsite is Annett's Mono Village 760-932-7071. The resort has both a restaurant and store.

Day 7 (Tues.) May 25 - to June Lakes (60 Miles - 4,800' Elev. Gain)

Our destination today is a campsite on beautiful June Lake. We get there by retracing our route on Hwy 395 up and over Conway Summit and back into Lee Vining for lunch at the famous Lee Vining Mobil Gas Station, one of the more unique businesses here in the eastern sierra. We conclude the day by taking The June Lake Loop by a series of lake and through the community of June Lake to our campsite. I consider this side road one of the most scenic rides in California. Pine Cliff Resort 760-648-7558. In addition, there are various motels and lodges in June Lake Village itself.

Day 8 (Wed.) May 26 - to Bishop ( 63 Miles - 4,400' Elev. Gain)

Our last day on the road finds us riding many miles on Hwy. 395 before finishing the day on beautiful uncluttered side roads heading into the Owens Valley. For those of you with the inclination, you can make a side trip to Mammoth Lakes, the premiere mountain resort here in the Eastern Sierra. Before descending down into the Owens Valley, we'll stop at Tom's Place on the edge of Crowley Lake. Tom's Place is my favorite eating joint in the area …. After lunch, we complete our trip by descending down to Round Valley and then climbing a mere 2,000' to our house in Starlite. End of trip.

No Mints Adventures

(Wayne Martin & Margy Marshall)

1335 Rocking W Dr. #390

Bishop, CA 93514

Phone: 1-760-872-7630

E-mail: nomints@opriusmail.com

Web : http://www.nomints.com