Trans Bernadino's Bikepacking

I like to think that every great adventure will somehow involve either a train or a ferry at some point along the way. For this adventure, I elected to use a train to get to and from the start/end of my ride.

I've been thinking about a dirt loop around the San Bernadino Mountains for a few years. I've done a good bit of riding around the Big Bear Lake area but haven't done much exploring outside of the valley so much of my planned route will be new terrain.

The planned route. I call it The Trans Bernadino's.

I planned to load up my mountain bike with a light load of sleeping bag, bivy sack, sleeping pad and enough gels and drink mix to get me through a planned 20 hours of riding to get around the 152-mile course. The plan was to finish in three days with a fourth if things didn't exactly go as planned. I've been on a couple of tours before so I know that nothing ever goes as planned.

After a easy 1.5 hour train ride from Irvine to San Bernadino, I set out on Old Route 66 up the Cajon Pass to Cleghorn Road and the start of the dirt.

Not the first time I've gotten my kicks on Route 66.

Cleghorn Road turned out to be much more pleasant than expected. I've ridden quite a few OHV roads and most are just horrible. I was actually expecting steep, loose conditions and a bunch of hike-a-bike but found a well-graded road that was actually a fun climb. Making it into the top-10 on the STRAVA segment on a fully loaded bike is always a nice ego boost also. The views of the high desert and the back side of Mt. Baldy are fantastic once you gain the ridge.

Great views on Cleghorn Ridge.

I ended the first day at Lake Silverwood State Park after riding 38 miles with 4500' of climbing. I felt good the whole way but am looking forward to a couple of tough days to finish this off.

The top of Miller Canyon.

Day two started off with a tough climb up Miller Canyon that finally made me push the bike through a couple of sections. Since I'm on unfamiliar turf, I will be trying to conserve energy as much as possible. Unfortunately, I will make a choice at the top that dooms me to some really tough riding. I had seen some OHV "trails" on the map that looked like singletrack and had decided these might be a fun way around Lake Arrowhead. These turned out to be motorcycle trails and the first one was actually really fun with banked turns, whoops and some cool features. The second, not so much. It just deteriorated into one super steep, loose climb after another until I was pretty worked.

Exploring the moto trails north of Lake Arrowhead.

I ended up bailing out after a couple of miles for the nearest road to town (I was also getting a little hungry) and this is where my plan went out the door. About a mile after I hit the pavement, one of the bolts holding my seat in place snapped leaving me with a seat flopping all over. I was able to McGuyver it well enough to ride the short distance to the bus stop where I caught the bus up to Bear Valley Bikes where they dug around and found a bolt that fit.

I missed out on around 15 miles of my planned route due to the unplanned bus ride but I was in position for day three which would take me up and over Wildhorse Meadow road and then all the way down the Santa Ana River Trail.

The climb up Wildhorse Meadows Road.

Day three started with a big breakfast and then a nice climb out of Big Bear Valley. After 2 hours, I was looking down at the Santa Ana River 2000' below.

The Santa Ana River Trail (SART) is a Southern California Classic. Miles of singletrack carved into the steep side of the canyon make for an awesome ride. Great views the entire way. Things were going great until Middle Control Road. Just after crossing the road there is a section that still has a bunch of downed trees and wash outs. This isn't too bad normally but lifting a fully loaded bike over trees gets a little old after 20 or 30 times. It also put me way behind schedule. I made it to Angeles Oaks just a few minutes before the restaurant closed and was able to get some food and water.

I also decided to make another route change due to the time and not wanting to risk running into worse trail conditions on the lower part of the trail. After a quick run down the Loch Leven trail, I was back on the road for the long run back to the San Bernadino Train Station. Three days, 135 miles, 13,000+ feet of climbing. Not bad for a quick trip to the local mountains.

The start of 35 miles of downhill.

Going Gravel

Anyone who keeps up with cycling has probably seen all the recent hype about gravel riding. The same goes for anyone who has followed my riding habits over the last year. Yes, I have jumped in with both feet and have to admit that I'm having a blast.

Exploring the road less traveled.

There seems to be some confusion over what gravel grinding is with some people thinking it is longer cyclocross rides, some thinking it is a road ride with sections of dirt road thrown in and others who are out looking for super long rides on dirt and gravel roads. The great thing about gravel grinding is that it is all of these things with a big dose of fun tossed in the mix.

Anyone who rides a lot has to admit to periods of boredom on the bike. The same old routes get stale and no matter where you live, eventually you run out of options. Enter the gravel grinder. Those who follow my riding have seen that I am always out trying to link MTB trails together using as little pavement as possible. Now to perfectly honest, this often involves a lot of dirt road riding that is hardly worthy of a mountain bike. To be perfectly honest, most of what we ride is long fireroads that lead to short singletrack downhills. Now, I've ridden all these downhill sections hundreds of times so if I'm just looking for mileage, I'm not that worried about skipping a half-mile section of trail in the middle of a 50-mile ride.

Who says you can't throw in a little singletrack.

Another thing I like about the gravel grinding is getting off the pavement. I like road riding. I love the speed and efficiency of a road bike. But, I don't like traffic and pretty much just looking at houses and strip malls most of the time on the bike. Taking the efficiency of the road bike off-road allows you to see places you'd never see on your roadie. It's quiet and you also don't have to worry about being turned into a hood ornament.

I also love to explore and this is where the gravel bike is truly the best. All those dirt roads and trails that you wouldn't bother with on a MTB suddenly become ways to link other areas together.It is also great for those days when you really don't want to drive all the way to the trailhead. While anything over a couple of miles gets tedious on a mountain bike, on the gravel bike, it is just a warm up.

I admit that I was pretty skeptical of the whole gravel grinder hype but like I said before, I'm in now and my grinder bike has quickly become my "lets go exploring" bike.

Finding the roads less traveled.