Nevada's First Officail US Bicycle Route!

Davis Creek Bikepacking Report.

***Warning....ton of pics....takes a while to load.***

Well...there's the route folks (other than between the airport and PJ's for breakfast, where I forgot to restart the GPS)!  It's probably a little over 50 miles with the correction and about 3,400 ft of climbing with about 4 miles of single track trails.  While as many as 13 folks had "committed" to the ride....only 5 intrepid souls rolled out from the group start (The Cuter Commuter, Climber Girl, The Touring Teacher, and the Paminator).  It should also be noted that 4 out of 5 of this group were women....so apparently the men have some catching up to do.

I've described the route in previous posts so I won't do a blow by blow.  Instead I'll go for the picture tour with comments and a story or two here or there.  So be warned....this will probably be a long post for me.

The starting lineup at Wingfield Park (Paminator, Cuter Commuter, The Touring Teacher, Climber Girl, and Riding in Reno). And yeah, remember I make up everyone's name for my ramblings....if you want your moniker changed just let me know folks!

Heading out.

Just look at the range of tire sizes that made the trip...me on the left with 2.2 inch (mtn bike tires), The Touring Teacher in the middle with 25 or 28 mm (touring/road bike tires), and Climber girl with 34 mm (cyclocross knobby tires).  There were portions of the route where every type was needed!

About 20 minutes into the ride....we just had to stop at Peddler's Deli for ice cream...and to check out their new bike rack!

After ice cream everyone was all smiles as we climbed up and over the Mt. Rose fan through some low traffic subdivisions.  Climber girl is also happy because she is putting her brand new bike through it's paces!

The views of Slide Mountain and Mt. Rose were fantastic all morning....and with the help of a few access roads we connected our way through subdivision central!

I was obviously having a good time....or trying to catch bugs in my mouth!?

Eventually we found ourselves at the beginning of the first section of single track....Lower Whites Creek Trail.

 

A lunch stop was called by the creek.

Now where did I put the food in the while trying cram all this stuff on my bike!?

Trail side munching.

After lunch we hit the trail again....some riding some hike a bike....

....but fortunately, wading was not required thanks to some smartly placed bridge work.

About half way up Whites Creek our first "issue" emerged from the Cuter Commuter's rear tire!  The only reason it's still holding is the Mr. Tuffy tire liner!

The rest of the crew catching up to assess the tire issue.

We opted to try to use a dollar bill as a boot/patch for the shredded tire, hoping it would hold until we hit paved roads and the possibility of getting her hubby to run the support vehicle out with a new tire.

The plan was to have the support vehicle meet us at the head of the next trail section (Galena Creek Trail)....a large gunshot type bang (and a small shriek) let us know the dollar bill patch wasn't quite up for the challenge.  So we camped out on Callahan Ranch Rd. to wait for a new tire.

An no your eyes aren't deceiving you....the cuter commuter took this challenge on in a nice dress on her commuter bike.  And while the rest of us used the time waiting for a new tire to arrive sprawled on the sidewalk for a nap, she began to clean her bike!!!  

Although...she did eventually join us!

Yours truly...going with the flow.

Eventually help arrived (the Racer), the tire was changed out, and we made it down the road to the Galena Creek Trail head.

I didn't take a lot of pictures on this section....but the  Galena trail was much more rideable (like 90%).  The girls will probably give me a hard time for catching them on one of the few sections they did have to walk.

After a really fast....but short downhill on Joy Lake Rd., the exclusive policies of St. James's Village forced us up the Brown's Creek trail.  This little gathering on the trail was due to the fact that I hadn't scouted this portion of the route other than via google maps!  Also...we were getting a bit tired of pushing bikes up hill!  The GPS gods showed us we only had about a 1/4 mile or so left of trail so we pushed on!

And then the rewards!!!  5.3 miles of downhill dropping 810 feet.  There aren't too many pictures because we were hitting 40+ mph and enjoying huge panoramic views of Washoe Lake!

After one last little climb up to Davis Creek Campground and a lap through an almost totally filled first loop....a decision was make to skirt a gate and stealth camp in the back end of the closed secondary campground loop (and yes, we did pay the fees....and that's what got us busted the following morning)!

The Touring Teacher taught us the best camp sites are always at the top of the hill and pulled the rest of the group to a nice secluded spot!

It wasn't long before shoes were shed, bike shorts were shucked, and flasks found their way out of everyone's luggage!

Just as we were getting settled....we were joined by the Sports Book....

...and Ms. Rivendell.  These two had taken a slightly more "paved" route to join us. 

We spent a bit of time enjoying our whiskey, making beer can alcohol stoves, and apparently having a dance party!

As the sun set we were joined by our intrepid support crew (the Racer) who brought fire wood, wine, and cookies!

The festivities lasted well into the night.

After a good nights sleep the fire was stoked and we enjoyed coffee and breakfast.

Mandatory picture with destination signs were taken!

Twice....because we didn't have someone to take a picture with everyone all at once!

 

And then we headed out for the mostly down hill (and all paved) ride home!

The pack cruising on old 395!

Decision time....what route to what restaurant for a celebration 2nd breakfast!

And they're still smiling after 46+ miles!

A detour through the airport loop to "pick up" Climber Girls hubby...ok, not pick up....but we did provide him a car to get home in!

And the final destination....PJ's for a big 2nd breakfast.

And a final group shot.

If it looks interesting stay tuned.  I'm pretty sure everyone is up for another round and you're welcome to join us on the next outing!

Bikepacking Kit Completed....

Ok, I had most everything (light weight) I wanted for bike touring.  The only heavy thing left was my tent...which when just pitched as a ground cloth and rain fly was about 3.5-4 lbs.  Today, thanks to ebay, I reduced that total by 3+ lbs.

1 lb!!!

The OR Helium Bivy is the lightest waterproof bivy I know of (that you can find on ebay).  So, I'm now the proud owner of a new/used bivy.  Just in time for our March trip to Davis Creek.  Now if I can get used to sleeping in a convenient bear snack pack....I should be just fine!

Davis Creek S24O trial run!

Anyone who's ever done any bicycle touring knows that not everything goes as planned.  With this thought in mind....I figured I better ride the planned route for our little group s24o outing prior to hauling a bunch of people on an untested path.

The route...or a version of it.

So I headed out on a beautiful Saturday morning to see how things shook out.  I did ride with a moderately loaded bike including much of what I planned to bring on the actual trip.  Just to make sure everything was on the up and up.  I also had the privilege of a solid 20 mph (gusting to 35 mph) head wind for the first half of the trip.

Things started out a little fuzzy.  Basically, most of the in town route has good bike lanes....so everything worked out.

Since it was on my route I stopped by the new Pedalers Deli.  Unfortunately, their hours are so limited it's unlikely I'll every make it inside.  A shame...I could have used a coffee.

The first small climb....up over windy hill.

The nice part of navigating the suburbs on the Mt. Rose fan.  They are all interconnected by emergency access roads.  They might be closed to cars but give bicycles a perfect way to connect through on low traffic streets!

The views were great all morning.  The down side is that windmill is spinning like crazy and I'm headed into the wind!

In an effort to make the ride interesting, I included sections of single track.  Headed up lower White's Creek Trail. 

Touring and singletrack...can it get much better?  A side note here.  A portion of the trail was rutted out due to all the rain.  I had to hike a bike for about 1/4 to 1/2 mile.  So yeah, it could be a bit better!

I also found a way to incorporate some fire road rather than busy Mt. Rose Highway.

After only a 1/2 mile of road....you can make the connection from White's Creek to Lower Galena Creek Trail.

Although given the recent rain and snow, some of the trail is more creek than trail right now.

When you top out of the Lower Galena Creek trail you're on Joy Lake Rd.  You get a nice little down hill that leaves you here.  Just a short ride through the "village" would get you through to Davis Creek park.  Except...St. James's doesn't play nice with bicycles.  Meaning you aren't allowed in. 

Fortunately, a nice fire fighter at the local station by the gate showed me a little trail that gets your around the grumpy gatehouse guard!  Unfortunately, the short cut left me one ridge line short of the road I was supposed to be on.  I was also looking at a wall of storm clouds as I considered if I wanted another hike a bike section to complete my trip.

I opted to try to avoid the rain and head for home.  My GPS showed a road that lead right down to Old 395.  Turns out it was the construction road built for access when they put in the new highway.  It was "closed" for the season....to cars.

For me it was a private highway right back to Old 395!  It is ridiculously steep and washboarded out.  Still a fun, screamer of a downhill though!

Complete with cows at the bottom!

The construction road dumps you out just below the big span bridge.

From there it was smooth sailing back down 395....wide bike lanes, light traffic, and a stiff tail wind!

I said stiff tail wind right....this downed billboard shows just how windy it was!

Rolling back up Virginia St.  Not a great street for biking...but at least I wasn't alone.  It's also as a direct route home as you can get and flat to boot!

So that's a quick version of the trip (well almost all of it).  I'm not sure exactly what to do about the St. James's Village issue.  We can skirt the gate house and correct my error on where to head from there....but it'd be nice if the whole route could be on the up and up.  I'm thinking of contacting them to see if we can get a day pass and make the group ride a bite less stealth oriented. 

Either way...it's a good route and should be tons of fun!