Was going to bike around Vegas but it took some time to find a new wheel and when I got to the bottom of Mount Charleston I could see a huge black cloud hanging over it. Won’t get me two days in a row with that shit.
Just ended up driving 5 hours to Lone Pine to have a chill restful night in a motel.

Woke up to a few of these little guys having made their way in the car. Had to leave windows open all night to even have a chance at sleeping...

Desert drivers. Go fast, crash hard. Big brain me have. Vroom vroom.

Now you're really getting into that Arizona desert landscape. Flat, no trees and bald mountains in the horizon as far as the eye can see.

I’m doing this 360 thing now. So smart. You really can’t get a feel for the vastness of these lands without the full 360.

More strange rock formations. All of these things tend to have names. Where do people even get off naming rocks?

Hours and hours of driving through desert valleys.

I thought googlemaps tricked me into going through Death Valley for no reason but it's really the only way across to California from Vegas.

The start of the descent into Death Valley. You basically have to go there if you want to make it from Vegas to Tahoe.

It's really quite a sigh, you kind of just have to drive there to get a feel for how vast it is.

The bottom of the valley, over 1200m below.

Was only 41c at the bottom ( 29c at the top ). There's some dunes. Salt. Rocks. Death. Lots of death. People built a tourist town here though.

Elevation profile of Death Valley. There's 4 of the top100 climbs there. Do them in winter if you know what's good for you.

There's a second dip and a sketchy cliffside drive to get you out of the west side of Death Valley. Wouldn't do this drive at night let's just say.

Beyond the valley, as you start driving into the Sierra mountains to get to the Owens Valley, a long stretch of Alpine landscapes hope to a dozen of the USA’s highest climbs.

Stayed at this little motel in Lone Pine, CA. Very expensive touristy place at the base of the High Sierras. 115$usd for a bed! But I was wiped and needed a good shower/ rest.

Saw this little guy just chilling at the entrance, eating ants.

The entire area is big on western memorabilia and movies. Lots of John Wayne worshipping going on.

Decided to just go out at a bar for a beer. Unfortunately the burgers are a little more expensive in Lone Pine. 30$ French toast breakfast...Yeah...

As much as it’s fun to stop at motels and eat out, it’s ludicrously expensive. Was out around 170$usd for the night+breakfast. Car + Wal-Mart would have been maybe 10$. 150$usd extra per day is 4500usd a month, almost 6000cad. 72k/year difference between the two vacation types.

Planned on doing 2 big climbs today, #12 Whitney Portal and #5 Onion Road. Mechanical problems decided otherwise.

You can see Horseshoe Meadow snaking along the same mountain range. That's another top100 climb.

Rear derailleur just wouldn't shift anymore so I came back down into town and found one of these pins was broken... Great...

Friend Mike suggested trying to use foil to bridge the connection with the battery. After 30 tries it worked. For some reason.

Back up the mountain we go! Look at this thing. Humans make rocks better.

Just the face of a tired, tired guy sick of dealing with mechanical BS. Stop inventing things that break. Things shouldn't ever break. Yes. Do that.

This climb takes you to the "base" of Mount Whitney ( highest point in Continental US ) where people start the hike to the top.

I love signs that just dispense good life advice. Mount Whitney in the middle there.

This is a spectacular climb as it just creeps up the cliff and gives you an unobstructed view of the entire valley.

View from the very top of the climb. 1400m up from Lone Pine.

Breaking was wonky going down. Turns out: Another melted carbon rim. Trash. Stop making this. Stop. Just stop.

No second climb for the day so I just drove the 4 hours to Carson City, where there's actually civilization and bike shops.

Passed by this bakery in Bishop. It was advertised in Lone Pine, so had to be good!

Came here for this. What's famous about this? It's just bread. Oh the water is special? Get the hell out of here, I'm keeping my 7$.

It's a huge bakery with tons of cool stuff though. Wish I could eat 4 cakes a day but... sadly this is not our world.

In this world bikes break and donkey-shaped cookies and donuts make you fat. u_u

The drive is pretty insane though as you drive along these high snowed peaks for hours and hours.

Desert at the bottom, snow on top.

360 view from Crowley Lake.

The lake was formed by a huge volcanic eruption. Nature can really fuck shit up.

More driving through the Sierras. From there you get near Yosemite Redwood Forest.

Mono Basin, about 2.5 hours south of Reno. There’s so many little mountain / western towns from Lone Pine all the way to Reno. Not many services, just a few little lodges and motels. Really amazing drive though. Makes you appreciate how much empty land there is in the world. You could stick everyone in India ten times over just in this place.

No biking today, just finding a new wheel and trying to fix my derailleur... But also this Chocolate Factory.

Which is home to this giant prospector statue in Washoe City! They also make some amazing fudge.

Just a few pics of the chalet we're staying at in Tahoe City! It's real fancy.

Very bear-themed as well. Like 30 bear related items in the house.

It's almost too much you know? Almost.

Has a hot tub! We stayed in there 4 hours the first night.

Lake Tahoe is an alpine lake, which means...yeah it's cold. And full of snow. This is in June. This is like 3 hours from the Sonora Desert to the East.

White-face woodpecker. Boom.

First of 4 big climbs in the region, 2 hours drive away. 29km long, 1400m of climbing.

Ryan and Mike at the bottom of the climb.

You can see the switchbacks carved in the side of the mountain.

It's definitely one of the more scenic climbs, with a nice river meandering at the bottom.

Another view of the bottom.

The top doesn't have anything, sadly. Not even sure where this is a pass... too exactly. Camping?

Great view while descending. It was a nice closed road today. The forest on all sides in the bottom is burned to a crisp. You really have to want to live here.

Lake Tahoe has a road and little towns doing a full circle around it, with great views most of the way. It’s rare that you get to actually bike around a whole body of water like that.

Just the guys at the start of the ride. Looks like this the entire way.

Summer girlfriend. It wasn't meant to last.

Another useful shot of asses.

The best vista point from around the lake, about 200m up. This is the only island on the lake.

There's a tiny little abandoned castle on there. Used to be a tea house.

Thousands of tourists doing this all weekend.

We made a nice loop out of this one. Climb 76 on the USA top 100. 1300m of climbing, but not particularly steep and not great views as it just goes to a ski resort and then swings back down towards lake Tahoe. The road around the lake itself is much more epic.

Steller's Jay. Very common bird in the western alpine regions.

A nice view of the lake again. Was pouring rain when we did it the other day.

The guys

The bottom of the valley as you cross the mountains from the lake to Carson City.

Mount Rose. I think? It's stuck together with a bunch of other big snowcapped mountains in there.

Top of the pass. Restroom closed for some mysterious reason.

Went down for ice cream and saw this weird dog looking at us. He was hungry. For flesh.

The lake has a few very nice beaches, though the water is ridiculously cold. You really have to want it.

Saw a sweet mini-putt that night. Better than watching sports on tv. Ew.

We didn't do the Dinosaur one :( The castle one was 28 holes, Dinosaur only 18. We're big boys, we need all the holes.

My one shining moment where the little animatronic spider pushed my ball into the hole. Highlight of my trip.

Just mini-putt things.

Should have been a nice light day but my derailleur stopped working right at the bottom of the pass… Made it real long to finish the last 70km solo.

Pic of the valley looking back at the mountains hiding Lake Tahoe. It's just a large wide open rural area between the lake and the desert.

While it's not that high of a climb ( about 1000m ), Monitor Pass has some of the best views.

Look at this cool green valley that slopes up between two mountain ranges.

Long drive back home, having to suffer through the swarm of tourists.

So ends a really long week. Just 5 rides but still an Everest worth of climbing. The mechanical problems are piling up, might be time to shop for a new bike.
Just one week left to the trip before I’m back in BC though!

More travel stuff:
Arizona/California: Drive to Tucson • Tucson • California Climbing • Bay Area / Washington
Canada Coast to Coast: Victoria •Vancouver Island • Vancouver • Southern Rockies • Prairies • Ontario • Niagara • Quebec • Gaspesie / PEI • Maritimes • Newfoundland • Maritimes2 • Bay of Fundy • Quebec2 • Montreal • Ontario2 • Prairies Statues • Jasper/Banff • Northern Rockies • Washington State Bonus

Car Conversion / Purchase: Part 1 • Part 2 • Part 3
Life on the road: Part 1 • Part 2

2023 Summer Trip 3 - Vegas to Lake Tahoe