My first multi-day self supported ride
I have wanted to try out the whole self-supported multi-day mountain biking experience for a while now and I finally had the opportunity. There were a few people that were interested in going with me, but things fell through. So, I went by myself. This was good and bad. Good in that no one was waiting for me, bad in that it was probably a little dangerous and I discovered I really don’t care to sleep out in the boonies by myself listen to coyotes that are a little too close.
Anyway, on with the ride; Sarah (my wife) dropped me off at Bogus Basin on Saturday at 4:30 pm with my bike and my pack (35 lbs or so + water). From there I rode Ridge Road to Harris Creek road into Horseshoe Bend and then on up into Jerusalem valley. I was supposed to meet some guys form church up there, but I never found them. I believe I was supposed to take a turn and go through a gate, the gate looked like private property and was headed downhill. I somehow opted for the uphill option and kept climbing almost to the top of the valley. This was very difficult as I was already quite tired and not used to carrying a full backpacking pack and doing lots of climbing. About 9:45 pm I finally gave up on finding anyone I knew and pitched my tent on the side of the road. While I was setting up camp some hunters came by and asked me if I was okay… Then they saw what I was doing and determined that all was well.
Overall the first day I went 38 miles, some of it was asphalt, but most of the time was spent on dirt and climbing. I learned another reason to get disk breaks… add some extra weight and nearly worn down rim breaks don’t inspire confidence. Some day I will have disk brakes.
I didn’t sleep well and ended up getting up at 4:45 am (first light), made some ramen for breakfast, packed up and headed back towards Boise. I made it into Horseshoe Bend at about 6:30 am. On the way I managed to weigh myself, bike, and back on a truck scale – 220 pounds. I started climbing over the pass at 6:50 am. Took about 1.25 hours to get to the top, the pack was really slowing be down. On the way I learned that there have been many accidents on that road and cars shed many strange looking parts when they meet k-rails.
Once I the top I stretched and continued down the other side. Going 30+ miles an hour for little effort feels much better than going 5 miles an hour for a lot of effort. At last I got back into the edge of Boise and called Sarah to pick me up at the Chevron on Beacon Light and Hwy 55.
Total length 65 miles, total ride time 8.5 hours, total assent ~5,000 feet, total descent somewhat higher since I started on ridge road ~6,000.
I learned that:
I don’t really like camping by myself,
I still want disk brakes for my mountain bike,
Packs are heavy and slow me down,
My backside gets very sore when carrying a pack for 8.5 hours.
If you are curious about exactly what the ride was here is the route (gpx format).
Bike ride file