Distance: 23.5-mile loop Elevation gain: 1980 ft This is not a great or thrilling ride, but it’s perfectly pleasant, a short, flat stroll through the Owens Valley fields with nice Sierra mountains as a backdrop to the west. I include it because our Eastern Sierra riding is short on recovery-day rides, and this is an ideal one. If you want to add on to it, there are two harder rides smack at its turn-around point (see Adding Rides below). Turn off Hwy 395 onto Saw Mill Rd.—yes, to my surprise, the road crosses the divided highway. Park in the large dirt parking lot at the intersection of South ..read more

Distance: 38.3-mile out and back Elevation gain: 6015 ft As with all the rides in Bestrides situated along Hwy 395, I encourage you to read the “Eastern Sierra” section of our By Regions page, to put this ride in context. I also recommend you read this write-up in tandem with our Whitney Portal Road ride. They’re right next to each other geographically—in fact Horseshoe Meadows Rd. takes off from Whitney Portal Rd.,—and they’re almost identical in character, profile, rewards, and difficulty level. And so the write-ups for the two rides are identical as well. I haven’t ridden either one of them ..read more

Distance: 23.6 out and back Elevation gain: 4610 ft As with all the rides in Bestrides situated along Hwy 395, I encourage you to read the “Eastern Sierra” section of our By Regions page, to put this ride in context. I also recommend you read this write-up in tandem with our Horseshoe Meadows Road ride. They’re right next to each other geographically—in fact Horseshoe Meadows Rd. takes off from Whitney Portal Rd.,—and they’re almost identical in character, profile, rewards, and difficulty level. And so the write-ups for the two rides are identical as well. I haven’t ridden either one of them ..read more

Distance: 32.4-mile lollipop Elevation gain: 1960 ft As with all the rides in Bestrides situated along Hwy 395, I encourage you to read the “Eastern Sierra” section of our By Regions page, to put this ride in context. This is the go-to easy, pretty ride on the eastern side of the Sierra—the one you take your partner or casual-cyclist buddy on. It’s also where you go in the Eastern Sierra for lush—If you find most of the riding in the area too open, rocky, and desert-y for you, this is your ride. It goes through very pretty aspen-filled woods, past three lakes and one unforgettable bo ..read more

Distance: 16.2 miles out and back Elevation gain: 1970 ft Warning: At the moment (9/32) this road is only open on weekends, and may soon be closed entirely for construction. Check road conditions before heading out. As with all the rides in Bestrides situated along Hwy 395, I encourage you to read the “Eastern Sierra” section of our By Regions page, to put this ride in context. This is the only ride in Bestrides I don’t really like. But I want to talk about it, because it’s iconic, you’ll want to know what it’s like, and it might get much better soon (as of 9/23). This ride descends from the M ..read more

Distance: 46-mile out and back Elevation gain: 6700 ft This is one of the Eastern Sierra rides I drove in my car. But I want to talk about it anyway, so you’ll know about it. For a lengthier discussion of the issue, see the By Region‘s “Eastern Sierra” section. This is a huge ride, bigger than anything I could do in one go. It’s easy to break into two rides, either one of which is a major ride by itself. If you do it all, I’m willing to bet it will be the hardest 46-mile ride you ever do in your life. It has a ton of climbing, made much harder by the elevation, which tops out at 10,000 ft. Eve ..read more

Distance: 13.6-mile out-and-back Elevation gain: 1930 ft As with all the rides in Bestrides situated along Hwy 395, I encourage you to read the “Eastern Sierra” section of our By Regions page, to put this ride in context. This is a fairly short, easy-for-the-area climb that starts 14 miles up W. Hwy 186 out of Bishop. People ride those first 14 miles all the time, and you’re welcome to, but I find the terrain dry and uninspiring (small rocks and brush), the road contour boring (straight, with unaltered pitch) and the road surface cursed with those horizontal expansion cracks filled w ..read more

Distance: 8 miles out and back Elevation gain: 825 ft As with all the rides in Bestrides situated along Hwy 395, I encourage you to read the “Eastern Sierra” section of our By Regions page, to put this ride in context. Have you ever ridden a bike through a National Park or National Monument and thought, “Wow, the scenery’s great, but the road is wide as a freeway and straight as a stick, and there are people everywhere. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if just once I could ride through scenery as grand as this, but on a small road with a charming contour and have the whole place to myself?” Fantasy ..read more

Distance: 27-mile out and back Elevation gain: 930 ft As with all the rides in Bestrides situated along Hwy 395, I encourage you to read the “Eastern Sierra” section of our By Regions page, to put this ride in context. Every ride doesn’t have to be exhilarating. Sometimes it’s a beautiful thing to just go roll a lovely road and see some pretty sights. Such is the Twin Lakes Road ride out of Bridgeport. It’s dead easy—maybe the easiest ride in Bestrides (check that elevation total). It has no thrilling descents or challenging climbs and no bucket-list features. Still, it’s perfect—a f ..read more

Distance: 19.3-mile loop with spur Elevation gain: 1900 ft There are four Bestrides rides in the Grass Valley/Nevada City area—Dog Bar, Red Dog/Pasquale, Willow Valley Road, and Lower Colfax Road.  They are all pleasant up-and-down strolls through nice woods—no grand vistas, no awe-inspiring crags, no waterfalls, nothing of the sort.  Each route has its virtues. Dog Bar has the best descent (on Rattlesnake), but it’s also the most built up.  Dog Bar goes to Grass Valley.  Red Dog/Pasquale and Willow Valley begin and end in Nevada City, and both go through the prettiest wood ..read more