The Tour of Three Parks

10/20/06-10/25/06

The Drive

The drive to Mammoth should qualify as part of our rides, we are a little beat up by the drive and the elevation.

We departed Granada Hills in the OTTOvan around 3:00 pm after Andres' late arrival due to a haircut appointment that could not wait; hair produces drag.
The team is formed by Otto, Hans, Natasha, Julio, Shawn, and Andres. We left Shawn's car in the beautiful city of Mojave and continued driving north towards Mammoth. Along the way, Hans shared some OTB history with us, he talked about the club's founding members and sang Kumbaya while holding Otto's hand.

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We are spending the night at the Presidential condo, tomorrow at 8 am we'll be starting our grueling century towards Yosemite valley, approximately 103 miles of fun with plenty of climbing along the way. It should be Epic.

Day One:

Mammoth Lakes to Yosemite Valley

Ride Stats:

Start time 7:35 am
Distance 114 miles
Elevation gain 7180 feet aprox.
Birthday ride: Andres turns 35 today
Arrival time: 5:45 pm

We had an early start in Mammoth with a pancake breakfast prepared by Shawn, Hans, and gourmet coffee served by Natasha

The temperature was around the low 30s when we started , it got a little chilly during the downhill towards June lake where we did a nice scenic extra credit loop.

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                  Ready to roll                                                      Deadman Summit

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June Lake Loop

Otto missed his ride with Natasha up to Tioga pass and had to climb most of the 12 mile uphill with us (he found another ride at the end). This climb was a big one, the grade was not that steep, but the elevation hits you like a brick wall. We paced ourselves and made.

it up Tioga pass (Yosemite park's entrance were Andres begged for water from cars entering the park. We were officially out of water and the next water stop was about 40 miles out, luckily we got some H2O. The ride in Yosemite park was spectacular, the scenery was amazing, the terrain was rolling hills with plenty of climbs. Julio spent some time in the woods with a handful of baby wipes. We ran out of water again around mile 80 and found a gas station at mile 98 that provided some badly needed water and food. We had another 16 miles to go, but it was all downhill. Overall, there was plenty of climbing with plenty of downhills to make it one of our best centuries ever. In Yosemite Valley, Natasha prepared camp for us at the Upper Pines campground. When we rolled in at 5:45 pm we cooked veggie burgers, beans, and fresh guacamole. Good stuff ! Nexium (Otto's drug program) sponsored the dinner party and the festivities were a total success.

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A warm shower at Curry Village and an OTB meeting to discuss route options and hand signals to alert of oncoming farts closed the night.

We expect some bears to visit our camp tonight, but they might turn to the Ottovan, he has a secret stash of power bars hidden somewhere.

Day Two:

Yosemite Valley to Pine Flats Lake

"and the road becomes my bride..."

Departure time 8:26 am
Distance 108 miles
Total ascent 7980 ft
Riding time 7 hours 8 min
Arrival time 6 pm

Andres' Bear visit prediction from last night's journal came true at 3:20 am this morning, when a bear and its cub visited our campsite and left with no incident, just a little startled by discovering Otto sleeping naked inside the Ottovan. No sight of Julio.

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Breakfast consisted of eggs with "El Pato" sauce, apple cider, and muffins.

A little cold once again, low 40s and no sun due to the rocks all around us. Yosemite in the fall is definitively a sight to see, at least hundreds of tourists with digital camerasseem to think so.

This morning Otto decided to get a ride out of the valley to Oakhurst with Natasha (he skipped 48 miles). We climbed our way out of the valley with no major incidents, two hours to the park's gate and then sweeeeet downhill, close to 11 miles, big smiles on our faces.

We picked up Otto, water, and food at Oakhurst with about 57 miles to go. The temperature in Oakhurst was around the 80s, a nice change from the last two days but we still have some more climbing to do. The last 57 miles were really nice, we took some beautiful back roads, oak tree groves, pastures, lakes, and minimal traffic.

Our destination, Pine Flats lake; we reached the Island Park campground around 6 pm. Natasha had picked a lakeside campsite, what a treat. After a bath in the lake, (we found out later the campground had hot showers) we started our dinner festivities sponsored by Nexium once again. Appetizers consisted of chips and fresh guacamole, followed by the main course with salmon, wild rice, and salad.

Tonight's OTB meeting was around the campfire were we shared true stories, ate marshmallows, and elected Natasha as our MVP.

Another Epic day for this ride, we did not expect the beautiful scenery that we encountered, great lonely countryside roads. The downhills were fast, we raced at every chance. Cumulative climbing was surprisingly higher today than yesterday. On a last note, Otto might be getting tired, today, his jokes needed additional explanations and he is using his three additional gears on his bike as what he proudly describes as "drafting gear"

Day 3-4