It’s been a good year at Bikepacking Northern Nevada. In the spirit of every trip inspires the next, 2024 was no exception, and the rides of 2024 will inspire the adventures in 2025. 2024 started with me traveling in Alamos, Sonora, Mexico between Christmas and New Years. Now I am inspired to take a trip to Copper Canyon and I have become super curious about the Sonoran desert. I spent a day in San Diego on the return and thought, I need to spend more time here. Once I was back in Carson City I took a trip to Death Valley, entering the park from the north, out of Dyer, Nevada. In many ways it felt like a first, though I have had a couple visits to the Park prior. Then when I got back and shared my experience with folks there seemed to be a broad interest in adventure touring Death Valley such that I felt Winter 2024 was the bikepacking season for DVNP. I hope it continues. It is a favorite National Park and I think with the right planning it is ripe for bicycle touring.

My highlight of February was the route from the north end of Winnemucca Dry Lake, NV 447, through the Nightingale and Sahwave Mountains. I have ridden through this area from the south, east and north, so this gave another approach to the gap between the Sahwave and Blue Wing Mountains, which I refer to as “The Notch”. My first rides in the area and my continued fascination came from the hourglass contours on the USGS topographic maps labeled Juniper Pass. Finding water troughs in Stonehouse Canyon was a real bonus to planning trips in that area.

In March I traveled to Taiwan to visit my friend Tomo and help out at the Taipei Bike Show. It was a phenomenal trip to a country I knew nothing about. I was fortunate to meet Tomo’s friends and associates (with Tomo they are always friends first) and travel down the west coast of the country. I am forever grateful to have had Tomo and Cola as guides.

In late March, early April I traveled to Kauai, HI for a snorkeling/beach get away. This wasn’t bike related at all but I did write about my Mai Tai adventures. If I had to give up bikes I would put my energy into snorkeling.

May was a big month leading 3 trips. First the Walker River 100, which saw a surprise snow storm. Then I led a trip in collaboration with Wildwood Open Lands Foundation to the Lava Beds/ Elephant Head Rock. At the end of May I led a trip through the Smoke Creek Desert to the Black Rock Desert for the BLM’s annual Black Rock Rendezvous as a part of Rides with Friends. Riding with Dave Barker was a favorite experience this year.

At the end of June/ early July I visited Massachusetts for the first time. This wasn’t a bike trip but I got to do paddle sports and fly fishing in addition to touristing. Visiting Boston for the day was walking through American history.

The middle of July was primarily spent in Lamoille Canyon for a little biking, a little fishing, and a stack of reading. This has become an annual get away to one of Nevada’s most beautiful places. For the hottest season of the year, it just might be the best place you can be.

Ironically August is bookmarked by two trips to the Black Rock Desert in 100+* temperatures. The Black Rock Desert sits at just below 4000’ in elevation, too low to beat the heat. The first is the annual Perseids Meteor Shower Campout with Friends of Black Rock – High Rock, the second is Burning Man with 70,000 new close friends. At the Perseids Campout I led a short ride from where the pavement ends into the camp. Then a night ride onto the very dark playa, and a sunrise ride across the playa to the terminus of the Quinn River. At Burning Man I gave 5 either sunrise or sunset tours focused on what can be experienced outside of Black Rock City. I gave a talk on setting up bike tours for the environment. It was a blueprint for the Rides with Friends program now in its 5th year with Friends of Black Rock – High Rock. While a lot of work can go into leading a short bike tour the payoff in converting participants into stewards of public lands is high. Experiencing the wild spaces at the speed of a bicycle in a cooperative setting is a powerful tool for an organization focused on “Connect, Inspire, Protect.” I reconnected with Reet Singh of Trip Outside and we got together for an interview that became this podcast. Later I was interviewed by Jen Murphy of Adventure Cyclist on the topic, I hope to see that in print soon.

Bikepacking Northern Nevada had 15 blog posts between annual reviews this year. Considering the blog is ten years old, has about 220 posts, my posting rate is a little below average. Rather than focusing on the numbers, I feel like I have been missing my weekly adventuring on new routes that turn into stories to share. That will be a goal for 2025, bringing back the weekly new routes.

At the beginning of October I led the Crown Jewel ride for Rides with Friends. This program is in its 5th year. The Crown Jewels include, High Rock Canyon Loop, Black Rock – Soldier Meadows Hot Springs Loop, Fly Canyon Loop, Hot Springs – Micro Playa Loop, and the Potholes – High Rock Canyon Out and Back. Here is the collection in Ride with GPS. Corby C joined me for this years trip through High Rock Canyon.

All summer I was looking forward to October. Doug and I planned on riding his route, Dark Sky’s, over 2+ weeks starting on the 8th. We planned on covering 630 miles between Eureka, NV and Baker, UT. We covered most of it, skipping about 60 miles to avoid a storm over the highest point in the route. We covered 570 miles without a hitch. Doug built an outstanding route for highlighting the cultural and natural history of Northern Nevada.

In November Doug and I made a 4 day bikerafting trip on Lake Mead. While I have made several bikerafting day trips and one overnight, this trip stood out in its level of commitment. Though after the two weeks of Dark Sky’s Route, the four days were over before it began.

I led a Winter Solstice Overnight December 21-22 to close out the year. This trip was encouraged and promoted through Bikepacking Roots Community Stewards. Within the guidelines of Bikepacking.com it also qualified for Good Night 2024. Regardless 2024 had plenty of good nights.

By the numbers, my Review: How to carry water in the desert, Ragged Top Rd. and Emigrant Trail Loop, Bikefishing in the Desert, Summer 2020, Through the Notch, Juniper Pass, from NV 447, Death Valley Overnight: Cucomungo Canyon and Eureka Valley Dunes were my top 5 visited posts this year. The Kokopelli Hornet-lite packraft review came in 6th. As an honorable mention it has been my most visited post of all time. The list is a good representation of what I have written about so it is nice to see the stats. I hope they deliver beyond their titles.

Of the 15 posts I made in 2024, Through the Notch, Death Valley, and Made in Taiwan Part 1 were tops! To be fair some have only been out for a couple of weeks. But it is interesting to see the range in appeal or reach.

The Bikepacking Northern Nevada monthly newsletter on Substack is in its second year! The Pitch came out at the end of February 2023, and the first newsletter in March 2023. There have been 21 monthly installments. The January 2025 newsletter should follow this post. My goal with the newsletter is to have a broader appeal to adventure travel beyond the niche activity of bikepacking. I choose topics to explore that have local personal interests but hopefully can inspire the reader wherever they are. Then I try to give a summary of what is going on plus what is coming up with me. Considering this blog started as a writing exercise, I feel like the newsletter has been a great addition to my journey.

Looking ahead I see more of the same. It is about filling in the gaps on the map. I use the heat maps feature on Ride with GPS to see where I’ve been. I need to update the Map Room page of the blog. Not only do I want to fill in the gaps but start making connections between adjacent loops. I have focused on the long day trips and weekend overnights. Now I want to focus on the 3-7 day trips and a couple longer trips each year.

I still want to offer a monthly trip to our local community. I have been working with Bikepacking Roots as a Route and Community Steward and it has been eye-opening meeting other Stewards across the nation. The organization is devoted to justice, equity, diversity and inclusion in the bikepacking space. Not only do they promote 10 signature routes they also promote 40 local routes (and growing) through their Community Routes Project (CRoP). The stewardship program has grown to 61 stewards across 27 states.

Our winter is starting out pretty mild, not good for our decades long drought but good for getting out on the bike. I will get down to Hawthorne/Walker Lake area to do several 100 mile loops south to Mono Lake and Death Valley. To the north I am focused on the Pine Forest Range and a spring collaboration with Wildwood Open Lands Foundation through the Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge. Next comes the Jarbidge/Owahee area. Bikerafting on the Humboldt River is up there in my list of to-do’s as well.

Next October I will link together the Sagebrush Ripple and Dark Sky’s Routes into a thousand mile Great Basin route, Dark Sky’s Ripple (?). It will be a Northern Nevada showcase route.

I am putting together my return to Taiwan as I write this. The plan is to tour the island for a week leading up to the Taipei Bike Show then work in Clever Standard’s booth. Let’s see what we can do in 2025.