May 22-24, 2026 I was considering not writing about Rendezvous 2026. I have written about it for 2022,23, and 24. (I missed 2025 for a family graduation in Hawaii and somehow I missed writing about 2021.) But here we are. As I have always attested Rendezvous is a favorite event. This year was no different. …
Continue reading Touring into Black Rock Rendezvous via the Smoke Creek Desert, 2026
Thanks, Mark for the great suggestion! Photo Joe B November 8-9, 2025 It is awesome that Mark Yakushev (@mark.yakushev) recommended we do this. For a guy from Scotts Valley/Santa Cruz, CA he loves coming out to the desert. Once we had a weekend I put it out on FB Events. It is a medium length …
Continue reading Black Rock Desert Hot Springs Micro-playa Overnight
The walk-in campsite was a good experiment Aug 26-30, 2024 I was invited back to the Earth Guardians Camp to lead 5 bike tours out to the perimeter fence and give a talk during their lecture series. My working title for the talk, “Setting up bike tours for the environment.” The talk was a blueprint …
Continue reading Bikepacking Northern Nevada Goes to Burning Man Again
"Is that thunder?", asked Galen Watson. Heavy skies looking across the southern portion of Winnemucca (dry) Lake. Nightingale Mountains "I think it is a jet," I answered. Rainstorms in the desert can have you on edge. If the clay gets wet you will be stuck in the mud pushing an boat-anchor of a bike along. …
Hillcrest Road drops down to Empire Farms, San Emidio Desert April, 27 2020 The San Emidio Desert has been on my list of places to visit for years now. If you are driving on Nevada State Route 447 between Nixon, Empire, then Gerlach it is on your left or to the west. Unfortunately you don't …
I have always been fascinated by the raised red cinder railroad grade along Pyramid Lake. I am not a train historian nor a railroad buff but I am interested in following these abandoned railroad grades by bike. My first adventure on a railroad grade was between Goldfield and Rhyolite. I found out about this potential …
Continue reading Pyramid Lake Project; Union Pacific Railroad Grade
The Biggest Little City, Reno, NV is surrounded by mountains, the Carson Range, the Bald Mountain Range, Peavine, the Pah Rah Range, and the Virginia and Flowery Ranges. They are all a draw to the bikepacking wanderlust. While they are are magical in their own way the Pah Rah Range has had a particular pull …
I have a love affair with playas. We have several major dry lake beds in northern Nevada and numerous minor ones. They are the desert's seas and oceans. They can be explored and charted finding springs, ghost towns/mines, unique weather, and unique geology along their shores. Winnemucca Lake playa has captivated me as I whizzed …
Continue reading Ride Report; Behind the MGL mines, a loop through the Nightingale Mtns
It has been a long hot summer, said everyone in the West. Northern Nevada seemed to set new records of days and consecutive days above 90 and approached the record for triple digit temperatures. While we had our fair share of wild fires we seemed to have been spared the worst of smokey skies. The …
Continue reading Ride Report: Pyramid Lake to Smoke Creek Desert
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