Bike Forums - View Single Post - If you had 4 weeks to ride from Santa Rosa to the North Rim, how would you go?

12-02-15 | 03:38 PM

#1

Brett A

Word.

Joined: Jul 2008

Posts: 241

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From: Rural New England

Bikes: Surly Disc Trucker, Orbea Oiz XCountry Bike, Specialized Roubaix, Borealis Echo Fat Bike for Winter, many others out in the barn.

If you had 4 weeks to ride from Santa Rosa to the North Rim, how would you go?

Hi all.

I’m planning a solo tour next fall, Sept 14th to October 14th, 2016. I will be starting at a friend’s house in Sebastopol,CA (just outside Santa Rosa) and meeting other friends at a camp site south of Jacob Lake, AZ/Grand Canyon North Rim

Restricted by the amount of time I can be away from home, I am giving myself four weeks to be on the bike. (Five weeks total with days on either end to set up and tear down/ship home.) I’ve been to the Sebastopol/SF Bay area several years ago and was just out at the North Rim last July, but I am unfamiliar with the terrain in between.

Here is what I can tell you at this point:

Four weeks to be out on the bike.
Start in Sebastopol, CA mid-Sept. Arrive at Jacob Lake, AZ mid-Oct.
I do not plan to ride with anyone else.
Happy to take my time/poke along/take days off in interesting areas.
I’m not averse to riding on dirt. (I don’t think)
I do not want to tax my nerves with high traffic/narrow roads and would be open to choosing longer routes to avoid that.
I will be fully self-supported and expect to camp in a variety of ways, from campgrounds to dispersed, to stealth. I also hope to get a cheap motel once or twice a week.

So, with those points in mind. How would you go? Carson Pass then US 50? (This is what I’ve looked most closely at so far) Maybe Yosemite over to US 6? Or all the way down to Bakersfield then over? I know I’m casting a wide net at this point, but any thoughts/opinions/advice would be appreciated.

Thanks for your time.

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