It turns out Loren wasn't feeling well. Loren stayed at our home the night before and carpooled with me to the start. Since we were about 15 minutes behind him at the start (courtesy of Kurt's flat), I didn't expect to see him until lunch. But he was really hurting.

We pulled into Tom's Place ... a resort that is celebrating their 100 year anniversary. I love the place. They have a Thursday night prime rib special, and I took a friend of mine to dinner there just a few days earlier. Not that I notice this kind of thing, but they also have an attractive waitress there with a smile that really brightens the place.

Loren's problem was apparently his stomach, so I thought some ice cold Alka-Seltzer might help. It really helped me escape a bonkfest on a hot humid ride I had done before. I didn't have any with me, so I went into the Tom's Place General Store to get some. It was the ONE thing they didn't have. :-(

Walking through the bar, I overheard a group at a table remarking about our appearance as we clackety-clacked through Tom's Place. Something to the effect that we looked ridiculous. I had to laugh. This is the Eastern Sierra ... just about everyone is active, either skiing, bicycling, moto-xing, hang gliding, wind surfing ... all kinds of stuff. Only a touron would make snippy comments about someone walking through a restaurant in bike clothes.

I told Loren and Willy I would keep on, but would wait for them at the rest stop about 5 miles up the road. One thing I did NOT want to do was to leave Willy alone. We kinda talked him into doing doubles, and he was left to ride one all by himself earlier this year, courtesy of a flat about a mile into the ride. No way I was gonna leave him to ride the ESD by himself.

We rolled into the second rest stop, and I watered up and wolfed down a couple of salty nut bars. OMG, I love those things. Yum.

I told Ron that I was gonna wait for Willy and Loren, so he should go ahead and move on. He reluctantly agreed and left with the next group.

Willy and Loren appeared about 20 minutes later. Loren was clearly not feeling well, and decided to quit. He had apparently thrown up several times already that day, and there was no use in continuing on. The support crew gave him a ride back to Mammoth to sleep at my place.



Willy and I took off, now pretty much at the back of the group.

The ride now takes us through the aspens at Crowley Lake, and back up to US395. From here, we headed to Mammoth. I had told Molly that I would text her when we got to the 395/203 intersection ... that would give her enough time to meet us as we rode by. She didn't want to do the whole double, but would do a metric century by riding around the June Lake Loop with us and returning back to my place in Mammoth.

We had a significant climb up to where we were going to meet her. And when we got there, one of our group ... David ... failed to appear. He was only a few hundred yards behind us, so we knew he got a flat. We didn't want to leave without him, so that set us back another 15 minutes. When he finally appeared, Molly took off like a rocket. It was hard to keep up with her!

We made a right turn at the Village and climbed up to the Mammoth Scenic Loop. From there, we would have a nice descent back to US395. The "Scenic Loop" is a misnomer. It's not particularly scenic, so why do they call it that? Well, years ago, there were a series of earthquakes in Mammoth Lakes, each stronger than the one before it. I was there when it happened. With each earthquake, the girl I was dating got more and more nervous about our safety. The last temblor was enough to shut the power off ... which happened when we were wine and cheesing in the jacuzzi. I'll never forget the lights going out and hearing a voice across the fizzing of the water saying

"That's it ... I'm outta here."

Since the shaking was clearly more than a simple earthquake (there is a lot of volcanism in the area and each shake was stronger than the one before it), I protested that we didn't really know which way to go if we did leave ... we were probably safer staying put. As it turns out, that last shake WAS the last shake, and staying put was a good decision. There was only one road out of town (only one lane going in each direction) and it was gridlocked with panicked people trying to leave town.

That was the genesis of the viewless "scenic loop." "Scenic Loop" sounds so much more palatable than "escape route." They also widened the main road to 2 lanes in either direction.

The Scenic Loop may not be all that scenic ... but it is a hoot of a descent. Downhill for a good 4 miles all the way back to US395. From there, there are a few ups and downs before the third rest stop.

As soon as we pulled in, I was asked to look at Margaret's bottom bracket. It was making noise and she thought it was loose. Quickly wiggling the crank arms confirmed it ... yea, it was loose. But it was an one of those newfangled bottom bracket designs I know nothing about, and I couldn't really help. She elected to ride with it as it was.

Our next milestone was to climb Deadman Summit. The pass gets its name from Deadman Creek. Pretty cool name, eh? It was named for a murder. Seems there was this guy who alleged to have found gold in the area and was looking for an investor. He found one in San Francisco, who made the journey to the location to check it out ... and brought his money with him. The investor was found floating in what because Deadman Creek, his head severed. At first, the Paiute were suspected, but soon enough, suspicion was diverted to the prospector, who left the area to be never seen again.

The climb itself isn't long .. maybe 1000 feet ... and it brings you to the highlight of the ride ... the June Lake Loop. It's up and down, but mostly downhill.

You ride by "Oh!" Ridge (aptly named) by June Lake, and through the aspens. You get an awesome view of Horsetail Falls, skirt around the edge of Silver Lake by the Silver Lake Cafe. We stopped for a chat with a fisherman who took our picture.


Molly Enjoying Oh! Ridge

It’s a mild descent, so you really get to enjoy tooling through the aspens. In the distance is Horsetail Falls … and with all of the rain this year, it was huge and loud.


That’s Horsetail Falls Out There

Molly and I stopped along Silver Lake to chat with a fisherman. He obliged us with a picture.


Molly and I at Silver Lake


Chatting with the Fishermen

From there, it was mostly downhill or with a tailwind to lunch ... it was awesome.


Molly Descending

Molly hadn't registered for the ride, so she wasn't entitled to a lunch at the park. I was registered, but we decided to eat at the Mono Cone instead.

OMG was that yummy. A western bacon cheddar BBQ burger and fries, and to top it off, a lime flavored ice cream cone.


Awesome Burger


Awesome Ice Cream