Rocky, Fun Riding in the Sierra Buttes

Rocky aptly describes the current state of markets financial (mostly down), mortgage (rates mostly up) and real estate (prices down, sales up or down depending on location).  

It is also a good description of mountain biking in the sierra buttes / lakes basin.  This last Sunday, I went with 3 friends (Jeremy, Emily, and Arne) to ride a loop near Mt. Elwell, a prominent peak above Long Lake.  None of us had experience riding in this specific area, but we figured that we could piece something together. 

We did and it made for quite a day.  The riding was amazingly scenic and often amazingly challenging.  We made a few wrong turns, which contributed to riding that was more difficult (and sometimes worse) than necessary, but we still had a great time and will be back for more…with prior knowledge, which should be helpful. 

Anyone interested in riding in this zone should check out the Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship website and the maps to their “epics.”  Here’s a link.  http://www.sierratrails.org/web/pages/events.html