Anyone reading this post should know that I'm not much of a mountain biker. I own four bicycles and will probably ride around 4,000 miles this year. Less than fifty will be on the mountain bike. I bought it to ride dirt roads in the deserts of California, and that's what this post is about. Someone with a better bike or far more experience than I might know how to better deal with the problems I encountered on this ride.
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Ludlow, California is about fifty miles east of Barstow on Interstate 40. Ludlow is little more than a way station for those who foolishly forgot to buy cheaper gas at Barstow or Needles and find themselves stuck with gassing up at premium prices. There are a couple of gas stations, a convenience store, restaurant, and a Dairy Queen. And right next to the DQ is a dirt road that leads to the Broadwell dry lake bed and the Kelso Dunes National Wilderness Area.
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I parked the car, pulled out the bike, mounted ,and headed north into the desert. I've walked this route as far as the lake bed dozens of times. Wanting to get beyond Broadwell was one of the routes I had in mind when I bought the mountain bike. I've walked this way in winter, in daylight, but I've also walked it at night, in the summer. Because of the short winter days, or the heat of summer, I needed the bike to go beyond the lake.
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Like any desert ride, I had to be be very mindful of the line I chose when riding. One of the problems of riding in the desert is that a hard, rocky, track can suddenly become six inches of sand and a sinking front wheel. I was lucky, in that the road from Ludlow to the lake bed was more light sand over a hard surface than not. Still, as I rode there were more than a few times when the bike either came to a complete stop as I suddenly found myself getting into deep sand, or I'd find myself, still rolling, but being pulled to the right or the left as the rear wheel lost purchase in sand.
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The road from Ludlow starts off slightly down hill and the levels off, quickly, into a flat, straight shot to the lake. Just after going under some high tension wires, it passes a sign for the Kelso Dunes National Wilderness Area. Once in the Wilderness area, it's illegal to ride off of the road. Deserts are favorite places for off road vehicle use, and while there aren't a lot of tracks leading off into the desert here, there are a few. Tracks cut into desert surface have a tendency to stay visible for years. Some areas used for tank training in World War 2, still have open tracks in the desert floor.
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It was slow going till I actually got to the lake bed itself. There is a clearly seen route across the lake, and while it's rutted, it's also hard enough that it rides more like a paved road than anything else in the desert. From a distance the lake looks smallish, but once on the lake bed there is a sense of size. I checked the computer on the bike, and when I got to the other side, I had ridden a bit over four miles. With mountains on three sides and open to the south, Ludlow, and the Interstate, Broadwell Lake bed is a large circular, dried mud flat, that reflects both the sun and the moonlight. Once on the northern edge, I got off the bike and walked out onto the lake bed. There were, sadly, the always present dirt bike and ATV tracks that seem to scar everything in the deserts of California. I'd love to get out here after one of the heavy rain storms that come in the winter. The hard surface should hold some water, and make the tire tracks disappear. One of the strangest things I found on the lake bed was a large circle carved in the dried mud, with the remains of a campfire in it's center, what was left of some old speakers and melted candles. Campers or some demented new age con man tasking advantage of the spiritually gullible?
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The road to the north passes through a gap between two mountain ridges. I had never been beyond the lake bed before, so I was anxious to see what lay ahead. The route was sandier in places than I had encountered to the south of the lake, but it wasn't so bad that I couldn't stay mounted on the bike. There were times when I was slowed to little more than a walking pace, but I stayed upright and made slow, if steady, progress. Eventually I came to a road junction near another high tension wire tower. The main road went through the middle of an ever widening open desert valley, arcing in a more easterly direction. In the far distance, I thought I could see the backside of the Kelso Dunes in the Mojave National Preserve. I chose to turn off the main route though, and cut to the north. It looked like the route was going to cross some mountains on a service road for the power lines, and it also looked like it might end up on one of the roads near Afton Canyon. (See me previous two posts.) I've often wondered whether or not it was possible to ride from Afton Canyon to Ludlow, and I thought I would check it out.
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What a mistake. It didn't take too long until the road went through a wash and deep and loose sand. For the first time on the trip, I had to dismount. The washes weren't all that wide, and I was soon past them, but then I hit a very steep hill. This is where the warning written in the opening paragraph comes into play. Had I a lighter, better geared bike, and had I more experience as a mountain biker, I might have been able to mount the bike and peddle up the hill, steep as it was. In any case, I found myself pushing the bike uphill. Steep, but not long, I hit a brief flat spot, followed by another steep slope and more pushing. Finally the top, but I could see that the steep downhill on the other side went into another sandy wash, followed by a very steep, long climb. That was it. I got on the bike, turned around and headed back down the hill. It wasn't too bad at first, but after that small level spot, I found myself picking up speed, and despite putting all the pressure I could on the center pull breaks, unable to come to a full stop. Fortunately, I was able to slow enough, so that when I hit the deep sand at the bottom of the hill, I was able to stay upright. At anything over a fast walking speed, I would have gone head over handle bar, and at that distance from Ludlow, with so few people visiting the area, I might have found myself in a life threatening situation.
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I went back to the road junction, and pointed the bike to the east, and peddled the route to the north of the high tension wires. While the road was more or less flat, it was still hard riding. There is a middle ground where the sand isn't deep enough to dismount, but never thin enough to get a good momentum going. I could see what I thought was the Kelso Dunes in the distance, but at the slow speed I was riding, it would take a lot longer than I had before it would be necessary to turn around. As the valley broadened, the wind picked up, and in addition to the sandy road bed, I now had the problem of riding into a head wind. And then more washes, and more deep sand. It was time to dismount again, and back to pushing the bike. It was also time to think about turning around. I didn't want to be out too late after dark.
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Heading back to Ludlow, I kept looking at an old abandoned rail bed just to the north of the road I was on. How to interpret the no off road riding rules of a wilderness area? I got off the bike and walked over to the rail bed, elevated above the desert floor, and walked a bit. The route was rocky, but entirely sand free. I carried the bike over to railroad, and rode a mile or so. While I never got bogged down in sand, I was still going at little over a walking pace. It was the maneuvering around rocks, and scrub that popped up from time to time that finally put me back on the dirt road.
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By the time I got back to the lake, I could see that I wasn't going to get back to Ludlow before sunset. I changed gears and road across the lake as fast as I could. Once back on the dirt road, I dismounted and took a short break. I can ride huge distances on the road bikes, and never feel it in my legs, but the hours I spent fighting through sand had taken their toll, and I needed to stretch out and get some of the ache out of my legs. With sunset coming on fast, I got back on the bike and did my best to pick out the least sandy track I could find. But as the sun finally went down, I found myself hitting sandy spot after sandy spot, and realized that if I hit the wrong one at the wrong speed I'd end up on the ground, so I dismounted for the final time and pushed the last mile or so. With the neon of the Ludlow Dairy Queen illuminating the last dozen yards of the dirt road, I got back on the back so I could finish the route riding rather than walking. Once on pavement, I rode up old route 66, just for the hell of it. After a half mile or so, I turned around and headed for my car.
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Total miles: 34.87. Bike: Diamond back Topanga. Pictures to follow in a separate post.
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