Mammoth Mountain

Just before the first descent of the day...

I first visited the Mammoth Mountain Bike Park back in 1995. Up until then all my mountain biking had been done in Chino Hills State Park, and other local Southern California locations. I had heard about the bike park built on the ski slopes of Mammoth Mountain Ski Resort a short time before my visit in 1995.

Previously my family had spent many winters dating back to the early 70's skiing at this resort, and occasional summer trips to relax and play tennis. In 1989 I took up the sport of mountain biking, then in its infancy. All bikes being made had NO suspension. In the succeeding 21 years the technological side of this sport has exploded. High end mountain bikes can cost upwards of $6,000.


Over the years since 1995 I have returned to the bike park with friends several times each summer to ride the 70 miles of single track trails. On a typical day we log almost 30 miles of riding downhill in the park.


This past Friday, August 20th, I left home around 11am to drive up to Mammoth Mountain to meet friends and ride. Last summer (2009) was the first summer in years I didn't ride at Mammoth. We spent most of the summer getting to know our Newell, and took a number of trips. In addition I injured my left achilles tendon backpacking in the Eastern Sierras in late July. Ultimately I was not able to ride my mountain bike due to this injury for over 10 months. Finally, this past June it had healed and I began training on my stairmaster to start riding again. Two weeks ago I rode in Claremont Wilderness Park and was pleased with my progress, and no pain, so I decided to join my friends this weekend at Mammoth. We started riding Saturday, August 21st, around 9:30am, and finished around 4pm having logged 29 miles. The weather was great.....low 70's and partly cloudy.

Lunch at the Yodler Restaurant

Our annual picture by Red's Lake

The end of the day.......

Next adventure......off to Ventura, CA for the Labor Day weekend in the Newell.....story and pictures to follow! Thanks for reading!