I woke up surprisingly refreshed right before daylight. But it was too cold and I wasn’t that interested in getting that early of a start. So I went back to sleep and got a late start. Slowly packing and filtering water for the bike ride ahead.
The day started with a nice trail ride around big Bear Lake and into Big Bear city. It was a little windy right at the lake but other than that the wind was calm.
While riding through the city I kept my eye out for a good breakfast place. I found one called the Lumber Jack Café. An omelette and orange juice hit the spot and was the first proper meal I’ve had on the bike touring journey.
I decided to try out the solar panel strapped to the back of my bike and hooked up a USB power bank to capture the charge. It worked well and by the end of the ride it was fully charged. In the end I didn’t really need to charge it, but more on that later. Between the solar panel and dynamo hub, I can keep most of my electronic devices charged.
After leaving the city the climbing began. Today I will achieve the highest point of the whole tour. Fortunately most of the climb was at a grade between 3 to 7%. It was 7 miles long and slow and steady was the key. It was much easier than the previous days climbs.
Seeing several road bikers descending down the other way, we exchanged acknowledging waves. Just before the summit, a road biker passed me and we chatted for a while and talked about my tour plans.
The summit of 8443 feet didn’t have an especially better view than any other spot but it had a nice sign marking the elevation. It was a good place to record the event and celebrate the occasion.
The descent down the Mountain was glorious. Miles of descent with only occasional uphills breaking the high speeds hitting up to 40 miles an hour. In total from the peak down to the city where it starts to flatten out was a drop in 5700 foot of elevation spread over 31 miles. The scenic vistas were impressive as well. At a few spots I even sacrificed my downhill momentum to capture a few videos and pictures. During the descent, another road biker passed me with strong acknowledgment of my efforts.
The South fork campground was one of the contingent spots that I had marked on the route, but I didn’t need to camp there today. Other than the camp host there wasn’t anybody camping. The campground didn’t have any hiker / biker sites so there would be a standard fee of $28 to camp. After filling up with water and having a snack I continued.
After the 31 mile descent and entering the city of Yucaipa, I still had visions of catching up to my original planned day three stop point. But this was dashed as the heat beat down and fatigue set in. So I adjusted my plan to Banning California and called it good at 65 miles for the day. There’s no camping around here so I had to “cheat” a little and stay at a hotel.
It’s probably good because I’m able to charge my electronics and recharge myself as well. Looking at my options for tomorrow I have decided to add a day to get down to the Mexico border. Tomorrow will be a short but significant climbing (again). So tomorrow I will just focus on the climb which is 4500 feet over 24 miles. This sounds like enough work for one day.
2 responses to “PCR Bike Tour Day 3 of 39 Big Bear Lake to Banning CA – High Altitude and Big descent”
Looks like a lot of sun exposer and heat; that has got to have an impact. I hope you remembered to use your sun screen.
Yes and yes!