Just north of Los Angeles sits the Kern Plateau in the Sequoia National Forest. Rising like a primordial beast from the desert floor to 9,200', this area is home to some of the longest climbs Southern California has to offer.

*** 2010 ROUTE (same as 2009) ***

Route Map

The ride STARTS at the junction of Rte 395 and Nine Mile Canyon Rd near the town of Ridgecrest. 

The first 53 miles of the ride feature 9,200' of climbing, eventually topping out at Sherman Pass summit. This took us about 4:30.

1st Half, from Nine Mile Canyon to Sherman Pass & Back

The hardest part will probably be the climb up Sherman Pass after you have descended to the Kern River and the turn around point. It is 15 miles with over 5,000' of gain. This is after you have already climbed 9,200' and ridden for over 5 hours.

Final Big Climb, Sherman Pass

But once you crest Sherman Pass you are almost home free because it is much easier going back!  It took us only half the time to ride back from Sherman Pass to Nine Mile Canyon as it took to get there in the first half of the ride, about 2:30.

2nd Half of Ride, from Kern River to the 395

There is a steep 1 mile climb on the way back to Blackrock Junction and SAG #5, then just after you pass the General Store at SAG #6 there is an 8 mile climb, with about 3 miles of it ranging from 6-11%. This is the last obstacle to your success.

Once you summit this last climb you are almost done. Now enjoy your reward - a 15 mile descent down Nine Mile Canyon to the 395 and the finish!


A NOTE ON ELEVATION GAIN:

We used the Garmin Edge 305 to map the entire route. But we get a few different elevation gains for the route.

On the  bike: 15,960'
Downloaded to Garmin Training Center:  16,965'
Downloaded to Geoladders:  16,731'


While riding the route, the 305 gives a different elevation gain then when we download the route to either geoladders.com or the Garmin software.

As we understand it, this is because not all the data points for elevation gain are recorded live while riding, but are then accounted for in the software.  

We don't know which is correct. You decide which it feels like :)   

Google Earth

You can download the Google Earth file, click on it, and it will open up Google Earth (if you have it installed). Then you may zoom in on sections of the course, including the Start / Staging area.

Climb Highlights:

Major climb #1:  A steep 9 mile climb up Nine Mile Canyon Rd, average 7% with long 8-12% sections.

Major climb #2:  A 15 mile, 5,000' climb after the turnaround point up Sherman Pass Rd that averages 6% with numerous grades of 8-10%, topping out at 9,200' Sherman Pass.

Route Profile - One Way

At 138 miles long, the route averages approximately 6% on the climbing sections, with some grades of 8-13%. But be aware that there is a lot of riding at elevations of over 8,000' which has an affect after 8 hours of riding!

PHOTOS

Our ride support includes full rest stops supplied with a great selection of food and drink to keep you moving, including fresh fruit, energy bars, various flavors of GU, all types of energy mix including Hammer (Heed, Perpetuem), Cytomax, Gatorade, Endurox, Accelerade.