This is not the Greatest Ride in the World, This is Just a Tribute

Tribute 10 - Weekend of August 1-3, 2025

Normally, the Tribute ride is the first or second weekend of November, when temperatures are ideal for an all day ride with a few monster climbs. If you haven't heard yet, Jaclyn and I are expecting a baby sister for Cora due at the end of September, and I can't be gone for three days with a six-week-old at home. So we're doing this in August. Yes, it's stupid hot in Kernville in August. That's why we're not riding through Kernville. Tribute 10 will be a Kern Plateau edition, largely staying above 8000 feet elevation. Creeks should still be running, and the climbs aren't as exposed. That does mean that it is not a shuttle ride, which also means that logistics are a tad easier for both camping and riding. An XC bike with burly tires would be perfect. Riding an enduro rig is going to be quite a slog. That said, I did my best to route up gradual fire roads and down single track. All trails are moto-legal so you can totally bring an ebike, at least for as long as your battery will last.

Feel free to share this post with anyone you trust to take care of themselves in the backcountry. Anyone is welcome to ride the route at the same day and time, but you need to be self-sufficient and responsible for yourself and anyone you invite along. This is not an organized ride, bring and use your water filter, don't count on any food on route, don't be too dumb. Elevation varies from 7500 to over 9000 feet. Reapply sunscreen. This is 100% a drop ride, so bring friends your speed. Download the route before you leave your house because there is no service in the mountains. An InReach or similar satellite SOS device is recommended.

STUDY THE MAP BEFOREHAND. Buy this paper map or get the digitized Avenza App version.

Tentative Weekend Plan

Friday 8/1
Warmup shuttle ride of JO and AGTO

Drive to Fish Creek Campground. Don't expect cell service after leaving Kernville or turning up 9 Mile Canyon/Sherman Pass Road from 395 if that's the way you are driving. If the campground is full, we will find a nearby dirt road camping spot, likely near here (36.065203, -118.223561). Fish Creek Campground is a first-come first-serve Sequoia National Forest campground. Bring cash: $17 per site, $5 per additional vehicle. There are pit toilets but no potable water.

Saturday 8/2
The Tenth Annual Tribute Ride

Sunrise (departure) 6am
Sunset 7:40pm

Total daylight is about 14 hours including some twilight riding until 8pm. 104 miles / 14 hours = 7.4 mph total average including stops. We (first group) have never gone slower than 8 mph for any of these rides, so the target finish is at 7pm.

Meet at Fish Creek Campground before dawn for the departure, ready to ride at 6am. If you want to shuttle to the start of the first main descent at mile 6, the front group will roll through there between 6:30 and 6:45am.

Sunday 8/3
For those who still have functional legs attached to their bodies, ride down Cannell from Sherman Pass while others drive to Kernville on the way home. Upon arriving home, immediately begin dreaming about Tribute 11 planned for November 2026

The Route(s)

The Real Route, 104 miles, 12k elev

The "meet for a long lunch and finish well before dark" route

The "shuttle it and 'shorten' it to 58 miles" route

All routes have many intersecting loops with opportunities to skip portions. I took great care to route us up gradual fire roads and down singletrack, but I also have only ridden about 40% of the real route, so you have been warned that hike-a-bikes and sandy trails are a real possibility. Would it be a Menso-route without the trail disappearing into the forest for at least a mile somewhere? For once, bailing out is relatively easy: pick any maintained trail or fireroad and head south. Chances are good it will tee you into Sherman Pass Road, at which point you turn left and it's all downhill back to the campground.

Key Points (mileage referenced from the Real Route)
6 - start of first main descent
20-25 - first easily skipped loop
37-41 - several spring-fed creek crossings, likely candidates for filtering water
52-56 - flat out and back to tag the South Fork of the Kern and maybe cool off with a quick dip in the river. Easy to skip.
63-67 - easy paved road vehicle access and bailout down Blackrock Rd to Sherman Pass. If non-riders are willing to drive out, somewhere here would be a good lunch meetup spot.
87 - back at the campground before heading out for the final loop, obvious bailout location

Past Editions Archive

#9 2024 The year of (almost) no hike-a-bike perfection
#8 2023 THE OCHO (Route Honing?)
#7 2022 Papa Menso Father's Day Edition
#6 2021 Rincon Trail, Sherman Peak, and Noah No Keys
#5 2020 Mt Pinos to Ojai Frostbite Edition
#4 2019 The Bread-and-Butter Route
#3 2018 Just Jimmy and Me
#2 2017 The Return, in Which Larissa was the Weakest Link
#1 2016 The OG, in Which Menso was the Weakest Link