
Day 1: The “it’s probably just the first day” day
I was up at 6am before my alarm went off. What a fantastic night, no kids to wake me up. I ate my massive bowl of Biju’s oatmeal with some Nutella while sitting on the side of the bed staring at my bike. By 6:45, I left the room and I headed to the start. I quickly realized that I had been riding the last two miles of the race the night before, not the first two. First navigation mistake, way to go Arthur. What could go wrong during 500 miles on your own? At 7am, we were all lined up for the start trying to find a ray of sunlight to warm up. After addressing the usual Spot issues, the adventure started at 7:14am. I was now on my own. At this point, my plan was solid: I would ride until 4am or so, sleep in the national forest right before Bishop, roll into town for breakfast when stores open and ride the Tablelands before the heat hits. The ride started with a fun downhill singletrack. I took it slow and a couple of riders passed me. I did a very quick KitKat and water refill break at Tom’s place and head to the bottom of the first climb where the cues indicated more water at a campground. I got to the campground only to find a bunch of faucets, all locked with a “Not for public use” sign. The climbing started and so did the hike-a-bikes as I passed Isaac after topping off water from a creek. When I got to the RV campground, I was welcomed by a “You must be Isaac!” Sorry for the disappointment. Blake had left 5 minutes ago and told them Isaac was behind him. I got an ice-cream, more water and listened to the usual amused remarks. After a quick left turn, the Caldera finally shows its true face. A brutal hike-a-bike all the way to the top. The elevation was starting to play with the sea level rider that I am and I had to stop regularly to rest.


Day 2: The “I am first” day
1.5h later, I was wide awake and I couldn’t fall back to sleep. At 1:30am I was back on my bike and thinking that stopping that early was a huge strategic mistake. I was pretty sure everyone passed me while I was asleep. Once I was back on the dirt, more hike-a-bike by night awaited. At 6am or so, I couldn’t go any further without daylight and I decided to lay down on the side of the trail, using my helmet as a head support. 20mn later, I was woken up by my freezing legs. The sun was rising but I needed more sleep so I set up my bivvy and a 1h timer. By 7am I was back on the trail on my way to the top. My breakfast plans in Bishop were ruined but I still had hopes for brunch – which quickly became lunch. The beginning of the descent was slower than the ascent with fields for loose rocks. Finally, it became rideable and a fun ride began down to Bishop. I got there at 4pm and my mind is set: I am going for the Caldera 250. This was insane. In Bishop, I made a few phone calls and Leo had the last word: “you will feel better failing on the 500 than winning on the 250.” That’s not what I wanted to hear, I had such a good rationale to cut it short.


Day 3: The “I am alone” day
At 2am, I started going up what seemed to be an endless climb. As usual more hiking than biking. I made it to the top at dawn and the downhill was pretty fun. I ran into hunters packing home and they offered me water and bananas. The place looked like bear heaven, and they confirmed that they had seen some. I continued the descent which quickly became a roller coaster. I flew by the junction without an opportunity to reconsider my decision. I would rather go 250 more miles than go back up this climb.
Once in the basin and after topping off my water (with the hope of not having to drink it) by a parking lot, I started the 18 mile stretch to the start of the climb to Bodie. I could finally ride at a normal pace and it felt great.





Day 4: The “I can do this” day
At 2am, I was wide awake and ready to go. No more DNF going through my mind. I rode until I reached the bottom of the Mt Patterson climb where I decided to wait for the sunrise. I ate a cheeseburger and laid down, facing east. I started the long climb as soon as the sun rose. The first 2 miles or so were rideable but I walked pretty much all the way to the top otherwise. The summit made the whole ride worth it.




Day 5: The “I think it is the last day” day
At 4am, the day started with a narrow single track down to Poor Lake. Not long after, I realized I messed up with the cues while trying to keep them updated with the latest updates over the past few weeks. At that point, I didn’t know where the next chance for food was and the trail went deeper and deeper into the wilderness. I made it to Twin Lakes with an individual serving of nutella, one cereal bar and one serving of sports drink. I felt vulnerable but the scenery was beautiful with a succession of valleys eventually leading me back to civilization.






what a great recap and photos congrats Arthur . Inspiration
Great report and the pics really show how the vastness and ruggedness of the route and glad you made a right turn at the 250 cutoff. Congrats on the finish and the win!
Hey. I’m a non-biker and uncle of Matt Reynolds, the 250 slacker that gave you the Coke and Snickers bar. Great report. You guys are all nuts and I love it. What percentage of time do you think that you hike-a-biked on this trip?
Jim – Thank you again for the coke and snickers! You saved me 🙂 We will get your name right shortly. Sorry about that.
You got the name right in your report. Matt is the Snickers angel and your fellow hardcore biker. My bike activity starts and ends with reading interesting trip reports. I’m more of an ATV guy at this point.
Regarding your question about hike-a-bike, my guess would be at least 25% of the time. I must have hiked the majority of the climbs.
Bravo Arthur! Photos incroyables.