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By Terry Rezek
Would you believe 250 miles of
riding trails specifically designated
for
"two-wheeled
vehicles?"
(Thass us! ) Or 75 more miles of
jeep roads whi ch are no more than
tw o lane bike trails ? All th is
winding, climbing, and plunging
through spectacular scenery, silent
.,
42
streams, muddy meadows, and even
occasional patches of snow _ .. as lat e
as mid-June. A ver itable trail rider's
paradise, y o u say? You bet yo ur
Barbour suit, it is ! And it's less th an five
hours drive from down town Los
Angeles.
No, this is not a land developer's
hype, this is real a nd it's alread y yours.
At least, as of this writing, this biker 's
bonanza is public land. (Excuse me , I
mean " Na tio nal Resource Land." To
Big Uncle, nothing belongs to the public
anymore.) Ir's called the Sequoia-Inyo
National Forest and it is still open to
the riding public.
My adventures here st arted several
years ago when I was more in to
backpacking
(h ik ing)
than biking.
During hiking trips o n the Kern Plateau
west o f Kennedy Meadows , I noticed
many o f the trails bore small signs
proclaiming
"designat ed
two -wh eel
vehicle way." Even though I wasn 't
much into biking at the time and
co nsid e red most of the trails I had hiked
as impassable to bikes , I remember
thi n k in g that it migh t be fun to try
them someday .
"Someday" arrived a few yea rs la ter
in the form of a 350 Bultaco Alpina,
one of the neatest enduro-trials-trail
all-round good time fun bikes ever
made. Wild-eyed enthusiasm asi d e, the
Alpina turned o ut to be a n ex cellent
woods bike. The passport to this
adventure is 'a map titled "Sequoia
National Forest." avail able o n reques t a t
an y U.S . Forest Service (US FS) st ation
in or near the Sequoi a Forest. While
yo u 're planning yo u r rid e th is winter,
wh y not have your very own co py at
hand in advance (th e tr ail m ap
accompanying th is art icle is keyed to
this m a p ). A lO
