Mammoth Mountain Biking

Mammoth mountain biking? Yes, this is the same Mammoth most notable as a California ski resort. With over 100 lifts draped on its shoulders like spider webs, this massive mountain provides an incredible assortment of ski runs. But during the summer this enormous volcanic bulge in the Sierra Nevada doubles as a mountain bike park.

The 2011 snowpack was so heavy that the upper 2/3 of the mountain was still blanketed with snow in the middle of July. I am not one to do much riding in a private mountain bike park ... especially when the cost for a one-day lift ticket was $43.

The customers who paid this fee were allowed to ride up the gondola ... only to bike down the few open trails. They could also ride a shuttle from town up to the ski resort, then bike back down the few trails back into town. What a deal! ...I couldn't believe they wouldn't lower their price a bit due to the closure of all those trails.

When I go to a new ride area, I ask around for a good bike shop, then just walk to the front counter and ask, "What are the best mountain biking trails in this area?" I have to make sure they know I'm looking for cross country trails, not the downhill stuff in a bike-park.

I was also going to need some work done on my bike in Mammoth. After my last ride in Bridgeport (Buckeye Creek Trail) I started having trouble with my chain wrapping around my small, front ring. When I looked closer I noticed a considerable amount of play in my lower bracket (the shaft that connects the cranks/pedals).

Cindy and my daughters went to the Vons (grocery store) in the town of Mammoth (officially the town is called Mammoth Lakes), so I asked them to find out if anyone knew a good bike shop. Upon return they said the "bagger" was a road biker who had taken his bike to the place across the street from the grocery store. He told them the shop had done a good job and was reasonably priced. It was 6:30 p.m. when they returned and gave me the news.

I tossed my Stumpjumper into the truck and hurried to Mammoth Sporting Goods, hoping to get there before they closed. The young man working in the repair center said they would fix my bike the next morning and would call when it was finished. I told him I was taking my family down to Devil's Postpile and wouldn't have a cell signal ... so I would just stop by in the afternoon and pick it up. Before I left I asked him about the best mountain bike trails in the area. He said the best trail (by far) was about 20 minutes south on Highway 395, called Rock Creek Canyon. He said he also liked riding below the (Old Shady) campground, which was where we were camped. He advised me to go to the Visitor's Center to get a map and more advice on the trails.

I stopped by the Mammoth Lakes Visitor Center the next morning prior to the family trip. The pretty and peppy young ranger cheerfully gave me a map. She said the most popular mountain bike rides in Mammoth were the Knolls Loop (behind our campground) and the Crater Loop (she made no mention of Rock Creek Canyon). I thanked her, then everyone got into vehicles to head for the shuttle bus to Devil's Postpile.

Devil's Postpile was awesome. I'd seen it before... but was still amazed at how straight the edges of the polyhedron were. Why does lava cool and break so straight? I read the explanation but I'm still not sure.

From the Potspile we kept on hiking to Rainbow Falls, which I'd never seen before, and found it glorious. Lava, once again, caused this phenomenon.

The family dropped me at the bike shop on the way back, and I rode back to camp. The new bottom bracket had solved the looseness problem, but not cured the chain wrapping problem. I turned the bike upside down and looked at the front chain rings. The 2nd one looked bent to me, and my brother (George) concurred. I tried various ways to straighten it with little success.

The next morning I brought my bike back to Mammoth Sporting Goods. The guy there (a different one) said the 2nd ring did need to be replaced but told me they had none in stock. He sent me to Footloose Sports, just down the hill.

The bike mechanic at Footloose (an older Asian fellow) seemed to get very upset with me when I tried to tell him how the bike was misbehaving. He told me he could diagnose the problems himself, saying, "I have been doing this for 27 years!" He put it on the stand and spun the cranks and also took it outside for a ride.

His diagnosis was ...? The bike needed the two small chain rings (front sprockets) and the cassette (all the rear gears) replaced. He also said the chain was too short and needed a couple of links added. The estimated price seemed fair, so I asked them to fix it. They said it would take about an hour and they would call me when finished.

George and I were anxious ... we had planned on riding Rock Creek Canyon that afternoon. All the women had gone into town to watch the latest Harry Potter movie (except Alissa) and we thought it would be a great time to do this ride. I waited ... and waited ... two and a half hours until I finally called them. The fellow that answered said, "The black Stumpjumper? Yah, that has been finished for a long time." Why are all these shops the same?!

After paying for the repairs I asked the person at the cash register which trails were the best, making sure he knew I meant cross-country and not downhill. He immediately said Rock Creek Canyon was tops, and some other good single tracks were the Mountain View Trail, the Vista Trail, and the Mammoth Rock Trail.

After riding most of these I am going to have to agree with this last gentleman at Footloose (and not the pretty, peppy ranger) regarding Mammoth mountain biking. I would rank the rides as follows:

The Knolls Loop though did have some points of interest.

I did discover there that Mammoth has geothermal wells that produce electricity. I happened to be riding by when a gentleman was checking one of these wells. He said they were pumping a 370-degree salt water brine out of the ground and sending it (via insulated pipe) to a power plant on the other side of the 395 highway.

Check it out:

Mammoth Geothermal Inspector	Highway 395 Overlook
Trailside Attraction?	Soft, chewed-up, jeep road.

However, I found most of the Knolls Loop a soft, chewed-up, jeep road. The part near the city's ball parks did have some singletrack, but it was poorly marked and especially confusing. Therefore, I do not feel this ride deserves a full page review.

The Crater Loop? What I thought was the Crater Loop turned out to be the worst sand road I'd ridden since the county road outside Niland near the Salton Sea.

While I never did find the actual Crater Loop, I am guessing the conditions were similar to the Knolls Loop. Jeep city! I did go to the craters and found them quite interesting.

Mammoth mountain biking ... I am now thinking the cute little ranger must have thought I said jeeping when she handed me that mountain bike map.

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