Just days after the first test rides on my new bike, we had an awesome lightning thunder show. Then fires and a full summer of thick smoke.  Once the smoke cleared and blue skies returned, I went out for a good long ride with an overnight in the middle.

I’m trying out some different parts on the bike. The stock 27.5” X 3” tires are very good all around. For this ride, I wanted to try some fatter and knobbier tires on the bumpy rocks and loose dirt.  Up front, I installed a big fat 27.5×3.8″ Vee Crown Gem tire.

In the rear, I installed the 27.5” X 3.25” Vee Fatty.

Much of the roads up here are gravel.

I used large 3 hole water bottle cages with Velcro straps to carry my sleeping pad and bivy sack.

My sleeping bag is stuffed into the roll pack under the handlebars.

The large bottle is mounted low and centered for better handling. A smaller bottle is in the top part of the frame pack for quick easy access.

The Jones H-Bar Pack is above the roll pack in the loop of the H-Bar.

Good clearances.

Almost to camp.

Made it to the spot just before sunset.

My bike.

Setting up camp.

All set.  Just me, my bike and the night to come.  It was great to see the stars and sky again since the smoke cleared. There are a lot of things moving around up there.

Taking a quick rest while packing in the morning.

Packed and ready for the ride back.

I have a backup battery in my frame pack charging my phone in the H-Bar Pack.

It’s nice to wake up on the top of a mountain with my bike and a nice long, mostly downhill ride back.

The last time I came to this spot was about 5 years ago.