Tips for biking the Howard 'Bizz' Johnson trail near Susanville, CA?
September 16, 2013 9:58 AM Subscribe
Family of four, going to bike the Howard “Bizz” Johnson rails-to-trails trail next weekend, near Susanville, CA. Help us make this an awesome ride for us/our kids.
So, Mrs. Mosk and I are going to take our two healthy kids, ages 12 (boy) and 9 (girl), to bike as much of the Howard “Bizz” Johnson Trail near Susanville, CA, as we can manage next Sunday. Expecting fall colors, trestle bridges, tunnels, beautiful views, etc. I could use some advice from people who have biked this trail, particulary if they’ve biked it with kids.
I’m not worried about the technical side of things -- everything I’ve read about this trail says there’s nothing particularly technical about it, and my wife and I are experienced cyclists. Also, our kids are decent cyclists for their ages and have done some 8-10 mile fire road rides in our area with climbs and descents, etc., so that part doesn’t worry me. But they’re kids, so I can’t expect them to bike the whole 26 miles, turn around, and bike 26 miles back to the car. And we can’t leave a car at each trailhead to make this a shuttle. And I don’t think we have enough time to take advantage of public transportation/bus shuttle. And we want this to be fun, not unending toil.
My questions:
If you’ve done this rides with kids, what’s a reasonable distance to expect two healthy kids to be able to ride in a 6-8 hour period, including stops, and without making this a death march?
Where would be the best point of entry for this ride? They want to experience as many of the bridges and tunnels as possible, and if the ride is as gentle as advertised, they are capable of biking for 4-6 hours, plus breaks. I figure our total time for this ride can be as long as 6-8 hours, but I want to be in the car and heading back by 4pm at the latest. But we can get an early start on Sunday.
I’ve read a few descriptions of the trail and the area (some in the links up top), but I’m having a hard time finding info that’s specific to our family’s situation. I’d really love to hear from someone familiar with the ride who can say something like: start here, go in this direction, expect to finish the ride about x hours later, OR, start at this end, ride for x hours, then turn back.
What else should we know about this ride?
So, Mrs. Mosk and I are going to take our two healthy kids, ages 12 (boy) and 9 (girl), to bike as much of the Howard “Bizz” Johnson Trail near Susanville, CA, as we can manage next Sunday. Expecting fall colors, trestle bridges, tunnels, beautiful views, etc. I could use some advice from people who have biked this trail, particulary if they’ve biked it with kids.
I’m not worried about the technical side of things -- everything I’ve read about this trail says there’s nothing particularly technical about it, and my wife and I are experienced cyclists. Also, our kids are decent cyclists for their ages and have done some 8-10 mile fire road rides in our area with climbs and descents, etc., so that part doesn’t worry me. But they’re kids, so I can’t expect them to bike the whole 26 miles, turn around, and bike 26 miles back to the car. And we can’t leave a car at each trailhead to make this a shuttle. And I don’t think we have enough time to take advantage of public transportation/bus shuttle. And we want this to be fun, not unending toil.
My questions:
If you’ve done this rides with kids, what’s a reasonable distance to expect two healthy kids to be able to ride in a 6-8 hour period, including stops, and without making this a death march?
Where would be the best point of entry for this ride? They want to experience as many of the bridges and tunnels as possible, and if the ride is as gentle as advertised, they are capable of biking for 4-6 hours, plus breaks. I figure our total time for this ride can be as long as 6-8 hours, but I want to be in the car and heading back by 4pm at the latest. But we can get an early start on Sunday.
I’ve read a few descriptions of the trail and the area (some in the links up top), but I’m having a hard time finding info that’s specific to our family’s situation. I’d really love to hear from someone familiar with the ride who can say something like: start here, go in this direction, expect to finish the ride about x hours later, OR, start at this end, ride for x hours, then turn back.
What else should we know about this ride?
You might try posting in the crazyguyonabike guestbook for that journal.
posted by notned at 4:27 PM on September 16, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by notned at 4:27 PM on September 16, 2013 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Thanks, notned, that's a good suggestion! I probably should have thought of that before posting here, lol. Guestbook message left.
Would still love to hear form anyone who's done the ride or knows the route. [/threadsit]
posted by mosk at 5:03 PM on September 16, 2013
Would still love to hear form anyone who's done the ride or knows the route. [/threadsit]
posted by mosk at 5:03 PM on September 16, 2013
Response by poster: Slight update: corresponded with the crazybikeguy blogger, who was very helpful but isn't a local and has only ridden the Bizz Johnson trail once. He made a great suggestion to use Lassen Rural Bus as a shuttle. I'm including that link here as that would be a great choice for anyone who wants to do this ride Mon-Sat. Unfortunately it won't work for us, as LRB doesn't run on Sundays and Sunday is the only day we can do this ride.
Still hoping someone local or more familiar with the route can offer some suggestions, either for alternate shuttles or a route that's tween friendly. Thanks!
posted by mosk at 8:51 AM on September 17, 2013
Still hoping someone local or more familiar with the route can offer some suggestions, either for alternate shuttles or a route that's tween friendly. Thanks!
posted by mosk at 8:51 AM on September 17, 2013
This says that the first six miles from Susanville are the most scenic. I keep coming back because I'm jealous of what sounds like a great ride. I'm not stalking you. grin
posted by notned at 4:28 PM on September 17, 2013
posted by notned at 4:28 PM on September 17, 2013
Response by poster: No worries, notned -- I'm not feeling stalked yet. And if you do plan stalking us, maybe you can help with shuttling us to the Mason Station trail head? ;-)
Thanks for the links. I read a few of those links while I did preliminary research, and I liked what they said. The main problem I'm having is that we can only do this on a Sunday at the moment, due to kids' soccer games and other obligations on Saturdays, but none of the shuttles run on Sundays. And I already have the time blocked off and buy-in from Mrs. Mosk, so, y'know, better to do it now, even if it isn't perfect; "the perfect is the enemy of the good" and all that. But I'm still trying for perfect.
If I can't find another way we'll do this as an out-and-back from the Susanville trail head, which will get us the best part of the ride. That said, I'm still trying to find a way to do this as an "A to B" ride with a shuttle to the Mason Station trail head, as I think that would be amazing, and based on other rides we've done I think our kids are up to the challenge of a longer ride that's mostly downhill and filled with awesome scenery, bridges, and a couple of tunnels.
My latest brainstorm: I contacted one of the bike shops in Susanville to see if they know anyone who wants to make a few bucks shuttling us and our bikes from Susanville to the Mason Station trail head Sunday morning. That would be a neat solution, as the trail from that direction only gains 500 ft over the first 10 miles, then drops 1500 ft over the remainder of the ride, but we'll see if anything comes of it. But regardless, we're going to do at least some part of the ride this weekend.
Thanks -- I'll post another update when I have one.
posted by mosk at 5:22 PM on September 17, 2013
Thanks for the links. I read a few of those links while I did preliminary research, and I liked what they said. The main problem I'm having is that we can only do this on a Sunday at the moment, due to kids' soccer games and other obligations on Saturdays, but none of the shuttles run on Sundays. And I already have the time blocked off and buy-in from Mrs. Mosk, so, y'know, better to do it now, even if it isn't perfect; "the perfect is the enemy of the good" and all that. But I'm still trying for perfect.
If I can't find another way we'll do this as an out-and-back from the Susanville trail head, which will get us the best part of the ride. That said, I'm still trying to find a way to do this as an "A to B" ride with a shuttle to the Mason Station trail head, as I think that would be amazing, and based on other rides we've done I think our kids are up to the challenge of a longer ride that's mostly downhill and filled with awesome scenery, bridges, and a couple of tunnels.
My latest brainstorm: I contacted one of the bike shops in Susanville to see if they know anyone who wants to make a few bucks shuttling us and our bikes from Susanville to the Mason Station trail head Sunday morning. That would be a neat solution, as the trail from that direction only gains 500 ft over the first 10 miles, then drops 1500 ft over the remainder of the ride, but we'll see if anything comes of it. But regardless, we're going to do at least some part of the ride this weekend.
Thanks -- I'll post another update when I have one.
posted by mosk at 5:22 PM on September 17, 2013
Response by poster: A few after-the-fact notes to close this topic:
1. We ended up doing the ride as an out-and-back from Susanville. With our two kids, we rode about 7 miles up the canyon from Susanville to the Devi's Corral trail head, ate lunch, rode another 1.5 miles up the trail, then turned around and rode back. We left Susanville at 10:00am and were back at the car by 3:15pm. Total time for this was ~5 hours. It was a very fun ride with gorgeous scenery and mild fall weather. Gentle grade with two tunnels, many bridges, river, canyon, some shade = great time! Highly recommended.
2. Ran into some other riders coming down the trail that apparently were able to find a local shuttle service that ran on Sundays, so one guess it exists. They said it was essentially a van w/a bike rack, and it was similar to hiring a taxi. Offered FWIW.
3. Susanville is at 4200 feet, so you do start the ride at some elevation and climb from there. There's no water or services to be had along the way (unless you pump/filter from the river), so bring water with you.
4. There are vault toilets along the route, at/near the trail heads.
5. The grade was constant and gentle, as one would expect on a former rail line. There was one steeper bit just beyond the Devil's Corral TH, where you are routed down and up a river bank to get around the highway. It's still a wide trail and wasn't a big deal.
In summary: This is a really good ride and suitable for families, but also can be extended to a much longer ride if you want. We saw some people along the way but had the trail to ourselves for long expanses. We enjoyed it as an out and back, but it would have been fun as a shuttled ride, too. But a shuttle definitely wasn't necessary to have a good time.
posted by mosk at 11:15 AM on September 23, 2013
1. We ended up doing the ride as an out-and-back from Susanville. With our two kids, we rode about 7 miles up the canyon from Susanville to the Devi's Corral trail head, ate lunch, rode another 1.5 miles up the trail, then turned around and rode back. We left Susanville at 10:00am and were back at the car by 3:15pm. Total time for this was ~5 hours. It was a very fun ride with gorgeous scenery and mild fall weather. Gentle grade with two tunnels, many bridges, river, canyon, some shade = great time! Highly recommended.
2. Ran into some other riders coming down the trail that apparently were able to find a local shuttle service that ran on Sundays, so one guess it exists. They said it was essentially a van w/a bike rack, and it was similar to hiring a taxi. Offered FWIW.
3. Susanville is at 4200 feet, so you do start the ride at some elevation and climb from there. There's no water or services to be had along the way (unless you pump/filter from the river), so bring water with you.
4. There are vault toilets along the route, at/near the trail heads.
5. The grade was constant and gentle, as one would expect on a former rail line. There was one steeper bit just beyond the Devil's Corral TH, where you are routed down and up a river bank to get around the highway. It's still a wide trail and wasn't a big deal.
In summary: This is a really good ride and suitable for families, but also can be extended to a much longer ride if you want. We saw some people along the way but had the trail to ourselves for long expanses. We enjoyed it as an out and back, but it would have been fun as a shuttled ride, too. But a shuttle definitely wasn't necessary to have a good time.
posted by mosk at 11:15 AM on September 23, 2013
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posted by mosk at 3:28 PM on September 16, 2013