Background Check: Rumble To The River
Though we put these bikes through the usual day-today grind-commuting, urban errand runs and weekend jaunts-we had to pick a more adrenalinepumping destination for the cover photo shoot and to test the bikes' touring mettle. you couldn't ask for a better spot than the Kern Valley. It's just 175 miles from the Los Angeles basin, but Kern feels like a planet away from the brown surroundings of the LA area. Carved into the southern edge of the Sierra Nevada by the rough-and-tumble Kern River, the valley is surrounded by acres of towering pines and lofty fir and a host of natural wonders. Careening through the evergreens and flowing into Lake Isabella before trickling into the agricultural fields of the San Joaquin Valley, the Kern has more than 80 miles of shoreline and plenty of suitably scenic backroads nearby to let you take advantage of it.
Coming out of Bakersfield off Hwy 99, we took the most popular option-Hwy 178-to the town and eponymous body of water known as Lake Isabella. From there we could have stayed on 178 east and the long way around the lake, but we opted for the more direct route, Highway 155 north, which slices through Wofford Heights before depositing you into Kernville proper. We had photos to shoot, after all
From Kernville, we highly recommend you explore the northern roads. North of town, the main drag is called Sierra Way before becoming Mountain Road 99 (the Kern River Highway). It's a winding cruise along the turbulent river through a beautiful national forest; in fact this area is a National Monument (the Giant Sequoia National Monument, to be exact). The road's open seasonally, and even though the snowpack was melting we could still spot clumps of the white stuff in the hills during our visit in April.
Highway 178 may be the main artery transporting you into this little alpine playground, but it's not the only path around. One of the better secondary road options is Caliente-Bodfish Road, rolling out of Lake Isabella's southwest side. It starts out as Lake Isabella Boulevard right at the junction of 178 and then morphs into a tumble of fast sweepers and slow hairpins after passing through the town of Lake Isabella en route to the dusty little blip of Caliente and finally Highway 58. Be sure to pull over at the Silver City ghost town in Bodfish for a quick tour of the ramshackle buildings rescued from villages in the area (though rescued might not quite be the right word).
We made a lazy retreat out of Kernville by continuing east on 178 and skirting the northern edge of the lake, thus getting the most scenic bang for our buck. This slice of road delivers great sweeping views of the eerily still lake, but it's a good idea to hit it in the morning when you'll be rewarded with the best light. -Andrew Cherney