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Hey Olivier, thanks for your support and for watching! Modern mountain bikes are definitely expensive, and I imagine it can be hard to access many trails when you live on a small island. I have a couple suggestions that may help. Although fancy modern bikes are very nice to ride, a simple bike can still be very fun to get you out on the trails. When I first got a mountain bike as a teenager, I mostly rode urban features. I liked to jump stairsets, do trials-type moves, build dirt jumps in town, and jump off whatever interesting features I could find near to home. I imagine your island must have some fun spots to session and hone your skills. I got really good at wheelies and manuals. Later, when I moved to a mountain bike town, I had excellent foundational skills and my riding progressed from there. I know you are interested in downhill type riding, but maybe you can also try and find the fun in cross country style rides. Lastly, perhaps you can get involved with your local bike community to build some bike trails. In California where I live, there are a lot of organizations working with landowners to make fun multi-use trails that are also very fun to ride on a bike. These multi-use trails are also attractions for tourism and visitors and the locals as well, that could be worth getting involved in!

Fair assessment! I do like narrating my videos, but I’ll keep that in mind for the future. Thanks for watching!

@@Nik_Martinelli And Hell Ya!.. Ya did the White Line!.. One scary accomplishment!

@@stevemurray2737 Hell yeah! Thanks, I’m stoked too!

Haha, so true!

Thanks man! I had been looking at it for years, and finally went for it!

@@Nik_Martinelli yeah you did a great job

You definitely should! I had some great rides when I was scouting and familiarizing myself to the area. There is quite a bit to see and ride. Thanks for watching, be safe out there.

Thank you for your kind words and thanks for watching! Yes I made it back past the hatchery before I started to get pretty light headed and fatigued. On a normal day it would be a fairly easy 20mile cruise back to my house, but I was really out of it by that point!

Yes, I didn't enjoy coming up on the rattle snakes so quickly. It would have taken a long time to get assistance! Thank you!

Cronan is just brutal in general with all that climbing

@B1KER Thank you Robert! I'm a fan of your videos, and it's an honor to have you enjoy one of mine! I am also more of a mountain biker myself, but you are totally right about the mileage. From my house, the route includes 60miles of ART, plus around 10 between Cronan Ranch and the El Dorado Trail- so roughly 70miles of paved, and 70 miles of dirt. I built a sweet Santa Cruz Chameleon a few months ago, and I may prefer to try it again on that. I know you are not a stranger to suffering on a bicycle. I watched your Downieville sufferfest last year, and I can't believe you did that- and I've climbed up to Packer Saddle from Sierra City numerous times (on dirt). Folsom Lake circumnavigation sounds awesome, I'm curious how you put the northeastern part of that together. I invented a ride that some friends and I did last fall where we rode around the lake starting at Granite Beach, rode all the way to Salmon Falls on dirt, then did Darrington to Mickey Mouse, down to the Darrington campground. We inflated floaty tubes and strapped our bikes to them and then swam back to Granite Bay! I'm working on that video now, I'm pretty stoked about it- it was a crazy day. I hope you get out there for some good rides soon, I'll be following along with your vids!

You should! The ride to Folsom is super nice, with zero cars to contend with. I've even done it as an after-work social ride with friends. We rode to Folsom, got burgers and beers, then rode the light rail back to Sac. You could do the reverse and have an easier pedal because there is less elevation coming back. You can always build up to going all the way to Folsom and back, which is a decent ride of around 60miles. There is a lot to see along the entire american river trail. I've spent a lot of time riding up and down, I highly recommend you get out there!

Hey, thank you! I have a Marin DSX 2 that I really enjoy riding. I do like flat-bars for maximum shennanigans. I have WTB Riddler tires front and rear, set up tubless, both 45c width. I upgraded several parts on by bike such as my cranks, smaller chainring for easier climbing, and a shockstop suspension stem. My favorite addition was a dropper seatpost, it's wayyy more fun that way! Since this video, I threw some old carbon bars on there from an old mountain bike and I'm enjoying those. Thanks for asking about my bike. It wasn't very expensive ~$1300 new, and then I upgraded those few items. I purchased an affordable gravel bike because I have a mountain biking obsession and I wasn't sure if I was going to enjoy gravel riding. Turns out I do! Especially when blurring the lines between mtb and gravel. I added some bags, and enjoy the look and ride of it very much. Check out a youtube short I have of me jumping a road. Let me know if you have any other questions, are you looking for a gravel bike?

Thank you very much!

Wow, wow, wow. Awesome story, thank you for sharing. I'm sure quite a few riders and athletes can relate. Sometimes it just doesn't work, despite a solid effort. Thanks for watching my video. I lived in Santa Cruz for 10 years, and those winds can be so brutal. I've ridden to Half Moon bay from there in wind, and that ride alone was very hard. It's a lonely stretch for a cyclist in bad weather.

Thank you so much for your kind words, and for watching! I built a new hardtail this year, and I think that may be the best bike to try for redemption. I'm starting to get interested in trying again.

Heck yeah, do it. Let me know when you get it done. The fall might be a good time, but the days are shorter. The spring has longer days, but there is a short window with decent temps, after the trails are dry, and before they are choked with poison oak. It won't be easy, but it's doable.

Thank you so much! Sounds like you know the area pretty well. You might enjoy the stretch of trail between folsom dam and salmon falls bridge, there are a few parts that have tricky navigation, but I pretty much followed the water line. There is about 2000ft of climbing in there too. I have footage for another video from last fall. My friends and I rode from granite bay, to salmon falls bridge, to the Darrington Trail campground. Then we inflated floaty tubes, strapped our bikes to them and swam back to granite bay. That's going to be a fun video, stay tuned!

@@Nik_Martinelli thats epic!!!!

Would my strava link help? If you need a better one, I think I could fix you up since I recorded with ridewithgps too. www.strava.com/activities/9116909633

Very cool location. I did a lot of pre-riding a couple years ago when I was imagining this big loop, I had a lot of fun. Hopefully you can learn from some of my mistakes and complete it. Please follow-up with me if you do. Thanks for watching!

Here's the link to my Strava activity if you want to check it out! Thanks for watching. www.strava.com/activities/9116909633

@@Nik_Martinelli thank you

Thank you for watching and the compliment. Yes, navigation is very easy with the course markings on race day! Are you racing this year?

@@Nik_Martinelli awesome! Thanks for the information! I will be racing this year. I did a shuttle many many years ago, but I’m not familiar with the area and am preparing to ensure I don’t get lost!

Thank you! It still haunts me a little bit that I didn't spin out the last 15miles to home. Maybe I'll have to give it another shot next year?

Ha, yes thank you. I was pretty wobbly at the end there...

Do it! Sign up in January!

Ha! I’m a mortal just like you my friend. Not particularly trained or conditioned for super big days, just motivated! It’s amazing what you can do if you start early and just ride slowly all day. I didn’t think anyone would really watch my videos outside some family and friends, so thank you for tuning in and thanks for your kind words and encouragement! I’m contemplating trying again, but I’m not sure I have a free weekend and weather window before it gets too hot!

Wow, thank you very much for the encouragement! Are you local to the area?

Thank you! Well, the majority of this route can easily be found on Trailforks. Check out the Eldorado trail, also the south fork American trail near Coloma, Ca. I have used the app/website “Ride with GPS” to find routes that others have created. Those can make for great adventures, and allows you to follow the entire route, often linking trails and paved connections. It’s like apple/google map directions for your ride- very slick! Let me know if you want some more tips. Are you riding a gravel bike? The reason I put gravel in parentheses in my title is because most of what I rode in this video is actually better suited for a mountain bike. It’s definitely doable on a gravel bike, but not ideal!

Where are based out of?

@@Nik_Martinelli Antelope in Sacramento

Wow! I had no idea that someone had actually turned around and rode back to Sierra City for help! I think you are a true hero in this situation, because communication was so challenging and that guy needed EMS help, ASAP. I can't tell you enough how grateful I am for you doing that. I believed that your actions probably had the biggest positive impact on that rescue situation, by truly getting help rolling. Thank you for your selfless act of service, I really appreciate you. Are you returning to the event this year?

@@Nik_Martinelli Thank you for the kind words. Yes' I'm returning to the race this year and looking forward to finishing it :) Are you racing this year? If so we can meet up in Downieville and have a cold drink. Have a great day! Dimitri

You are too kind! Thank you for checking it out! It seems like you are local to me? I live in Sacramento!

@@Nik_Martinelli Yes sir! I'm up in Rocklin.

Hey man, thanks! Funny that should ask, just yesterday I was thinking about trying this big ride again in the spring. I’m working on building up a hard tail, and I’m trying to consider what bike to bring. To answer your question, I think it’s entirely personal preference. For most trails around Sac, it probably wouldn’t be my preference. The reason why I put a parentheses around gravel in my video title is because I was actually in mountain bike terrain a lot. My friend Jeff put a suspension fork on his gravel bike last year. He likes it for some things, but I think you are still limited by a small rear tire and a rear wheel that’s not up for smashing things too hard. On this ride, I was mostly worried about slashing a rear sidewall or breaking rear spokes. It’s really up to you, and where you ride. I think a fully ridgid bike is super capable, and pretty well suited for stuff around the Sacramento area. I did get a suspension stem, which uses an elastomer to absorb shock. I was skeptical at first, but I do like just that little bit of suspension. Maybe you should consider something like that, and see if that’s enough to take the sting off the hands and go from there. Are you new to the area?

​@@Nik_Martinelli dude thanks for the insight! No, I've been here since 2010. I actually did a portion of your route 8 years or so ago. I think I was Skunk Hollow to Cornan Ranch and then I took the road back through pilot hill to the new salmon falls bridge crossing. Did it on a vintage Kline MTB with a fork suspension! I loved every second of it, but the road back down was the scariest cause I was worried but getting hit by a car. I haven't ridden in years up until last summer and I'm wanting to hit some trails again. I'm turning 40 this year so I'm trying to ease back into it but keep it somewhat comfortable. I just got a State 4130 All Road and planning on what adventures I can take it on. I'm in the Rancho Cordova area close to the American River. 114 miles is nuts! My longest is 44 miles and I was hurting lol! I ride up to Nimbus dam and lake Natoma often for exercise.

@@jonsykes3501 That’s awesome, good for you for getting back on the bike. It’s a sport that we can do for decades to come. I know that route you are talking about, road sections are always my least favorite. My friend Jeff put his suspension fork on a State gravel bike, not sure the model. He ended up taking it off after a few months, he didn’t want it for general riding. He rides gravel stuff a lot, but he also has a mountain bike for proper trails. That’ll probably be in your future! Anyway, your new bike will take you lots of great places, enjoy! My friends like to use Ride with GPS, the app/website to find gravel route gps tracks in the area to follow. I like hitting the American River bike trail, and exploring the gravel off-shoots. Also, if you rode up the bike trail to Folsom Lake, then followed the gravel road up to Granite Beach, I really like doing that.

Wow, thank you for such a thoughtful comment. I really appreciate the encouragement and your kind words. I've gotten some great feedback from the online community, and I feel the love. I'm glad I was able to share the story of that day. Thanks again, cheers!

@flexmtb thank you so much! Thanks for checking out my other video.

@@Nik_Martinelli Of course man!

@jeremiahis Yes, the popsicles! We were cruising at a similar pace for a while, I remember you, thanks for saying Hi. I'm glad I was able to capture a few glimpses of you to see, hopefully that is fun. Also, thank you for your supportive words. It was hard to talk about what happened, but I wanted to share the story. I will look into the article you shared, I think you are completely correct about that. Usually I'm really excellent at pacing myself and not running into problems, I pre-rode the entire course in a previous video and didn't have any issues. I'm going to give that a lot of thought this year because yes, I will be back for another go. I'm hoping to improve on my time and also enjoy the race a bit more, hopefully without the cramps. Thanks for watching! Where are you based out of?

@@Nik_Martinelli I drove out from Montana so I was relating to the ‘this is as fast as I can safely go’ part on 3rd Divide, not wanting to risk a crash. You had a honeymoon coming up and I was solo, needing to be able to drive home. It’ll be the same situation this year.

@jeremiahis haha, oh man, I was worried about that the whole time. There are quite a few ways to hurt yourself on course! Yes, a hospital trip, or getting stuck in CA would not be worth it, better to take it easy. I learned this year that it doesn’t really matter how fast you descend. This year I’m going to focus on keeping moving consistently the entire time.

@@Nik_Martinelli Definitely, my descent time was on the slower end for sure. I'm more focused on fitness this time around; how fast can I be on the pedally parts. . .

@flexmtb thank you for your kind words of encouragement, and thanks for watching. Sorry I didn’t get some better footage of you, haha. I was a tiring ride, I don’t blame you for taking it easy. I definitely had my moments where I was not moving as fast as I wanted to. I signed up again for this year and I will be back at it. I’m going to prepare better, and ride my wife’s bike, which is much better suited for a long day. Are you headed back this year?

@@Nik_Martinelli I'll be there again this year! Also training much more and working towards a better time. A lighter bike is definitely key. Also maybe sub 100 degrees would help 😂 I'm shooting for something sub 30 pounds this year myself. Will see if I can make that happen.

@flexmtb nice! With last year still fresh on our minds, it'll be easier to prepare. I'm hoping to get my cramping under control- I'm not sure what that was about. Unfortunately, I don't think we can expect much better weather, although I heard it did rain on race day a few years back. I just realized who I'm talking to, I watched several of your vids last year and it helped me get pumped to get out on training rides. Keep it up man, thanks for the inspiration.

@@Nik_Martinelli Wow thanks man! Appreciate that! Yeah, I would love for it to rain on race day this year.

Steve, a near crash at that part in the trail sure does sound memorable. Glad you made it! Thank you very much for watching, and I appreciate your encouragement.