Bob on Pedal the Peaks 2007

Looking Back at Hwy 178


Walker Pass Summit


Lunch Stop


The Day's Elevation Profile

Please visit October 21 slideshow.

Day 3 started out warm and a little windy. We got on the road around 9:00. The ride out of town was fun because all of the group stayed together. We tried to organize pace lines and echelons because of the wind, but many of the riders had little experience with them. So we did the best we could. The ride was a gradual uphill on Hwy 178 and after Hwy 178 joined with Hwy 14. When Hwy 178 split off to the right, we followed it and began the day's significant climb - Walker Pass. The landscape was fairly barren hills.

We reached the summit at 5200 feet in no time. Then there was a steep downhill, level spots and more downhill. On one of these descents, I hit my maximum speed for the trip at 49.2 MPH. We wandered through pleasant valleys along the south fork of the Kern River throught the towns of Canebreak, Onyx and Weldon. We had a tail wind for most of the way so it was a pretty easy ride. Lunch was on the side of the road shortly after we turned onto the Kernville Cutoff.

After lunch, we had a one-hour cruise into Kernville after straining over three significant bumps on the highway. We checked into the Kernville Inn and then went back to the Kern River Brewing Company for some refreshments. After that we showered, sat in the inn's courtyard and told lies to each other. When we were done with that, some of us went back to That's Italian for dinner while others went to a Mexican restaurant. After a good meal, lots of wine and some grappa, we weaved our way back to the inn for a good night's sleep.

The daily statistics were 61 miles and 4400 feet of climbing.

The map of our route is below. To see it in Google Earth, follow this link.