The Bewilderness Tour: A bike ride through ancient lava beds and alpine peaks
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- Опубліковано 6 лют 2025
- What I love most about bicycle touring is finding new places to see, exploring unfamiliar roads, and camping along the way. With only a limited time available we packed our bikes and headed to the train station where our adventure began...
Our route:
ridewithgps.co...
Music: Danish String Quartet songs performed by Allan Hon and Group
A link to their UA-cam channel: / @allanhonmusic
You make such great videos and your co-star is very cool too.
I love everything about this film. Thank you for sharing your adventures.
If any wedding would ever emerge, definitely on the bikes. You guys look so good together.
Tip from a bikecentric wedding decades ago at an east coast bike rally - ride down the aisle to the preacher on singles, leave on a trandem.
slowerandolder no
Great adventure! I especially love the musical accompaniment, Henry.
It's great to see old school bikes with horizontal top tubes, toe clips and staps ect.
Very enjoyable video.
Bravo. Your sense of adventure and Huck Finn vibe just knocks me out. You're living a life less ordinary and inspire me to enjoy the micro adventures that present themselves to me in my daily life. Loving your channel and sharing the life you live. Love to you both. You're a special couple and it shows so much in your films. Music choice is sublime.
Thank you, Eddie. I appreciate the kind comment.
Love, love , love this video and the musical scare as well!!!
You guys are awesome. Makes me want to bike pack, but for now love road biking in Redding, CA. I'll drive from Auburn, Washington once or twice a year to escape the cold, wet weather. Thanks for the UA-cams.
Needed to watch this again today! Things are messed up in our little corner of the world and I need to remind myself that I still love cycling - and if I die I'll die loving it! Went out for a ride today!
No cars, no buses, no tanks (yet).
This might be my favorite video of yours ever. So beautiful, and it all looked like so much fun. Keep riding and inspiring all of us!
Awesome, thank you!
Im a big fan here in the Philippines ! what a very inspiring content.. stay safe guys tc
Love your videos, thanks so much for posting the routes. :)
Thank you, I appreciate the kind words.
Great meeting and chatting with you yesterday! Thanks for all the awesome videos and music!!!!!
It was a pleasure to meet you too! I hope to see you out riding again soon!
Don't know how I missed this video. What an amazing trip and experience. Thanks for sharing.
Que increíble lugar!!!!!realmente espectacular!!
Thank you, Dario!
As always, another beautiful and exciting trip by two delightful explorers. Great music!
Thank you!
The two of you are always a joy to watch on your riding adventures. Great views and points of view you share. Always a delight.
Thank you!
The best bicycling video I have seen in a long time.
Thank you, Miguel!
Put simply my husband and myself just love your videos. Regards from England.xx
Looked like an amazing adventure for sure. As far as the bear crossing in front of you, just remember that you don't have to be faster than the bear, just faster than Ms. Cools...lol.
Nice tour
Nice music
Nice bicicle
NICE PEOPLE ♥♥
Thank you!
sweet tour and beautiful scenery but what I liked the most was the fact that you both make such great companions in touring. You are both very fortunate to find touring partners that compliment each other.
I agree. I am one of those fortunate lads who tours with his wife. It’s become one of the pillars of our couple because we get to partake in those awesome moments, encounters and landscapes. Every time I ride alone in great scenery I find it hard to share with her when I’m back. But Ms Cools is a randonneur in her own right and therefore you guys can cover much greater distances than us (100k is a very long day for us right now, yet growing). But that’s a detail overall.
Great adventure I really love when you and Ms. Cools do these multi day rides. What a beautiful lake, great views, quite roads, and a bear thrown in for excitement.
Thanks Zipp! This turned out to be a great tour and the bear provided a caffeine free wake up.
I lived near Lassen and loved riding there! 21:45 is perfect with the music its just perfect, good job!
🙏 Thank you!
05:30 Great shot! Another fantastic bike tour...
Oh my gosh, absolutely stunning. What a fantastic journey!!! Thank you very much for sharing your experience. So many oh wow moments. Here's to many more adventures. #everyrideisepic
Thank you, Rob!
The whole time you were standing there talking at your second camp I'm looking at the surroundings and thinking bears, Bears??, BEARS!!!.
OMG Ms Cools is a National Treasure. You're so lucky to have found each other. Does she have any unmarried sisters, a twin perhaps?🙂
Once again the music was very fitting to the video. Good One!
Nice road trip- a real teddy bear's picnic.
I particularly enjoyed the scenic beauty and the mellifluousness of the music and commentary. So there!
Just great videos! Retired from Santa Cruz to Mt Shasta. Old surfer soooo ... Biking is a new adventure for me. Thanks to the two of you ... I am saving most of your rides to complete come this spring. Again, thanks
This video was so amazing, I truly loved it. Thank you both, Ms. COOLS AND YOU HENRY. I think that this was one of your most adventurous journey.
Thank you, flpirate! We had a great time on this tour. We just wish we had a few more days to explore a little further. The weather was nearly perfect and the Sierras can often be unpredictable other times of the year.
Great route and great video! I did the same route from KF to Lassen a number of years ago but then headed east out of Lassen towards Lake Almanor, south to Quincy, back over the Sierra into Oroville then a final day through the Central Valley back to the Bay Area. Your video brought back some great memories.
Thanks Stephen! It's sounds like your route was incredible. I'm adding in more of the East side of the Sierras as I get more confidence, and more service roads too. Our time constraint for this tour kept us from getting too much further, but we packed in as much as we could.
Great little film, thanks.
Thank you!
Great ride guy’s xx
Oh my! I just stumbled across your channel and I find it brilliant. I live in Northern LA county and you have inspired me to venture further North to ride with my wife..Paso Robles has been my limit thus far...Cheers..
Really enjoyed this vid, thanks for the ridealong, take care
Hi Henry Theresa great inspirational video and just glad that bear didnt give you any problems. Very impressed you still use down tube levers Theresa and you prove you dont need a fancy bike to get out there and enjoy yourselves. I wish we had such vast areas to cycle in over here in the UK. Stay safe you two.
Thank you, Ted!
Hello and thank you, Ted! Ha ha! You never need a fancy anything to do something adventurous!
The black bears only give you problems when you use a cinnamon roll for a pillow in your tent!
Beautiful scenery and your video captures it wonderfully 😀 Affirms the state I want to retire in after Wississippi😜
Just. Amazing.
Love this video. Your enthusiasm is contagious!
What a great adventure! Thank you Jeremy for sharing your cycling trips!
Thanks Simone! I'm glad you're enjoying these videos and I appreciate all of your thoughtful comments!
Sweet video ... awesome scenery. Great places you visit. And great bike choice 👍🏼
Wonderful landscapes!
One word, Superb !
That was perfectly beautiful...thank you. Ps-awesome navigator!
Really nice video. I did Seattle to San Francisco in 2017 and also passed through lassen. It's a nice reminder of that trip.
Great video. Thanks for alerting me to the Danish String Quartet traditional folk music. Worked very well with the video.
Well the music may have been different, the location may have been new, but your positive attitude was the same as always, both of you.
It was refreshing and I feel refreshed, so I wanted thank you for that.
Thank you for another great video!
daves prison bread is the basis for summit sandwiches?! hahaha. a bear?! wow. love the music. ms cools looks so good on her bike!! that's a great velo orange bike!! wish you could visit here in DC...i'd put ms. cools wires inside her frame tubes....come to the philly bike show in november! just a great video. thanks for sharing such a cool area.
Thanks Mike! We picked up the Hemp bread in Fall River Mills, and carried it with us all the way to the Lassen summit. I've tried some of Dave's other breads, but not this one and I have to say it was really good! The Philly bike show looks fun!
Very cool ride by very cool cyclist. Thanks so much.
Wow, another great tour. The string quartet was a nice change . Say, I know you 2 could out sprint that bear, I could, going down hill. Good to know, that gear setup, worked for Ms. Cools.
Nice trip for sure. No shoulders on the road is a norm here in Vermont. Makes for interesting ride when big truck go's by. Thanks for the video and safe cycling, Al
Thank you, Al!
Great video, really enjoyed getting to come along for your adventure.
The scenery out there is beautiful and so different from Atlanta where I now live. Definitely brings back memories from my 10 years of living in San Jose and traveling out there.
This was my first time in Lava Beds and second time in Lassen (first time on a bike). Lava Beds was a surprise to me. I really enjoyed stepping into the caves and finding a cool 65-degrees escape from the 88-degrees outside. Lassen was much more than I had remembered and I would definitely rank it high on the list of places to visit.
Wow thanks for the epic vlog!!
👏👏👏👏Another Amazing Ride!! Best Regards from Brasil!
Thanks Sergio!
Great ride and scenary! Your videos are incredible! Thanks for share. Greatings from Lisbon/Portugal
Thank you, Bruno!
Great video Mr. Wildberry, can't wait to chat all about it over coffee and a ride!
P.S.
The change in music was refreshing and awesome, as usual.
Thanks Aaron! If you have time check out the Danish String Quartet. They have some very good music! Let's ride soon!
Thanks for sharing your cycling adventures with us. Ride On.
Yall make good videos. Thanks for sharing.
Outstanding trip and video. Look forward to seeing your next adventure.
Amazing video. Thank you, Henry. I haven't ever seen bears during my rides but seeing them in Finland wouldn't be impossible. Luckily I've spotted only deers. Keep doin' great videos man 😎
Thank you, Tapio! The bear encounter on a ride was a first for me, and I have to say I was a little frightened, but only after I had time to reflect on it. It all happened so quickly!
Another amazing video! Your “ smoked out tour” Reno to sac inspired me to start cycling and it’s been pretty awesome so far... thank you for the great footage👍🏼 keep them coming !
Awesome! Keep on riding, it only gets better!
wow!! a new bicyclist?! that's great...
When I went over Mt Lassen people got out of their cars and applauded me when I got to the summit. They had passed me on the way up and probably wondered if I would make it. I wondered too. My bike and gear weighed about 70 lbs!
Wonderful video. That bear reminded me of one I met in Canada on the Icefields Parkway - a sphincter tightening moment to be sure.
Lassen was a great climb. Definitely, one of my favorites to date. It was a pretty quiet day for us riding up. There were a few cars, but mostly we had the road to ourselves. My bike with all the gear came in around 45 lbs total. A few of the highways getting there were sketchy so I would opt for the gravel service roads whenever possible. It's a beautiful area of California.
nice trip!
Enjoyable scenery.
Epic ride..timely post for me. I just drove hwy 89 from Truckee to Mt Shasta then home to PDX after a few relaxing days in N Shore Tahoe w spouse. As we drove 89, I eyed it from a cyclist perspective, mostly Mt Lassen stretch, as I just completed my first bike packing trip down the Oregon coast hwy 101 (astoria to crescent city) the week before. Bitten by the bikepacking bug. Lot’s to learn! Enjoy your NorCal vids!
@perfectdaycalendar p.s. In May, near Reedsport OR while on a 50 mile gravel ride, came around a blind corner b4 dusk, saw one of those same critters 20-30 ft in from of me on that gravel logging road! #bearencounters
The 89 was a little dodgy, so we waited until the early hours to ride most of it. Every 15-20 minutes or so a big rig would pass so we just hoped off our bikes and let them by. The shoulder has loose gravel in most places, and we figured a few seconds here and there wouldn't matter in the long run. There are lots of gravel service roads in the area and we would have liked to check more of those out (with a couple cans of bear spray). It's worth studying the maps to see, but I would guess one could avoid the major highways completely. Lassen was worth the effort and I would enjoy doing it again. Another commentor mentioned they followed a similar route but then after Lassen went on to Lake Almenor and Quincy which has lots of gravel roads too. We were fortunate to ride during the week and through the farming areas there are some quiet side roads. I really enjoy the Sierras this time of year. I hope you get to check it sometime soon.
60 miles plus before refreshments!!!. On our tandem my wife had to get the ‘nose bag’ out every 16 miles and she is built like a racing snake. Fab that you & your better half can accomplish this mileage. By the way,enjoy your adventures. David Plant
Thanks David!
That part of CA is fantastic I have some family that lives at Montague and can see Shasta from the back yard! Makes me want to explore more east of the town than west to the coast.
There's a lot to explore out there. I enjoyed stopping in the small towns and meeting the locals who live there. The Bieber restaurant had really amazing pancakes.
Sweet trip
great ride and great video, really love your choice of music!
Thank you, Zhuyouan0412!
Very nice video! Good for you, guys. ...Am I the only one, who would assume that the bike frame is one or perhaps two sizes bigger then supposed to be?.. Of course, if it feels good and comfortable..., so be it))
Great video. At first I thought you were going to ride the OR Outback which starts in K-Falls.
We would like to ride the Oregon Outback one day!
Is there such thing as a dynamo powered heating pad that you can wrap around those burritos ? That would be great great way to get a nice hot meal at the end of the day...
Great video I enjoyed every minute. Exit pursued by a bear. Glad we don't have them in Britain.
Fantastic trip and video. Did you envy Ms Cools her balloon -like tyres on that rough tarmac on Day 2?
I definitely envied her tires on the gravel descent too!
Is there a map of your route from Tule Lake to Lassen? The gravel cutoff? Rode Lassen over and back last weekend. Its in my backyard. Thats Lake Helen. So blue.
great
Great, just great to follow along. And I love all the strings throughout. And the head shake at the end... PolyV feelin a little portly?
Ha ha! Yes, it always feels a little too heavy.
Thanks Omar! Hopefully, soon you will be toting the tots into the mountains too.
If you guys couldn't talk, I couldn't tell you are americans. You look so irish-like! That is a compliment
Epic bike tour. My big adventures are 1-day rides. Perhaps you will inspire me.
Start with an over-nighter, and see how it goes. You might find you really enjoy it!
You guys are great together. Is Ms. Cools or her family from the midwest originally by any chance? I don't know what it is, but she reminds me of this girl I let get away from Wisconsin.
Heartwarming as always. Who is selecting the music? Pretty good choice. Creates a nice athmosphere.
Thank you, Herrmann! I'm glad you liked the music! I give all the credit to Ms. Cools!
Awesome! Could you maybe add your route in the description?
Hi RH, yes we are going to post our route. There are a few suggestions we want to add which we think will make the ride a little bit better. There were a few highway sections that could have been omitted had we known.
Great production. .as always. Lava beds, sounds a little uncomfortable.
Could you talk about how bike planing and tube selection that may contribute to creating a bike that planes?
You guys are unbelievable. You do a century like it’s nothing. How much training did you do to get to that level? Great vid by the way. Thanks.
Thanks Robert. It definitely didn't feel like nothing, but I appreciate the compliment! We try to ride regularly even if just a few miles each day. Getting into the habit of riding often is the key. On weekends we go out for longer rides, and if we feel tired we just ride slower. Contrary to some not all rides need to be hard or fast. Eventually, you'll have a day where you feel great and you can push yourself. All the best!
Mr Wildberry, a question for Ms Cools. How does her Polyvalent build compare with the complete build that Velo Orange has just started offering?
Hello Amit! My bike has 26-inch wheels with Compass (Rene Herse) tires. The VO build comes with 650b wheels and Teravail Rampart tires. It comes with a 1x group (I have a triple) with an 11-speed cassette and an integrated SRAM shifter. The brakes are Avid BB7 mechanical discs and I have hydraulic. Those are some of the main differences. Hope that helps!
@@theresecools3079 thank you for your reply Ms Cools!! Can I just tell how big a fan I am of your bike! Velo Orange frames aren't available in India or might cost a bomb if I get it imported, so much trying to get a similar frame designed here for long-distance touring. I too wish to go with 26 inch wheels and down tube shifters along with a triple crank, although still unsure about the type of brakes to run. Unfortunately, I don't have a wizard like Omar to build it up for me!! Thank you once again, and hope to see many more videos from you and Mr Wildberry.
Therese Cools n
nice video, thank you. I would like to replicate this ride some day. Maybe instead of catching the bus, we could ride to the train station somewhere around Redding? Any troubles on the tour with cars / bad drivers?
Kent Lewandowski the ride from Klamath Falls was pretty quiet without much traffic. The highway leading to Lassen Park was a little narrow and busy. By leaving very early we arrived before the traffic got busy. Overall, not bad.
Hey, what if someone designed special waterproof bags, (with shoulder straps) that hooked onto a rack over the rear wheel ? Then you could take those bags with you when you leave your bikes! Then you could, put your gear in lockers, take your gear to you bedroom at night ... on the train carriage, just saying....
Very cool ride complete with bear sighting. A lot of those roads looked awesome but how was the traffic on the 299 with no shoulders and on Old Highway Road? Was it as light as the footage in your video?
Highway 299 was the worst section of our ride. We happened to arrive there right after noon, so it was busy, but not completely unbearable. The long descent helped. Old Hwy Road was excellent! The detour on the forest service road leaving Fall River Mill was excellent as well. The 89 looked miserable in the daytime (we could see it from our camp, so we elected to wake up very early (4:15 am) to get through to the Lassen Park entrance as early as possible.
Did you stop for the bear? Or ride past it? 🐻🐻🐻
Hi adamjhayes59! After the bear ran a cross the road we stopped for a minute but it continued to run through the bushes so it disappeared from our view pretty fast!
Hey, America, you know, if you made the railway platform the same height as the floor of the train carriage ... you know, just saying ...
it would be nice if we could shift our focus on more effective transportation and bicycle infrastructure. There are a few cities such as Portland that are doing a good job, but we still pale in comparison to many other developed countries. I'm optimistic things will eventually move in that direction, it's just not going to happen overnight. In the mean time we're happy to have the Amtrak as a good option for our bike touring needs. Thanks.
Good morning. I am a new subscriber. Curious about Ms. Cool's bicycle. What brand, etc.? And, then, have to ask - what are your respective saddle preferences. Nice video. Be safe and all the best, Mike
Thanks Michael! Ms. Cools is riding a VeloOrange Polyvalent. She is also using a Fizik Vitesse saddle. I'm using the Gilles Berthoud Galibier saddle. Both are great depending on your preference, and budget. I had been interested in trying out a GB sable for many years and finally decided to get one after using a Brooks Saddle for a few years prior. I went with the Titanium version to keep the weight down, and because leather saddles last a long time the extra cost can be factored out over a much longer life span. All the best!
@@Henrywildeberry Many thanks for the quick reply. Again, appreciate the videos. Safe riding to you both.
That Nitto cap is badass! Where did you buy it?
Thanks Lite Roadie. I picked it up on our tour from Seattle to Portland at a bike shop called Rivelo. Given John Bennett a call and see if he can ship one to you. Cheers!
A short off topic question. Why in USA (a great tech country) the trains are so slow ?
That's an interesting question. I'm not sure I can answer it for you, but I think it's tied to the US Land Grants of the mid 19th century. The government then gifted land to private companies to build a railroad network to help develop the western parts of the US. To this day I believe a large portion of all rail way easement is still on private property. These private rail companies use the tracks mainly for transporting goods, but not people. The tracks themselves are not modernized for high speed trains. Compare that to the highway network which is all public land, yet developed largely for automobiles (bicycles were not part of the equation). Most US residents prefer the luxury of private automobile and airline travel. Trains have basically become a forgotten mode. It's possible to convert these old tracks over to high speed rail, but I imagine that's going to be a pretty difficult political issue.
#ilike
Camp and go slow? But neither of you are riding Campagnolo! :) Nice video!
Thanks Benz! I just let go of my vintage bike with campy components. Now, I'm almost exclusively using Shimano.
Hey, what if someone invented special upside down gutters that sat over your wheels so that when it rained you didn't get mud and water sprayed all over you? Just saying ....
So, about the bear?
How do beginners start this