Raymond is a small town in the Sierra foothills near the southern entrance to Yosemite as the crow flies. In the late 1800s it was the terminus of the San Joaquin Valley and Yosemite Railroad where passengers would transfer from trains to stagecoaches to complete their journey. The railroad is long gone, and the town is now known as the venue for the Everyone Loves Raymond Gravel Ride.
The ride has three options: a 35 mile loop to the northeast of town, a 60 mile lollypop to the northwest and a 90 miler that combines the two. I opted for the 60 miler since I didn’t think I could make the cutoff times that would allow me to complete the 90 miles.
The night before the ride I camped out at a lake near the start in order to test out the gear I purchased to take on the Tuscany Trail later this spring. It was hard to sleep with the howls of the coyotes, mooing of the cows, gobbles of the turkeys and the braying of the donkeys throughout the night, but the gear worked great (but that’s material for a future comment solicitation device).
From the start at the town park, basically some horseshoe pits and picnic benches, we headed through downtown Raymond. Blink and you miss it. Up some hills and some rollers before descending to the Chowchilla River. Every time I hear Chowchilla I think of the Chowchilla kidnappings. I also think of chinchillas. Then I wonder if anyone has ever kidnapped chinchillas. I have a lot of time to think on these long rides, and most of the thoughts are not very profound.
In addition to chinchillas I also thought about growing up in the Bay Area in the 70s and all the crazy stuff that was going on. Patty Hearst, the Peoples’ Temple, the assassinations of Harvey Milk and Mayor Moscone, the Zodiac Killer. All this from one part of the country, and before we had CNN hyping stories from across the country in order to fill airtime. As crazy as things might seem today, we’ve been through worse. But I digress.
We climbed up away from the river and soon were onto dirt roads through rolling hills which were starting to turn from green to brown. At a junction we came across an old abandoned smelter. Nobody knew who dealt her, but I assume it has something to do with the Gold Rush. We crossed some cattle guards into open range. Butterflies flitted across the road, which was fitting given that we were in Mariposa County. After a short downhill we came to the first aid station where I filled up on water for the next section of long climbs.
White Rock Road, presumably named for the granite that made the road rather bumpy in places, climbed about 700 feet from the rest stop. Not too steep, but it was a long grind and it was getting warm in the late morning. We turned off through some gates and onto some private land. Psychologically it felt that we must be at the top, but in reality we were only about halfway up.
Beach Road, which was nowhere near a beach, was not maintained by the county, so it was rather rough, pockmarked with hoofprints and cow poop. There were a number of muddy creek crossings as the road wound its way around the contours of the hills, trending ever upward. At least we were getting up into the trees which provided some shade.
At last we reached the pavement of Ben Hur Road. This must be the top, right? Wrong. After about 100 yards on asphalt we were back onto the dirt of Silver Bar Road with a couple hundred feet more of climbing. Being higher in elevation the grass was greener and the road was shadier. Snakes enjoying the sun on the road darted back into the grass as riders came by. Luckily these were garter snakes rather than rattlers.
At the crest of the hill Silver Bar Road turned to asphalt and descended a steep grade. Because the county sanded the road during the winter snows, the turns were treacherous, so we couldn’t let loose. But soon enough we hit the bottom of the descent at Ben Hur Road and enjoyed the asphalt for the next several miles.
It was getting warmer and I was running low on water so I was looking forward to the next rest stop. Pulling up to the stop I heard the fateful words, “We’re out of water.” WTF? That’s one of the reasons we pay money for these events. OK, how about a soda? “Out of that too.” I was not loving Raymond at this moment. Raymond was a poor planner. Luckily a moto stopped by and dropped off a few small bottles of water, one of which I appropriated for myself. They also had some ice that they scooped into our bottles, and I loaded up on grapes for their moisture. Now that Cesar Chavez has been unpersoned, we don’t have to boycott them anymore.
“It’s only about 10 miles to the next stop and it’s all downhill. They should have water there.” All downhill, except for the 600 foot climb up the back side of White Rock Road. The temperature was getting up into the low 90s as we neared the top. Stay stoic. There’s nothing I can do but push on and drink what I have. Once over the top it was a fantastic 4 mile descent to the next stop.
The water flowed slowly out of the large containers, indicating they were low on water here too, but they had sodas, so I was able to fill up my bottles with Pepsi. No need to reopen the 19th century cemetery just down the road today. I think we’ll survive.
After a short climb out of the aid station we had gentle rollers that trended downward allowing me to keep a pretty good pace, though occasionally motorcycles headed the opposite direction meaning I had to be more cautious than I’d like. Cramps started setting in. Time for more stoicism. Everyone cramps. Just keep pedaling.
Soon I was back onto pavement and descending down to the Chowchilla River and onto the final big climb of the day of about 400 feet. Over the top there were a few more small rollers that trended uphill until finally we headed downhill to the finish where beer and tacos awaited. At least they didn’t run out of those.
Overall it was a good ride with nice scenery. I’ll likely be back someday to ride the short loop and with an extra bottle of water.
Looks like fun. In a SUV.
Or my KTM.
An SUV? A Honda Civic would be fine on those roads!
My current frame of reference is a GTI vs. a Compass Trailhawk. The Jeep would be the notably nicer ride there.
Surprisingly beautiful.
In a SUV.
Meyers Manx, with a cooler behind the seats.
$75k
Save some money. Go eBay.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/198234664024
Would.
They made a body that fit on a full length pan.
For full sized people.
They are the actual rare ones.
“We’re out of water.” WTF? That’s one of the reasons we pay money for these events.
Poor planning or as a result of other riders taking “more than their fair share”? See if everybody had to pay the market clearing price…
where beer and tacos awaited. At least they didn’t run out of those.
All’s well that ends well.
Great pictures!
“Now that Cesar Chavez has been unpersoned, we don’t have to boycott them anymore. ”
This brought a smile to my face.
Great pics. It almost makes me want to get back on my bike. Almost.
(I’ve largely given up on riding in the city. People are oblivious.)
$75k
Ouch.
I get that VWs aren’t getting less rare but that’s nuts.
Speaking of bikes… How about the most complicated e-bike? Brought to you by Rivian.
https://arstechnica.com/cars/2026/04/first-look-alsos-upcoming-e-bike-disconnects-the-pedals-and-wheels/
That’s the opposite of efficient.
$150 for a huffy or that…. Hmmmm….
$150 for a Huffy?
20 bucks.
Same as downtown.
If you don’t have a physical link such that the rider is directly driving the wheel, it’s not a bike. You’ve built a scooter, Rivian. A manually charged scooter.
That ending scenery looks particularly beautiful. Like good parts of Italy.
From the ded thred:
If the university were interested in correcting course, Professor Goldberg would have been fired long ago, and would now be asking “Would you like to supersize that Big Mac meal?”
Damn you Morgan Spurlock!
I know I’m being that guy, but I hate when anyone substitutes ‘feels like’ for ‘I think’ or ‘I thought’.
Makes me think of them as children.
Having calmed down and having a whole lunch half hour to spare, I decided to see if I could deal with the XCOM2 mission that made me ragequit last night. (Assassin popped in on yet another zombie map).
Somehow the AI forgot basic tactics and ended her first turn out in the open. I had five dudes in close proximity able to get line of sight and just bury her in bullets. While not as effective as the grenades that would have summoned more zombies, it was more than enough to revert the mission to its original parameters.
I feel cheated in the opposite direction. I expect enemy units that are not mindless to act reasonably.
Lock her up!
Pretty please let this devolve into blue city cops and feds shooting eachother.
We can only hope.
A U.S. Marshals Service Tactical Operations team dragging her out of her office in handcuffs, in front of a bunch of television cameras, would also be just fine…
That there is abuse of office, obstruction, and likely actual insurrection.
Arrest her and see if treason will stick.
Yeah but to her it just feels right so it’s ok.
A note about this popped up on my X feed.
On average, Crundwell stole nearly $2.5 million per year from the city, starting from a low of $181,000 in 1991, growing to the embezzlement of $5.8 million in 2008 – from a city with an annual budget of $8–9 million
Not a story I knew. Bonus – Biden commutation.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rita_Crundwell
take the money and run
How do you steal more than half of the budget without someone putting an ice pick in your temple?
Stole over $50MM. Sentence was commuted 8 years early.
I go back and forth over whether people who commit sufficiently large property crimes should get the axe.
Every single elected/appointed state agent is doing exactly the same thing that Rita got away with. Ponder this on the tree of woe.
I get that VWs aren’t getting less rare but that’s nuts.
At least it’s not electric.
Looks like they’re working on an electric version. Which isn’t a bad use case for an EV.
*nods sagely*
How do you steal more than half of the budget without someone putting an ice pick in your temple?
How does somebody not notice?
“A lot of us felt like there was still significant time to course correct,” they told the Guardian.
Just increase tuition!
Value destruction
Other faculty members generally praised what they described as the report’s honest and thoughtful nature.
Political science professor Dan Mattingly ’04 GRD ’08 called the report “thoughtful and well-considered” and described its conclusions on the decline in public trust as “sobering.”
“I think the recommendations should all be taken seriously, and I’m glad that President McInnis is doing so,” he wrote in an email to the News.
History professor John Lewis Gaddis also praised the report’s candor.
“I’m impressed,” Gaddis wrote in an email to the News. “This report speaks straightforwardly in a worthy cause, a tone too rarely heard in the recent past.”
Kramnick added that the report’s prioritization of Yale’s academic mission should be taken seriously at “a moment when so many forces are pulling the university in competing directions.”
Some faculty and students drew attention to the report’s references to academics.
“There is arguably no greater threat to higher education than the devaluing of teaching and learning,” the committee’s report reads.
I wonder what the head of the Gender Theory department had to say.
I mentioned that early this AM. Here is the WSJ’s take.
https://www.wsj.com/us-news/education/why-everyone-hates-the-ivy-league-4c191a25?st=4GxPvq&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
DAN Mattingly.
Ha.
“It was hard to sleep with the howls of the coyotes, mooing of the cows, gobbles of the turkeys and the braying of the donkeys throughout the night”
Enough about the other riders, what was the wildlife like?
the group recommends Yale adopt a leaner mission statement found in the Faculty Handbook: “Yale University’s mission is to create, disseminate, and preserve knowledge through research and teaching.”
I think the eggheads need to lay the “creation of knowledge” gag.
…lay OFF the “creation of knowledge” gag.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/ice-agent-charged-assault-minnesota-metro-surge-immigration-rcna332210
Morgan was charged Thursday with two counts of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon, one count for each victim, and there is a warrant out for his arrest, Moriarty said.
On Feb. 5, Morgan was allegedly driving a SUV with no markings when he pulled up next to another vehicle and “pointed his duty weapon directly at both victims while continuing to drive illegally on the shoulder” of a highway, she said. The driver then called 911.
For “a federal agent, our opinion is that illegally driving on a shoulder, pulling up to a car and pointing a gun at the heads of two community members who are not doing anything at the time is well beyond the scope of their authority,” she said.
The prosecutor said it appeared Morgan was attempting to bypass slower traffic when the victim “briefly moved their vehicle into the shoulder to slow him down.”
The agent then allegedly pulled up to the victim’s vehicle before opening his window and pointing his duty weapon at the driver and passenger, she said.
So, now the feds charge two MN citizens with felony assault with a dangerous weapon against a federal officer during the conduct of his official duties.
Let’s have a party!
If as reported – and large grain of salt considering the source, but it is in line with the behavior I’ve seen from a non-zero number of bacon personnel – then seems like a justified charge that should be sorted in court.
If we can hate everyone in the story, surely we can prosecute everyone in the story too.
The group also wants Yale to address the heavy debt some students incur in graduate schools. In particular, they recommended expanding financial aid at the School of Nursing, School of Public Health and School of the Environment, where graduates regularly carry debt out of proportion to their likely earnings in their chosen professions.
Or they could shut down the Yale-to-NGO pipeline.
The debt load of overprivileged children of the wealthy using their expensive degrees to become unpaid interns at nonprofit advocacy organizations and foundations isn’t high on my list of injustices.
Or networking the spoiled children of CCP functionaries – another big function of the Ivies.
Today in Corporate America and required job postings for positions that you have already filled.
https://x.com/pmtiegs/status/2044810967088038332?s=20
You make the thing so specialized that only your preferred candidate will make the cut. This one takes that and ups the requirements exponentially.
You don’t have to sell me!
You god damn anarchist! What, do you want to go back to the dark age of 2002? We were barely a civilized society then!
I want it put on the record that The Bro does in fact not love Raymond. He fucking despises Raymond.
But Patricia Heaton is a sneaky would for me.
You god damn anarchist! What, do you want to go back to the dark age of 2002? We were barely a civilized society then!
Vought told senators that the situation at the embattled department is becoming dire as he and Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin scramble to keep federal workers from quitting in droves.
Don’t.
Stop.
Come back.
Is this the first time in history that the Democratic party was on board with driving off public sector union employees with the federal government?
I mean, maybe we have a blueprint here…
You got those first two words reversed.
I woke up to 15 angry reactions from frumpy feminists over the bogus claims of a “rape academy” of 60 million men existing.
A few responses, but mostly just passive aggressive laugh reactions. Outside like one or two people, the rest who actually say anything just accuse you of being a deviant rapist yourself. Why else would you question their constructed narrative? The numbers don’t matter (unless it’s to gin up greater amounts of outrage)! It’s the most incredible example of no-shit gaslighting I’ve experienced.
It’s clear that most them didn’t even bother to actually read the CNN story itself before going into the comment sections on social media to call all men rapists. One asked me why I was even talking about porn and called me a weirdo. The CNN article makes clear that Motherless.com is a porn site and that this is porn they are talking about. That’d be why?
We’ve long since entered a period where people substitute their feelings for rational arguments. They think they are noble for doing so and indulging in themselves. The outrage itself is completely and entirely performative for them. They can’t defend their positions with anything resembling reason so they almost entirely resort to trying to shame you into shutting up.
Here’s the feminist playbook:
1. Make ridiculous claims about men.
2. Get outraged in the comments.
3. Proceed to accuse you of defending the behavior by even questioning its accuracy.
4. Attack any man who dares question it as an “incel,” “creep,” or just say you must have a small penis.
That’s it for 98% of them.