Just like Glacier Point Road a couple of weeks ago Tioga Pass opened to bicycles before opening to cars. However unlike Glacier Point Road, which opened for 4 days before cars, Tioga Pass was announced on Friday afternoon that it would be open for cycling one day only, on Sunday, before opening for cars on Monday. The only way to get into the park again was to arrive before 5 am when reservations would be required (or to book accommodation within the park).

I drove over again on Saturday night and slept outside the park, set my alarm for 4:30 am to get up and drive in. I was not the only one awake at this hour, I drove in a train of cars into the park and snagged one of the last designated parking spots at Tuolumne Grove, which is at the start the of the closure at bottom of Highway 120. The parking lot was a hive of activity already, at 5 am the first light of dawn was brightening the sky. I elected to climb back into my sleeping bag and sleep another hour and half for a 6:30 am start.

When I got up the cars had filled all the curbside and started filling the side of the highway. I made some breakfast and coffee and got myself sorted to start the ride. I wasn’t sure how far I would make it, the full length of the closure is around 46 miles, all the way to Tioga Pass, the highest point is the park entrance on the east side at 9,945 feet elevation. The natural turn around points are probably Olmsted Point, or really Tenaya Lake which is only a little further from Olmsted, Tuolumne Meadows, or Tioga Pass. I set a rough turnaround time in my head and set off, the sun still low in the sky.

Highway 120 starts with a moderate climb and undulates a little, with a large descent into Yosemite Creek, which then climbs back up to Olmsted Point. In the morning my legs were fresh and my bicycle gearing allowed me to spin up the hills. There was a fairly steady stream of cyclists going up, and at Olmsted Point a large number of lycra clad cyclists were taking photos and taking in the views.

I have driven this road many times, recently mostly at night as I shortcut to the east side trailheads, it was a totally different experience riding a bicycle. I’ve actually never stopped at Olmsted Point before, due to the crowds, and ironically I didn’t manage to avoid crowding today either, but it’s hard not to stop at least for a few minutes after climbing so many feet under your own power.

From Olmsted Point it is a short descent down to Tenaya Lake, and I was making great time, it was only 10:30 am. The road hugs the shore of the lake and begins climbing up to Tuolumne Meadows. From the bottom, the start of the ride is through forest with some views to the north west, the road crosses over the ridge to contour around with views to the south, there’s two places with long smooth granite, notably at Olmstead Point which avalanches well into the spring. From Tenaya Lake the road climbs between exposed granite domes, and arrives into the vast expanse of Tuolumne Meadow.

Tuolumne Meadow sits at 8,600 feet elevation, slightly more than 1,300 feet below the pass, the final 7 miles to the pass is a fairly gentle, but constant, incline. It was around 11 am and I was already feeling the 39 miles I’d already completed. I decided to carry on and get to the top, have lunch at the pass, and turn around. After all, the cycle back is all down hill, right?

The final climb was starting to test me, I was counting down the miles and every foot of elevation gain. The road follows a creek through the woods and then opens up again to a meadow, and snow capped mountains at the pass. I made it! I was thoroughly exhausted and sat down to enjoy a well earned lunch.

There was a large number of cyclists, I’m not sure how many started at Tioga Pass, which has the advantage of not requiring a reservation to enter for cycling, as it is at the park boundary, but the disadvantage of starting at the top and ending a with climb; and also the east side is generally more remote. There were however a not insignificant number of electric bikes that started from this entrance, and as I struggled up the incline the riders casually breezed past me with the whizz of their electric motors, most of them decked out in casual clothes and not breaking a sweat.

The ride back to the bottom tested me. Of course it wasn’t all down hill, there were undulations, and a couple of short climbs, and one longer climb from Yosemite Creek. This last climb was the first time I was forced to dismount my bike and take a few minutes. While most of the way up the only people passing me were cyclists going impossibly quickly who frankly looked much fitter than me, on the way back it felt like everyone was going faster than me. By the end I was really counting down the miles, the last 3 miles satisfyingly didn’t require any pedalling at all, and the sight of the closure and the parking lot was a relief indeed.

In all I cycled 92 miles with 8,700 feet of climbing, easily the longest bike ride I’ve ever done, and if that wasn’t enough it was all at fairly high elevation. It was a really fantastic ride though, in hindsight I should have just left at dawn when I got to the parking lot, I got back to my car at 5 pm. It was incredibly popular with cyclists, much more so than Glacier Point. I don’t know how much of that was because it was one day only, but the distance is much further I think it is popular with a different crowd. I felt Glacier Point was fun but relatively short, Tioga Pass was long and very satisfying to finish.