It started with slingshots, knives and other handcrafted weapons.
It ended with the largest prison break in the country’s history, an epic gunfight – and a bike race tracing the escape route through Nevada and the Sierra.
On the night of September 17, 1871, inmates at the Nevada State Penitentiary blamed the guard assigned to lock them up for the night. After incapacitating him, they wriggled into a crawl space in the ceiling and headed to the prison’s armory.
The inmates grabbed shotguns, rifles, sixguns and ammunition.
The prison break escalated into total chaos as the prisoners headed for the gates.
By the time the riot was over, 29 convicts had escaped. Two men were dead. Several other men were seriously injured – only one of them was a convict.
The state militia was mobilized out of Virginia City, and citizens were represented in an attempt to capture the convicts. No one was captured that day.
One was captured at Walley’s Hot Springs, near Genoa. Others were captured as far away as San Francisco and Esmeralda County. But several led a party on a nearly 200-mile chase down the eastern Sierra, stealing horses and murdering a postman in their attempt to reach freedom. They were confronted by a group near what was then Diablo Lake – the area has since been renamed Convict Canyon.
The newest bikepacking race in the region is created along this harrowing escape route.
A historically significant cycle route
Trevor Oxborrow and his father, Ted, are avid bikepackers – a sport that combines all-terrain cycling with self-guided backpacking.
The Carson City duo is well known in the bikepacking community. Trevor has set up long-distance bike pack routes, including a route from Reno to Las Vegas and the Comstock Epic, which takes riders from Utah to the borders of California while traveling through extreme Nevada terrain. At the age of 80, Ted still races the tracks and helps his son set it up. Last year, his ride all the way from Reno to Vegas was featured in the Reno-Gazette Journal in honor of his late wife.
Carson City writer Jim Reed saw the article and noticed it — it’s from a line of oxborrows on his mother’s side.
Reed searched his family history. Through a complicated series of relationships, he discovered that he and Ted are third cousins. He did a little digging, found contact information for the Oxborrows, and called them.
During the conversation, they found common ground. They had all moved to Carson City to be closer to family. Ted’s father and Jim’s uncle attended the University of Nevada, Reno together in the 1930s.
Reed told the Oxborrows about his book, The fatal affair in Convict Canyon. It delves deep into the 1871 Carson City prison break and the chaos that followed. The Oxborrows were heading to Death Valley to map part of the Reno-Vegas bikepacking route. Reed suggested getting a copy of his book, which was being sold at a shop down there.
On the first few pages of the book, between the chapter outline and the first page, is a map showing the inmates’ escape route. This route on the map paralleled part of the route from Reno to Vegas, but is even further away.
The map got the Oxborrows thinking. Why not design another bikepacking route? A shorter route that’s more accessible for the average driver – but requires complete self-sufficiency due to the remote location. They mapped a route that follows the escape route Reed described in his book, along long-forgotten Sierra wagon roads.
“There are a lot of bikepacking maps out there, but willy-nilly they’re just drawn on one map,” said Trevor. “It actually has historical significance.”
“An adventure trail of international interest”
In September, 152 years to the day after the Convict Lake standoff, a bikepacking race will be held along the escape route.
The course is 188 miles, 140 miles of which are dirt roads. It includes 19,725 feet of elevation gain and 16,745 feet of elevation loss. The race is not allowed. There will be no registrations. Self-supporting rides are required.
Elite bikepackers will make it in under 24 hours, Trevor estimates. An average driver would need about four days.
“It’s unique,” Trevor said. “It’s not for everyone.”
The Oxborrows have yet to figure out the scope of the race.
They floated the idea of having a group of riders on electric bicycles start a few hours after the real riders to simulate the 1871 car chase.
Trevor estimates about a dozen riders will show up, but he and his dad are hoping it will increase over time.
“We hope that one day this will be a significant adventure route of international interest in Nevada,” said Ted. “It has a story behind it that is more than just a race.”
Amy Alonzo covers the Nature, Recreation and Environment sections for Nevada and Lake Tahoe. Reach them below[email protected].