I've been working on this little deal for awhile now but it looks like it is finally coming together. The race will be in the tradition of the Great Divide Mountain Bike Race, Colorado Trail Race and The Arizona Trail Race. This means self supported multi-day mountain bike racing through remote stretches with the chance to restock at stores/towns every couple of days, Getting beers from the jeepers on the Rubicon will not be held against you .
As it stands right now the race is 412 miles with around 75,000' of climbing with a start and end point of Auburn, Ca. I think it should go in about 3-5 days at race pace. This type of racing is popular outside of California, so I'm hoping that more local folks will become interested in this format of racing, or aspire to do it as a multi-day adventure outside of racing.
I'm looking at late July, early August 2012 for an official race date. These thing start slow, but Colorado Trail race had 43 starters this year, with a world class field at that, this years field looks to be even larger. GDMR will be looking at 100 racers this year as they deal with the growth of this type of racing.
No fee.
No support.
No prizes, certainly no money.
No one responsible for you other than yourself.
The course is pretty set from Auburn to the bottom of Christmas Valley. I've ridden these sections numerous times and have gpx tracks for them.
The course could go in either direction, but I would think you would come back to Auburn up the 50 corridor.
I could use some help from there to back to Loon Lake. I've done plenty of riding out there and know there is trail to use, I just don't have GPS tracks for it. So if you have GPS tracks for Cody Creek, Pony Express, Barretts Lake Jeep trail or anything else on the 50 corridor you think would be cool, send them my way. This would help me this year as I scout that area for the complete loop, it would save me a lot of searching around for stuff I rode ten years ago I'll ride the entire route this summer and get a pre-split 10,000 point track set up for everyone to follow.
So any questions or critiques are more than welcome. Any help on the 50 side would be greatly appreciated and anyone looking to help scout is more than welcome to help me this coming year.
I've attached the GPX file, anyone who wants to put it into map form here is welcome to do so.
Thanks to Francis, you can now attach GPX tracks under the upload section, 800 kb file limit, cool!
You'll need some sort of mapping/gps program to open the file. Garmim Connect will work as well. If you are interested in this type of thing you will need a mapping GPS unit, no cue sheets for this one.Topofusion has a nice free demo version and a really useful pay for use version.
Last edited by Sean Allan; 01-05-2011 at 03:22 PM.
PM me your e-mail, I can get you the pony express, and hawley grad. Can get you Cody creek also but unless you just need it for the extra mileage, it can probably be skipped.
Empty Beer can probably help you out in the loon lake/Barretts area.
Oh yea, one super lame thing happened this summer, to catch the beginning of the Pony express, you have to ride like a 1/4 mile of the PCT. This section had never been marked as no bikes on either end. It is now marked as no bikes and there is no legal access to the beginning of the XP at the top of Echo Summit. You could ride down 50 a little ways and just cross country thru the forest to get to it, but it may throw a monkey wrench into any official race. I still ride it without a second though, but it's something to consider.
Edit to add, forgot I did not need to get to my home computer for this, da
Last includes hawley grade which can be taken up from the end of xmas valley, recommend going over the leap instead of down the XP though baby head hell, plus it's much funner and great views from the top of the leap. Problem like I said before is that 1/4 mile section of pct. http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/6107087
Wow. I can't see myself competing in something this burly, but it sounds like something I'd love to help with, if you'd like.
Decisions, decisions on the area between Big Meadow and Wrights Lake Rd. The PCT gets in the way of the goods. But the Pony XP along 50 is probably suitable, although that does eliminate descents on Sayles or Cody, unless you send people up Strawberry OHV first, which would be mean
I do plan on exploring more in the Crystal Basin this summer, so hopefully I can help you figure this section out. Here's a track from last summer, with notes: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/44852059
As it stands right now the race is 412 miles with around 75,000' of climbing with a start and end point of Auburn, Ca. I think it should go in about 3-5 days at race pace. This type of racing is popular outside of California, so I'm hoping that more local folks will become interested in this format of racing, or aspire to do it as a multi-day adventure outside of racing.
I live right near Auburn - am interested.
There are awesome racing events in Cali, but for some reason it's very disjointed and many people (especially from out of state) don't even know what's going on half the time. MTB'ing is to California as algebra is to Arabs. We need more world class events, and I think your idea is great.
Oh yea, one super lame thing happened this summer, to catch the beginning of the Pony express, you have to ride like a 1/4 mile of the PCT. This section had never been marked as no bikes on either end. It is now marked as no bikes and there is no legal access to the beginning of the XP at the top of Echo Summit. You could ride down 50 a little ways and just cross country thru the forest to get to it, but it may throw a monkey wrench into any official race. I still ride it without a second though, but it's something to consider.
Edit to add, forgot I did not need to get to my home computer for this, da
Last includes hawley grade which can be taken up from the end of xmas valley, recommend going over the leap instead of down the XP though baby head hell, plus it's much funner and great views from the top of the leap. Problem like I said before is that 1/4 mile section of pct.
Sean, as I mentioned on bikepacking.net, great idea and I'd be interested, just the type of ridiculous challenge one needs to take on once and a while! For the PCT problem, one can instruct participants to do a portage I guess (Grand Canyon crossing AZT-style, but instead of a 16 mile, 6000ft down and back up hike, only a quarter mile ).
If I have some time I'll stitch TahoeBC's and other's gpx tracks together, generate some elevation profiles etc.
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Thanks All,
Jeff(s), You two were certainly people I was going to contact for this, I would greatly appreciate any help or guidance you two could give me. El Hombre's help is greatly appreciated as well. Any GPX tracks would be great, it would save me a lot of time on the ground as I can plot some courses this winter and see what they look like come summer.
I have been on a lot of trails in that area with some friends many years ago( Jeff, you may back country ski with one of them, Steve Sapaco) but my memory of that area is not what it used to be. It's only a small percentage of the race, but it would be nice to find some rideable stuff over there, I can always use dirt roads, but trail is the first priority. It needs to be fairly rideable, I don't want this thing to get CTR like with miles and miles of pushing. It is very rideable to the bottom of X-mas Valley and I'd like to continue that theme.
The PCT is a problem but certainly not a deal breaker, I've been on that section, but I would like to keep it all legal. Perhaps a trip to El Dorado Forest Service is in order to plead our case for an exception, or new route, not just for this, but for everyone. As nothing about this is "Official", it is low on the priority list, I have no problem having them bushwack for a 1/4 mile.
Jeff, you could certainly do this, it takes a huge commitment, but you have the skills necessary. Typical races of this nature do about 10-15% pavement, right now I am under 10%. It's nice to have a break every once in a while. After riding your bike for 22 hours straight day after day, back country paved forest roads provide a nice place to zone out a bit.
I'm undecided on the return from Loon to Auburn, I may take them up the trail along the Rubicon River to Hell Hole instead of the pavement to Ralston Ridge and on to French Meadows. It's been years since I've been on this trail as well, the push up to Hell Hole was tough without a loaded bike.
Any and all help is welcome. Keep the info coming, it's something that I've been working on for a couple of years, but I want to get it off the ground this year for a 2012 official route. I'm doing CTR this year(pending shoulder surgery) and will be using this route to train on, so fine tuning it will be an adventure
wow sean. very cool. I'd love to try and help scout if schedules allow.
this seems like something I can talk a lot about possibly doing but never actually be strong enough to do haha
kudos for taking the initiative to fire it up!
Matt, would love to have you help, you'll have to find some gears though, not a particularly SS friendly route That being said, some sick pud will do it, and likely fast.....
Maybe with TAMBA being resurrected right now, we can get a new short trail approved, could be knock out in a day easy.
Hard to tell from your map but I think the North shore portion of Lake Tahoe could get some adjustments to avoid more pavement.
Cool project you got there, out of this it should not be to hard to come up with a Lake Tahoe specific loop also for the less than super human folks
Yeah, I'm dropping down 267 to Kings beach. I will likely add some dirt in that area but it will need to come down to Kings Beach as a resupply point, I guess you could go a little off course into Incline for supplies as well. Is there much on the NE side of 267 that would be suitable for this type of thing? I've been down some stuff over there that I would not send a loaded bike down.
You can continue on the TRT past 237 and before you get to the Rose Wilderness you can drop down to Kings beach from what I understand. Should be able to avoid Mt Rose Hwy, but you would bypass some of the TRT, I'm not super familiar with those trails over there though, some North shore folks should be able to help out, thinking of secret flume, etc.
Yeah I've been on that, I've also been on something that resembled a downhill slalom, I was in way over my head. There are plenty of ways to get down from Brockway, perhaps someone will chime in with the best way down.
Right now I'm leaning towards going up Mt. Rose Hwy, I want the suffer factor and everything I've been on that went down to Incline from near the top would not be something I'd send a loaded bike up. Remember, most loaded guys are essentially riding DH/AM bikes weight wise.
Yeah I know, I can hear the DHers right now "ahh dude, I ride my bike up everything", yeah but can you do back to back to back to back 100 mile days on your DH or AM rig? Not many can, so I need to factor stuff like this in. I want this to be a challenge, but doable for someone who has made the commitment.
I love the idea, but how many people in the world can do five 15000' hard singletrack days in a row on a loaded bike?
This race will make plenty of the Tour de France riders say, "Whoa." or the French ones, "Quoi l'enfer pensez-vous M. Allen?"
How many?
Good question. Significantly less than would show up to a 100 or lap race, but that is the point. No hand holding. No aid stations. No one to talk you off of the ledge as you confront the demons that will invariably show up at the most inopportune times.
I think the amount of people who can physically do the event is much higher than most would think. The mental part is a whole other deal. Logistics and gear are another thing to consider, but those can be tackled pretty easily.
Most people can do anything they have the desire to. Whether you desire to do something like this is very personal, I just want to provide an avenue for you if you so choose.
Here's a nice write up from Jefe Branham, multi time CTR finisher and 2007 winner.
I'm pretty sure there's a dirt road down to the Kings beach area from the Brockway area. Also if your determined to head up mount rose hwy, I've heard there is the old mt rose highway that's reverted mostly to dirt that you can bypass a lot actual road on. I'm pretty sure you can tune this area over time to get rid of a big portion of pavement. Looks to be a fun project
I'm planning on the CTR for early august, but will gladly bail out to to do this. What a great route you made!. Although I've riddin countless PCT miles I'd gladly carry my bike a mile to stay on the right side of the law(for this race!). In reality though a short jaunt on the PCT is no big deal, except for the PR factor. But come-on! it's a strip of dirt in the woods, not a felony!
I rode 1700+( in 15 days) miles of the Tour Divide Race in 2009. The time-line Sean layed out is very realistic. The resupply options are huge as are the chances for single track shredding. This route will be really high on the fun factor
The Auburn Area (start and finish) is gonna be hot, hot,hot.
Sean Allen, the sooner you declare a date the sooner I can declare that I'm in.
Keep up the good work
great route!
P.S. Racers should follow the route that is determined ( by the leaders)....NO whining. If you don't like the route...don't race.
I hope you post this on both the endurance forum and the So Cal forum. It is a world class route, as anyone who rides in the Tahoe area will know.
I think you need to start leaving Amanda hints and messages about how I should be doing this next year. I'm tempted...but she's the only one to put me over the top. It would be THE only thing i'd do in 2012 that is for sure.
PS, saw the new Anthem hanging out in front of ABW this afternoon, from the road couldn't tell if it was a 29er or not...but pretty bike! Let me know when you get yours so i can ride it!
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Happy new year..Stuff $: Eno 29wheel (non disc), Yakima, 2 steelheads, with towers for Volvo luggage rails.
Wow neat idea. I have been fantasizing about doing the Continental Divide race, but whoo wee the logistics...here's one in our own backyard! I think this is an entire MTBE race season in one event.
Attached is a GPX file with the entire route glued together. I ran an elevation correction on GPS Visualizer and that should all be 100%.
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I'll ride the entire route this summer and get a pre-split 10,000 point track set up for everyone to follow. 
That being said, some sick pud will do it, and likely fast.....
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