Northern California 800 miles Loop Race

[CyclingCa]

For all the ones who don't have enough vacation days for the GDR or prefer a change in scenery: the Northern California 800 miles Loop Race is on.

I will be time-trialing the route and maybe some folks wanna do the same. The route goes through redwood forest, along the Pacific coast line, over (a lot of) mountains and along some volcanic activity.

Start will be:

Saturday, June 21st, 2008 at 9am

Willows, CA, at the corner of Wood St and Tehama St

I will publish a place for pre-race breakfast meeting when we get closer to the start date.

For more details and photos, see:

Route information

Rules

[mathewsen]

Nice loop Andreas. What kind of services can we expect to find in Weed, CA?

Would you say this route is best suited for a cyclocross bike?

Timing is good as it won't conflict with an August staging of a Pacific Crest Race once ACA finishes their mapping of that route.

I hope you eventually return to settle the score with the GDMBR. As for your achilles, push those cleats back as far as they'll go on your shoes and it'll solve most of your issues.

Good Luck w/ the event. Beautiful Country. For next year, check out Honeydew, CA area

[CyclingCa]

Originally Posted by mathewsen

Nice loop Andreas. What kind of services can we expect to find in Weed, CA?

Must-have souvenirs: t-shirts and hats "High on Weed"

Originally Posted by mathewsen

Would you say this route is best suited for a cyclocross bike?

Depends on the gearing you have. I would not recommend standard cyclocross drive train with 48/38 - 12/25. I run 46/34-12/27 on my cyclocross bike and found some of the sections, e.g. Usal Rd, very hard. 10% with all the gear strapped on makes you wish for some extra gears. Also canti brakes haven't been much fun on the steep downhills.

I will use my "GDR" bike. 29 hardtail, the Nano tires have low rolling resistance which make them suitable for road riding. But any tire 35+ should do.

Here's a photo of my revised GDR bike. I used for a 4 day trip last fall and it worked out fine:

Originally Posted by mathewsen

Timing is good as it won't conflict with an August staging of a Pacific Crest Race once ACA finishes their mapping of that route.

I hope you eventually return to settle the score with the GDMBR. As for your achilles, push those cleats back as far as they'll go on your shoes and it'll solve most of your issues.

Good Luck w/ the event. Beautiful Country. For next year, check out Honeydew, CA area

The route is passing through Honeydew - very pretty there.

[bombsquad]

sounds like a great route! I will know in the next 6 weeks if I will be required to work or be able to rock out on the route with ya!

[CyclingCa]

Originally Posted by CyclingCa

Willows, CA, at the corner of Wood St and Tehama St

Hmm, I was passing through Willows today on my way to Chico and I took the exit. Turns out there isn't much more than a light at the corner of Wood St and Tehama St.

So the Denny's right be the highway exit seems to much more suitable start / finish, incl pre-race breakfast meeting.

Then I had another thought - how to get to Willows. Pretty convenient by car, but apparently not served by public transportation.

So it may make sense to move the start / finish line to Chico which is served by United Express / SkyWest, Greyhound and Amtrak (bus). But it's probably harder to park a car for a week in Chico. Let's discuss.


PS: I was also driving up towards Mendocino pass. The pavement ends at Alder Springs and the road was closed from there - it was covered by 2+ feet of snow (at 4000'). Down in Willow were about 65 degrees.

[CyclingCa]

Originally Posted by CyclingCa

Route information

I consider a route change in Part V which would go straight through the Trinity Alps on 12 km of trail. I put it up on the web page, but I want to check it out on the ground before finalizing the change making sure that's legal and possible to ride the trail section.

Andreas

[ionsmuse]

Originally Posted by CyclingCa

Saturday, June 21st, 2008 at 9am

Willows, CA, at the corner of Wood St and Tehama St

I will publish a place for pre-race breakfast meeting when we get closer to the start date.

For more details and photos, see:

[/url]

You have my attention.

I found some of the google maps impossible to read as formated.

[CyclingCa]

Originally Posted by ionsmuse

I found some of the google maps impossible to read as formated.

This would be in "Part V: Somes Bar to Weed: Alternative route via Summerville and Coffee Creek", right?

Google maps doesn't recognize the trail from Summerville to Coffee Creek Rd, so I needed two maps which I put on one page - not so great, I agree.
If you run Firefox, you can

right click -> This frame -> Show only this frame

But I will fix it.

Andreas

[ionsmuse]

Andreas; thanks for the clarification. I had a summer job in Aracata during college one summer scouting potential wilderness areas, and spent a lot of time around Somes Bar and the like. Should be an awesome adventure.

My summer plans will be in flux for another ~month, but include a trip to Seattle to visit fam. If I can make this happen, it'd be cool.

[EnduroDoug]

Can I just say that you did an awesome job with the website and documentation and that as someone whose experience is limited to a 3-day Kokopelli with the wife running SAG and TransRockies, it's my opinion that you provided exactly the type of info and course for a multi-day newbie to get excited about.

I'm not ready for it this year -- no way -- but I'm definitely going to up the mileage and keep this in mind for next year. GDR is out of the question for me, but this is something that I think I could really strive for. Might not finish, but it would be a hell of a goal.

Thanks for posting this and for doing all the hard work. I just might see you down there next year!

[CyclingCa]

Originally Posted by EnduroDoug

Can I just say that you did an awesome job with the website and documentation and that as someone whose experience is limited to a 3-day Kokopelli with the wife running SAG and TransRockies, it's my opinion that you provided exactly the type of info and course for a multi-day newbie to get excited about.

Thanks.

Originally Posted by EnduroDoug

I'm not ready for it this year -- no way -- but I'm definitely going to up the mileage and keep this in mind for next year. GDR is out of the question for me, but this is something that I think I could really strive for. Might not finish, but it would be a hell of a goal.

Just go for the ride in June or any time. Finish or not - every day out there is a good day.

Originally Posted by EnduroDoug

Thanks for posting this and for doing all the hard work. I just might see you down there next year!

Hope to see you out there.

Andreas

[dkahern]

I think I saw a thread on the this race/ride a couple months ago. I did almost the same loop maybe 25 years ago on a fully loaded touring bike. I'm sure I did a little less dirt and a little more pavement than your route. I started from Chico where I was going to school at the time and just followed AAA maps and local advice and sometime seat of pants. It was a great trip and I don't remember any supply problems. But then I wasn't racing....just riding. Hope to hear some great reports!

[tjp]

Was pointed to this thread the other day, and I'd like to point out that the first four or five days are in my home turf, and they are utterly fiendish. The Laytonville to Redway day in particular. That puppy is gonna hurt. FWIW, there is a brand-new, IMBA designed singletrack loop right at the north end of Usal rd, as if anyone will have the energy to have some fun... You COULD include it in the Redway to Eureka day, but you'd have to skip the Avenue and head straight back to the backroads - it'd take you on back roads to Honeydoo. Lots of options getting to Somes Bar as well.

The whole ride looks epic, but the options and scenery in the first 4 or 5 days are mind-boggling. Lots of climbing, and lots of it is above 15%. Great job putting this together!

[CyclingCa]

Hey TJP, thanks for the comments: yeap, lots of climbing and some of it is pretty steep. It's only get easier after Lassen Peak. I will look into the single track as an alternative route. Do you have details, maps, etc?

I just got back home after I crashed my car on the Cecilville to Callahan road - rocks on the road. Luckily I had my bicycle in the back and lots of cloths so that I could ride to the next town - otherwise it would have been hiking or freezing in the car. It's pretty lonely out there. It was an interesting experience riding 20 miles by star light only. All I could really see was the yellow line. Luckily there were no more rocks in my way.

But I checked out some segments which I only knew from the map and took a lot of photos. i also looked into the single track Cecilville to Coffe e Creek Rd. With a little bit of hike-a-bike it's doable.

I will see that I can update the website in the next few days.

Stay tuned.

Andreas

[CyclingCa]

I was taking last Sunday the scenic route to Chico, so that I could check out some more details of the route and take some photos. Here's the summary:

• photos of Laytonville (part I)
• photos and route details for part IV
• photos of part V
• dismissed part V alternative - cycling is not permitted in the Trinity Alps Wilderness
• tried to get details part VI, but all the dirt roads left and right of Hwy 89 were snow covered
• some details and photos for part VII (Burney, Tamarack Rd)

While I was coming down on Cecilville Rd I hit some rocks and finished off my oil pan. I ended up cycling under the dim start light for 20 miles to the next motel. Monday I got the car towed and drove home in a rental. Now I have reason to go back soon.

Cheers,

Andreas

[CyclingCa]

Start Saturday, June 21st, 2008, 9am
Start / finish (new): Willows, CA, at the Denny's right by the Hwy 5 exit

Details: http://home.pacbell.net/hillmann/NorCalLoop/race.html

You don't wanna race for a whole week? Just come for a ride, even if it's just a section or two. The route leads you through the best of Northern California - check out the photos!

Hope to see you out there!

Andreas
PS: I have been training in the velodrome for the last 9 month: 4 km are considered an endurance event and I did sprints.

Originally Posted by CyclingCa

For all the ones who don't have enough vacation days for the GDR or prefer a change in scenery: the Northern California 800 miles Loop Race is on.

I will be time-trialing the route and maybe some folks wanna do the same. The route goes through redwood forest, along the Pacific coast line, over (a lot of) mountains and along some volcanic activity.

Start will be:

Saturday, June 21st, 2008 at 9am

Willows, CA, at the corner of Wood St and Tehama St

I will publish a place for pre-race breakfast meeting when we get closer to the start date.

For more details and photos, see:

Route information

Rules