Start with Google Earth. If you don’t have it yet, download it – it’s free.

Next, download this file: Dixie Resources.  (right click, save as…)

With these two pieces you’ll have more than enough information to launch a deep obsession :)    The file includes:

• The most recent state of the route tracks and waypoints
• An overlay showing the snowpack conditions to the latest hour
• current weather forecasts at 5 locations on route

Google Earth of course is connected to massive GIS systems, so you can also search for anything you like near or on route – such as services.  Usually said services pop up with phone numbers and images – this is really a great way to quickly visualize what is available and learn more.

Happy planning!

It starts up Casto Canyon, ATV track giving way to singletrack, gently gaining elevation amonst killer views.

There’s a hidden/unmarked trail veering N called the Hancock trail.  It ascends to well over 9k and is nearly all rideable!

Then it gets interesting…

There is no trail that I could see for the next ~1/2 mile. Riding an open ridge is the scenic way to go.

With some scouting about I found the trail that descends to West Hunt creek, yet more sweet trail.

New carsonite signs, let’s hope this means the NFS has blowdown clearing trail maintenance on the books – cause there is plenty of that.

Up towards Adam’s Head the route goes.

Most of the world comes into view at one point or another on the way up to the top of the Seviers. TU riders will recognize this landmark.

The area around Adam’s head ain’t easy. Damn hard actually and I’m still feeling the effects. There is some HAB, and some tree hopping involved. Truth be told, by the time I hit a jeep trail segment I was darn ready for it. At about 10,200′ I finally got into some deep snow. Luckily it was early enough in the day it was still frozen – and rideable! No pugs required.

There was less than 2 miles of that before heading off the edge of the plateau down the Snowbank Trail (yes, appropriately named).

Segment 4 is difficult and remote. It stands as mapped. I will encourage any 311 riders to opt to stick to the Fremont trail (really nice ATV route with zero hike a bike) instead of bailing if this stage seems over the top at this stage of the game. If the NFS or me and some volunteers (ahem!) can get up there with chainsaws prior to the event it will be much more enjoyable.

The other piece I wanted to get a read on was the climb out of Circleville (hello Chad, this is for you). I mapped it to go right up the Piute ATV trail. Well, I’ve had a few close calls with motos out there so the thought of having riders push their bikes up a steep canyon while motos come ripping down didn’t sit right, so I found another way. It’s in the map below. It’s still challenging, but all rideable. You may need to take rest stops though, it’s a long ways to climb from Circleville to the Tushars…I’m trying to make that 5k’ ascent as direct and rideable as possible.

More pics here in geotagged format

Be sure to check out the maps:  http://2-epic.com/maps/311map.html

Unless you are doing TD there’s a big blank spot on the multi-day calendar in June.

I have a solution:  The Dixie Three Eleven!

311 miles of bikepacking bliss awaits.  The route includes the choice parts of Trans Utah – Virgin River Rim trail, Pole Canyon and the Sunset Cliffs, Grandview trail – and adds so much more.  Thunder Mountain, the Skyline Drive trail in the Tushars to name a couple.

From the section in the Tushars:

Grandview:

Thunder Mountain:

Fremont:

The long road sections of TU are not present in this route.  The trail/road ratio is similar to CocoBob.

What:  This is a multi-day self-supported mountain bike race.
When:  Friday, June 25 8:00 AM
Where:  Near Parowan, UT.

It is no accident that this event fits in with the new CTR plan on LW Coaching.  It’s got all of the elements needed to refine a CTR assault in August.

Stay tuned for full details and GPX track.

Are you in?

Update 4/19

A preliminary track is ready.  NOTE:  this is preliminary pending a couple scouting missions.  It will work for general planning.  The route will no doubt change close to race time based on scouting missions.

Changes:

• Added Spruce trail on the Markagunt
• Added Louder ponds trail on the Markagunt
• Added remote trail network atop the Sevier Plateau, including a singletrack descent of Mount Dutton
• More singletrack in the Tushars
• Removed the Navajo lake loop (the complete VRRT should be plenty, eh?)
• Added trails south of Hwy 20

The profile has changed a bit.

The Flagstaff duo of Troy and Blair rolled in around dinnertime.  They were so full of crack and excitement there was no waiting, it was time for the final packing and ride!  They all left together sometime after 7pm Friday evening.

Dave continues to amaze with his apparent resistance to sleep deprivation.  After being up for ~40 hours he was amazingly upbeat and positive.  Maybe that was because his shuttle stars all aligned?  He was sporting a new, handmade, behomoth seatpack, custom lights, and in general a much more refined kit than his rack setup of the ‘07 Grand Loop Race.

Troy was all smiles.  “We’re riding the Honeymoon trail to the Virgin river, what could be better than that?”  That quote about sums it all up.

Troy’s bike choice was a rigid 29er Coconino, smartly loaded, particularly with the 50 oz nalgene on the bottom of the downtube.  A true desert rat.

It was the first time to meet Blair and he basically charmed us all right from the start.  Troy has done well in his choice of riding partner methinks, there will be no shortage of trailside laughter.

Track their progress on the whizbang Trans Utah tracker. Click here for the version with status points. At this time it looks like only Dave’s transmissions are coming through.

We were up on the Paunsaugunt last weekend and the fall colors are beginning to POP. It will be a gorgeous ride.

The main page is up to date with everything ya need: Trans Utah 2009.

Start time/place, and a new waypoint description page, full track and waypoint data, and a loose set of rules.

Let me know ASAP if you need a SPOT! Scott has already set up the trackleaders page here  but you’ll need a SPOT to play.

There is some climbing involved – but probably not as much as TopoFusion is reporting.  In confusing sections I used high resolution track data (1 sec interval) which tends to over-report total vert stats.

The TU page will be updated soon with GPS track data and a routesheet.  For now you can get the full track data here.

We may have a SPOT tracking page for the event at trackleaders.com courtesy of Scott Morris and Matthew Lee.  Please shoot an email my way if you’d like to use a SPOT unit for the event, they will be provided (pending sufficient demand).   hairball.dh AT gmail DOT com.

The route has gotten a facelift. It’s not complete yet, but to help with your planning here is the part that is: Trans Utah: St George to Powell Point.  Compared to the 2008 route, the changes are:

- initial desert section shortened.  New singletrack added, Coyote spring still in.  This will help us get to higher elevations before the mid-day heat sets in.

- Goulds loop removed

- Brianhead loop, Marathon trail removed.  That climb sucked and was all private land until very close to BH.  We’ll still go to Cedar City, but will come up Cedar Canyon (pavement) to Woods Ranch where we’ll climb up a jeep trail to the beginning of the Virgin River Rim trail. 

- Added singletrack from Teha CG to Navajo Lake lodge.  A great trail segment and potential resupply.

- routed course to hit the junction of UT 14 and US 89.  Great little gas station there at Long’s Junction.  Hot food, tables, friendly.  My bailout point in ‘08.  This traded in a few miles of jeep roads for pavement.

- reroute on the Grandview trail on the southern traverse of the Paunsaugunt:  we’ll head N (up) Mill creek to join some jeep track and  hook back into the Grandview from the top of the plateau.  The trail conditions of the Grandview between these points are horrific, parts of it wiped out wholesale by mudslides – I suffered through it on the Paunsaugunt Enduro so you don’t have to.

- reroute E of Tropic to include the Henderson Canyon singletrack.

These changes make the route significantly kinder in terms of resupply points.  The big picture:

Time-wise Long Valley to Tropic is the longest between points up to Powell point.  Plan on 2 more days from Tropic to Boulder and that should do it for planning purposes.

How could it be that I’m getting excited for this already?  So much for CTR fatigue…

Camp was a cozy affair, big shady pines and showers nearby.

It seemed a Lenz Sport bike was mandatory equipment for this one.

With CTR coming up in 2 weeks it seemed a good idea to do a long ride the day before the 96.  Not sure what I was thinking, but…I’ve always wanted to get to the top of Mt. Wilson near Thunder Mountain.  It just looks like it would have a good view from up there.

There’s a rocket ship up there?

This lone bristlecone pine caught my eye.  Struggling.

Meanwhile, there were fires ablazing near Tropic res.  The 70 and 95 mile routes were routed right through those fires – last minute reroute required!  It was simple enough though.

This sign gets understatment of the year award.  OnlyDaveC knows what I’m talking about.

The initial section of the grandview that seemed so hard a month prior has had some trailwork and was much more rideable.  What I expected to be a 2-3 hour  hike a bike turned out to be pretty quick and a lot of techy fun.

It was a real pleasure to show some of my favorite terrain to others.

Riding rims with grins.

I chose to ride the long one.  I’ve seen all the route at one time or another, but to string it all together in a day – well I just wasn’t sure it could be done.  The warnings about carrying bivvy gear were real.  After a water top-off at the Robinson Guzzler I plunged off the plateau into the no-mans land known as the southern traverse – this is also part of the Trans Utah route.  Midway down the descent is this sandy knoll with a view.

It is very challenging terrain.  Sand, steep, remote, dry, hotter than the plateau.  Full of wildlife!  I’d only been here once before and it was as good as I remembered. 

The route leaves the Grandview and heads up the Crawford pass trail.  Great riding to be had here, but you pay dearly for it…

I had to get it rolling from Crawford pass just to get to camp before dark…meanwhile one lone warrior got to experience some summer storms on the south end of the route, far from camp and a forced bivvy ensued. In camp we got a lot of hail.

So how tough is that southern traverse?  Scott got back to camp in about 7:20, while I got back to camp in about 13:20.  My route was only 25 miles longer.  6  hours longer for that 25 miles?  In my defense I did do some mandatory trail work out there, but wow. 

Riders got 5.5  to 26+ hours of being out there this year.  It turned out to be quite the demanding route, the 95 especially leaving an impression on me – primarily a need to modify the Trans Utah route to something a bit more friendly.  For a 1-2 day epic though, it was the bomb ;)

Next year?  I’m leaning strongly towards a June date.  Lynda already set my wheels spinning on a few new course ideas too…

Thanks for coming, it was our pleasure to ride with y’all.

May 29th a group of us will be heading out on a Grand Loop mission.   I’ve done this route before, so to make it more challenging this time around I’ll have just one gear.  This route is hard enough that success rate is something south of 40% for those that attempt it – and it only appeals to a rather salty crowd.  SS finishes?  Nada.  I don’t know if I can do it…and I like that.  Makes me feel alive with that tingle in the tummy.

Since I have yet to do an overnight trip with the single – and May 29 is coming quick – the time is  now!  And, why not dovetail it with some TU splorin’?

I mapped out something that was about 130 miles and looked fairly climb heavy.  That should be sufficient.  What I got was a bit more than I had imagined tho!

Distance is ~ 15 miles short – a GPS malfunction towards the end of the 2nd day had me losing a big chunk of data.  Grrrr….

The start was up Veyo-Shoal creek road.  Confusing sign – singletrack road?  That’s an oxy-moron.  Sure looked like double track to my eyes….up the recently burned moonscape, steep climbing – loaded and single, ouch – just what I needed to get a feel for.  Oi.  I knew there was water aplenty up here but I started with 175 OZ just cause.  I really don’t want to do much walking in the Shandies so this would be a good test.

The moonscape quickly gave way to incredible greenery!  2 weeks ago the oak brush was still dormant.  It is now a glimmering shiny spring green and it covers every peak in this region.  The riding continued steadily up, up and up…

Detour from plan #1:  like a moth to a lightbulb, I seem to have this fatal attraction with the South Boundary trail.  I could not pass up such a *civilized* looking trailhead.  Off into the unknown…

And as luck would have it it was mostly rideable!  Big views, epic descents on singletrack overgrown with flowers giving way to a descent down a nearly unrideable boulder field.  But not quite ;)

That was almost at the Nevada/Utah state line, it is lonely remote country.  Water was everywhere.  Heading east, Pilot Peak trail escorted me past Flatop, then Ox Valley…and one big hike a bike up to the top of Big Mountain to see this.  Farthest horizon  line is the Lost Peak area where the above trail was, center of pic is Flatop and Pilot Peak, Ox valley not too far but out of sight.  Already a big day, I still had some miles to cover to get where I had planned to camp.

It’s flower season as we all know from MC’s blog.  This is one of my favorites.  Most of the time you don’t see them until you are nearly on top of them as they grow so low to the ground.  Pink carpet, I call them Emma flowers.  This particular patch I found amidst a 4 mile hike a bike. 

4 miles and 100 oz fluids later brought me here.

Since it is outside the boundary of Pine Valley wilderness I thought I’d give it a go – but once at the lake I was looking for alternatives.  And…I found one!  A brilliant trail rolled along the top of this range, from lake to lake.  The trail was often gone only to reappear.  Can you read the sign below?  Yea, this place has been forgotten by all but the hardiest of cattle.

Eventually the trail became a ripping singletrack descent, all rideable – flowy even.  Fun stuff!  I was thinking there must be a way to work this in the TU route.  Suddenly the trail ended and this is the sign that greeted me.

Hmph.  Some strange management going on here.  Apparently equestrians rule the roost here.  Oh well, it was an awesome ride nonetheless.

Overnights in rough country on a SS?  Seems pretty doable to me!  I did a lot of futzing with gear placement and had a batch of velcro straps and zip ties to use.  Once the Epic Designs seatbag arrives things will get even better as the front end was too heavy for hike a bikes – and one consequence of a heavy front end when on a SS is a light rear end – bad for traction. 

Body, GI, fueling:  spot on.  Dave V2 is ready.  Tick tock till May 29 6pm…

Much of said exploratories are done solo.  When with others I do my best to warn of varying conditions…bring arm/leg warmers no matter the temps!  Scratchy brush out there in the bush. 

There is always the bubba factor in remote places.  Yesterday we found plenty of live ammo on the ground – with crosshatched bullets to do extra damage, those rednecks are really stepping it up – and then this:

Hike a bike in varying portions are inevitable…

These rides seem to be more about ruling out routes than finding them.  I’m tired dad!

And then it happens.  We find the perfect trail heading off into the perfect landscape

with surprises around every corner

and suddenly we can see beyond the hike a bike, the bleeding shins, the sore shoulders, and see the beauty that surrounds us, high and low.

Wish you were there.

Ah, oh yes, you will get  your chance!  And I’ll do my best to keep hike a bike to a minimum.

- Route.  Marshal’s experience in particular up Kolob road was not at all what I had in mind when designing the route.  Kolob road is getting the ax.  Seeing how that was a critical piece of the jigsaw puzzle major changes are going to be required.  The issue is getting to the E side of  Zion – there are few good options off-road.  I’ve been doing some exploring in a completely new direction…it will be big, hard, and beautiful!

- Date.  The “start date” is in the same spirit as AZT300, CTR, GDR, TD:  it is merely a recommended time to start the course so that everyone can do a “group ITT” and benefit from some camaraderie on the trail.  Of course you can opt to do it at any time you see fit.  Last year’s start put riders into an early snowstorm, and this years date is right on top of the 24 hours of Moab.  This year’s start will be earlier – exact date is not locked down but Sep 26 has been suggested to take advantage of moon cycles and other calendar conflicts.  I’m open to suggestions, but leaning hard towards accepting the suggested Sep 26 date.

- Finish.  This year’s route will end in Boulder, UT. 

In the meantime, I’ll be working on that revised route, ’splorin and collecting GPS tracks, sunburns and smiles.  LW and I may even tour the route early-summer :)  Somebody has got to finish this beast!

All I can say right now – if you are interested in this event come with game.  It is physically demanding, moreso than GLR.  Based on info from my GPS ride file, the shared track under-represents both mileage and elevation gain.  The StG – Escalante section will play out closer to 400 miles and 60k vert.  Yea, no kiddin’.

 That said, it isn’t as remote.  There are 2 restaurants about a mile off-route in Virgin, everything you could need in Cedar City, a good general store and some restaurants in Brian Head – then things get spotty.

For those areas with spotty services, you may need a bucket to haul enough stuff.

Let it be known that Dave Nice came prepared with a GPS and a cycling computer.  Gears and freehub can’t be far behind.

Moving this thing up a day stressed me to no end.  With the last minute course changes and a busy work schedule I had more than I could handle.  Getting out the door in the right frame of mind was not easy.  Funny things happened in the first hour on the bike.  Things didn’t look familiar.  A picture of a coyote laying on the ground, mocking me with his big howling laugh….shortly followed by a sea of bleached carcass remains was more than unsettling in the darkness.  Where was I??  Only a few miles from home, I hadn’t been looking at the GPS track cause I knew the route like the back of my hand. On top of this weirdness, my legs had no PE whatsoever.  It was too easy to punch big power on the short rollers.  I’ve been here before – a bizarre mental state combined with no PE – and it’s dangerous.  This is the first time I’d recognized it mid-ride though.  I started following that GPS track and kept it super chill.

The AZ strip went by in a blur.

Coyote springs was in fine form.  I still had plenty of fluids so kept it rolling.

The climb up the Hurricane Cliffs via the Honeymoon trail was exhilarating as always.  It started to feel a bit warm here.

Some fast cruising roads between the Hurricane Cliffs and Little Creek Mesa head to the Goulds/Jem trail section.  Starting Goulds I got that empty camelback slurp – dangit, only one bottle left.  Water conservation mode notwithstanding, Goulds and Jem were awesome.  I did pack a bit more gear given the weather forecast, so this gave a good feel for how the bike would handle in the tight twisty stuff from Brian Head and beyond.

40 oz. Coke, ice cream, and iced bottles/bladders and the climbing started in earnest. 

Smith Mesa and Kolob roads held no surprises.  With 80 miles in the legs and on a loaded bike, it was slow going uphill.  Darn nice views all the way though.

Just N of Kolob Res I ran into Marshal.  He was setting up camp for the night.  I had secret hopes of catching up with him a bit later so we could tag team a hotel in Cedar…all morning through the AZ strip I’d notice we always took the same lines through rocky/tech sections.  A few times my mind would wander and I’d find myself following his tracks on auto-pilot.

Next up:  the big new section of the course.  I’d heard of the C trail but never ridden it.  I think it drops 2400′ in 4.7 miles, super fun stuff and even better at night!  I hit Cedar at 11 PM, rolled right up to Albertsons (blind luck), got a room and slept for 3 hours then moseyed on along.

The climb from Summit is steep.

What that sign really means is mixed grades of 10-20% for the next 4 miles ;)  You do get the elevation quickly though.  It wasn’t long before I was up in the aspens.  It’s peak color time right now.

I never called in from Cedar cause I got in late and left early.  Brian Head, so far as I can tell, has only this one pitiful pay phone.  This has got to be a big issue on GDR – crappy, failing pay phones as everyone on the planet now uses cell phones.  Anyway, I called Lynda.  We couldn’t hear each other, all I could make out was “1-3 inches”  then the line went dead.

Was it game over already?  I wasn’t sure what to do.  The route stays high for the next good long while and I was not in the mood to get stuck in snow.  Taking a nap is never wasted time…

Tried Lynda again after a nap and a quart of coffee – she said it was moving in tomorrow so go giv’r.  Sweet!  I was really wanting to do the Marathon trail section.  I’d never seen it.  Tough initially, from the middle of Color country to Louder ponds was pure bliss.  Singletrack heaven.

A long section was used in the BH Epic 100 route and also the recent American Mountain Classic.  There was still a lot of crap left by both racers and promoters.  TBB left like they weren’t coming back ;) 

The Marathon trail ends at Navajo lake with a wonderful plunge down steep, wooded singletrack.  It was so unexpectedly bitchin!

Wild country.  I scared up some big elk, a skunk with tail raised high, smelled (but didn’t see) a bear, and then almost nailed this on the trail:

Next up was the Virgin River Rim trail, just as the sun was setting.  Didn’t it just rise??  Days are so short in October.  I was really hoping to make it to Tropic.  I had 4-5 hours to reach the entrance to the Paunsaugunt, then would have to cover the next 60 miles in the dark and wee hours of the next day to make it – assuming the forecast for rain/snow at noon to be correct.  Well sheet.  Even in my addled state it was obvious pushing into the Paunsaugunt was a recipe for SAR.  I would get so pinned down up there and bailouts from there are not simple, easy, like they are from VRRT.  So, I camped near the end of the VRRT section.

It was a damn fine descision as the storm moved in a few hours later.  It came in fast, howling winds, and surface conditions became unrideable in short order.

I had my bailout plan already figured out before I slept – it didn’t phase me.  I just zipped up the bivvy a little tighter ;)

After a relaxing breakfast, copius coffee, hot soup and other goodies

it was time to make the escape.  The show was over and it was time to bail.  It wasn’t bad really.  I wore motorcycle goggles (honest!) for night riding and they worked a charm in the wet and muck.  It took about 90 minutes to get from camp on the VRRT to the Long Valley store.  A heaven on earth with Krispy Cremes and warmth.  Lynda braved her way over the snowy roads to haul my stinky butt home.

So, 3 starters and zero finishers – but the stats are weather impacted.  It’s doable.  It’s tough to imagine a sub 4 day finish, that’s for sure.  Tour pace is a week or better.

How about timing?  Late June is the earliest potential date, but conflicts with GLR and/or CTR.  August, we’d die in the deserts.  It cools off to 80 at night for about 10 minutes.  Sept is 24 hour natz (which I will target next year) so that’s a no-go.  2 possibilities come to mind:  July 4 or early Oct.  If in July, we’d want a GLR style evening start.

How about the route?  Well, there will be no Escalante – Moab route revealed until somebody finishes the first part!  Next year, same route.  The long term TU schedule just got delayed.  Missed it?  You get another chance.  Abundant pain and pleasure to be experienced. 

Start training.

Dave made it somewhere past the 200 mile mark and called it. Actually, more accurately, he called me. This is what my drive to go pick him up looked like.

Slushy, wet and slippery.

This is Deer Valley where the TU course crosses the Hwy on the Marathon Trail.

Happy and not so happy to be in the car.

According to the NOAA Mesonet Map it started snowing on the TU route at 7pm last night.

No peeps from Dave since he called in from Brian Head yesterday.

 It is St George Marathon day today too. 6,000+ runners are trucking down Hwy 18 into town in the rain right now. I think it is fun to run in the rain but maybe not for 26.2 miles.

Dave called in from Brian Head. He rode StG to Cedar City, stopped at a grocery store then a motel for a shower and snooze then continued on to Brian Head arriving mid-morning. He is continuing on with the hope and slight chance all the forecasts are wrong and the storm will stay north. He said it was cold and windy but clear.

Here is the forecast for the Paunsaugunt Plateau. He will be there tonight and only with a nutty effort and no sleep will get over it before noon on Saturday when the rain/snow is supposed to start falling:

Tonight: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 43. Breezy, with a west southwest wind between 22 and 28 mph, with gusts as high as 41 mph.

Saturday: Rain and snow showers. Some thunder is also possible. Snow level 9300 feet. High near 50. Breezy, with a south southwest wind between 17 and 22 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New snow accumulation of 3 to 7 inches possible.

The high point of the TU route on the Paunsaugunt plateau is only 9061 ft. It’ll look real purty with a dusting of snow…

After the Paunsaugunt the course drops down to Tropic at 6500 ft then whoosh back up towards the sky for scads of time over 10k over the Table Cliffs Plateau and Powell Point.

Dave might be the only one left pedaling but he seems to have a race on his hands.
 

Marshall started some time on Wednesday. Err I’m not sure exactly when… so I am already falling down on my job as the official race transcriber. I need some tips from Jill.

Here is Marshall’s Spot page. He camped last night at the Divide below Little Creek and has just finished up the Jem Trail at the moment.

Here is Dave Nice’s Spot Page. Dave started at 3am Thursday morning. Right now he is ticking along towards Coyote Spring SW of St George.

Dave Harris doesn’t have a Spot. As of 3am this morning he couldn’t find his frame bag and hadn’t packed his gear. He got rolling at 5:15am Thursday morning. He will call in from Cedar City, maybe Brian Head and Tropic.

A POTENT PACIFIC SYSTEM IS EXPECTED TO IMPACT THE REGION THIS

WEEKEND. WIDESPREAD PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED AS THE SYSTEM MOVES

ACROSS THE REGION THROUGHOUT THE WEEKEND. THE ASSOCIATED COLD

FRONT IS FORECAST TO MOVE ACROSS NORTHERN UTAH LATE

SATURDAY…REACHING SOUTHERN UTAH BY SUNDAY MORNING. SNOW LEVELS

WILL FALL QUICKLY BEHIND THE COLD FRONT TO NEAR 7000 FEET. SNOW

LEVELS ARE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE TO FALL THROUGHOUT THE DAY

SUNDAY…REACHING NEAR 6500 FEET BY SUNDAY AFTERNOON ACROSS

NORTHERN AND CENTRAL UTAH. THIS STRONG SYSTEM IS EXPECTED TO

BRING THE FIRST SNOW STORM TO THE HIGHER TERRAIN OF

NORTHERN…CENTRAL AND EVEN PARTS OF SOUTHERN UTAH SUNDAY.

PRECIPITATION IS FORECAST TO SLOWLY COME TO AN END LATE SUNDAY

INTO MONDAY.

The Trans Utah route will be impassable in those sort of conditions.  A Friday start means there would be zero finishers.  Weather is the one thing I can’t fix.

So what are ya gonna do?  Ma nature forces my hand.  I simply must give this thing a shot.  The time is now, my window is now…so sometime in the dark tonight I’ll peddle off to see if this thing can be done in 2ish days.  Probably not, it’s a bear and it’s mostly alpine, and I’m a desert dweller, and I did a 24 not long ago.  Am I recovered enough?  Will the weather scuttle my yearlong plans? 

Or will lady luck smile on us with a big sunshine grin?

Time to find out.  The final reroute somewhat simplifies the kit as we’ll hit towns at 150 and 300 miles, ideal restock points.  I’ll carry less than anticipated.  More batteries cause just to finish ahead of the storm means go fast or bail – lots of night riding to be done.  I’ve seen all the views already anyway, now it’s time to feel it at speed.

Enough with the dreaming, it’s time for action.

Marshal is out there getting it done right now:  http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0m5zlJgTzeG64oNDTXBHIch633P8ivf9A.  Looks like he’s at Coyote spring enjoying some cool water on a warm day as I write this.  We spoke last night and he’s got a great plan and attitude for this big ride…and really wants to attain Powel Point.  Good luck amigo!

Dave Nice and I will be heading out in the wee hours.  Wish us luck.  We’ll need it!  And to anyone else willing to try their hand at this event…good luck and be safe out there.

Dates are Jan 23-25. Same format as last year, 3 days of big self supported rides in the desert. All are welcome. Different name tho’. Camp Lynda was funny for one year with it’s “soft” sound being that it was a killer training camp. This year we are giving it the name it deserves:

2-Epic Camp

Courses will be tweaked a little and for sure it will be 2-Epic.

Time for a creative re-route.  Trans Utah V1 just got a lot more epic.

To span that 2 mile section of private land, the course now bombs down to Cedar City via the C Trail, heads north to Summit, picks up a jeep road all the way to Brian Head, then follows the Marathon trail to it’s terminus at Navajo lake where it will pick up the VRRT.

Oh, did I mentionthe VRRT is closed west of Navajo?  Fires…this kinda stuff all converges at the last minute – the Paunsaugunt section was even closed by the Forest service due to fires – but it was reopened 2 days ago.  Whew.

 Anyway, here’s a map showing the old and new routes compared:  http://2-epic.com/transutahv2.html/. 

The route just grew a bit.  It’s now about 370 miles with 50-51k’ vert. 

 It scares me a bit.

 Thursday

12 noon:  shuttle vehicles.  Meet in Escalante at high noon.  Contact me if you haven’t yet and want to join in.

Evening:  my house is full, but you are welcome to come here for BBQ/kitchen use.  Contact me if you need lodging, I may have some more options.

Friday

3 AM – start from Desert Cyclery.  We’ll roll all together, prologue style, until we reach the Stucki trailhead.  I think that’s about 6.5 miles.  After that, choose your own pace!

…

Then what?  LOL, we ride.

For the luddittes out there, I made this map.  It’s not the final cut, but that’s coming soon.  On tap this weekend I’ll be scouting Coyote spring and checking on 2 loose ends on route.  Look for the final version on Monday.

I talked with an official at USA Cycling who confirmed this is going to be the venue for the 2009 and 2010 NORBA National 24 hour Mountain Bike Championships.

Well I haven’t done a 24 hour solo since Worlds last year and am in just the right mood for one at the moment. So we are packing up the ship and sailing it over to Payson with gears, suspension and power meters on every bike!

Dave and I are racing the 24 hour solo with power meters and Danielle is racing the 12 hour solo with hers. We will have a plethora of data to get the 2009 and 2010 Nationals training plans nailed.

It is a climby one. From topofusion 1366 ft/ 8.8 mile lap. This chart of the course is from a GPS file provided courtesy of Dan Basinski the Payson race promoter. Thanks Dan.

The trickiest part of racing 24’s is pacing. How do you pace a 24 to end up with the most laps? Go fast from the gun and hang on? Even split? Negative split? We are gonna be doing a little experimenting in Payson and if we get it all right we’ll have the power data to back it up. Precise numbers from differently paced races over one course at the same time. Now that is data to keep us busy this winter and juice to use when cooking up the killer Nationals training plans in 2009 and 2010 – yummy :-)

 Some bits in the route will get shuffled for the final version, but not by much.  This will be plenty to get your planning in action.

Please use the forum for TU questions.  I’ll answer any questions straight up to the best of my ability – no hiding special/insider info.  I’m also working on adding waypoints for key turns, water sources, and stores.

There’s a section of the Grandview on the Paunsaugant that’s a lovely, steep singletrack climb – steep enough to barely be rideable but a good surface – but it is littered with downed trees every 100 feet or so.  Include it or route around it?  Another section plunges off the Paunsaugunt and is a bit disorienting and completely unrideable in the reverse direction.  Lots of options after the route’s high point on Powell Pt – what to do there?

 It’s been such a wonderful, long term obsession that perhaps I’ve just been loathe to put the full route together, fearing the end.  Ha!  There’s always the next section, Escalante to Moab…and I’ll say this about that one – it’s gonna start with a bang.  That’s a teaser more for myself that for you ;)

So.  What are you in for?  Bring climbing legs yo.

320 miles, 44,700′ of climbing.  Elevations between 2,500 and 10,200.  Remote, few restock options, but should be plenty of water.  I’ve done my best to keep the best trails and exclude hike a bike.  There are some tough areas, but overall it’s very rideable – much more so than GLR.

It looks really cool in google earth.  Doing flythroughs had me grinning ear to ear, recalling each of the scouting missions and the things that happened along the way.

GPX coming soon.  The 3 major elevation areas are the Markagunt, Paunaugunt, and Table Cliff Plateau.  We’ll do an out and back to Powell point, the southern escarpment of the Table Cliff Plateau…it’s a view you simply must see.

A word on lodging:  that weekend is the St George marathon, the biggest annual event in the region.  Lodging is long gone.  If you would like to stay at my place let me know your plans – my place is beginning to look crowded.  I do have my limits.

Trans Utah will start nice and easy – the major climbing doesn’t start until mile 80.  Those first 80 will take in some singletrack (roughly 25 miles), a bit of the Sunshine and Honeymoon trails in the AZ strip, killer views, a fun trip up the Hurricane cliffs, a key spring that is hopefully running (!), and 1 river crossing where it will likely still be dark. 

 The town of Hurricane (all services) is about 3 miles and 800′ vert off-route near mile 70.  The next town near the route is at about mile 200.  This will be a common theme to the route:  there are towns on-route only in the area near Tropic, but towns will be nearby.

 Decisions, decisions.  Start strategizing.

The 45 mile (mostly) climb starting around mile 80 is on non-technical surfaces, which you will be thankful for.  You’ll have time to soak up the expansive views.

Mile 145 takes you to the Virgin River Rim trail which we will ride in its entirety.  The route gets progressively more challenging as we push onward to Escalante…

Stay tuned!

 TU gets it’s own link category to the right, and I’ve set up a forum to handle the Q & A.  I’m not a big fan of MTBR and wanted something I could keep track of better.  You’ll need to register to make your first post. 

Fire away!

• Start: Friday, Oct 3 at 3am. 
• Route:  The starting point is my house in St George, the finish point is Escalante.  The course will include elevations of 2500 to 10k; a bit over 300 miles; Lots of everything – dirt road, fireroad, singletrack, a touch of pavement,  big views, lotsa fall colors in the high country.  I’ll have a GPS file ready in September.
• Services:  there will be long sections between towns but options will exist roughly 10 miles off-route.
• Concept:  this is leg one of a route that will eventually go to Moab from StG. 
• Rules:  similar to GLR, AZT etc, with the addition of a 2 person team format.  Self-supported where the self-supported concept applies to the team as a whole, whether that team is one or two riders.

The route is point to point.  That means we need to do some shuttle action.  The drive is about 3 hours one way.  I’ve cleared Thursday, Oct 2 to do some shuttles with folks.  I’ll also open my house to anyone that’s in, well if you don’t smell funny.

Any questions?  Who’s in?  Ah, that’s right…anyone likely to do it is out flogging themselves on the CT right now.

Why is this?  There may be arguments for wild critters like bear, mountain lions and the like being higher on the foodchain out there – but really?  I think it has more to do with the accessibility to this type of education in remote places:

Seriously, it was all crystal clear to me last fall when Ion and I were shot at and harassed by drunken rednecks on ATVs for 2 hours in the night.  That experience will forever change how I choose where to camp.  I hate to think how that would have gone down for a lone gal…

I have a solution. 

Introducing the 2-person self-supported team category.

What is it?  Teams of 2 can race self-supported events, where all the standard rules apply to the team.  IOW, teamates can help each other any way they see fit – dividing up gear, sharing gear, telling each other they look marvelous, whatever.  The team must still be self-supported.  They don’t have to stick together at all times – it’s up to them how they handle that.  But each member must cover all the course, and the finishing time granted the team is that of the last to finish.

Some motivations for this would be…

• rider safety
• removing (at least minimizing) the concern for personal safety among female racers
• creating an environment where those lucky few that work better together than apart can do so and not be penalized for it…
• I want to do Trans Utah with Lynda as my partner.

Trans Utah will have such a category.

So…calling all ladies!  If the issues mentioned here have been holding you back…tell your partner to start training and join us this fall.

I know there are some fast gals out there in the endurance world :)

Good luck at the Firecracker Sarah!

This is one of my special places on the Markagunt plateau. The single track here is blissful.

Sweetest water on earth right here…

and the views off the rim massive

Makes me want to do Trans Utah myself…

They also left us with this little beauty.

I never thought I could be so excited for a hardtail…my times have changed.  This bike has a long history already…to keep the story short, it never could have happened without Lynda.  It’s been custom built by Brendan to my specs with the goal of multi-day SS forays in mind, hence the big front triangle for frame bag storage.  It’s a 29er.  Did I mention it’s a single speed?

It just so happens I have a pair of sweet liteweight wheels laced up by MC to go on her.  The Explosif is getting canibalized – at a frame weight of 1.5 lbs heavier than the Siren it’s been benched ;) 

There’s been lots of help getting it built up.

First ride in a few hours!  Then I’ll break it in at KMC this weekend.  How better to get the ride dialed, eh?

Time has been tight lately…too much livin’ to keep up on the blog – but TransUtah explorations continue.  The latest was a foray to find an entrance to the west side of the Paunsagunt plateau – not as easy as one may imagine.  Private land everywhere in the valleys beneath the rim, you can get within a mile of Forest Lands most anywhere but that last mile could get you shot…success was finally had though, here’s the teaser.

From June 08

Smith Mesa was the object of our tires today.  Not very technical, good thing cause you can’t keep yer eyes on the trail.  Plenty steep though.

Rumors of ejector seats and flying monkeys abound behind these signs.  We sure wanted to explore…but resisted.  These signs really pull ya in don’t they?

This is where the monkeys land.

Hey Matthew Lee, this is for you bro.

Zion is part of the route…but not by the standard entrance.

Sun, snow and wind today.

The route was clear to 6500′ – ok it was plowed.  It climbs to something over 9k – but we’ll have to wait a few months for that ride.

Views so big as to leave imprints in our brains…daydream fodder.

The route is massive.  The long range plan is this: 

• fall ‘08 St George to Escalante or Big Water
• fall ‘09 Escalante or ? to Moab
• fall ‘10 St George to Moab

Originally it was going to be a spring event, but the reality is that due to massive quantities of sand in these parts the route will need to get high – and winter snows prevent the spring timeframe.  Fall it is.

The exact route for this year’s edition is yet to be determined, but I have a lot of GPS files to look through, and ground recon to reflect on.  Some ramblings and images are here:  http://2-epic.com/?cat=15.  It’s spectacular country between StG and Escalante – huge views, all day climbs, enough color and contrast to keep the imagination busy for…a lifetime.  Elevations will range from 2,500′ to 10,500′.  Distance?  hmmm….300ish.  Amount of climb?  Roughly 35k’.  Generally more rideable than GLR but nearly as remote.  There will even be some really, really fun singletrack.  The route will flirt with Zion and Bryce national parks, the Markagunt and Paunsugunt plateaus, the GWT, Grand Staircase – possibly ending at Big Water via Smokey Mountain road.  Plenty of surprises in there too.  A GPS track will be provided for the route.

For the timing, I’m somewhat open.  The tentative date is Oct 3.  This is 1 week before 24 hours of Moab, so clearly you can’t do both.  The other date would be 1 week later right during the Moab event.  So all 3 of you that might be interested in this, have an opinion?  ;)

Yep, it’s a point to point.  The route will make the added logistics worth the effort, I promise.

A lot of these pics ya gotta click for the big version…

Near the start of the route (starting at Big Water) this sign looks so new and official.  Not to worry, the man was nowhere to be seen and every other sign was bullet riddled, old and illegible ;)

After a bit the climbing comes on in earnest taking you up to the southern end of the Kaiparowits plateau.  Initially steep, it rolls a lot through drainages and contours in other spots.

Lake Powell in the distance, Smoky Mountain road contouring below.

Ion working it up the final grunt to the plateau.

Other signs of life.  This was the first (but not last) time I would hear yee-haw! this trip.  Cowboys are grumpy.

We took a diversion.  At Collet Top we headed over the Left Hand Collet canyon to descend to Hole in the Rock road.  The Grand Staircase site said the road conditions were “unknown.”  In the future I’ll know unknown means non-existant.  The conditions were unknown cause this rockslide prevented vehicle traffic and the road was later abandoned. 

For the most part we traveled a stream/canyon bottom for 11 miles.  Most of it was rideable but very slow.  Sand, water, big rocks and boulders, a bit of slickrock - a real cornucopia of conditions.  Slow going, but it really put a smile on our face anyway.  It’s not everyday you get to ride something like that.

A cruise on HitR road took us to Escalante.  It’d be easy to get lodging there and not take the overnight gear…

But you’d miss out on this.

You’d also miss out on the redneck locals.  For future reference don’t ever camp in the open near towns on a Sat night.  Holy crap…repeated high powered rifle shots overhead scared me beyond belief.  And here I thought I was afraid of nothing in the woods….drunk johny reb and his 12 half brothers were playing all sorts of antics.  Big spotlights looking for gawd knows what, they spotted us in our sleeping bags.  Shit.  Nothing like being the evening’s entertainment for local drunken idiots.

Yea, nice sunrise pic but note the atv track in the lower right corner.  This shot was taken from where I was camped.  They came by within inches in the middle of the night spewing rocks and hoots and hollers.  The episode lasted at least 2 hours…

Heading south from Escalante on the Smoky Mtn road takes a nice climb to the ride’s high point.

Beyond this point there is a wonderful section of rolling road.  It skirts several canyons, crosses others, big views abound.  You’ll have to ride it to see it, I was too enthralled to stop ;)

I took a spur to the SW on Heads of the Canyons road.  It goes in and out of several drainages.  Plenty of up and down and road conditions similar to the Kokopelli trail.  I kept having deja vu…then I realized riding this was remarkably similar to the White Rim – except much less traveled, more tech and more climby.

It drops through canyons on it’s way to Big Water.  This looked old and abandoned but there was food in the cupboards – oops!

Everywhere to the north is wilderness study area – no motorized vehicles allowed.  Nice ATV tracks here, not one of them turning around at the signs.  What is about ATVs that requires disrespect for land and your fellow man plus mass stupidity to ride them?  My disgust is complete.

Strange black hearted canyons on the way into Big Water.

So there you have it.  This may be the off-season and all…and I think I’m chilling out but I’ve got quite the string of 25 hour weeks going here.  It’s just too much fun to stop!

You can draw a ton of analogies to this…racing is certainly among them.  How often have you done a big event, full of excitement for it only to hit the post-race blues?

So this past weekend I continued on with my journey, explorations of new surroundings.  It’s cloaked in the guise of course research, but it’s fullfilling other needs beautifully. 

The previous week’s outing gave glimpses of this huge plateau.  I simply had to find a way to it’s summit.

There are easier ways up than I chose.

But the easy ways don’t have these views – and the summit would come and go too quickly.  More savoring.

It was one of those all day climbs, filled with wonder around every turn. 

With 4k’ elevation over the surrounding region most of southern Utah is in view.  It’s a powerful chunk of turf up there. 

And, wouldn’t ya know it – from the top more new terrain comes into view, picquing my curiosity for another adventure.

The journey continues.

The original concept was to have something that would make a good shakedown roughly 2 months prior to GDR.  Big problems with that though:  it limits elevation to ~ 7k’ (april snow up high), and an April race date will force riders to choose between Scott’s AZT race and Trans Utah.  But the real deal killer:  there’s a massive chunk of real estate between StG and Moab that is made up entirely of sand.  Unrideable sand.  Improved/paved roads are the only way through by bike.

Creative redirection this weekend yielded  some pleasant surprise finds – and ideas.  The fall is crispy dry in southern Utah; the deserts and the mountains are rideable and pleasant.  So why not shoot for an October date, remove the elevation restriction and AZT conflict?

‘xactly.

It’s an evolving process, but I’m leaning heavily towards an early – mid Oct ‘08 start.  Level of effort along the lines of GLR, perhaps a bit more.  First half in ‘08, StG to Escalante, 2nd half in ‘09, full route in ‘10.  Start training now.

Not many viewpoints will go untouched by this route.

Post Moab recovery took about 2 days.  I built a SS out of my old Trek 9.8 hardtail – I had the parts in the garage to get it done and within 2 hours of motivating I had a SS bike.  It has got to be the fastest thing I’ve pedaled….so after a couple days of hammering SS style, the weekend was ripe for some Trans-Utah explorations.

The setup I was using on the Yeti earlier this year, this time on the Lev.  On front is the sleeping kit, misc food/maps, note water bottles on fork legs.  This proved much too heavy on the front end of the Lev, repacking day 2 I learned that the sleeping kit fits nicely under the saddle and the bike handles oh so much better.

As I was cruising through Warner Valley towards the Hurricane cliffs all that joy and excitement of the spring came flooding back.  The realization of a night away from civilization was a breath of fresh air. 

The first sign is a nice try by the BLM, but I’m fairly convinced all Utah OHVers are illiterate.  The second sign came out of freaking nowhere, posted about 30 ft off trail as I was cruising along beneath Little Creek mesa.

Gould spring.  Yum.

The view from the top of Little Creek is endless.  That “small” ridgeline is Gooseberry mesa.

Little Creek mesa was named for the creek, not the mesa.  It’s huge, higher than Goose and pinyon/juniper covered.

The timing couldn’t have been better for this as I decided to pass on the Gould Spring oil slick.

This is an interesting slice of americana.  Hilldale and Colorado city are adjoining towns on the AZ/UT stateline where polygamy is the norm.  The homes are massive 10+ bedroom affairs.  This is the site of Warren Jeffs that Krakauer had so much to say about in “Under the Banner of Heaven.”  Awesome read.

As I was rolling through the area my proposed route had me bumping into several locked gates.  No signs, just locks.  Usually I might go past such obstructions…but not here.  Something about potentially trespassing on folks property who’s way of life is against the laws of the land is most unsettling.

Shortly past Hilldale the hiking began.  I spent the better part of the next 9 hours on foot.  Steep & sand was the rule.  The only place there was no sand was where the terrain was too steep for it to settle – and even the slickrock areas were sandy.

But, it was over the top gorgeous.

Sand.

Rock.

Sand and rock.

Views.

Just as I was thinking the trail couldn’t be any harder (5 labored steps, bike on back and 3 points of contact, rest…repeat) reality showed it could be worse.  Choose your horse carefully.  Two laser like holes in the eye socket told the full story.

Just past this point I ran into a polygomous hiking group (or so I was informed by the next crowd I met):  40ish year old guy and 4 gals in their teens wearing long dresses.  We chatted for a good long while, mostly about the area.  They told me the route I had come up was nothing compared to what I had planned…I should have listened….one of the gals asked me why I didn’t just toss my bike into the bushes since it was only slowing me down. 

Plenty more happened beyond that point but it gets on towards a painful blur… 

The first 64 miles took about 6 hours.  The last 16…well let’s just say that won’t be part of the southern trans utah route.  But if you need some beta on a good hike in the area let me know!

Ah, and looks like the blogosphere is about to explode.  We’ve been joined by Laughs at Licraphobes.