It’s high time I set a date for Trans Utah if I expect anyone to do the ride with me, so without further ado, here’s what you need to know.
- 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.
I’m in. 3am seems like a brutal start time… what was your thinking behind that one?
Cool. I’m prolly gonna need to set up a forum for this….but 3 am to get out of the desert lowlands at an early hour. Iv’e seen it hit 100+ that time of year here – it isn’t typical, but possible. We’ll scoot through town as a group/prologue in the dark, ride through big mesa territory in the early morning hours and hit the big climbs to the mountains in the morning. I get excited just thinking about it!
Hmm…hubby has been wanting to do stuff similar to this. We might need to bump up our bike camping training schedule ;) I’ll have 2 days of vacation left after August :D
I’ve got it on my calendar. Sounds way too cool to miss. I’ll try to drag Kenny along.
On my radar, as it has been for months. :D
Dave and Lynda,
I’m still seriously thinking about this. Not ready to make a commitment, but I did talk to my Dad, and if I can get off the trail by Friday Oct. 10 and agree to hike the Grand Canyon with him the following day, he may be willing to help fund the airfare. Geoff is probably a no-go, although he may still be in Utah in early October. Maybe I can still talk him into it. Anyway, this was just my long way of saying that even though I’m undertrained and acclimated to 60 degrees and sea level, I wanna do it. :-)
Jill
I can’t think of many reasons not to be there.
The question is, can I talk Paula into it for the team category?
Thanks for setting a date and making it happen.
hey slow down there jill. you make it sound like i’m not going to be there for this ride. hasn’t the past 6 months in which i’ve ended up doing every race i’ve even mentioned having an interest in been enough to teach you that the odds are still likely that i won’t be able to stay away from this ride even when i say that i’m going to? it would be good for me to stay away. and in some ways i hope i stay away, but i probably won’t be able to.
Jill/Geoff,
I always enjoy your discussions here :-) You do talk at home, right?
Geoff – it’s an October event, don’t take it too serious from a competitive standpoint. In fact, like GLR, racing this thing at the first go-round is likely to garner a DNF. From a logistical/technical/survival standpoint, yes, it is not an easy ride, but it won’t be damaging if you approach it with a relaxed intent.
Jill – I’d guess that is completely doable. There is a paved shortcut option towards the end that will shave at least a day off the ride time if it’s getting close. I’m guessing the first riders will finish at about 3 days…you have 7 with options.
Hope to see you both in October.
Geoff and I do talk at home … on the rare occasion that we’re both at home and awake at the same time :-)
I plan to be completely realistic about this thing. I always thought GLR would never be a viable option for me, but here am I gunning for a route that is just as hard. The things that make TU more of a realistic possiblity for me are: The provided GPS tracks; the fact that it’s in early October, when low-elevation unspeakable heat is not as much of a given; the potential rideability, although to be honest, hike-a-bike is one of my stregnths … yeah. I feel like I could do it within seven days if I could do it at all. Wish I could train at elevation, but, nobody’s perfect. It will be a lot of fun to try my luck at this whole summer multiday thing. I think I could really draw on my old southern Utah bike camping experiences. I’m also not above taking paved bail-outs if I really am in over my head.
Anyhow, I put in a leave request at work yesterday. It’s a small start, but the ball’s definitely rolling.
Hi Dave and Lynda,
The idea has sparked got me thinking…….. Perhaps we can chat more at TR.
See you two soon:)