We are in Crested Butte!!

It has been non-stop since we got here. Emma and I were IN the 4th July parade with the Save the Red Lady (a mountain under the threat of mining) float

We dressed up the tag-a-long

Wes has been rippin up the trails with impressive form

Today was heaven on earth for me. I was so giddy it didn’t seem real. Not sure if the giddiness was altitude or excitement – prolly both!!

Wesley was off at Gravity Groms camp (boys + mountain bikes + skate boards + hiking) and Emma went off to nature camp

With both kids happily occupado DH and I rode 401 trail

Wow. There are moments in my life that match exactly what I would choose were I given a magic wish. Lucky, lucky me :-)

One real sadistic character must have put that loop together. It is far more challenging than the Grand Loop in many ways. It’s a good thing the terrain is so engaging – it really is a gorgeous route.

According to my GPS:

49 hours moving time
320 miles
47,000′ vert
Elapsed time 3 days 9 hours 55 minutes

Other random facts:

Starting calories: 9,000
Estimated calories of Harold’s place breakfast: 2,500 (bad idea!)
Dave Kirk sightings: 2
Mechanical issues: 0
Number of downed trees hurdled: > 1,000,000
Favorite segment: 5. In my eye it’s the jewel of the 311.
Method to draw out sleeping hotel owners: do laps in their parking lot with your lights on.

More creative details as soon as the hands and brain are willing…

Here is my Dixie Lite race report: I rode 172 miles, 1 day 13 hours and 32 minutes, smiled almost the whole way, took 99 photos, ate a burger each day and had a splendiferous time out in the Southern Utah jungle.

Here is my race report in slide show format:

172.44 miles with 21,000 feet of climbing is what I had on the gps at the finish.

I took 99 photos during the race. Here is the only start picture I have of all five of the Dixie-Liter’s starting at 8:10 am on Saturday morning. My bike is lying on the ground so I am sorta in the pic.

Taylor Lideen, Steve Cook, Fred Wilkinson, Adam Lisonbee and me, aka Lynda Wallenfels.

I finished at 9:42pm on Sunday evening putting my race time at 1:13:32 = 1 day, 13 hours and 32 mins. I must have been last as when I got to the parking lot the only car left there was Dave’s and he is out on the Dixie 311. I was first too tho – 1st place woman ;-) and I was a big winner too cause I had a fab time out there. Big blog post to come from me later with maybe 97 photos in it. Luckily only 3 have me in and only 1 was a self portrait shot at the end which I am too vain to post – eek!

Steve Cook, 3:10pm Sunday, 1:07:09

Adam Lisonbee, 7:08pm Sunday, 1:10:58

Fred Wilkinson, 7:18pm Sunday, 1:11:08

Lynda Wallenfels, 9:42pm Sunday, 1:13:32

David Jones stopped at mile 126 in Panguitch Lake

Taylor DNF

Dixie 311 results to come later – all those guys are still out there. Looks like Dave Harris is sitting near Circleville waiting for the store to open on Monday morning.

After much tweaking my set up is ready to go for Dixie Lite . Most recent changes were switching out to a 75mm (shorter) stem and moving a little weight from the seat bag to the front end. When I was descending fast the seat bag was wagging and making my whole bike shimmy – exciting!! It doesn’t do this now with less weight on the rear and more up front.

Specialized Captain up front

I put on my mountain feed bag for a water bottle placement. I have water only in my bladders and wanted a place to put sports drink mixes. When I want to lighten up my front end for hike-a-bikes and deadfall huckin’ it’s easy to transfer the bottle to my pack.

I’ll have a gps and a light on my bars for the race.

Dave Nice unfortunately can’t make the race :-(  BUT I have been given his Spot to use…so I’ll have to find a place, maybe on my bars for the Spot unit too. I’ve made it into the DotSpot club ;-) or is that the SpotDot club…

The race tracker is here http://trackleaders.com/dixie

Start time is 8am Saturday morning!

Waypoint files are now part of the GPX zip file download for the 311 and/or the D-lite.  If you’ve already downloaded the files but have no waypoints give it one more shot – they are there now.

Other resources you may be interested in:

A 311/D-lite route comparison with proximity to services

Cuesheet for the 311 NOTE:  you will still need a GPS to navigate this route.

311 route and waypoints map is complete

<geek alert on>

Any of the files that you view on the maps at http://2-epic.com/maps/311map.html can also be viewed in Google Earth.  To grab a file, note the link address.  The filename is sandwiched between the “?” and “&” symbols, so the data file for the 311 map at http://2-epic.com/maps/311map.html?dixie311-2010.kml&index=0 is dixie311-2010.kml, and that file resides in the http://2-epic.com/maps/ folder.  To access the file, put it all together for http://2-epic.com/maps/dixie311-2010.kml and do a right click/save link as or save the ugly looking text file your browser dumped at you as file with a .kml extenstion and open in Google Earth.  Simple, eh?

There is so much you can do with Google Earth – it’s connected to most everything.  If you have the ability it’s worth the small effort.

On the flip side, if you can point to a .kml file or a .gpx file on the web, you can load in the map by constructing a URL for it.  For example, here is a link to the map loaded with the CTR file from http://www.bikepacking.net/routes/colorado-trail/ loaded:  http://2-epic.com/maps/311map.html?map=http://www.climbingdreams.net/ctr/CTR2008.gpx&index=1

This might be useful for the last few holdouts that don’t have Google Earth or TopoFusion, but be forewarned – tracks may be simplified so that your browser doesn’t grind your machine to a halt.

<geek alert off>

Alright then.  Whew.

Time to ride!

It’s tough work playing route architect. The previous weekend was snowy in the Tushars, so I had no choice but to go bikepacking for the last 3 days. Tough but it had to be done.

Let’s start with the punchline: Both the Dixie 311 and Dixie Lite have seen extensive changes because of lingering snow above 10,500′.  Sydney Peaks and Dark Hollow will not be melted out by race day, and even if they were they would still be full of blowdown.  So they get the ax.  With those 2 trails gone from the route, it didn’t make any sense to start in Parowan anymore – the reward for the 4k’ jeep road climb was the techy fun of Dark Hollow.  Instead, we will start at the Western terminus of the Virgin River Rim trail at Woods Ranch, a few miles East of Cedar City on UT 14.  GPS files are linked from the above event web pages.

For the 311, the heavy snows remaining in the Tushars means we won’t be doing Skyline trail either.  I did find several great trails though!  And, a triple bonus up there is that the higher regions are still closed to motor vehicles.  I didn’t see a single ATV in 3 days of riding but elk and deer were everywhere.  More than a few exciting stream crossings should be expected as well.

Another change on the 311:  the Spruce trail north of Horse Valley Peak has what is probably the nastiest hike a bike I have ever done.  We will be skipping that section of (non) trail!

Go grab those GPX files, have a look, and fire away with any questions.  I’m still working on the waypoints/cues and will update here when they are ready.

We forgot to pack the stove. Turned out to be a fun mistake.

You know it was a good weekend when you have more to blog about it on Thursday

After all the trail maintenance and chainsaw action on Saturday it was time to ride on Sunday. Dave mapped out a nice little 27 mile loop consisting of 2 unknown trails and 3 known and nicely rideable trails. It took us 8 hours to go 27 miles…

We started out along West Hunt Creek trail we had cleared the day before and confirmed it was super fun. Then we turned left up Sanford Creek.

Parts of it were beautiful

At the top we hit the most brilliant view point on the Sevier Plateau (probably!)

I love old signs. I don’t know what R.F.K is. Anybody know what that is? This sign points down Sandford Creek trail and says R.F.K Sandford.

Over the top and down the other side. The GPS said this was a 60% grade!

Descending down between the spires

Unfortunately DH did not bring his chainsaw today

We descended a long way down to the Fremont Trail. It was 90F and I overheated and boiled my brain and stopped taking photos. Next we got onto the Dixie 311 course at the Hancock Peak Trail. There was a creek and shade. DH filtered. I drank 50 oz and I immersed my entire head in the creek.

Up at the top the Hancock Peak Trail ends at 9,400 feet and I cooled off.

Next the Dixie 311 course just starts riding along a ridge line with no trail. It is easy riding but will be confusing in the dark.

The no trail section passes this water structure which will be a good waypoint.

Shortly the Dixie 311 course and our route for the rest of the day hit the Showalter Trail which was a mega fun fast gentle graded descent.

I like the Sevier Plateau. We didn’t see a single other person out there on the trails. No tire tracks either. Just one set of horse hoof prints.

It is over 100F every day here now. Summer is being felt. I had a personal head boil and overheat session on Sunday – got that one out of the way.

St George is good for popsicles and snorkeling now

Racing opportunities are everywhere