Wow what a crazy year for weather! Heat, lightning, thunder, and rain. Of all 6 years, this year felt the most adventurous to me.  Ian, Wes, Jeff and I were the rag-tag back of the pack crew this year.

Brian Lucido completely crushed the course!  It looks like he easily beat Jeff Kerkove's time from 2 years ago.  What an impressive ride!   

At first glance, it appears that there were only 3 scratches this year (two of which were ITT on Saturday). Since the rental SPOTs never came in the mail from Trackleaders, for those of you who were not on the Trackleaders map, please post your track here if you have not done so already.

Looking forward to hearing everyone's stories, photos, etc. whether it be good, bad, or ugly!

We had an issue with the rental SPOTs. They were supposed to arrive to me yesterday but the address was slightly incorrect so they have not arrived yet.  I am hanging out at my mailbox hoping that they arrive today. Gregg Will meet everyone at the Santa Barbara train station for the Shuttle at 2:45 as planned.   My wife is driving me up to Frazier Park so I will see you all there.  We can all meet at La Sierra Mexican restaurant in Frazier Park after you check into your hotel rooms For margaritas, food, and live music.

A few people have asked me about parking, so here you go.  Free parking in downtown Santa Barbara is as follows.  There is more than this, but these are the streets I park on regularly. Just do not leave any valuables in sight inside your car.  There is Wed. and Thurs. Street sweeping on these streets depending on which side of the street you park. Streets sweeping ends at noon on Thursday on these streets. Just make sure to read the parking signs carefully when you park.   

200 and 300 Block West Cota St.

500 and 600 Block of De La Vina St.

600 Block of Bradbury Ave.

700 Block Castillo st.

If you want paid covered parking there is a ton of lots downtown: https://www.santabarbaraca.gov/gov/depts/pw/dtp/default.asp

Downloading the waypoints is a little confusing. They are a google drive file. After you click on the waypoint link, it looks like a jumbled mess of computer code.  Click on the download icon at the upper right to download the .gpx file. See screenshot below.

This is hard to believe for April, but it looks like there is now a chance of thunderstorms on Sunday afternoon into Sunday evening.  If this weather report holds, I think I am going to add a waterproof jacket and a waterproof bivy to my gear list. I don't have much experience riding in thunderstorms, but when I rode the Colorado Trail I would just take cover in the trees when the thunderstorms hit.  Stay off of ridgelines, summits, and highpoints and take cover in lower areas.

I spoke with the lady that runs Kokos Motel yesterday.  She said the newer rooms are $80 per night and the older rooms are $70.  She said she would waive the taxes, but that is the only discount she would offer. 

She said credit cards will be accepted.  Not sure why it was cash only last year, maybe their credit card machine was broken.

Thanks for the report!  How about the water spigots at Selby Campground? Are they flowing? Also when you went down Bates Canyon road did you notice a small spring flowing on your right about a half mile down from the top?
Miranda Pines is never the most tasty water, but with a water filter And some powdered Gatorade it gets the job done.

 Hi everyone just a reminder because this is a issue every year. If you have a Garmin Etrex 20 or similar please use the 2 split tracks instead of the full track for the proper route. For the tour route this should not be an issue because that track is under 10,000 points. Also don’t forget to load the waypoint .gpx file also which is a different file. The waypoints are for both routes,  so there will be a few extra waypoints that you might not need.  It is not a bad idea to load both routes, In the event you were planning on doing the long route and decide that you actually want to do the short route. 

Finishers are those who use a SPOT and stay on route. Those who don’t use a SPOT but appear to have finished are marked as “unofficial” finishers. Those who use a SPOT and clearly deviate from the route or don’t finish are not marked as finishers.

Adding Ian to the shuttle list, so there are now 3 seats left on the shuttle.

Thanks for the scouting report Roland!

Here is the update on the shuttle. We have 7 total signed up for the shuttle so I am probably going to use the Crazy Bear Shuttle Van this year. The van holds up to 11 people and 11 bikes, and it costs a total of $600, so if we reach 9 people or more, the cost will be less than $75 each.  Just FYI, my wife is driving me, so I can carry one person in my car, but I can't carry any extra bikes. 

Here is the confirmed list for the shuttle.  If you are not on this list, that means you have not yet paid and your are not confirmed for the shuttle. The last 4 spots are still up for grabs.  The 3 people that I thought wanted a spot on the shuttle, but I have not yet heard from are: Bikebuckets, Blake Garnand, and Avocado Bikepacker. 

Confirmed Shuttle List:

Art D.
Mike G.
Roland S.
Blake B.
Greg D.
Jeff P.
Flemming B.

Hi there I just forwarded you the email regarding the shuttle.  I noticed one mistake in my email. The shuttle leaves at 3 PM on April 25Th. My email just said “3 pm”. Sorry if that was not clear!

I just added bikebuckets to the email.  Let me know if you don't get the email.

Avocado Bikepacker, I love it.  You and Salsadawg should get together and make something yummy.

I just sent you a pm with all the info you need for the shuttle. 

We are now 10 days out so it is time for Trackleaders registration and shuttle confirmation. 

I just sent an email to any and all riders that said they wanted a seat on the shuttle, and people who I think might want a spot on the shuttle.  If you did not get an email from me, and you want a seat on the shuttle please send me your email address via a private bikepacking.net message (as it is probably best not to post private email addresses here) and then I will provide you with the paypal address to pre-pay for the shuttle.

Also the deadline for SPOT rentals is this Sunday April 21st, because rental SPOTs will ship out on Monday. 

If you are using your own SPOT or Delorme, the registration deadline is Wed. April 25th. 

Trackleaders registration is here:  https://form.jotform.com/trackleaders/lospadres19

So far the long term weather report looks pretty good.  60's and 70's depending on which part of the route.

If Roland decides to camp at Chucupate this year he could wait for the group at the Mountain View minimart in Lake of the Woods.The climb up to Chucupate would make up for the climbing from Big Johns to the mini mart.  I would like to mark Roland as finisher this year BTW, Chucupate is a nicer campground than Mt Pinos. Nicer views.

Roland is back!  Will he stay on route this year and be marked a finisher?  That is the million dollar question.  Haha.

Roland, why don't you camp at Chucupate Campground, take the easy ride downhill in the morning and then start with the group. Chucupate is marked in the waypoints.  Also it will be totally empty because the road up there is closed until May 1st.

Brian that is too bad about the tandem.  No team still has tandemed either route.

Bikes usually can be fully loaded for the shuttle, we can always take a bag or seat off as needed to make the bikes fit.

We are looking at an 8 am start this year.  7:30 is just too early for Big John to get all the breakfasts served. But if everyone is ready by 7:45, lets leave a little early.

I went out to Carrizo Plain this weekend.  The wildflowers are very nice, but I don't think they are quite peaking yet.  Maybe the flowers will peak in a week or two.  A bandanda might be a good piece of gear this year for dust protection.  There were quite a few 4x4 vehicles on Elkhorn Road looking for flowers.  Some photos below.  My friend went to Mt. Pinos yesterday and he said there is a still a lot of snow up at the top parking area.

Here is who I have confirmed for the April 25th shuttle so far.  We will leave around 2:30 or 3 from the Santa Barbara Train Station.   If you are on this list and do not want a spot on the shuttle, let me know here.  Or if you do want a spot on the shuttle and you are not on this list, let me know here.

Blake B.
Gregg D.
Jeff P.
Blake G.  
Zafar F.
Joe S.
Erin C.

Then I will send you a paypal email so you can pay Kunlay ahead of time so we don't need to deal with giving him cash this year.  

I will also try and get a group discount rate for Koko's Motel.  If that guy is going to do cash only again this year I am going to ask for a group discount, so it would be helpful to have a head count for the motel rooms too.  

Also I will call Big Johns ahead of time this year so that they hire an extra cook for the morning of April 26th.  I don't want that one lady getting in a tizzy this year like she did last year!  

Great pics Ben.  Last year there were no downed trees on Big Pine, but on the years where we get gnarly storms (like this year) old dying trees can come down.  Those trees burned in the Zaca fire back in 2007, and all it takes is some strong wind to take them down.  Not a good idea to camp near one of these trees on a windy night.  That's why they call them "widow makers".

If anyone is looking for a "shake down ride", I just rode the Ojai Rim Loop. The trails and dirt roads are in excellent shape right now and the wildflowers are popping.  The chaparral is coming back to life now that the Thomas Fire is almost 18 months behind us.  Here is the route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/29614826

I strongly recommend this ride as a 1 night, 2 day training ride.  The hike out and back to Hines Peak in my opinion is a must, but it obviously can be skipped if you want to speed it up or if you don't have much time.  Just make sure to get about 5 liters of water at the Stagecoach Store at mile 16. There is no water up on the ridgeline or on Hines Peak.  A little snow up there still though.  There is also a fast food joint there that has pretty good food.  Go get it!

 I’m not a Gaia expert but I assume you would download the GPX file from RidewithGPS and then upload the downloaded GPX file to Gaia. Im not sure if the waypoint gpx file will upload to Gaia or not.

Looking forward to seeing Bens report.  Here is a summary of what he told me:

2 to 3 feet of snow high up on Mt. Pinos. Hopefully this melts by the 26th.
Plenty of water this year. Gilliam or Gifford spring won’t be Necessary to use because the streams before that are flowing.
Miranda Pine spring has water, but lots of algae in the tank. Small stream flowing near the spring though.
Some deadfall on Big Pine Mountain. Last year there were no downed trees, so get ready to hop some trees this year.

Big Pine is at mile 202 or so.