Just had my third mountain bike ride in three days, before that, it was November. Can't imagine being in shape for this. I'm pulling for Neil not just because he reps for Colorado, but Crested Butte winters can't be that accommodating for training or heat acclimation. Looks like there's really a race among the top three. A couple miles separation doesn't mean much at this point.

Dan, riding through all that cold must have been miserable. There was a bit of an inversion so at 5000-7000 ft was certainly the coldest, but I was climbing most of that time and still freezing.

Rode the Kokopelli in 12:20 today. http://www.strava.com/activities/92864185 I can tell you I'm not sleeping well tonight. More of a description and pics to come.

Dan, I'm leaving from Moab so our paths should cross for sure

Dan, I'm looking to leave around 4 or 5am on Saturday. I'll be going for a legitimate through ride which means no water drops. It just snowed in the La Sals down to what looks like 8000 feet. I'll probably drive up there tomorrow to check out conditions. I'd be very surprised if other sources of water aren't available. When it rains or snows little streams usually come to life.

Matt, I rode fruita to Moab on the 18th of Oct.  The trail is in great shape.  Some snow off to the side of the road up high, but the dirt road through the La Sals is in great shape.  Currently very little sand anywhere on route other than from the top of the yellow jacket climb down to the river.

Thanks for the update. I'm looking to take a stab at it this Saturday.

Definitely get a plan for water dialed in. I've never used it, but the river is a good backup if you have filter or chemicals that can handle silt. If you want specifics, feel free to PM me.

I'd like to get water from the Colorado river. The plan was to treat with Aquamira and prefilter with some sort of cloth. Others told me it was so contaminated I'd want nothing less than a filter like a First Need that removes all pollutants. Am I really naive in thinking that water isn't so bad for a one time use?

I don't own a filter, otherwise I'd bring it

Good luck on the Koko Matt!  After doing it both directions and experimenting with start times I have learned a few things out there but I'd hate to spoil your fun of sorting it all out on your own!  What i can say is watch out for snow up high and plan your water carefully.  You can't just wing it for water like you can on the CTR!

Is there not an official direction and start time? The snow, temperature, and water availability will be checked before I make a run at it.

If the weather warms up in the next few weeks I'm thinking about a Kokopelli ITT. Is the official route the gpx toby has posted or is that gpx the Rebecca Rusch route? Start at the slickrock trailhead, tag the bathroom at the end? What about start time, it seems people leave between 12:00 and 2:30am?

Just finished up the Coconino. Indecisive about what I had wanted to do because of the mud, I drove to Flag on Friday and made plans with 3 others, Mike, (on a single speed from flag, going for a thru ride) Blake, and Tom, to meet Sat at 7am. Myself, Blake, and Tom decided to ride the first two stages on Sat and meet up with whoever we found camped at the top of Mingus.

The first day contained a bit of mud still. Miles 10-16ish involved not riding on the trail, just pure cross country nonsense. There were also many other muddy parts that were unrideable or slow going. In the shade there was about 5 inches of snow in one spot. Made it to camp 1 in 5:30. I don't like riding in the dark so it was all one big push, no stopping in the time out safe zone. I basically just kept hammering it and could care less how I felt the next day. I got up to the end of stage 2 in 7:27 for a total of 12:57 for the first two stages. Caroline, Devon, and Jeff had a fire going. I expected to meet up with the CO crew but they told me of Aaron's accident and Zach with a broken spoke. Tom and Blake pushed on until almost midnight to make it to camp 2 as well. Mike had dropped out, not sure he was prepared enough for the night riding.

Day 2 we got a bit of a break, with a tailwind blowing from the south. It made for a fairly easy day unless you were descending down the snowy backside of Bill Williams in the dark. Climbing up, I realized I was the first cyclist since the snow fell. Descending the backside could be done carefully with some walking or just point and shoot. I prefer the latter method. I cut a tire but got it to seal up. Over the 3 days I had no less that 5 holes with stan's spraying out, all sealed up. Not bad for a set of tires with 1700 miles on them now. The time on the day was 6:32. Both Tom and Blake made it in before dark. We were all a little surprised at our times, given our studying of previous years.

Today there might have been a slightly unfavorable wind, but it was light. I questioned my desire to hammer it all the time but I do love pushing myself and competing. Hard not to love the final descent but the fork would barely budge so my wrists killed and I couldn't seem to stay on course. Stage time was 5:20.

I hope to do this another year when the weather doesn't have people scattered all over. It really is fun to push it for long rides but then sit down for hours and eat.

In!
Heading over to the place. Will you be there Matt?

No, not this morning. I haven't made the drive yet, but could meet up on Sat morning

Still being indecisive. If there are some people delaying the start by a day and leaving from Flagstaff on Saturday morning, riding 4 stages, I'd join.

Vandeburgen?
B_Bock?
JeffD?

Zach, you're just so bummed you didn't ride up kebler when it was sloppy for the CB 100 that you're aiming to get some

Cool! I don't blame you. You still in Moab area? Heard about the flood warning out there, stay High! This race would be totally rad if it snowed a lot, I would seriously consider riding a fat bike for it!

Is fatbike your answer to everything?

Matt, your fall races are turning into a big mess. A fatty would work well in these conditions

I'm busy looking at ways to explore the lesser known areas of Utah south of Canyonlands NP. Places the Subie can't go but the bike can.

I haven't fully committed to the trip to Flagstaff because of the weather. I see the possibility of a few inches of snow. Are the trails rideable when wet or is there the clay problem?

So no water at the top of Mingus? It looked like a rec area so I thought there will be water for sure.

Now I probably have to go follow that link and pony up the $3.  Did you include the part where I told you not to quit and that it got better after Marshall Pass?  I like to think that helped, cause you looked pretty crushed coming out of Tank 7. 

I read it. That part is there.

Start one. Own it. This is a thread for constructive feedback about the content of Adam's ebook.

wow, look at what I missed as I spent some time riding. toby, you are relentless