What's the definition of insanity again?   

I'm also a maybe.  It's in my tentative slew of suffering but probably more as an ITT from a non-traditional start time/location.  Possibly a little further up the road from the "DH" spot.  'Course like the weather, that can and probably will change on a whim.

Jim

Hey mmeiser,

Sorry for the delay, here's a link to the kml file: http://trey.aiserv.net/~jal/nct_lp_mi.kml

Any interest in a group start ITT sometime in the spring?  Either a through ride, White Cloud -> Mac City or what I've dubbed the 'Lollipop Loop'.  Here's the short of it: Start in White Cloud and head north to Mesick.  A loop is created at the top end going east on M-115 through Mesick then north on M-37 to where the trail crosses, then take the trail back south to M-115.  You can choose your poison, traversing the loop either clockwise or counter clockwise.  Then head back south retracing the trail to the White Cloud TH.  I haven't put together the track yet, but by my estimates it should come in around 240 miles and 18k'.  I'd say the route is 95% ride-able, but the section between 115 and 37 will definitely have some hiking.

Jim

Welp, here's my post of intent.

I'll be rolling out of the LL somewhere between 5-6am tomorrow morning (Sat, 9.25).  Bedrock route.

Looks like the weather is going to hit it right, along with the waning full moon from last night.  Now to only hope the sand is still fairly firm from the rains earlier in the week.

There's a link to my spot under 'location' on my profile page.

Jim

Thanks for the kind words.

The NCT is primarily a hiking trail, so you might have to invest in the maps and read the fine print about which areas open to bikes.  I've found very little information on the internet.  I'm going to take a trip over to the store soon, so I'll see if I can peruse the PA maps.  I'll post up if I find out anything.

The hike-a-bike is primarily because of sand (as you mentioned, northern MI is pretty much a sand dune with a loamy crust.) and the nature of it being a hiker trail.  For instance- as you cross M-115 near Mesick, heading north, the trail follows the Manistee River for about 40 miles or so, from ~ mile 111 -> 150.  Besides being generally uphill, you cross many tributaries that drain into the Manistee.  Usually bombing down (some walking) and almost 95% of the time, hiking out, due to the steepness of the trail.

Jim

Woohoo! Finally made it out to lay down some tracks for all the bike-able sections of the North Country Trail in the lower peninsula of Michigan.  Approximately 332 miles of bikepacking goodness through magical forests, swamps, road and the like.  Short verbiage, google map track and pic slideshow on my blog here: http://zipspot.blogspot.com/.  Be warned- there's plenty of hike-a-bike on this route, quite a bit of sand and some steep climbs. But also some of the best flowy singletrack riding in Michigan.  Plenty of services (stores, motels), but some stretches which required filtering water from streams.

The maps for the route can be purchased from the NCT Assoc. here: http://www.northcountrytrail.org/.  You'll want maps MI-04 through MI-07.

You can download my slightly cleaned raw track here: http://trey.aiserv.net/~jal/nct_lp_mi.gpx. (right click, save link as.  It's 2.5 meg.)

If you have any questions or are interested in doing this route and want someone to ride with, send me a pm.  There's a possible Labor Day weekend run taking shape.

Jim

Hmm...  Yea, the Lite is on my radar too.

I see Dave has been fiddling with the gps looksee mapish information already, putting up the original start location track.  That seems to skew the 'Ice cream at Navajo Lodge' concept into probably more like late lunch / dinner?  Will we see an updated Dixie Lite gps track soon?

If one were to do the course starting outside Cedar City, can we still park at the VRR trailhead?  Or alternatively, ideas on parking in Parowan?

Thanks,

Jim

Wow!  I think that was the hottest bike ride I've ever done.

I started right at 6, rolling of the lot under partly cloudy skies with nice winds, it was a great evening to be out riding.  Quick stop at the Fruita rest area to top off my water and I was at the TH in Loma by 7:45.  Little cheatin' with that tailwind.  

Mary's rolled fairly quickly and I was at Salt Creek with just a slight hint of light left.  Train rolling through while scrambling up the other side was a treat.  Things went pretty uneventful until the shock of seeing the ever faint glow of the coming day about 4:30am-ish.  I was hoping to not be able to take any daylight pictures until somewhere in YJ but was able to by the time I was doing the McGraw singletrack.  Luckily (or not) the Yellow Jacket climb offered a preview of how the shandies were going to be, although the air was still cool.

Quick 15 min nap in the shade of the bathroom structure at Dewey and I pondered continuing or rolling 128...  knowing I would have to at least hit Onion Creek or backtrack.  Within thirty minutes all I could think of was the cool shade Cottonwood Canyon would offer.  It took two attempts to leave once I got there.  Slow and steady, the rest of Entrada Bluffs proceeded to cook me nicely.  From that point on, walking was the norm uphill as riding just generated too much heat and my hr would begin to climb even though I wasn't doing much more than just creeping along.  I easily drank a gallon of water and my Pepsi just going from the first Cottonwood to Hideout.

Got to Hideout in just under 24hrs after starting in GJ and I was happy to just lay in the shade and do nothing.  After gunning down some dried fruits I took a short nap, filtered water and then made a 'hot' meal.  Yea, strange but that mac & cheese was sooo good after taking what seemed like a record time of cooling down enough to eat.  As I regained lucidity, I began to ponder having potentially two more daytime rides in the oppressive heat or backtracking to 128 from where I was.

Other than the stinky water, the downhill stroll on Onion Creek Rd was quite refreshing.  Seems like I learn tons more every time I try these events.  Only encountered two motos and one jeep.  Had an impromptu chameleon (or whatever the little lizards are) incident when one crawled up on my leg while I was napping at Dewey and I reflexively grabbed a hold of it.  Those little gnats bite, legs look like I have chickenpox.  Night time is the right time on the Kokopelli.  I'm always amazed at how much flow there is from RV -> McGraw Bottom.  Long sleeves rock in the sun/heat.  Head bug nets preserve your napping sanity.  Hmm...  Think that's about it.  Thanks for all the kind words!  Cheers and Happy Trails!

Gracias!  Scott, I sent you my share page in a pm.

Helz yes!  Those sodas, a large pepperoni pie and a few burritos thrown in for good measure.  Not much into warm beer.   

I figure there will be sporadic sections of snow in some places, and soggy/muddy areas in others.

Planning on rolling out of the Tab TH in GJ at 6pm sharp on Friday.

Hmm...  I'm thinking it's going to be a go.

This link is pretty interesting.  My take is the (localized) snow disappeared around the 18th.  That slight aberration seems to be a spring squall, as it melted off pretty quickly.  Weather looks fairly nice out there this week too.  Beware, the graphics are set fairly large to see the detail and the end date is the 31st of May (today).  I put a better link for bookmarking below.

http://www.nohrsc.nws.gov/interactive/html/graph.html?station=CPSC2&w=1162&h=864&uc=0&by=2010&bm=5&bd=1&bh=17&ey=2010&em=5&ed=31&eh=17&data=0&units=0&x=0&y=0

I'll have a spot.  Scott, are you going to run a tracker on this?  Anyone else in?  Or been up there and know the graphs are all forged from erroneous data?

Jim


/* begin links - second is more site info, not real time */

http://www.nohrsc.nws.gov/interactive/html/graph.html?units=0&station=CPSC2
http://www.nohrsc.nws.gov/static/station/html/C/CPSC2.html

/* end links */

I'm committed to another GL attempt.  June 4th, Tab TH, 6pm.  Going counterclockwise, Bedrock route.

Snow is a concern, hard to tell how those Snotel graphs translate to what's really happening on the ground.  If any scouting reports turn up about poor conditions, I'll move my start date to the 11th.

Jim

Wow, good work to all those that finished this beast.  Nice meeting Jefe, chatting with Matt and Cat at the start and meeting Scott and Chad along the way.  Way to go Matt for success on your first attempt!!!   

Gotta get this down now because before long, I'll forget parts and end up thinking this might be a 'good thing' to try again.

The short-

My gut slowly started going to shit as I continued on into Saturday afternoon, probably from those Bloks.  Just as I'm about to crest that gawd awful sandy gravel climb up from Dewey before you get to the 2nd Cottonwood section, I suck my bladder dry and take a short break to shovel down some unappealing food to stave off any energy problems- when lo and behold a truck crests what I can see as the top (~6300' - nice to have the gps to see how 'far' you have to go).  They stop, we chat and my gut (literally and figuratively) tells me to get in their vehicle and bail the ride.  -fin.

The long-

Took two days to get to GJ as to ensure I didn't start the ride sleep deprived and dehydrated like last year.  Made it to Denver and did a bike path ride around town to loosen up the legs and sweat a bit after being in the car.  Went to REI and picked up a few last minute items, like a CORSAR card.  Rolled into GJ about 1:30 pm on Thurs, hit the motel, dropped my junk, and checked the board to see if there were any new posts.  'Alternate Ending'.  Hmm...  Ok, change the ride out there plans and drive to the Tab TH to look around and scout a route from the motel and see some of the landmarks at the Little Park Road trailhead.  Still plenty of time to ride after this, so I go back to the room and lay out all my stuff, pick a few items for a quick ride and head back out to the trailhead.  Rode (and walked some) the Tab up to Little Park Road and then started cruising down the Gunny Loop.  I apparently choose unwisely at an intersection and end up doing the Gunny Loop proper instead of the cutoff to head back to the road.  These are fun trails, super swoopy.  That steep downhill I took at the end is crazy!

Finished up the night by having all my gear sorted and ready to go, so Friday came with nervous relaxation as I only had to hit up Taco Bell for some perishables.  Rolled out of the motel at 5:00 pm and was at the trailhead at 5:45 or so where Matt and Cat were waiting.  As we exchanged hellos and chatted, Jefe rolled up and joined us.  About 6 we started out for a nice easy road ride to Loma.  We stopped at the rest area for a water capoff and then rumbled down the e-way, up the access road and past the Kokopelli trailhead w/o skipping a beat.  Once on Mary's, Jefe and Matt just pulled away as I settled into my pace with the goal of making the Salt Creek section before it was totally dark, which I did.  Had to stop a few times to fix some seat pack issues.  Interesting how no matter how good I think I have my stuff secured on the bike, the trails there are rough enough to show all the cracks.

As I rounded the corner to the Salt Creek decent, I could see someone's light on the other side on the climb.  So near, yet so far.  Down to the river and back up trying to keep a steady pace, I was rolling through Rabbit Valley in short order.  With the nice cool temps and intermittent moonlight it was a great night to be riding.  The Bitter Creek section seemed to go quickly and I reached Westwater at 2:30am.  I also, unfortunately, took a rest, which turned into a nap on the nice green grass at the ranger station.  And after eating some food and making coffee, I didn't get back rolling until ~8:30am.

Luckily, Saturday was nice and cool and I was making good time going across the Cisco section.  This is where I ran into Chad and Scott.  We exchanged introductions, chatted for a few and were off in our respective directions in short order.  I have to say, they looked pretty in the zone and 'fresh' when I saw them, no drooling or incoherent babbling.

Yellow Jacket came and passed with nary a whimper thanks to the rain that the area has seemingly gotten over the last few weeks.  At 12:45 I was sitting down at a picnic table at the Dewey campground for a nice lunch.  Packed and rolling again by 1:30, the climbing started.  At 5:30pm, near cresting the top, I stopped to take a short break.  There was rain and thunder behind me, sun to each side and pitch black straight in the direction I was heading.  Also, most all of the tire tracks had little dimples in them from being rained on.  Hmm...

'The short of it' falls into the story here.

So...  many more things learned, many more to go.  Nice thing about this stuff is you always get the chance to correct your mistakes and try again.

Cheers,

Jim

Hey Jefe,

Rolling out of the motel at 5, so I'll be at the TH by 6.

Jim

Will be on the road by ~4pm EST today, pushing for GJ by Thursday sometime.

(Weather dependent) I'll probably do a short ride at the Lunch Loops on Thurs evening, scouting/timing a route from the motel.  If it's too muddy or whatnot, I'll probably still do a road ride to the TH and back, looping around through downtown to check out urbana-proper.  Post up if you're interested in riding and/or hitting up a pub 'n grub-ish after the ride.

Hey Everyone,

Yep, still sticking with the stick in the mud traditionalists: Tab TH (or town or such and roll by the TH on the way?), 6pm, 29th.

I'm spotting too...  Heh, that just doesn't sound right.   

Also secured a room at the Quality Inn (733 Horizon Dr) for Thurs/Fri night (28th/29th) and hope to leave my car there during the ride.  If anyone has any issues with accommodations, transportation or what not before the race, let me know.

Looks like we're going to have quite a group.  It's going to be a great time out on the trails.

One more thing: Thanks to everyone who has posted up about the course conditions, previous trip reports, getting the spot on the 'Robby' deal, etc.  This site and it's contributors have been a gold mine in preparing for these types of events.  Sure beats having to sift through all the 'What tires and tire pressure do I run?' riff-raff over on MTBR.

Welp, time for lastminiuteplanningforgotthisorthatohcrapwhatnowwigoutmode...

Well, here's my update:

From the current arguments, I'm still not convinced about deviating from starting at 6pm at the Tab TH in GJ.  The 29th seems like a done deal.

Very excited here also.  Been doing my homework on the maps and I'll also attempt the Koski Traverse route.

So what are the best options for parking, besides pulling up to a random location and putting mikec's bizniz card on the dash by the vin#?  Is lacemine really in the 'Event Parking' business?   

I'll also be willing to help others with any transportation issues.

I'm in as well.  My plan was to start Friday, May 29th at 6pm, but I'd like to start with a group, so I can be somewhat flexible.

Shooting for the Bedrock route.

Jim

Wow, truly an epic race.  Good job to all those who started this one, pushing on in the cold, rain and snow is no small feat.

The forum commentary and Spot tracking is a great way to armchair these routes.  Kudos to Scott for making it all work so seamlessly.

Jim