Glad you guys got finished up this morning. I saw you go by my office window here in Todd Valley( the fun little singletrack after Foresthill) this morning around 9 so I'm figuring you got off the trail before it got too hot. This week has been unusually hot so I'm guessing yesterday was a little tough. I didn't get out till later this morning, went up the hill and it was still pretty warm in places.

Looking forward to a report of some sorts.
Congratulations!

At Tramway market in heavenly.  Sean we take back everything we said about you on the Rubicon. 

Fair enough. You'll have plenty of time to revisit that decision.. Glad you guys are having a good time. There is some absolutely stunning areas and trails coming up for you. It's going to be hot here in the foothills this weekend, just make sure you have plenty of water. Looking forward to the next update.

Stunning Aaron.... So glad you got to experience that.

Mowgli looked unimpressed with your accomplishment....

Aaron,
I'll try to answer your questions as best I can. Glad you are making the trip out, I did 70 miles on the Tahoe Rim Trail yesterday and the weather was perfect.

There are no fires anywhere right now, weather will be warm to hot in the lower reaches( 85-90 here iin Foresthill, which is hot) and damn near perfect in Tahoe.

 Everything is superdry right now, unfortunately you are doing the route after the Tevis 100 horse race which really tears up the Western States Trail, it will be in far worse shape than the racers saw in July, still fun, just looser. Tahoe is dry but still in good shape mostly, it will be dusty, don't plan on riding right behind each other in many areas.

I'm not a big foodie, but once you get to Tahoe there are plenty of places to stop and eat as you come into towns, remember that the trail stays up high mostly though. The low country not so much, pretty much Foresthill is your only choice.  

The pump at Robinson Flat can certainly be accessed on the return leg as well, it's about  a 1/2 mile off route, but a nice place to stay for the night and the water is some of the best in the Sierras.

Your idea to get supplies in Foresthill is a good, one. Wortons is a good sized grocery store with a deli and should have everything you need to get you to the Lake. Plan on a full couple of days from Foresthill at least if you are only touring.

I'll be working from home this weekend and Monday if you guys need a place to stay before you head out.

Funny, I was thinking of heading to CO. later this month to do all of the CT, but it seems like the weather will be iffy, you guys are on the right track coming West.

Have a great time and let me know if you need anything.

Sorry you couldn't finish your adventure Michael, there is always next year and with your gained knowledge you won't be denied. I can think of worse things to spend my summer break on, I always worked and went to summer school....... Great job regardless!

Great write up as usual Aaron, your pictures always amaze me. Thanks so much for coming down to race/tour this year.

Good Job Michael, Have fun and please be careful!

Congrats to Greg for finishing last evening. I managed to catch him a little bit up the trail from the house. He looked absolutely great, big smile on his face and he smelled a hell of a lot better than Aaron and Jack A couple of more folks will be going out in the next week or so. Good luck to them.

Great to see Aaron and Jack last evening, they both did an awesome job out there! I was pretty impressed with Jacks porn stache , he must have worked hard on that in the evenings

 Greg looks like he might finish up tomorrow, perhaps early the next day. He's done so well this year and taken a good chunk off of last years time even with the tougher course. Hopefully I can meet him somewhere tomorrow.

Congrats to Aaron Johnson on winning the race this year on top of his second place at the AZTR!
Some pics from last evening.

Looks like everyone had a good and productive day. Aaron and Jack are beginning the last hard push back to Auburn, there's still some tough terrain out there to come. Unless someone pulls a super human stint in the saddle, sub 4 days is out of reach. Great to see Greg having a nice solid ride.

 We've had a bit of an abnormal weather pattern here this week with afternoon pretty significant thunderstorms, I rode for 2 hours in the rain yesterday. I imagine this made for epic dirt, but also unseasonably cool temps.

 I hope to be home tomorrow when Jack and Aaron come back through here.

Be safe fellas. Scariest lightning encounter I ever had was just above Armstrong Pass, a tree exploded 50' away from me, scared the shit out of me and my group.

Some insanely fun sections of singletrack on the TRT - like playing an MTB flow video game. Made it to Safeway in Kings Beach about 12:00 last night where a bunch of rave kids from the recently released dubstep concert were running around; weird scene.

If you were just a tad quicker you could have caught NOFX in your bike gear, then the tables would have been turned:) Great job out there Jack!

 

Sometimes the trail leaves more of an impression than you think...

More pictures...

Everyone got off yesterday morning. I couldn't make the start but managed to catch Jack, Aaron and Jeremy along the way. Greg rolled past us while the three amigos were stocking up for the 120 mile push to Lake Tahoe. Greg was racing with what looked like a medium sized daypack only, pretty stout way to race this thing.
When I got home last night it looked like Jeremy had pulled out somewhere east of Deadwood, I've got an e-mail out to him, hoping all is O.K.
Both Jack and Aaron looked VERY strong and pretty evenly matched, at least for the first miles of the route. It will be fun to watch those two go back and forth.

http://trackleaders.com/calsierra14

Some pictures from yesterday morning.

There is this concept called "soft pedaling". Look it up boss!! Your soft pedal is my all out effort!!

Ha! It's not the riding that's doing me in, it's the 80 hour work week AND trying to ride my bike. It's just simply too much too soon. We can't all be slackers like you and ride our bikes all summer   Maybe when I get a clue and stop working so much I'll be able to live the dream like you have here lately, it's just awesome!

I'm riding the CT in September and don't want to screw that up so I'm actually taking a doctors advice for once....

Last year we parked up along Ferguson Rd, which is the road McDonalds is on. We parked up towards the top near the PCWA offices. Meet at Raleys, which is just down the street with your bike.

Alright I'm signed up to Trackleaders. Looking forward to Friday morning! 7 people signed up on the spreadsheet, with Blake and Michael doing an ITT later this month, so looks like we'll be 5 strong this weekend.

Keep in mind I'm not racing. Orthos says I've overused the crap out of my surgically repaired knee and I need to dial it back. It's either ride my bike or work and I've become accustomed to a nice shelter and some food in the refer. Call me soft.....

Cool to see Greg signed up. He was our only finisher last year and he'll get to see some new stuff this year.

I hope to ride with you guys back up to my house here in Foresthill on Friday morning. Either way I'll be there to see you guys off.

I've stopped at spooner lake bike shop. They have basic snacks and some drinks  as I recall. You should confirm that they're still in business.

Didn't they move down the hill to the old Ponderosa Ranch property? I never go up to the parking lot.