Not sure which route you are doing, but either way, I would strongly favor late April over this weekend.  I just noticed on weather.gov that snow levels are dropping to 2,500 feet over the next few days.  It is still really cold for late March.  Weird weather right now, seems like winter does not want to give up.

Last year the group left on April 26th and day #2 was the only hot day, and that hot weather was in the Carrizo Plain.  Neither route goes through the Carrizo Plain this year. It of course depends on the weather report, but I think both routes should be pleasant to ride through at least through mid May this year, and water will be plentiful thanks to all the recent storms. 

Happy Monday everyone, thank you for all the helpful comments and input.

I think best course of action for this year to encourage social distancing is to make the TDLP independent time trial (ITT) only.  This means there will be no happy hour social the night before, and there will be no group start either. And sadly, there will be no hugs, high fives, or beers at the finish line. Riders can choose the date and time they feel suits them the best.  For some of you that might mean sticking to the plan and starting on April 3rd.  For others that might mean waiting until late April or May, or even waiting until the fall season.  Or for some riders that might mean not riding at all this year.  It is your choice.  The forest roads and trails in the Los Padres National Forest remain open to the public at this time.  The only Covid-19 related changes the national forest has implemented is that they are limiting public access to their office buildings and ranger stations. 

In the past, this event has been about meeting new like-minded people and making new friends, but I think unfortunately the social aspect needs to be put on hold until next year.  This year it is mainly going to be about the ride itself.

I still am planning on doing the ride myself and I plan to either start April 3, April 10 or April 17th, depending on what weekend works best for my wife and daughter.  I am going to allow 5 days for myself.  Out of caution, I plan on bringing my N95 mask, an extra pair of gloves, and some hand sanitizer to use at re-supply points.  As much as I would like to try to carry all my food, and not stop at resupply points, I know that is not realistic (for me at least). 

Tour route riders will need to contact Himalyan Taxi directly if they want a shuttle to Frazier Park.  Call Kunlay at 805-705-7577 and ask him for a flat rate price.  I am sure he could use the business right now.  Or get dropped off by family. 

I strongly encourage all riders to use a SPOT this year.  If you have to bail out, keep in mind it will be very difficult to hitchhike due to Covid-19.  So if you have to push your assist button on your SPOT, make sure a family member is following you and can come out to pick you up if you need to bail. 

I will post a link again here once the Trackleaders registration is up and running.

Not postponed or canceled (not yet at least). 

Weather-wise, it looks like more snow on Sunday/Monday.  If warmer weather prevails after that, snow conditions might be doable by April 3rd, but it will be a close call.  I have seen a foot of snow melt fast this time of year in past years when it snows, then warms up. FYI, this webcam shows current conditions in the town of Pine Mountain Club. Pretty snowy as of today.  http://www.frazmtn.com/mount_abel_cam/

As for COVID-19.  Restaurants are currently only open for take out or delivery.  Stores are all still open, and stores will likely stay open, as they are essential services.  So I don't think resupply points will be an issue.  Here is where I am at:

1) If weather/snow conditions do not improve, then the route will not be rideable.  Suggested postponement date would be Friday, April 17th. 

2) If there is a "shelter in place" order issued, then TDLP will be postponed under the order is lifted.

3) If there is an order for "no gatherings" then perhaps an "ITT only" format for this year would be the best way to go.  It would be pretty lame not to start as a group, but this format might be appropriate given the current situation.

4) Despite all of this, a big ride on the bike in the backcountry might be the safest place one could be right now.  The resupply points would be the only possible place one could come in contact with COVID-19, and they are by no means heavily populated areas. 

I would really appreciate opinions from anyone who was planning on riding.  There are no wrong opinions, and COVID-19 has to be taken very seriously.  None of us could have predicted what has happened over the last two weeks, so we are in uncharted territory.

There are black bears near big pine mountain and near Reyes peak. Jeff K. Said he saw a bear near big pine 3 years ago. A bear box or hanging food is overkill in the los padres. Bears stay clear away from people, mainly because it is legal to hunt them at certain times of year.

On another note, we got a real winter storm yesterday. It even snowed at the top of Santa Barbara last night on la Cumbre peak at a meager elevation of 3500?.  It?s too early to say how conditions on April 3rd will be, but it looks like another storm is coming this Monday. If that storm brings even more snow, April 3rd might not be feasible.

Photo below from SulkyJunior taken this morning.

Lol. Yes mr Koko loves to sleep behind the front desk. You might be able to just grab a key and get a free room if you are crafty enough

Tour route shuttle will leave at 3 pm from Sb train station the day before. And tour riders will get to sleep in, and start at the sane hour of 8 am.

Proper riders will depart at sunrise at 6:30. Getting to Bluff camp by night 1 will be an accomplishment.

Should we even do a happy hour social this year? Maybe we should just show up at the start and promise to ride 10 feet apart from each other. 

Yes, I have GPX tracks for the 3 summits.  Will upload them to the website soon.

Thanks for bringing this up Andrew.  Of the Tour Route riders, who needs a shuttle ride from SB to Frazier Park?

The Kern/Ventura county line goes right through the summit of mt Pinos so you can count it for Kern or Ventura county. I guess the summit of Frazier mountain is actually the highest peak in Ventura county, so I goofed on that.

That is awesome you are riding for a cause, nice work! 

Yes I will get the Trackleaders registration and map up for your March 27th ITT by March 24th.  If your date changes, let me know.

FYI- We just got a small winter storm that came through, and it looks like more wet weather is on tap for next week.  If this route gets more than a quarter of an inch of rain or so, there are sections that will be too muddy to ride. And if we get more than a foot of snow up high, same deal.  If we have bad luck for some reason and it rains hard on or around April 3rd, then the logical make up date would be April 17th, since April 12th is Easter Sunday.  So keep April 17th weekend open if you can.  I don't want to postpone the April 3 date, but mother nature will make the decision.  Last year was the first time ever we had to postpone due to bad weather.

I love your back story ;)I went to Cal Poly and I always enjoyed heading out to Cuyucos to go surf. It might be the most mellow beach town in all of California.

My Garmin Etrex 20 has lasted me at least 10 years now. It?s been very realiable in cold weather too. The ridewithgps app works very well on my phone as a back up gps.  It is 5 bucks a month. A lots of people like Gaia gps too. I think that app is a one time purchase.

It would be better to park your car in downtown SB and get a ride from there.  However, I have parked my car before at Romero Canyon Trailhead many times for overnight adventures and I have never had any issues. 

As things get closer, I'll try and coordinate some carpool rides to the start from downtown SB so that not too many cars need to be parked at the trailhead.

Speaking of summits, the new route will provide the opportunity for any peak baggers to summit the highest peaks in all 3 counties. Big Pine Mountain(SB county), Mt Pinos (Kern county) and Reyes Peak(Ventura county). Anyone that wishes to take on this challenge will get a 7 hour time bonus

Sulkyjunior and I did some trail work on Chorro Grande Trail with Los Padres Forest Association's Mickey McTigue about a month ago and I also worked with Mickey again on Boulder Canyon Trail this last weekend.  LPFA is having a group work day on March 7th on Chorro Grande Trail.  Here is the facebook event: www.facebook.com/events/577373859513758/    This is a great opportunity to pay it back and make portion of the route great before April!

Making it to the Stargaze Tipi rentals on day 1 of the tour route should be totally doable. The majority of tour route riders usually make it past there to Santa Barbara canyon and camp along the creek on night#1.

I am pretty sure Joe S and his friends are also riding the tour route. He will probably be the leader that will be sending off the tour route riders, since I will be riding the loop route.

That reminds me why I choose clockwise for the loop. That would mean loop and tour riders would be passing each other on Day 2 since the 2 routes would be going in opposite directions.

The loop could be done clockwise or counterclockwise.  I actually think it would be about the same difficultly in either direction. Totally open to opinions on that! 

Its time for a fresh thread for this year.

Updates for 2020:

The long route will be a loop this year!

Not much change to the shorter route. 

Draft versions of both routes are up on the website here.  Routes are not final, but are very close to final.  https://tourdelospadres.weebly.com/ride--route-info.html

Lets retire this thread.  Starting a fresh thread for 2020... 

Chorro Grande is looking pretty good at the top, but needs work at the bottom.  Several feet of snow up there now!  Its looking like another "real" winter is on tap. 

Nice set up Jason, Sonoma to SB should be quite a ride! Curious what your route is?

Gregg made a recent attempt to ride an abbreviated version of the TDLP loop but he encountered fire, wind, ice and rain conditions. Crazy weather for Thanksgiving!

I am not 100% sure.  You could check google streetview along highway 166 to see if there are no trespassing signs posted where you want to come out. 

I am somewhat certain there is no legal north-south route from Rock Front Ranch to Pozo. I believe all of the OHV trails and Roads in Rock Front Ranch either loop back on each other or are dead ends, and do not allow for a legal connection to the north.  I could be wrong though, I have not explored all of the trails in Rock Front Ranch.

https://bikepacking.com/news/2019-big-horn-trail-race-recap/