It's On! Apache 200 and White Mtns - Big Lake Epic Stages

[rhino]

@scott
Is Apache going up on Trackleaders? The Rhino fan club (wife) is hounding for info.

[ScottM]

Rhino - yep, it'll be on trackleaders.

Marshal - the White Mtns are a fine place for a 50 mile ride too.

[ScottM]

Tracker is online!

http://trackleaders.com/apache_enduro

I'm bummed I can't make this, but I need to be in Colorado for my SO's hip surgery.  I am sure I will get to see the route some time, though.

[Chad B]

Scott, thank you again for setting up the Trackleaders! Weather looks great this weekend.

[AZTtripper]

Anybody else have trouble loading up the segmented file I only came up with two segments clearly not the whole thing.

I just went ahead and cut up the full version came up with at least 7 segments.

Weather is looking good as Chad said this should be a good one, then it's only 2 weeks to the Coco 250.

[rhino]

Anybody else have trouble loading up the segmented file I only came up with two segments clearly not the whole thing.

I just went ahead and cut up the full version came up with at least 7 segments.

Weather is looking good as Chad said this should be a good one, then it's only 2 weeks to the Coco 250.

I had the same issues, thought it might have been my user error. I had to massage my file in TF before I loaded into the GPS.

[AZTtripper]

OK nice to know it's not just me, always heard the hardest part of these things is getting the track loaded so it should be all down hill from here.

[Chad B]

I should be showing up around 7pm on Friday night to camp. Anyone plan on camping? 

[rhino]

I'm camping.  You camping at Start/Finish?

[tRoy]

I am hoping to camp at start/finish line about 7pm Friday unless there is a no camping sign then I will just go 2.5 miles further up porter mtn road to the campground... or I may just ignore the sign and camp anyway!

The rules from the Website are a little confusing...
All riders welcome.  Racers ride by self-supported rules.  Everyone else, just realize that this is an unsupported event; you're just riding a route and are solely responsible for your trip or ride.  You will essentiallly be in self-supported mode too.  But, you can bring a support crew to follow, set up camp and have great grub ready!  The lakes area makes a nice 2-day trip for everyone!

I intend to be full self supported since "self-supported rules" apply and I will not be racing agains someone with a "support crew to follow, set up camp and have great grub ready". 

I just hope I can finish the loop!  No one has done it yet so that is exciting! 

[Chad B]

Troy,

I am with you on camping at the S/F. I plan on bringing some chairs, stove, etc and just jumping in the back of my car after we drink a few cold ones.

[Marshal]

Do I get to claim 1st tracks?

Got done with my work in NV early so had another go at a ITT.  Started at 6:40am Friday from the upper parking lot.  Finished at 5:15 pm Sunday
http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0m5zlJgTzeG64oNDTXBHIch633P8ivf9A


Flirted with disaster each and ever day—IE: mild dehydration Fri, Sat & Sun.  Enjoyed each morning.  Hung on each afternoon. 

Amazing Elk bugling each night, full moon etc.  Heard antlers cracking at about 3:00 1st night.  Saw the largest bull elk in the known universe this morning—wow.  Also saw a bobcat, I have only seen a few of them over the years.

Route is a challenging mix single track, hike-a-bike, fire roads etc.  Even some overgrown trail here and there.  All in all a very challenging route.

Marshal

[DesertDog]

Can't say who has the first complete ride.

Have to see what Chad did. 
He was on a 2-day and looking to try to get to Mexican Hay Lake on Saturday Night.


Track File note:

Download the new track files for both the Enduro and Big Lake Epic.

Unfortunately I did not actually verify one little part of the course (Burro Mtn) and don't ask me how, but the route doesn't exist, even though the roads exist in my topos and also on satellite imagery. 

Looks like everyone found my arrows on the ground and took the right route.  At least I did see multiple tracks thru the trail on Overland.

Sorry about the mistake and not happy with myself on that.


I guess I have the pathetic record for the Big Lake Epic course. 
Took a stupid fall while trying to get back on the bike after a log crossing on South Fork.
A couple gashes on my thighs and a bruise that's quite sore on the right thigh.
Didn't know if I was actually going to finish or hitch a ride after that, but I made it.

Everyone let me know how you did and what you thought of the course.
I'll be out of touch until Thursday morning.


PS:  Yes, the elk could be heard all weekend long.  Saw a good sized one right off of SR260 at the end of the ride.

[ScottM]

Chad dropped.  Troy finished, but it was late last night.  So... yeah, Marshal gets the first completion and Troy the record at about 1 day, 15 hours.  He'll have to chime in on an exact time, but it looks like he had a solid ride!  I do see a tent icon, but that still seems plenty quick given what I know of the terrain.

Sorry I missed out this year.  Looking forward to some reports from people.

[Chad B]

I had to bail due to some saddle sore and time constraints. I was in a weird funk, not sure how to explain it. I rode with Troy for a few miles, after bailing back down the West Fork Trail to the TH.

Managed to squeeze in 117 miles for both days and saw everyone (save for Rhino) while riding back on the course. Ended up thumbing a ride back to the car, but not before checking out the Railroad Grade Trail.

[rhino]

I bailed on the first day.  I rode the entire first loop back to the start.  I had some race strategy mistakes, the two big ones being:  wrong cog on the SS and forgetting my wallet/money. There was no way I could survive on robot food.  I made the tough decision to retreat back to the start at where the routes first intersect.  I blew my knees up at the end of 60+ miles.

I did manage to see my first bear sighting, run across the trail 50 feet from me. Bears are fast...and scared of Rhinos.

[tRoy]

Marshall, congratulations upon your stealth ITT and taking first tracks!  I too flirted with dehydration... but finished at 9:59pm Sunday evening after almost crashing in the last 100 yards while trying to finish under the 39 hour mark.  My finish time was 1:14:59.  The Burro Mountain cross country hike had me puzzled and concerned but it was not too bad and only 800 feet or so.  There did appear to be an old clearing for a road there maybe 50 years ago, but at night it was cross-country hike-a-bike for me.  
Stats from gps:  
199 miles but about 2 of those are from backtracking at wrong turns
16,000+ feet of climbing
Scott thanks for setting up the tracker!  And DD thanks for laying down some tracks even if some were from your desktop.  
Other than the small-shouldered pavement sections it was a good route.  

[Marshal]

Post A200 comments

Congrats on a rock solid time Troy!  I am curious how much ‘night’ riding you did?
For me the afternoon heat was just shy of cruel but did allow me two comfortable, long nights without a sleeping bag.

I bushwhacked through the old clear cut on Burro Mtn during the day, it would have been much much harder at night.  I just assumed it was included in the route as the ‘GPS skills test’ section.  Ha, of course now it’s set in stone as part of the route and will just have to stay.

The narrow shoulder on the paved section was fine during the day.  I would want a good blinky light if doing it at night.

Overall I would rank this route as one of the best.  Personally I liked the ‘mix’ of ST, FS road and pavement/gravel etc.  One comment is that it’s a bit to long for the slower or more casual rider to complete in two days – so future riders plan accordingly.

Also I have one other question—what were the xc1 and xc2 waypoints (WP) meant to be???  I was excepting them to be some type of water source—stock tanks or something—after skipping the so so water at WP pond 3 it made for a bit of a rough patch getting on down the route to WP stream 1 without enough water. 

[tRoy]

5-6 hours of night riding Saturday evening then 3 hours on Sunday evening. 
There are a lot of water sources out on this course especially after the wet winter and summer this year.  I just could not seem to drink enough, sweating soooo much... I drank about 250-300oz of water each day...  I should have drank more... and Sunday at 2pm I finished off my chlorine water-treatment tablets.
Best water sources on the course that I did not treat were Potato Hollow Springs about 2 miles up the climb from Greer and Spillman Spring near Big Lake Lookout.  Dipping Vat Spring worked good for me too, but I did treat it after dipping my bottles - it is near Mud Spring were the first part of the course brushes against the last part of the course.  I also borrowed some water from a hunter camp while everyone was out hunting. 

[Chad B]

Well done gents! Thank you again Troy for the riding we did have together. I am pretty sure that lady on the horse with the panties was not real, btw. I think we were both dehydrated.