American Trail Race 5000

[Rob Colliver]

Hi, as I'm in for this one (flights booked, bike sorted, hours/miles being done) I asked Billy Rice if it is time to have a page on here. He says yes, so here goes.

Is there anybody out there prepping for this biggie rather than TD '17?

Its only a 5000 mile ride, as off road as Billy can make it and it does go to some fun places on its way from the east coat to the Pacific.

There is a FB page and a gpx track but no website as its pretty underground, rather like the TD in its early days.

Same rules, same style of racing with lots of unknown thrown in and almost no rider resources in the way of blogs about where to camp, resupply conditions etc.

Bit like the old pioneers crossing the country.

Chime in please.

[jjmundt]

Against the day that I'm able to ride it (maybe...), I've been putting together a day-by-day route spreadsheet with mileage, hours of daylight, climbs of note, the location of towns and stores and such.  I've got 14 days mapped so far - averaging 130mi/day, which I consider reasonable - and I'm still 100 miles from the AR/OK border.

To this point re-supply doesn't seem too terribly tricky, though hotel dwellers may be a bit more frustrated.

But the scope of this race is massive.  Riding at a "Mike Hall Tour Divide" pace - ~190mi/day - the race will day take about 27 days to complete.  At my pace of 130/140 miles a day, it's a 37-day adventure.  And I'm not sure even 130 a day is feasible Colorado through the end.

The TransAm Trail Race may not have the mystique and status of the Tour Divide, but it's got more of everything else!!

[joeydurango]

This is something I've wanted to see happen for a LONG time.  As in, longer than a decade.  Before knowing of the Tour Divide or of the TransAm moto route, I thought it would be amazing to piece together a mostly-dirt route across the States.  When I heard Rice was planning this it made me so stoked!

On board just to enjoy the conversation!

[Snowbd2u]

I wanted too, but in the same boat as jj. Family first... Plus AZT was already scheduled. Will be watching intently. Figured the Virginia Mt bike trail might need to be time trialed this year anyways!

Side note and off subject.. Joeydurango are you the Bedrock man? Know a guy named Hap from NC? 

[joeydurango]

I am one of the Bedrock guys.  Andrew, my business partner, is the one who knows Hap in NC!

[Snowbd2u]

Cool. We paddled the Grand Canyon last year together, great guy. Couldn't remember who he said he knew up there. Saw your info, figured I'd ask.

[aaron w]

I am in!  I've been working on my resuply strategies for the past couple days. The route looks great...lots of places I'm completely unfamiliar with.

[THE LONG RANGER]

Looks super fun. The route once you get into the mountains of Colorado to... the end looks pretty challenging! Resup will probably be OK; I fear a lot of mechanicals are going to happen with so few bike shops en route in some places. Choose your gear, and your line wisely.

The CO section of the San Juans will be touch and go to see if it'll be rideable or will be a long snow march. What do you think, Joey?

[dskunk]

Is there anybody out there prepping for this biggie rather than TD '17?

Its only a 5000 mile ride, as off road as Billy can make it and it does go to some fun places on its way from the east coat to the Pacific.

Chime in please.

I am gong to be living vicariously through you, Rob. Ride accordingly.

I only just got my head around the length of the TD.

[joeydurango]

The CO section of the San Juans will be touch and go to see if it'll be rideable or will be a long snow march. What do you think, Joey?

Justin, that's a great point.  Hadn't thought about that yet.  There is serious potential for unpassable snow in the San Juans depending on rider pace.  If record pace is expected to be ~30 days, they will likely hit the greater San Juan area by day 20.  June 20th, there will be feet of snow on Engineer Pass and Imogene Pass.  We've had a big snow year this year, and even in relatively dry years there's much snow on Imogene at that time of year.  I've ridden Imogene in July (after it was plowed) with 12-foot walls of snow on either side.

I would guess that IF we have a dry, warm spring (unlike the last two years), those two passes won't be largely melted out until July 1 at least, perhaps more like July 15!

HAB is fine, and "unpassable" sometimes just means "harder to get over", but there is a point where it becomes dangerous or silly to attempt...

[woody]

The phone number for the Silveton Chamber on this page is a good one to. Call when it's gets close and they should have a pretty good idea when it might open.
http://www.colorado.com/associations/silverton-area-chamber-commerce-and-visitors-center

I think this is the most scenic area of Colorado.
FWIW - here is a couple pic of Animas Forks Ghost town area June 29th last year and I believe Cinnamon & Engineer Passes were open.

Afternoon thunderstorms happen with the potential of lots of lightning and nowhere to hid up there.

[joeydurango]

Last year we had way less snow than this year, so I'd expect an Animas Forks photo taken on 06/29/17 to look a fair bit different, especially in the upper reaches.  Also, Imogene is about 2000' higher than Animas Forks (!).  Could be totally good to go, but I wouldn't bet on it (yet). 

[woody]

Last year we had way less snow than this year, so I'd expect an Animas Forks photo taken on 06/29/17 to look a fair bit different, especially in the upper reaches.  Also, Imogene is about 2000' higher than Animas Forks (!).  Could be totally good to go, but I wouldn't bet on it (yet).  

Yep I agree. I just threw the photos in to wet their appetite

[jjmundt]

In case you're interested (and if you can believe the mileage / climbing numbers from MapMyRide), the breakdown of the first 4 states is:

North Carolina: 664 miles & 49,350' of climb
Tennessee: 497 miles & 36,400' of climb
Mississippi: 299 miles & 10,400' of climb
Arkansas: 443 miles & 27,200' of climb

I have this broken into 15 days of riding, averaging 127 miles a day.

My spreadsheet should be filled out to the Colorado border in about a week.

So far, this beast is making the TD look kinda tame.

[Rob Colliver]

Colorado 606 miles with 56,700' of lovely uphilling. Thats only 93 feet per mile..... makes it feel more manageable.

[Snowbd2u]

Ya, don't underestimate east coast riding. NC has some good hills in it. Route goes through a really hilly section north of Aville. Had thought about just doing that portion. Nice breakdown of states though!

[Gimmearaise]

Giddy up, I'm also in. Excited to see the country by way of bike. Billy and I will make call on snow when we are closer to the date, as of now, things are melting fast with record March temperatures. That being said, it's been a really big snow year so we need a lot of snow to melt. This is one of the main reasons we need to start out east.

[dream4est]

I am about to throw my hat in as well. Not much left out there to do that is new or difficult. This qualifies IMO.

[Briansong]

I am about to throw my hat in as well. Not much left out there to do that is new or difficult. This qualifies IMO.

Hi Mark,

I was wondering about you on this. The only problem is, you'll have to go back and get a triple, triple to get your Quadruple crown.

Good luck, I'll be watching.

[Gimmearaise]

Hey Mark, how do the La Sals look? I'm thinking of doing a trip in between storms this week, wondering if I can make it over to Moab on route, from the Utah/Colorado border.