CSTR Planning

[trebor]

Thanks for the beta on this one guys. Having enough food is my nemesis and this is gonna be tricky!

[Ty]

5 stars on yelp!  Expect cash only and beer/soda/water/chips/candy... no real food from info in reviews.  Looks like they also have little cabins you can rent.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/uncle-toms-cabin-pollock-pines

Here is a link to the GPS coords

http://rubicon-trail.com/Rubicon/uncletomsm.html

[pfaeth]

Hey, I may have missed it....but is this mostly awesome single track or wash board mining trails?  Just curious for timing and packing considerations.  Thanks, looks pretty amazing and trying to get approval for more riding allowance from the head of the house.

[Sean Allan]

Mileage cues are up on the site as of last night.

[aaron w]

Ok I know this is kind of a dumb question, but I've never ever been to this area before.  What kind of weather might I expect during the race?  What's typical and what's a worst case type of thing?  I live and ride in the CO mountains so that's basically my frame of reference.

[Ty]

5% chance of rain is pretty typical from historical data.  Temps will be in high 30s to low 40s at the lowest point.  High temps in 70s/80s.  I've been internally struggling with how much shelter/rain/cold gear to bring.

[aaron w]

Thanks Ty.  5% chance of rain, is that really true?  Is it typically that dry out there?  If so no real shelter for me, just a light bivy. 

[Sean Allan]

It's pretty much the anti-Colorado. There is always a chance of rain. Will you get 5 hour, inches deep thunderstorms? Not real likely. I did get rained on pretty good a couple of times on the course last year, but only for an hour or so. It can happen....

It could be cold though, lately temps in the Lake Tahoe Basin have been dipping into the 30's. Hard to know till we get a little closer. I always have all my cold/wet weather gear laid out just in case the forecast changes in the days leading up to the event.

[aaron w]

Thanks.  I also have a question about the water waypoints file.  There are waypoints for campgrounds in that file, for example Lewis CG.  Am I correct in assuming that there is a hand pump or spigot in the campgrounds that are waypointed? 

[Sean Allan]

Aaron,
Correct. If it's waypointed there is water there. I cant guarantee all the creeks will be flowing come race day but so far I haven't seen anything dry that would be typically flowing, so lets cross our fingers they stay that way.

I'm going to be out on the course the next few weeks so if anything comes up I'll be sure to let everyone know.

[Meriwether]

Sean and I did some of the course on Sunday. I think it was about a 55 mile loop but with my 2 front flats (pinch, thorns) and slow leak it was a long day!  According to the mileage cues we started at about mile 59 and went to mile 84.2 where we turned right and linked back up onto the return part of the course at mile 340 and rode it back to mile 363.5.

The Little Bald Mtn trail out of Robinson Flat is in great shape and is awesome. It's got great views of where the course is going and it's the high point up to that point (7088 ft). There's plenty of water right now in Duncan Creek. The Poppy Trail is pretty grown over with Whitethorn so will be hard to navigate especially at night.  The trail around French Meadows hasn't been cleared of the deadfall but it's mostly rideable. Lots of water along this part of the course.  Just thought I'd share some photos too...

[Meriwether]

a few more pics...

[aaron w]

Thanks for the pictues, looks great!

[Meriwether]

Here's a link to the Google Map of the route with water points, if anyone's interested.
http://meriwethermaps.com/CSTR_2013.htm

[cjrbike]

I must say the pictures look great and provide a little incentive now that we are getting close and the nerves are kicking in. For a first timer the reality of the task is a bit daunting.  Looking forward to an adventure of serious proportion. Thanks for the info.
cjrbike

[B_Bock]

Any word on the Deadwood fire? http://www.kcra.com/news/firefighters-battle-blaze-near-deadwood-ridge/-/11797728/21424040/-/233ovwz/-/index.html
We are getting quite a bit of smoke in Truckee.

[Meriwether]

Here's a simple Google earth map of the start of the fire in relation to the CSTR route from the incident command's website.  Red line on the left is Deadwood Rd. (outbound CSTR), right is the inbound track from Last Chance. The point of the location of the fire doesn't show that it's on both sides of the North Fork of the Middle Fork canyon now, heading up towards Deadwood road and towards Last Chance.  We'll see how it goes tomorrow...not looking good.

[Meriwether]

Yubanet has the latest pictures and info:
http://yubanet.com/nevada/American.php

[B_Bock]

Thanks for the info, Whit.

[Sean Allan]

O.K. So here's what I think of the fire situation. It is a big deal, both for the race and for the place I call home. Will it have an impact on the race, maybe, we really won't know for a couple of days.
The fire started on Sat afternoon and had now grown to over 1200 acres in incredibly difficult terrain by today. It is basically right above the intersection of the inbound and outbound tracks and effects the incredible Western States Trail.

 The good news is that this is a National Scenic Trail and many of the areas around those ridges are on the National Historic Registry, which means extra resources. The trail is also home to two of the biggest endurance races in the world, so I would imagine Forest Service is taking every step it can to protect it.

That being said it may be out of anyone's control at this point.

They have done a lot of logging on the top of Deadwood ridge, so the outbound track may not be in jeopardy, the trail down and out of the North Fork of the Middle Fork is what I'm most concerned with, but we have options there.

These pics gives you an idea of the terrain they are working in. These pics were taken just above and below the historic Pacific Slab Mine, which they are currently wrapping with flame retardant materials to try and save. I haven't seen any precise maps of the fire, but they currently have no road closures in effect which is good news. There are plenty of roads on the top of both the Deadwood and Cuckoo Ridges so I would expect that they will hold those lines.

I wouldn't worry too much about it at this point, we are still 3 weeks out and I would hope we would know more within a day or two. I can reroute the race around any trail closures that may be in effect. This will involve some road and dirt roads, but it certainly can be done. Meriwether and I will make it work somehow.

So lets not start cancelling plans right now. Give it a couple of days and we'll re-evaluate. I will certainly be the first to let you know if the race is off or significantly altered.

If we all have to meet here at my house and load tracks into GPS's the night before, we will do it!