CSTR Planning

[Sean Allan]

sean -

thanks fro posting updates.  unfortunately getting file not found trying to fetch the changes.

Fixed it, thanks for the heads up!

 Tom, I added you to the group e-mail list as well, sorry didn't notice you had signed up.

[cjrbike]

Thanks for all the extra work getting this going. John Swisegood and I will be there on Sat morning looking for adventure. Next year a July start would be better for me because I teach so if that's the plan that would work great . Looking forward to some good suffering. Curtis

[Sean Allan]

We have a Trackleaders page set up.

Thanks to Matthew for working on it late tonight. I would highly recommend having a SPOT on this course. The detour has taken out the life threatening sections of the course, but things happen and it's always good to have a backup plan if something goes wrong. If you have your own SPOT, lets get it signed up so we're not pushing Scott and Matt into a time crunch deal.

Please be aware that the PayPal page is listing the wrong event( Fitz-Barn), just ignore it and continue on with filling out the form and Scott will fix it when he gets back.  

If you need to rent one, please get on it ASAP so they can send them out to you or me.

http://trackleaders.com/calsierra-signup

[Sean Allan]

Still looks a bit pointy. Only lost a few miles, but nearly 10,000' of climbing. You suckers are getting off easy....

[pjanzen]

From http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5433119.pdf:

A partial road closure of Mosquito Ridge Rd (Hwy 96) from the junction of the Ralston Ridge Rd (Forest Rd 23), east to the junction of Forest Rd 96-052, west of French Meadows Reservoir for public and firefighter safety.

Will this closure affect the race?

[Sean Allan]

It will affect the reroute I spent the day putting together but not the race. We will just go out Ralston Ridge Road to French Meadows instead.

 Just more work for me, the race will continue unless the fire gets completely out of control. It's just a safety issue, there is nearly 1000 firefighters out in that area with trucks and bulldozers and all matter of equipment.

I'm hoping it's just a temporary closure but I'll be doing yet another reroute tomorrow or Friday. Ralston Ridge Rd. is another amazing paved back road, tougher than Mosquito Ridge Rd for sure. The first 2 miles average 22%.....

[Sean Allan]

Added some other GPX's this am. They all have inbound and outbound tracks. These are the ones you want to use unless we have to go to the Ralston Ridge Rd detour which I did up this morning. At this rate Foresthill Rd is going to open up and we'll be able to use it......

[Sean Allan]

OK folks,
I've made the last course change, regardless of what happens this week this is the route we’re going with. Thanks to Rob(Trebor) for merging it together for me. The GPX is up on the site along with a new water waypoint file that includes some key turns.
 
The smoke here in Foresthill has been hit and miss, not too bad to non existent. The higher reaches of Tahoe will be a crapshoot, hope for a north wind some time this coming weekend.....
 
I think once you make the TRT it will be fine, the basin will likely have smoke in the mornings as will most low areas. The fire in Yosemite will likely burn till it rains so postponing the race makes no sense really. We will be at the mercy of the winds for sure. Realistically I would expect to be in some smoke for at least 4 hours a day over different periods of time, you could plan to sleep at those times of course.
 
It could be smokey the whole time as well, they had an earthquake in Reno today, you might want to be on the lookout for Locusts out there as the end of days approaches......
 
Here’s a link to the Ralston climb from the roadies. The average grade for the entire climb is 18% but many sections are well over 25% so don’t blow yourself up, it will make for a long day.
http://forums.roadbikereview.com/northern-california/mosquito-ridge-french-meadows-ralston-questions-61875.html

If you want to be tracked on the Trackleaders page you need to be signed up by Thursday night, we’ve passed the cutoff for renting a SPOT from them.
 
I’ve done all I can do on my end, it’s pretty much out of my hands at this point.
 
Feel free to reply with any questions or concerns.

[Sean Allan]

 Copy of the email I sent out to racers yesterday.....


 I am torn between forging on regardless and cancelling it to maybe save those who still want to do it the hassle of toeing the line on Sat only to abandon later due to the smoke. I felt really confident that the fire above Foresthill would be under control and likely not have an impact on the race other than course changes, that has proven to be correct.

The fire in Yosemite has really thrown a curve into the race and it's ability to be safely run. I'll let you all think about it and get back to me. I want what's best for everyone and realize that some are traveling significant distances to do this thing. Although it pains me to cancel the race, I will certainly do so if all involved feel it's the correct decision.

Pics of my drive down to Auburn this morn. Yesterday was clear..... Pretty bad all over the foothills today. I'm working in the Placerville area and it's bad here as well, it was fine yesterday as was most of the foothills. I encourage everyone to google Lake Tahoe webcams and see what the conditions are like.

[Sean Allan]

So I just wanted to make sure all who are coming bring a red flashing taillight for their bike. We’ll be on a bit more pavement than the original course and the fast racers will likely be in Tahoe that first night so it would be a good idea to make yourself as visible as possible, especially as we are wobbling down the road......
 
Make sure you have the correct track loaded up! Ralston Road reroute.
 
Make sure you have the correct water waypoints file loaded up! Ralston Road reroute.
 
The resupply options really haven’t changed much. The section from Foresthill to Tahoe will go probably  6-8 hours faster now so it’s not so much of a push food wise. The stretch back from Strawberry is shorter as well, but still a significant stretch.

[ScottM]

Hey everyone,

Got the tracker all loaded and set this morning.  Sorry for the delay.

http://trackleaders.com/calsierra13

Sorry about all the fires, as well.  Best of luck to everyone out there, and favorable winds (which usually means tailwinds for us, right? but in this case, something a little different).

We'll be following along.

[schillingsworth]

This should be a fun one to follow. Best of luck out there, hopefully Mother Nature cooperates for everyone involved, especially those fighting the fires. Good to see Forest made the plunge to finish off a healthy 5-pack of bikepacking races!!

[ec_duz_it]

Sean, I am  thinking about doing this in 2014, but I am thinking of cutting it a little shorter than the entire route.  Would hell hole road be a logical place to start and end if I wanted to do a shorter loop?  Or maybe middle meadows campground?  Any chance of cue sheets for 2014?  Cheers,

-Erin

[sherpaxc]

This is on my 2015 Calendar.  Interested in how the July date is going to work out.  That's the only time I can make it work.

[Sean Allan]

Sean, I am  thinking about doing this in 2014, but I am thinking of cutting it a little shorter than the entire route.  Would hell hole road be a logical place to start and end if I wanted to do a shorter loop?  Or maybe middle meadows campground?  Any chance of cue sheets for 2014?  Cheers,

-Erin

Erin, I would think that the Hell Hole area would be fine, it would certainly leave out some of the tougher climbing sections but it's still a pretty tough route from there. If you really wanted to make sure you were taking a shortcut, I would recommend starting at Loon lake. I've done that route a couple of times and it's a lot of fun. You get all of the TRT and just a wee bit of HAB and pavement.

[tubeSSnapper]

Hey Hey,
I am wondering how the lower trails
 from auburn to Loon lake are during this dry winter. Specifically this Hunter's trail thang. I'm hoping to do a march recon ride. Maybe start in forest hill and go up from there?
Share the 411 if you got it.
Any fellow racers want to join me?

[B_Bock]

 The only area that would be free of snow would be Auburn to possibly French Meadows. We should be receiving over a foot of snow during the next 5-6 days. April may be a safe bet with the week ass winter we're having in the Sierra.
I'd be up for riding different sections snow and weather permitting.