A September Grand Loop

[krefs]

Anyone interested a Grand Loop adventure the last weekend of September?  I'm planning on time trialing the loop, but it'd be awesome to get a few more souls out there since it's seen so little attention this year.  As DH has pointed out, the singletrack-rich ultra races have clearly drawn the crowds over the past few years, but the Grand Loop still stands as an incredibly difficult challenge, but it passes through some amazing country and is more remote than anything else out there.  It's also one of the logistically simplest routes given that it's a loop. 

Here's the plan...
-Early morning start, most likely at Loma or Dewey (yet to be determined)
-Koski traverse is in; Bedrock is out.  This means at least 300 miles with no resupply options. 
-There shouldn't be any snow on top of the plateau
-There shouldn't be any water other than in the Colorado along the Kokopelli

Any takers? 

[Chad B]

I'm out. But I can guarantee I will be watching your progress and cheering you on.

[Done]

How many days are you planning, Kurt?

[krefs]

Toby, I'm hoping for a few hours under 3 days, but I'm not sure what my fitness will be like after a month off the bike.  We'll see...perhaps I'll get annoyed with the Paradox Trail and just ride around on top of the plateau when I get there instead of fighting my way through the even more awful Roubidoux section.  I've never been on most of that high singletrack, and the fall colors might be getting nice...

[Done]

Looks like fun, but I think that my plate is full for this year. Next week, my family and I are headed up to Canada to ride a portion of the Kettle Valley Railway (http://www.kettlevalleyrailway.ca/).

[Stefan_G]

Toby, I'm hoping for a few hours under 3 days

Actually Kurt, you only need 1 hour under 3 days for the FKT.  Assuming not much time wasted route finding, I think that time is pretty soft.  Definitely soft compared to DH's last GL, and even softer compared to Owen's CTR record.

I think the traditional Lunch Loops + prologue start is the "classic" way to go.  Certainly the most challenging.  Technically, you could start/finish at Tabeguache Creek and resupply (or even sleep) in GJ halfway through thereby eliminating the need for 50% or more of the weight you'd be carrying.  Either way, good luck!  I bet that few weeks of rest recharged your batteries to full.

[DaveH]

Actually Kurt, you only need 1 hour under 3 days for the FKT.  Assuming not much time wasted route finding, I think that time is pretty soft.  Definitely soft compared to DH's last GL, and even softer compared to Owen's CTR record.

I'm not so sure Stefan - I think your time was wicked fast for the conditions we had.  Going fast on the GL is all about conditions.  If it's hot like it was in '07 it will end up adding a lot of time to a ride.  Last year was cool - incredibly cool!  I had arm warmers on in the desert section of the Koko during the day...

If I do the GL again it will be a traditional start from the LL trailhead.  Going through GJ was a buzzkill last year.  One of the finest aspects of this ride is the absence of resupply, towns, humanity - riding along the I-70 shoulder after 2 days in the boonies was jarring.

BTW few folks actually use the bedrock store anymore.  I didn't last year, wasn't even part of the plan.  I don't think Jefe did either.  The phone was out of service last year too.

Has the GL been done in the fall?  The KT record was set in September, if memory serves the only stop I made for water was at Cisco right out of the big muddy.  Well maybe a little bit from Salt creek (barf).  Conditions were perfect though, cool 70s IIRC.  The rest of the route...water will be more scarce, as will daylight compared to June 1.  But if you get the conditions right that could trump all the other factors.  1 day after a big rain and highs in the 70s.  Put your order in with the weather gods

Good luck!

[JimL]

Welp, here's my post of intent.

I'll be rolling out of the LL somewhere between 5-6am tomorrow morning (Sat, 9.25).  Bedrock route.

Looks like the weather is going to hit it right, along with the waning full moon from last night.  Now to only hope the sand is still fairly firm from the rains earlier in the week.

There's a link to my spot under 'location' on my profile page.

Jim

[Stefan_G]

Good luck, Jim!  Hope you have a great ride and perfect weather.   

[krefs]

Yup, good luck Jim!  Take this thing out once and for all.  Hopefully I'll be following your tracks early next week!

[krefs]

Oh no, what happened to Jim?  I see his spot sped along I70 back to Denver last evening...

5am planned start for me tomorrow morning from Lunch Loops.  This is going to be a painful few days...

[phil_rad]

Good luck Kurt!

[timroz]

Yo Kurt - did you die?

I figured we'd at least get an elapsed time.

Tim

[krefs]

Nah, I didn't die, just ended up riding a different, far less grand loop.  The heat tried to kill me (record high temps both days I was out there), but my knee was more of a problem.  I started my watch at 7am from Loma and filled up on water below Dewey a few minutes after 3:30 pm.  Unfortunately, an old knee problem flared up a bit, and climbing out of the river valley was hurting my knee an alarming amount.  It wasn't worth doing any damage to the knee just looking for some redemption on the GL, so I stopped at Top of the World an hour before dark.  The night was pleasantly warm, and I slept for a whopping 11 hours before riding back to Junction on 128 and I70 the next day.  The knee hurt some, but it's pain-free now, so I'm quite happy I didn't push on and do some real damage to it.  After all, I had climbed ~5000' by the time I stopped, which meant the next two days would have entailed 55,000' more feet of up!  I posted a few pics on my blog.

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