Dixie 200, 2016 edition

[blanchaa]

Dave,  thanks so much for hosting a fun event! You have created a course that is beautiful, adventurous, and brutal.

This was my (and Ian's) first attempt at a bikepacking race, though we both have been cycling for a long time.

The climb out of the canyon went quickly and was conversational in pace. We hit snow almost immediately on the Sydney peaks trail, and had 10-15 minutes of hiking and route finding. From the summit at 11k, things began to string out on the descent, and before long it was just the two of us. Riding through the open meadows of that plateau were some of the best miles of the trip.

The descent into Navajo Lake was ridiculously fun and wild, but with lots of downed trees. After a relaxed water refill at the campground, we were off on the VRRT.  I was optimistic when I saw fresh log cut on the first mile of trail, but I don't think it lasted longer than that first mile. Before long we were jumping endless downfall, but somehow managed to keep our pace consistent.  At times it felt like a cyclocross event with waist high barriers. Many sections of the VRRT were rougher than I had anticipated, and I was regretting having a hardtail. 

Eventually we made it to Todd's store, and choked down some $1.99 gas station burritos before heading up the road towards the Pole Canyon climb. The upper section of Pole canyon is rough hike a bike, but feels so wild and remote that it kept motivation high. Our plan was to sleep early and at higher elevation to avoid the cold valley inversions. After a refill at Water Canyon spring we started the climb up towards Crawford Pass, and decided to bivvy when we found a nice spot around 10:30pm. It stayed remarkably warm up high where we camped, and continued to be warm when we started riding again at 4am. Not until we dropped down into the Tropic Reservoir valley did the temperature precipitously drop, and we quickly had to put on every bit of clothing we had. There was frost on the grass as the sun rose, and my hands became as painfully numb as then have been in a long time. We skipped the Tropic spring water source because the upcoming campsite was more on-route, but it turns out the campsite doesn't have reliable running water. Luckily some campers saw our situation and helped us out with a small refill.

The miles up to Thunder Mountain are fast dirt road, and I was only slowed down by some worsening chamois issues. Extra chamois cream was essential.  Thunder mountain was fun riding, and I would like to go back there with fresh legs -- we both walked some steep sections that I'm sure are easily ridden. We skipped Harold's restaurant, and instead restocked at the Indian trading post just up the street. They have a reliable selection of gas station type food. On the way to Panguitch lake we knew we were on a reasonable time, and began to push more consistently on the climbs when we could. The "piped spring" listed on the GPS waypoints is a great little oasis with a huge tub of perfect water. This section again had some really rough road that had me wishing for full suspension. After another water refill at the Panguitch Lake store, we started the long climb back up to the plateau. After 180 miles of riding, we agreed it would be more fun to roll in together rather than attack each other to the end. On the upper sections and on Spruce trail (again very wild and endless down trees) I would go ahead on the short climbs and hike a bikes, and Ian would catch me on the descent.

The Dark Hollow descent ended up being the hardest part of the whole ride for me.  The number of down trees and steepness of the trail did not go well with my bonking body.  At one point we couldn't even see the trail with all the downfall, and just bushwhacked through the woods following GPS. Ian was certainly faster than me on the technical downhills and could have saved some time by going ahead, but we ultimately stuck together and rolled into the campsite with the same time.  I think we both pushed each other in different areas of the ride, and neither of us would have been as fast alone.

A few things I learned: 1) If I do this ride again I would prefer dual suspension.. I'm convinced it would be faster and less fatiguing on this course. But definitely don't skip this event if you only have a hard tail like me! 2) I didn't need my water filter or tablets because the reliable water sources are well spaced. That said, the peace of mind of having them for backup may be worth it. 3) Chipotle burritos in seabags will explode and get rice and beans on everything else you own. 4)  I'm convinced in good conditions someone could do this ride around 30hrs. We slept (or at least tossed and turned) a leisurely 5 hours.  I'm sure people can push this and potentially ride straight through. Since it seemed that didn't work out last year based on the reports, we just decided to be conservative and schedule the sleep for our first time out.

Give me a week of recovery and I'll start thinking about doing more races like this in the future!

Adam

[Shirey]

Congrats you guys... super impressive and fast ride. I was watching dots and when I checked Saturday morning and saw that big sleep break, I didn't really think the record was in jeopardy. You guys just mowed down that second day.

Congrats to Alice as well for setting a standard for the ladies to try to beat.

[ihousman]

Thanks! Sleep or at least beginning horizontal for a few hours was essential. Coming into the second day we still had no idea how either of our bodies and bikes would hold up. As the light at the end of the tunnel came into sight and neither of us were bonking (despite >90 f temps with limited shade- see attached temp graph) we started to shave time off the record. Spruce trail ironically provided the biggest time difference even though we walked our bikes 80% of the trail. This was my first time bikepacking and I think I'm hooked. Thanks for the great race Dave and the silent cheering trackleaders! Hope to see a deeper field next year to challenge the 30 hr mark!

[Truckon09]

Looking for something to do in early October and was wondering how the Dixie 200 would be in the fall?

[evdog]

I've ridden much of Grandview and also VRRT this time of year and had excellent conditions. 

Getting into October it will be colder and weather could be more hit or miss. 

[plesurnpain]

We did the Dixie Lite a couple of years ago mid October. Beautiful days and cold nights, but Utah in October is sunny or snowing. All the camp grounds are closed, including the water spigot at Tropic Reservoir. Resupply at Todd's, or roll into Hatch where you can get a meal and camp if you'd like. The convenience store just past Thunder Mountain should still be good to go. The burger barn and convenience store in Panguitch Lake are open until mid october as well (we were there the last weekend they were open). I'd suggest checking with all of these for their closing dates. If everything is open and the weather is nice it's an amazing fall trip.

[Truckon09]

Reading there was a lot of trees down in June, does anyone know if they have been cleared?

[DaveH]

Oops, haven't checked in for some time, better late than never right?

The trees get cleared from the trails on the Dixie route every year, in most years this happens right around the race date. It can be later if snowmelt happens late or runs long after an above normal snowpack season. The one exception is the singletrack sections of the marathon trail on the Navajo Lake side. Some of that has been all but forgotten and neglected for years, it is always an adventure 

The tricky part is weather. Shortly after the summer solstice (race date) the temps heat up to full, and the summer monsoons begin. There are large parts of the route that just don't go in the wet. Hence the summer solstice date.

In short, a September trip could be awesome. No trees, usually dry and great temps.

[n8]

Anyone know anything about the 2017 race? Cant seem to find it anywhere on the forum.

[DaveH]

The event will continue as it has the past several years. Since 2011 that has been a start on summer solstice, but in big snow years that is too early. So far it has been a huge snow year, so I'm hesitant to set a date at this time. It could get pushed into early July to allow for snow melt and trail clearing. Stay tuned...

[DaveH]

In 2017 the Dixie 200 group start is 7AM on Saturday, June 24. The new 2017 thread is at http://www.bikepacking.net/forum/ultra-racing/dixie-200-2017/