Grand Loop 2009

[Chad B]

Singleeeeeeeeeesppppeeeeeeed was the motto of our ride, Scott kept yelling it every time I tried to clean something. While riding it was not a clear advantage, I did find it a bit easier to lift it up some of those climbs. Some dumb moments that might not come out in our blogs: We made our own song called "This is what happens when SPOTs collide" among other dumb jokes and comments. Everything is funny when you are tired, right? It was incredible to go the opposite way just because we had the opportunity to see everyone out there on the trail. Some of this came out in our conversations we had with others.

Classic lines of the ride:
Scott: "It looks like a carrot!" (two cows among the 200 that were moving up the Tab trail in front of us were about to get it on).
Dave H: "I was riding my bike on the meadow to avoid the mud and when I looked up, I said hey, there are two more mountain bikers riding on the meadow just like me!"
Paco the sheep herder: "Have you seen my shoe? That damn dog stole one of my shoes and took it outside. Bad, bad dog!"
Chad to Dave H, dirty, wet mid-hug and laughing: "Good to see another person out here suffering."
Scott: "I forgot this part of the trail." (said numerous times as we were hiking the bikes)
Scott: "Is that a cyclist over there?! How the hell is he riding?!" (Looking at Marshall during our pushing the bike part-ay)
Chad: "Does my face look like Scott's?" (as Marshall was pulling out his camera, hence the HollywoodChad nickname)
Marshall: "I just got done cleaning my bike for about 30 minutes." (said in shorts as Scott and I were freezing. He then started to strip down to put on gloves!)
Chad: "What the hell is that? A flying dog? (as Jim came flying down the trail in the heat; we were a little delusional at this point.)
ATVer: "Hello fellow recreationalists!"
Scott said to ATVer that sped by at 2pm in Castle Valley as he was brushing his teeth underneath a shaded perch: "At least you can ^&&^*% slow down while I brush my teeth you fat #$ *^*"....(BTW, I am still not quite sure why he was brushing his teeth).
Jefe: "I was putting on a new geared drive train and had problems, so I said $^$^ it, I am going to ride singlespeed."
Jim: "Last time I was doing this ride, my friend mentioned that he wished he had a mountain dew. Neither of us had a mountain dew then. Well, this time I brought my own mountain dew."
Fritz: "Do you guys want a beer or something?"
Random Zone 5 racer about 1/2 mile from Koko TH: "10 riders back, moving fast!" to which Scott replied "I don't careeeeeeeee." Chad yelled: "Go, go go! Get it to Zone 5, Zone 5!"

Scott and I had a great ride, I think between the two of us, we have 200 pictures of the route. I hope to put them up on the blog later today. The best part of the ride is being able to explain the story and read yours.

See you guys at the KMC 200....

[Chad B]

sure is. sign on the door says M - S, 9 to 5, could of even been 6 and sunday too.

Correct times for the Bedrock Store: M-Sat 8-6, Sunday 9-530ish

[DaveH]

Correct times for the Bedrock Store: M-Sat 8-6, Sunday 9-530ish

And to add to that - the payphone is OUT OF ORDER!  That was a big buzzkill - but turned into a turning point as well...

Chad I must still be sleep deprived cause your "Classic lines" have me laughing to the point of tears.

[Pivvay]

nah DH, hello fellow recreationalist is classic!

[DaveC]

So has anyone even tried this on a singlespeed before? I am not sure, but I swear it really wasn't bad, I didn't really think about it most of the time, it was simply my bike, ride it when you can and walk walk walk.....

I know Pat Irwin started on a single back in the day; the year everyone desiccated overnight and bailed before the end of the Koko.

Inspiring stuff everyone!

[ScottM]

You sure on the math for that finish time, Dave?  

Smoking fast with the 3-4 hour mud slow down + ~1.5 hour snow slow down.  Damn, just damn.

Backwards sure made it interesting.  It really screwed with my three year old memory of the course to be seeing everything in the wrong order.  Chad's quote about 'I forgot about this section' hit it, except it was usually proceeded by a big "WOW..." and a pause.  It was funny how the tricky route finding areas were completely different -- what is obvious in one direction can be very vague in the other!

My gut feeling is that backwards was harder, but the truth is this route is difficult regardless of direction, start time, conditions, et cetera.  The biggest reason it was harder for us this year is that the timing was unknown, and in the end, ours was definitely sub-optimal.  Still, it was a big part of the appeal for me -- we took a big chance, and it just might have worked.  That was enough for me, and one of the few ways I could talk myself into this mind-bender again.

I underestimated how long Roubideau would take in reverse, then the extra 2 hours on the snowy Tab finally killed our chance to make Bedrock that day.  So we slept big, hit the store as it opened, and were still on good pace for sub 3-day.  It almost felt too easy for a while there -- climbing up Carpenter was a blast, and we were flying through the La Sals!!  Then the mud hit, forcing a primarily daylight Koko traverse.  It was only in the 80's, thank goodness.  But we were so cooked and depleted from our days on the trail that even 65 was scorching.  With light tail winds (fie!) and not a cloud to block the sun (WTF?) we turtled our way up Koko, feeling a certain kinship to so many Koko riders of yesteryear.

Our time was 3:11:02 -- the new backwards record and certainly a soft one!  Somebody get out there and slay it!  I doubt anyone will break our record for dumb jokes and rib splitting, choke on your innards humor, though.  It was awesome to have Chad along for the ride, and for our pace to be so similar.  I had to spit out precious water a few times, and just about passed out other times.  I'm still laughing right now at the quote list.

[DaveH]

Scott I'd be happy to shoot you the file if you want to check it out.  I used the TF multi playback with the '07 file and it's an eye-popper!  Way faster this year everywhere it was dry, even on No Mas which surprised me a lot.

As I was coming down the gnarly stuff on the Tab I kept thinking of  you and Chad and wondering how that would affect a multi-day race to front load those nasty climbs.  Balsy move by you two!.

The Tab singletrack wasn't that much slower this year than when it was clear??  I think you had more climbing in your direction, that last few miles were getting more and more rideable, but those were mostly downhill.  I didn't have the heart to mention the muk you'd hit past fisher creek...not sure how bad it was but I was thinking of you two when I was descending it.

Anyway, loads of bravado for dreaming up the backwards attack, and to Chad for hanging with you on his SS!!  I guess that makes him the first person to have ridden the GL on a SS.

[cat morrison]

Just to let you all know that Matt finished today at 4:20 pm  He says his butt is really sore!  He went straight to Burger King.  His experience was great with same sort of mudd issues as everyone else and regrets waiting for the Bedrock store to open.  Anyway he may or may not write about his experience so I thought I'd post for him.  I guess time wise that is:  3 days, 20 hrs and 40 minutes???  Does that sound right?.....it was long and hard but he's super psyched to have accomplished this.  

[Chad B]

He went straight to Burger King.

Did he beat my record of 5 whoppers?

Well done Matt! 

[Pivvay]

Awesome job Matt!

[ScottM]

Congrats Matt.  Pulling this one off on first attempt is quite an accomplishment.  3:20:40 sounds correct to me.  Thanks much for the report Cat.

[ZackR]

Way to go Matt!

[DaNM]

Way to get that one done Matt. This is Dan from Summit by the way. Way to break out a can of whoop ass. Way bro.

[cat morrison]

Thanks for all your support guys.  Thanks for the tire tracks Jefe, congratulations!...fine job.  Maybe more later.  Goodnight.
Matt

[JimL]

Wow, good work to all those that finished this beast.  Nice meeting Jefe, chatting with Matt and Cat at the start and meeting Scott and Chad along the way.  Way to go Matt for success on your first attempt!!!   

Gotta get this down now because before long, I'll forget parts and end up thinking this might be a 'good thing' to try again.

The short-

My gut slowly started going to shit as I continued on into Saturday afternoon, probably from those Bloks.  Just as I'm about to crest that gawd awful sandy gravel climb up from Dewey before you get to the 2nd Cottonwood section, I suck my bladder dry and take a short break to shovel down some unappealing food to stave off any energy problems- when lo and behold a truck crests what I can see as the top (~6300' - nice to have the gps to see how 'far' you have to go).  They stop, we chat and my gut (literally and figuratively) tells me to get in their vehicle and bail the ride.  -fin.

The long-

Took two days to get to GJ as to ensure I didn't start the ride sleep deprived and dehydrated like last year.  Made it to Denver and did a bike path ride around town to loosen up the legs and sweat a bit after being in the car.  Went to REI and picked up a few last minute items, like a CORSAR card.  Rolled into GJ about 1:30 pm on Thurs, hit the motel, dropped my junk, and checked the board to see if there were any new posts.  'Alternate Ending'.  Hmm...  Ok, change the ride out there plans and drive to the Tab TH to look around and scout a route from the motel and see some of the landmarks at the Little Park Road trailhead.  Still plenty of time to ride after this, so I go back to the room and lay out all my stuff, pick a few items for a quick ride and head back out to the trailhead.  Rode (and walked some) the Tab up to Little Park Road and then started cruising down the Gunny Loop.  I apparently choose unwisely at an intersection and end up doing the Gunny Loop proper instead of the cutoff to head back to the road.  These are fun trails, super swoopy.  That steep downhill I took at the end is crazy!

Finished up the night by having all my gear sorted and ready to go, so Friday came with nervous relaxation as I only had to hit up Taco Bell for some perishables.  Rolled out of the motel at 5:00 pm and was at the trailhead at 5:45 or so where Matt and Cat were waiting.  As we exchanged hellos and chatted, Jefe rolled up and joined us.  About 6 we started out for a nice easy road ride to Loma.  We stopped at the rest area for a water capoff and then rumbled down the e-way, up the access road and past the Kokopelli trailhead w/o skipping a beat.  Once on Mary's, Jefe and Matt just pulled away as I settled into my pace with the goal of making the Salt Creek section before it was totally dark, which I did.  Had to stop a few times to fix some seat pack issues.  Interesting how no matter how good I think I have my stuff secured on the bike, the trails there are rough enough to show all the cracks.

As I rounded the corner to the Salt Creek decent, I could see someone's light on the other side on the climb.  So near, yet so far.  Down to the river and back up trying to keep a steady pace, I was rolling through Rabbit Valley in short order.  With the nice cool temps and intermittent moonlight it was a great night to be riding.  The Bitter Creek section seemed to go quickly and I reached Westwater at 2:30am.  I also, unfortunately, took a rest, which turned into a nap on the nice green grass at the ranger station.  And after eating some food and making coffee, I didn't get back rolling until ~8:30am.

Luckily, Saturday was nice and cool and I was making good time going across the Cisco section.  This is where I ran into Chad and Scott.  We exchanged introductions, chatted for a few and were off in our respective directions in short order.  I have to say, they looked pretty in the zone and 'fresh' when I saw them, no drooling or incoherent babbling.

Yellow Jacket came and passed with nary a whimper thanks to the rain that the area has seemingly gotten over the last few weeks.  At 12:45 I was sitting down at a picnic table at the Dewey campground for a nice lunch.  Packed and rolling again by 1:30, the climbing started.  At 5:30pm, near cresting the top, I stopped to take a short break.  There was rain and thunder behind me, sun to each side and pitch black straight in the direction I was heading.  Also, most all of the tire tracks had little dimples in them from being rained on.  Hmm...

'The short of it' falls into the story here.

So...  many more things learned, many more to go.  Nice thing about this stuff is you always get the chance to correct your mistakes and try again.

Cheers,

Jim

[Majcolo]

Congrats to all of you! Great inspiration and motivation from all the stories! Although the 2.4% bodyfat comment frightens me, just a little. Stiff competition in this group!

Mark

[wookieone]

Way to go folks!!! Matt so glad to hear from you, funny how after years of doing stuff out there and leaving everyone at home wondering/worrying, and now that I have a Spot I want to know where everyone else is out there, and I was worried about ya! I was thinking to myself going up Love Mesa, man this GL is a beast, a big monster of a beast!! So nice work, to be honest it takes some big cayones to even try this much less finish it, nice work!  Jim nice work too, like I said it takes balls to face this monster, and the lessons learned from doing this kind of crazy shit never stop being learned, take stock make notes and come back out and try again, maybe trey the AZT 300, it's a bit friendlier if you ask me, good to hear from both of you, congradtulations. peace Jefe

[DaveH]

It sure is great to hear everyone is accounted for!  Matt killer job on completing the beast in the first go.  I don't know you but dang that's tough as nails.  JimL, you are so right, there is much to learn and improve on in each ride in this thing...this was my 3rd attempt and every one I learn a lot.  Chad, 1st SSer to get'r done, nice job!  Scott, great running into the two of ya in the meadow and way to pioneer the reverse route.  Jefe - amazing ride man.  It was a pleasure to catch up post race and see you so bubbling with energy.

Who did I miss?  Hard to keep track with the dispersed starts

I've put up my thoughts on the event at http://www.bikepacking.net/tripreports/racing-the-grand-loop/ and http://2-epic.com/?p=769 .

BTW, it's looking like a SPOT is in my future.  Seeing how the SPOT garnered a finishline cheering crowd including chicken, potatoes and sodas for Jefe it's hard to ignore the clear benefits!

Recover well y'all and see ya at the next go-round.

[Pivvay]

SPOT is great for those not single DH, now that you're included in that group

[DaveH]

Ha, indeed I got the instructive handed down today!