Grand Loop dreaming

[Biggs23]

Well its just about go time.Final bike prep,food prep,etc.I'll be headed out CC.I was originally going to go Clockwise,but I like the option of stopping in Nucla for some food,and being a little closer to GJ/Fruita in case the shit hits the fan.I will be following the route Neil B was following in the fall(525km-8854 Elevation G/L) give or take.I'll be leaving from Fruita tomorrow night 9-11ish,after a quick stop in Aspen and dropping my car off in Fruita at a friends house. I will post back when I get done.
Pete, hopefully I'll run into you guys out there on the trail.Have fun and be safe.
Jim, nice work and great pics.Awesome time as well.

Heck Yeah,gonna be a hoot:-)
Thomas

[DaveH]

The Grand Loop is alive and well, all sorts of action out there. Despite swearing this type of riding off...I couldn't resist the pull of new sections and rode the "entire" loop, finishing yesterday in 3 days 13 hours and 31 minutes. The route I chose I believe is what Neil planned to do. Full Paradox including Red Canyon, Koski traverse, and the new reroute. On top of the Unc I did not do the gratuitous loop E of where the Paradox ends, instead going directly to the Pool Creek singletrack. Full route is at https://www.gaiagps.com/public/n3ClwbWwaumkTlr3aZmNidV6. I propose we call this the new race loop for those that want to test against the clock as well as the elements and hike a bikes. This route is much more demanding than the Bedrock route. Hat tip to Stefan for his incredible ride in '07 when he did Koski Traverse.

It is dry out there. The proliferation of Razors since I last rode this loop has changed a lot of sections for the worse - more rubbly, soft, slower. I was so paranoid about water leaving Nucla I had enough to get to Roubideau without a refill and still had 80+ oz left! I'm gonna throw y'all a bone - right as you top out on Pinto Mesa there are two giant tanks and a water tanker trailer. The two tanks are brimming with clear water. Things I wish I knew beforehand!

Wind patterns right now are brutal. I started in WW which meant the home stretch was Fruita to WW. I started that section around noon yesterday. Dust storms in Rabbit Valley ground me to a halt, had to hunker down a few hours. Hardest finish ever, took 8 hours for that section, about 3-4 more than usual.

Red Canyon, Koski Traverse, new Paradox singletrack exceeded expectations. Loved every second of those. Roubideau a blast as always, and beautiful, isolated country. The rest of the reroute to Nucla, let's just say the original Paradox is so much easier...

To those starting soon good luck and enjoy!

Note: edited to reflect accurate time. File is at https://www.strava.com/activities/1617029620 but sadly I couldn't keep the Garmin 520 charged for all of it. Divide road to Westwater Garmin was used sparingly.

[MikeC]

Congrats on the finish, Dave.

Glad to hear it was hard for you, for a change.  I think the wind and dust were conjured specifically to make you atone for your attempts to make this a road race.

Good to know on the water.  We left Nucla on Sat at 2PM and those tanks were bone dry when we passed 'em.  Had to detour down to Tab Creek to re-up that night.

Brief TR from that overnighter here: http://www.bikepacking.net/forum/bikepacking/better-late-than-early/msg93611/#new

[DaveH]

Thanks Mike.

Road race, that's funny. Ride Red Canyon, Koski Traverse, and in to Nucla via the new reroute in a day and get back to me on the road race concept

I wasn't in race mode like previous rides here - I slept each night 5-7 hours and didn't rush filter spots, stopped for snacks frequently. It was hard as usual, especially in the dry, loose conditions, but suffering was minimal. On the 3rd day I was convinced I could push the night and finish sub 3 days - race mode almost kicked in.  Alas, the thought of riding across town in the dark with no tail light scared me shitless, not worth dying for. So, the Koko tried to kill me the next day, maybe you're right after all.

I thought of you & your stories of desiccation plenty that last day. I left Fruita with 180 oz of ice and water and a tailwind, by Rabbit Valley I was down to 35oz of warm water and the winds were at their peak - direct headwinds of 50+, could not keep front wheel planted in crosswinds and I had to pedal to move forward on descents. If there was an easy out I surely would have taken it but the car was at WW. I was truly a limping dehydrated bonked sniveling mess when I reached the car. It was glorious, I needed that. ALIVE!

[peteshoe]

Failure - sort of......... I succumbed to the heat on Friday climbing out of Dewey.  Kyle and I both turned it into a 250 mile lollipop though.  I'll be back. I'm hooked. Congrats Dave, nice ride!

[Biggs23]

Finished this morning in Fruita just after1AM.Sunburned and Dehydrated,holy shit what an ass kicker.3days 3hrs and some change.I'll write a trip report soon.Trying to get up out of bed for the drive back to Denver.

[ScottM]

It was glorious, I needed that. ALIVE!

Long live the GLR.

[Stefan_G]

Hell yeah. I Love you all!

Dave, your trip around sounded absolutely brutal. Nice job just finishing the beast in that wind.

[Biggs23]

How about a May 31st start date for the GL??
I know its only November,but might as well get it out there.

Cheers

[Woodland]

What's the best source of water in the roubideau area? I see roubideau creek, but that looks too low off trail. Is East Bull creek good, or are any of those runoffs in that area possible water sources? Or put this way, what's the best water after Nucla?

[DaveH]

That's a pretty good question. Last year it was so dry I was nervous and left Nucla with a small water truck on the bike lol. Turns out there was a recently filled stock tank right as you top out Pinto. Probably not to be relied on, it's only got water half the times I've seen it. There is usually water in Glencoe ditch - not this year though, first time I've seen it dry. Once you get to Roubideau there should be plenty of water. There were at least 3 stream crossing before Potter - Potter was dry though, next water I believe was cottonwood. I did hear from a friend all the creeks on Roubideau were dry 2 weeks later (that would have been mid-June). The way this winter is shaking out you'll probably be hitting a few snow patches up top, water isn't an issue at all on Roubideau in most years.

[Woodland]

Thanks Dave, so when people refer to 'roubideau' are they referring to that whole area of drainage's coming down from the Unc that the Tab traverses across starting at roubideau creek? I've been trying to figure out where roubideau is!

[DaveH]

I'd call it from where the route heads north just before E Bull creek to topping out above Monitor. Once you do it, it will be unmistakable

[Woodland]

Gotcha, thanks for the geography lesson!

Is there a 'traditional' route between GJ and Loma, or can it vary? Dave, I noticed you took the frontage road, but I also saw someone used Broadway/C-340 to connect into Fruita.

Any thoughts on the best place to start? I've been thinking the Koko TH in Loma, but I'm worried that's not a great place to leave a car for several days...

[DaveH]

There is not a traditional route between GJ and Loma. Originally MC organized the race and he led a neutral group ride through town - it wasn't timed and not part of the race loop. Now that there isn't an organizer or any sort of neutral group rollout I think the entire loop should be timed. Added benefit: ITTers can start at any part of the loop. These days everyone is an ITTer...

I don't think it matters how we cross town. If anyone thinks otherwise please let's hear it.

If you decide to start at GJ or Loma, I'd strongly recommend starting near GJ. The reason is that you don't really want to ride across GJ at night. You really have no idea when you'll need to cross town if you start at Loma...I actually got bit by that last year, no way I was gonna cross town in the dark. That said, in 2007 my truck was parked at the Tab trailhead (GJ), and I got back to a broken window and missing phone, and my clothes incredibly were stolen too. WTH!

Lately I've liked starting at Westwater, although it bit me in more than one way last year so not so sure of that plan anymore. If there is going to be a group start I think the Tab TH is a good call. Park somewhere in GJ.

[DaveH]

Now that it's spring (it is spring, right?) thoughts drift to this loop far too often. Why is this loop so compelling? Damn you MC.

Patience is going to be required. Snowpack is higher than it has been since before my first GLR in '07.

https://snotel.org/state/colorado/columbine-pass/

More than 4x the snowpack this time last year, yikes. At least we won't need to worry about water. If it doesn't go until 2nd week in June though...Koko and Paradox will test all takers.

[Woodland]

I've been wondering about how this year's snowpack would affect the Grand Loop.

Looks like pretty sharp declines come May...

Figures the year I seriously consider trying it we get one of the wettest winters on record - I shouldn't complain though!

[MikeC]

Now that it's spring (it is spring, right?) thoughts drift to this loop far too often. Why is this loop so compelling? Damn you MC.

Too funny -- I just went to check the Columbine snotel and was delighted at what I saw.  Heaps of snow means Escalante Creek will run for a month+, maybe even 6+ weeks, which is just delightful.

And then I remembered that it was the same snotel that people use to correlate GL start dates.  Dohp.

Come paddle while you wait!

[MikeC]

The reason is that you don't really want to ride across GJ at night.

There's maybe a mile of road to get from the LL trailhead (north terminus of Tab) to bike path, and you can take that bike path to within ~1/2 mile of the E terminus of the Koko.  Smoove, flat, and safe.

And I saw some culverts sitting aside Monument road tonight that had something stenciled on them that led me to believe we're soon to be getting bike path from town to the LL trailhead.  Definitely not in time for this year's GLR, but soon enough.

[Woodland]

And then I remembered that it was the same snotel that people use to correlate GL start dates.  Dohp.

So is the common practice to wait two weeks until after the snotel telemetry bottoms out? What if you were to go as soon as it hit 0"?

I really wanted to try it this year, but come June 14th I'm occupied. Not sure I will hit it right...