Stagecoach 400 Discussion 2012

[Jeff Tomassetti]

The field is so spread out. I bet you have to an excellent climber to make progress out there. Walking is slow, I know that first hand.

[Dustin]

The route passes about 6 miles from my house in east county san diego.  Was pretty cool to see the spot tracker icons passing over some of my neighborhood trails. Maybe at some point I'll be up to tackle this one myself as a race, but I think I'd rather have fun touring it over 5-6 days with sleep.

[pbasinger]

Wonder if Rick will reel Jay in.  Only a few miles back.
For those that don't know, Rick is an old school, under the radar endurance bad ass.

[DaveH]

It's a fun thought, but Jay is likely done by now.  His spot is 2.5 hours old.

[pbasinger]

Ah.  Yeah just noticed that.  bummer

[hikernks]

Jay Petervary finished at 12:28 pm, 2 minutes under 50 hours.  Awesome job!

[cat morrison]

It is so nice to see so many ladies out there.  You are all awesome, amazing, strong women!!!!!!!!  Good job to everyone.

[Walkurtalk]

I love seeing Ezsther, Tracey and Jill out there! Hardcore. Love it. These ladies inspired me a lot in my AZT750 journey. 

[WSkean]

A quick pic of Ezsther as she left Thomas Mountain, had to ride along for a few minutes. Great Job !!!
Wendy

[hikernks]

Mister Hunter #2, time in was at 4:32 pm (pacific).

[elitheknife]

Great job, Rick!  Congrats!

[hikernks]

Eszter Horanyi hits third at 6:10pm!

[edemtbs]

Eszter Horanyi hits third at 6:10pm!

Truly impressive and amazing - congrats to you EZ!!

Congrats to all the riders that toed the line.

Ed

[ImAFred]

Good job everyone !

[LyndaW]

Eszter Horanyi hits third at 6:10pm!

Woot woot!! Nice ride Ez. Flying out there.

[kdinger]

Eszter Horanyi hits third at 6:10pm!

Fourth and fifth finishers were Cale Wenthur and Jason Benford who finished together at 7:something (I think, sorry I was pretty out of it - turns out for me, pushing through a 2nd night without sleep doesn't work very well).  I fell apart in the last 15 hours and struggled in at 1:30 am in 6th place.  I think Dylan Snodgrass was not far behind me.

-Keith

[Roland Sturm]

A spectacular and challenging route that has everything! I was very impressed with how Brendan put together a 400 mile loop that essentially feels as if locals take you on their best neighborhood rides. There are many segments that are worth a visit on their own and I would not even rate famed Noble Canyon among the top 3 I'd do again.

Many gave up on at least a night of sleep (or equivalent), which was needed to break 3 days. At the sign-out sheet at the bikeshop, there were 12 finishers this morning (Joshua Weinfeld and me being the last ones under 3 days, Tracey P at 10th overall and 2nd woman a few mins earlier); then there didn't seem to be anybody coming for a long time and the crowd at the bike shop started to disappear. Hanging around the bike shop this morning: Eszter on the left, Matt from Kansas who had a run-in with a car at the beginning, Joshua (Hammer jersey) who just finished and looks like a wreck (I probably looked just as bad, but am taking the picture), Rob/Trebor in his breast cancer jersey, several hidden (including Tracey who may be getting a hug, look for a green Salsa jersey), Jay P last on the right.

Most of the finishers so far  pushed through last night (and only through last night - unless, of course, you wanted to be much higher up on the finishers list). It was a spectacular night to be out. For a while, I just lay on my back admiring the (high) desert sky, taking time with my 3 am sandwich. On the leaderboard (if you were sleepless), there was probably a sizeable crowd moving together (at least 6 or so), but out there it felt like you own the night and the desert. Didn't see anybody until the final dirt road climb.

[Roland Sturm]

And looks like Katherine Wallace (groundedkiwi) will finish tonight as the third woman, followed by Jill Homer a few hours behind, who should also make it before midnight. The before-picture at the start (Jill left, Katherine right), anybody there to take the after-picture?

[Roland Sturm]

And Katherine Wallace and John Tuft almost at the finish! Looks like they actually were able to take the questionable official route.

Both Tracey and I today got a bonus climb today, we made it all the way up the mapped route only to be received by a stern women who sent us back down to take the highway. Tracey was a bit before me,  but I was escorted back down into the valley with a car driving behind me to make sure I go to the highway and don't try to sneak back. That may happened to a few others. And doing an extra 20 min climb after riding through the night seems harder than it would on a normal day. So if you are risk averse, stay on highways 74 to 243.

In summary, this is an outstanding event and a great location. Unfortunately, there is an elderly couple that did their best to give Idyllwild a poor reputation by blocking cyclists from a stretch of a dirt road, which (if I read my NFS map of the San Bernadino NF correctly, this is road 5S05). A short stretch, but it may be the only actual connection at the moment short of riding on a very busy highway without shoulder. Moreover, it seems to me that this stretch is accessible to quite a few other people living there, as well as utility companies, and nothing particularly private or pristine - a standard numbered dirt road. Below a zoomed-in view of the contested area from the official NFS map. There is no evidence that the road could be closed, certainly coming from the south.

[hikernks]

Roland, I'm getting as many pictures of finishers as I can, but can't put them up until Thurs night, because I don't have my laptop here with me.