2014 California Sierra Trail Race

[blurltd]

I rode the Divide last year on a fully rigid, are you guys all running suspension of some sorts, what about just some huge 2.4 tires for dampening instead? Sean what's your take?

[ayayron]

This is a much different beast than the Divide, with long sections of singletrack that are extremely rocky and technical. I wouldn't advise rigid! At least a front shock. I had full suspension and was pretty glad for it.

[blurltd]

That's what I thought darn it I wish I didn't sell that front suspension fork sitting around the shop.

[Sean Allan]

For me, I would never consider doing it on less than 4" front and rear and 2.4 tires, but Jack was able to do it this year on front suspension only, perhaps he'll weigh in on that decision. That being said, I've seen guys do crazy stuff rigid, but it's not a very popular bike in this neck of the woods.

[trebor]

My attempt was on a Ti hardtail. There were 2 reasons for my withdrawl. One was a lack of mental focus leading to decreased desire to ride. And the other was my rear end was getting torn up from the rough terrain. It can be ridden on any bike - just your ability on said machine and tolerance to the pain being the deciding factors.

[jackinmd]

I rode it with a hard tail ti 29er, 2.4 in front and 2.2 in the rear. 100mm Terralogic fork.

I pumped the shock to my normal riding weight, forgetting about all the extra weight from the kit. This made it a little extra squishy, which turned out to be a good thing in the end!

I didn't feel like I got too terribly beat up except for my hands; I had some residual numbness that went away after a few weeks. That might have just been due to the cockpit setup on my my bike, I'm not sure because I'd never ridden it for 16-18 hours a day for almost 5 days in a row before.

[ScottyJ]

I and a couple of friends are planning for the CSTR this year. but plan to leave with the race and ride at our own fun-all-day pace. I'vew done a fair bit of riding around this area on my Hardtail and do not want to do tat for this event so I'm trying to figure out what kind of bike to build up.

[Sean Allan]

I and a couple of friends are planning for the CSTR this year. but plan to leave with the race and ride at our own fun-all-day pace. I'vew done a fair bit of riding around this area on my Hardtail and do not want to do tat for this event so I'm trying to figure out what kind of bike to build up.

Cool, it sounds like a fun time with your friends. We'll have a new course this year. I pretty much just blew up the original course as the entire middle section is pretty much scorched earth right now. I've got the outline of the new course out to a few souls who are familiar with the course or have done the original route to get their input and or criticism, both of which are appreciated. Mileage and climbing will be really close to the original course(400 miles and 64,000'), we'll lose some HAB and gain some dirt road and I feel generally the course will be a little easier. We will also be looking at a loop as it now heads out towards and across the HWY 80 corridor at Soda Springs and into the Truckee area. I'm excited to see what people think.

[ScottyJ]

Has a date been set for the 2015 edition?
We're planning to begin on July 17th.

[Sean Allan]

Coincidence or not, that is the official date. 7am start in Auburn.