Tour De Los Padres 2019

[sulkyjunior]

Hello Gents!
Erin is looking for dates that work best for the start of the Tour De Los Padres for this year 2019. Options are
1. March 22
2. April 12
3. April 26

What day works for all of us??
Of course, I'm quite excited to ride and chat with all of you, safe riding! 

[mr_pepper]

April 12 or 26th better for me

[ec_duz_it]

At this point it is pretty much a split vote between March 22 and April 12.  Hopefully will get a little more input on the start date, then lock in a date in a week or two from now.

With El Nino now in full swing this winter, March 22 is a 50-50 chance of a big storm coming through, but it could work if the weather behaves. April 12 or 26 are much safer dates, but even in mid April, we have had significant snow on Mt. Pinos the last 2 years. This photo was from last year on April 13 towards the top of McGill Trail.

[RollingOn29's]

Hello, thinking of doing the tour route this year if things work out. I know it probably varies a bit, but where do tour route riders typically make it for the first night? Do they make it to SB Potrero? Or just water up at The Place and camp after crossing the Cuyama river? Thanks!

[ec_duz_it]

All tour riders last year made it somewhere between SB Canyon and Bluff Camp on night #1.  The ITT guys were faster, no one made it past SB Potrero in the group. Water was flowing pretty good last year in SB Canyon after you make the hard right turn to the west.  No water at SB Potrero last year. You can replay last years tracker if you are curious: http://trackleaders.com/lospadres18

[RollingOn29's]

Thank you, reading the various riders logs is very helpful.

When I said SB Potreo I might be mistaken; I was referring the camp where Oak Spring is (and where the long and short route reconnect).

[ec_duz_it]

Yeah that is SB Potrero.  There used to be a spring fed tub with a weak flow of water going into it, but it was not there last year.  The picnic table is still there though.  If you know exactly where "oak spring" is, please do share.

[RollingOn29's]

No, I have never been there. I was just going by what I see on Google Earth.

[ec_duz_it]

It is time to pull the trigger on the date.  It was very close between March 22 and April 12, but MARCH 22nd has won.  That is only 2 months from now. This is based on votes posted on the thread(s) here, as well as emails and messages I have received.  This event has been blessed with relatively good weather for the past 5 years, but in the event bad weather does occur, the date will be pushed back as needed. 

Still waiting to see if a few trails are restored (or not) before uploading the final routes.  Hopefully by mid February will have the final 2019 routes up and ready. 

[hellvetica]

Sweet! Looking forward to this!

[phillip]

Hey there EC, I'm considering riding this again.  It was very fun and nice to meet such great people, including you!  Seeing that you'll include romero trail, do you think 2019 will more similar to the 2014/15 routes?

I now have a good feel for those trails, and what bike I should use.  I just got a cutthroat, due to my sequoia being stolen 2 weeks ago.  But I'm thinking my santa cruz tallboy (eagle setup) would be ideal.

Give that new boy of yours a bike hug!

[ec_duz_it]

Dude that is a bummer about your bike! The SC Tallboy would probably suit you well.

I would expect the routes to be more similar to 2017 than 2018.  Here are 2017 routes if you want to study:
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/18368199
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/18410075

We are currently getting as much as 7 inches of rain over this weekend, so restoring any additional trails between now and late March is a bit questionable.
There will Probably be some wash outs and ruts after this storm like there were in 2017.

In the event that there is too much snow on Mt Pinos, I have an alternate starting point that adds miles and avoids the highest elevations, but that’s just a back up plan.

We had a girl, not a boy! Her name is Devi. If I have my way, she will be at the start this year.

[phillip]

Wow! My crash may have been worse than I thought.

Thanks!

[Marin Sigurdson]

SO CUTE, little cactus girl.
Bummed I can't make it March 22, guess I'll have to do Stagecoach instead.
Marin

[sulkyjunior]

So excited to run this again! Learn a bunch every year, it definitely puts your body and mind to the test. Marin, sorry to hear you’re not going to make it, it was pretty fun running into you multiple times last year.
Erin, you should bring D to the start next month, she’ll be our good luckcharm for minimal snow atop Pinos.

[ec_duz_it]

I knew the March 22nd date wouldn't work for everyone, but that seemed to be the consensus. Lots of storms this year.  There will be no shortage of water.  Hopefully the weather will behave, but if you can, save April 12 and/or 26 in case of an inclement weather postponement.

I would expect a superbloom of wildflowers in the Carrizo Plain this year too. Two years ago the flowers were so heavy that the line was a little hard to follow if you didn't look hard.

[ec_duz_it]

A bit of bad news...Romero Trail was damaged pretty good in the last big storm 2 weekends ago. I tried riding it and I turned around halfway up. Parts of the trail are still fine, but most of the drainage crossings are blown out and full of 3 to 4 foot diameter boulders and debris. But there is potential good news. Ray, who restored Romero last year after the 2018 Montecito mudslides, said he is going to jump back on it with a mini excavator as soon as he gets a good weather window. So that being said,  I won’t have the 2019 routes up until the last minute this year.

If storms keep coming every other day like they have been, it will be questionable if March 22 is a realistic date.
The weather over the next few weeks will tell the story.

[hellvetica]

I'd vote for a reschedule in date if possible due to the conditions/weather (I have a conflict the 22nd anyway).

[Ben Salthouse]

Hello Everybody,

I'm planning on coming down from San Francisco for the race and I'm getting pretty excited about it. We've been having a pretty rainy winter up here. What's the word on the street as to weather the race will happen as scheduled on the 22nd?

[ec_duz_it]

Happy Friday. The start date will stay as March 22nd for now, but there is a decent chance that the date may need to be pushed back due to snow/ rain/ mud conditions. 

Here is an update on conditions now that it is March 1st:

Snow levels are around 5,500-6,000 feet right now.  The high point of the route at the upper part of Mt. Pinos has about 36" of snow based on a friends facebook photos from last week.  Big Pine Mountain also has snow now too.  Its probably more like 6" to 12" on Big Pine right now.  The nearby webcams seems to confirm this. 
Cuddy Valley about 5500' elevation: http://www.frazmtn.com/cuddycam/
Pine Mountain Club houses in cam are at about 5,700 and top of mountain in cam is at about 8,800' (http://www.frazmtn.com/mount_abel_cam/

The weather forecast over the next 10 days sounds wet. 3 storms in the forecast. But the storms also sound warm, so snow levels will likely stay 8,500' and higher. 

I did a 2 day trip last weekend here in the Santa Barbara backcountry.  We crossed the Santa Ynez River a few times.  It was about waist deep, but passable with the bike on your shoulders.  Camuesa Connector Trail is in good shape.  We didn't ride much of Big Pine/ Buckhorn Fireroad, but the section we did ride is in good shape too.  Camuesa Road between the old Mono Campground and Big Pine/ Buckhorn Fireroad is not in good shape on the western end of the road.  The forest service has not done any maintenance on that road since the Rey Fire 3 years ago.  So the routing of the "tour" route in that area will stay the same in that area as in 2018.

March 22nd is going to be a last minute game time decision this year, so please keep checking in here over the next few weeks.  April 26th seems like the logical push back date, so keep that date open in case of a postponement.

Photos from my trip last weekend below.