CTR #3 Route Poll

[TimG!]

TimG! - What month of the year did that happen to you?

Early to mid August.

[chuckyb]

well, the decision is not getting any easier eh Stefan!
in the spirit of democracy the poll has one vote for removing Cinnamon in favor of Cataract which defaults to 'remove both detours' ... so that's a 14/14 split for stay same vs stay trail.

if you are able to time your traverse at that spot then a late night early morning window will have the lowest chance of storm compared to an afternoon evening time frame, for summer storms anyway.  i can get a hold of a long term weather forecast by zipcode but i don't think it will help except for temp (directionally accurate, warmer/colder wetter/dryer but not precise) ... as it was stated: this area is a micro climate with no predictability

maybe wrapping your helmet in aluminum foil with a lightening rod sticking out of the top and a little cable trailing down to the ground, with mud flap girl of course, will do the trick!  or is that one of the costume races? ~:-))

as for 285?  hmmm, need another poll.
highway sucks, tarryal is quite peaceful (poems must be written about that area), but that sure is a long way around!

[DaveH]

Coney + Cataract makes for a true wild card over halfway through the race.  If you get part way through those segments and chased down by a storm, (and the only place to go is straight down!), rejoining the route where you left it becomes supremely difficult.  Seriously, you could die - likely from a lightning strike - no exaggeration.  I just want to emphasize and drive home that fact as much as possible.  Just because it's a "race" doesn't mean you should be pushing on through terrain and conditions where you would normally take shelter.  Carrying enough food from B.V. (or Mt. Princeton hot springs if you're timing is good) is problematic at best.  It becomes even worse if you get pinned down for an additional day.

Golly.  Sounds like an awesome addition for the masses that will be watching from armchairs.  Truly exciting spectating potential!

As someone who plans to make a first attempt at this beast, my vote is to keep it as is.  I'm glad I've held off my vote for so long...I figured the reality would surface eventually.

[ScottM]

I have my own 'Coney' storm story.  Mike Curiak and I ended up bailing off the side of the divide under pressure of impending doom (heavy thunderstorms).  It took us some 5 hours of miserable / dangerous bushwhacking through dense forest before we reached the forest road below. 

We had camped just below Spring Creek Pass, so we were up there early.  The storms rolled in at ~10 am with little warning.

I voted 'no' on Coney + Cataract.  There's already more than enough lightning exposure on this route, IMO.  I wonder how the vote would change if we could somehow strike those that have a) never done a multi-day race and b) never attempted Coney-Cataract, as Alison suggested (I think in another thread).  With that, I'll bet the wimps (us) win decisively.

[Stefan_G]

I wonder how the vote would change if we could somehow strike those that have a) never done a multi-day race and b) never attempted Coney-Cataract, as Alison suggested (I think in another thread).

Hmmm, if we exclude group b) we might not have any votes...

[ScottM]

Hmmm, if we exclude group b) we might not have any votes...

For it... right.