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  Topic Name: California Sierra Trail Race? on: December 25, 2010, 09:30:17 AM
Sean Allan


Location: Foresthill, Ca.
Posts: 261


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« on: December 25, 2010, 09:30:17 AM »

Any interest?
 
I've got what amounts to a 350-400 mile route in mind. I need to find about 40 miles worth of connections to make it work, but I have pretty high hopes that these can be found.
The route would start in the town of Auburn, plenty of accommodations and you would/ could ride right from the motel. From Auburn it would head up the Foresthill Divide on State Park trails and historic mining trails/roads to Lake Tahoe. We would hit all the legal sections of the Tahoe Rim Trail around to the great state of Nevada. From Meyers we would head up an old Pony Express route along the Hwy 50 corridor and head back to Auburn via the Western States Trail. Of course there would be lots of roads and trails in between, but those are the highlights.
 
The details.....
 
The views will be amazing.
 
Lodging would be pretty scarce
 
Resupply should not be a problem with some route work, 2 days max in between I would think.
 
Water is everywhere.
 
Likely the most rideable singletrack of any of the races. Ever present Hike a Bike, but probably less than 10 miles total.
 
A butt load of climbing, likely right in there with CTR.
 
Much less average elevation than CTR with a 10,000' top out( Just for you Dave icon_biggrin)
 
Full on town to start and finish. 3 shops and everything you could possibly need.
 
No wilderness!
 
Very minimal chance of rain or bad weather

 
So there it is. I have ridden all of this route except for that elusive 40 miles worth of connections, shouldn't be a problem if I am actually on a mission to find them. I would have to open a large section of singletrack damaged in a fire a couple of years ago. (I'll have to re-up my FS chain saw certification.)
 
I put this out to you guys and gals because in my experience not too many people in Ca. are into this, makes training very lonely.....plus it might be nice for you Southwest folks to have something new to do.
 
Timing might be tricky, CTR and this route would open up at similar times.  I'm all about the CTR and respect it, and the effort Stefan puts into it!
 
This route could certainly go after CTR, all the way up to late Sept/Oct,  but water would get a little more tricky, not a deal breaker though.

Any suggestions/critiques are more than welcome
 
Sean Allan

http://ws100.com/historybysection.htm

http://tahoerimtrail.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=140&Itemid=157

Some idea of what the terrain looks like:
  
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/18485489
 
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/46686356
 
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/36551729
 
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/19110945


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« Last Edit: December 27, 2010, 06:24:11 AM by Sean Allan » Logged

  Topic Name: California Sierra Trail Race? Reply #1 on: December 25, 2010, 09:35:35 AM
Sean Allan


Location: Foresthill, Ca.
Posts: 261


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« Reply #1 on: December 25, 2010, 09:35:35 AM »

More Pics


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  Topic Name: California Sierra Trail Race? Reply #2 on: December 25, 2010, 10:49:04 AM
Roland Sturm


Location: Santa Monica, CA
Posts: 201


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« Reply #2 on: December 25, 2010, 10:49:04 AM »

Race or not, just the development of other multi-day routes would be great - especially in California! There is not a single CA route  in the route collection of this website at the moment. Bikeable single-track? Sounds great.

It also is a wonderful area, I don't know the exact routes you mention, although did a few days a little further north at the next river (Yuba). Was extremely hot when I went (late June a few years ago), great biking though. I presume that the American River area is very similar. Had my closest bear encounter on a single track there as well, we scared each other a lot, he was frantically trying to climb up the closest tree which was way too small for his size  and broke off the branches that fell down on the trail while I tried to get out of the way the other direction.  

Laying out multi-day routes that are fun to bike, no traffic roads (especially narrow mountain roads without a shoulder), manageable resupply, and ideally a loop is a big challenge. At one point I had most of a nice loop in SoCal when the station fire and mudslides took out a big chunk of the route in the Angeles NF (still most of it is closed and some of the trails are gone for good).

So go for it and demand will follow.
« Last Edit: December 26, 2010, 08:06:02 AM by Roland Sturm » Logged

  Topic Name: California Sierra Trail Race? Reply #3 on: December 26, 2010, 02:01:47 AM
flatfishy


Location: south-west uk
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« Reply #3 on: December 26, 2010, 02:01:47 AM »

Now thats a ride i gotta try!
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  Topic Name: California Sierra Trail Race? Reply #4 on: December 26, 2010, 08:05:31 AM
6thElement


Posts: 234


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« Reply #4 on: December 26, 2010, 08:05:31 AM »

Sounds like a fantastic ride, Tahoe is still high on my to-do list.

What bivi is that?
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  Topic Name: California Sierra Trail Race? Reply #5 on: December 27, 2010, 02:31:28 PM
DaveH
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« Reply #5 on: December 27, 2010, 02:31:28 PM »

Sean that looks super.  I was just in the area in October and was wondering why there are no established routes in CA.  The region is prime!

The start could be as close as 3 weeks to the CTR start without a major conflict.  Not many riders would shoot for them both in the same season, and the ones that would recovery pretty quick.  Mostly anyway...I just say this since the seasons overlap and are both relatively short.  Schedule it when it will be best for your event and go with it! 

I'll take a closer look at the route later but for now color me interested.
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  Topic Name: California Sierra Trail Race? Reply #6 on: December 27, 2010, 02:37:37 PM
LyndaW


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« Reply #6 on: December 27, 2010, 02:37:37 PM »

Looks awesome!
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  Topic Name: California Sierra Trail Race? Reply #7 on: December 27, 2010, 05:29:21 PM
nyounie


Location: Chico, CA
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« Reply #7 on: December 27, 2010, 05:29:21 PM »

Sounds like a great race! I live in Chico and would love to have a race this close to home. I'd be game for giving a hand on route connections and other logistics if needed.
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  Topic Name: California Sierra Trail Race? Reply #8 on: January 01, 2011, 07:30:41 AM
Pawel


Location: Gdansk, Poland
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« Reply #8 on: January 01, 2011, 07:30:41 AM »

Looks great Sean! I hope that I would be able to go to Stanford, this year! It seems that avesome trails calling me Wink
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  Topic Name: California Sierra Trail Race? Reply #9 on: January 03, 2011, 03:50:33 PM
bartspedden


Location: Crested Butte, CO
Posts: 257


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« Reply #9 on: January 03, 2011, 03:50:33 PM »

Wow! It's not like I need another race that encompasses my dreams, but if this happens I'm in!  Not sure how I could help with the trails since I live in Colorado, but if you need a web site hosted, give me a holler.
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  Topic Name: California Sierra Trail Race? Reply #10 on: January 07, 2011, 06:25:08 PM
ScottyJ


Location: Santa Cruz, Ca. US
Posts: 51


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« Reply #10 on: January 07, 2011, 06:25:08 PM »

Absolutely in for a race.
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  Topic Name: California Sierra Trail Race? Reply #11 on: January 11, 2011, 09:21:10 AM
brunch


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« Reply #11 on: January 11, 2011, 09:21:10 AM »



I'm casting about for a race. The longer the better. The less Hike a Bike the better.

What dates were you thinking?

Eric
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  Topic Name: California Sierra Trail Race? Reply #12 on: January 11, 2011, 12:15:34 PM
firetwofire


Location: Reno, Nevada
Posts: 31


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« Reply #12 on: January 11, 2011, 12:15:34 PM »

Sean
I live in Reno so let me know what you need I can go ride and help with your connections. I'm always ready for a 2-4day ride
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  Topic Name: California Sierra Trail Race? Reply #13 on: January 11, 2011, 01:23:43 PM
Sean Allan


Location: Foresthill, Ca.
Posts: 261


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« Reply #13 on: January 11, 2011, 01:23:43 PM »

Thanks Guys, not sure all have looked at the course yet, it's down the page a bit under "draft course". This WILL happen in 2012, it will be nice to have something to focus on this year, well something besides CTR. I've received some help and some GPX files for the Pony Express and Wrights Lake areas so I'll be working on those this summer. Everything else is pretty set in place. I would love to have some company along for the route finding, and an eventual dry run of it this year so I'll keep everyone up to date as the snow melts off.

 It's gonna be a real nice route, tough, and even brutal in some sections, but overall should be a real satisfying route. Someone at MTBR filtered out the route a bit and the climbing came down to 70,000', not sure of their methods but it might mean the elevation gain will be somewhat less. I've always found Topofusion to be pretty close, so for now I'm sticking with the idea it will be around 75,000' of up, Basecamp also seems to think that is close. Mileage seemed to stay about the same, just over 400.



* CSTR Elevation profile.png (6.01 KB, 800x450 - viewed 1015 times.)
* Google Earth map CSTR.kmz (62.34 KB - downloaded 122 times.)
« Last Edit: January 13, 2011, 05:57:43 PM by Sean Allan » Logged

  Topic Name: California Sierra Trail Race? Reply #14 on: January 18, 2011, 04:21:13 PM
jp3d

Jesse Palmer


Location: California
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« Reply #14 on: January 18, 2011, 04:21:13 PM »

I am very interested to say the least... thumbsup
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  Topic Name: California Sierra Trail Race? Reply #15 on: January 24, 2011, 08:16:35 PM
Aslan

Simple, reliable, light


Location: Chico, CA
Posts: 74


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« Reply #15 on: January 24, 2011, 08:16:35 PM »

Sean,

I would be interested in assisting with the 'polish' of the route.  Perhaps making a proper route map of it.  In my non biking life I teach cartography and GIS at CSU, Chico and this would be a great project that is reasonably close to home.  With a bit of notice I could put some of my students on it.  Shoot me an email at sstewart@csuchico.edu if you are interested in coordinating on this.  I would of course like to ride it as well.
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  Topic Name: California Sierra Trail Race? Reply #16 on: January 25, 2011, 06:32:50 AM
sherpaxc


Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 577


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« Reply #16 on: January 25, 2011, 06:32:50 AM »

Would this be a summer time race?  As a teacher it's really hard to travel to do a multi day race.  I'm going to make some pretty big sacrifices to make the AZT next spring.  I REALLY want to learn more about this race. 
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  Topic Name: California Sierra Trail Race? Reply #17 on: January 26, 2011, 07:44:56 AM
Sean Allan


Location: Foresthill, Ca.
Posts: 261


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« Reply #17 on: January 26, 2011, 07:44:56 AM »

Aslan, Thanks for the offer of help, I'll keep that in mind. My plan was to only offer a GPX track and some basic directions, ala CTR , but a map to download would be a beneficial option for some.

Sherpaxc, yeah, August, perfect for a teacher!

Can't wait for the snow to melt.
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  Topic Name: California Sierra Trail Race? Reply #18 on: January 26, 2011, 08:10:05 AM
6thElement


Posts: 234


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« Reply #18 on: January 26, 2011, 08:10:05 AM »

Definitely a chance this could fit into my plans for next year. Makes a good alternative to the ST100 thumbsup
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  Topic Name: California Sierra Trail Race? Reply #19 on: January 26, 2011, 09:00:45 AM
sherpaxc


Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 577


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« Reply #19 on: January 26, 2011, 09:00:45 AM »

Nowadays teachers start back in early/mid August (Like the 10th) so it'll be iffy for me.  I'll keep my eyes posted to this thread to see what develops.
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