Grand Loop 2009

[Stefan_G]

Sounds like things aren't completely dry out there yet.  From Max's Brother:

Max called me yesterday from Nucla.  He was exhausted, mainly from a
3- to 4-hour slog along the Koski Traverse through lots of clayish
mud.  He said they couldn't even roll their bikes, had to drag and/or
carry them!  In Nucla he still had a bunch of mud and clay all over
his bike...  Looks like they are back on the move today after camping
for 12 hours or so.

Charlie

Wow, it's just amazing (agonizing?) how non-ideal the conditions on this beast of a loop can be:  6' snow drifts, 50lbs of clay stuck to your bike, sub-freezing or 100F temps.  Pick one...

[DaveH]

Oh yea, good times out there.  The eastern Paradox is one of my bigger concerns this time around.  Chad and Scott will be there shortly but I'll be on the road so won't get to see if their progress comes to a screeching halt or if they just rip on through.  Not that knowing would make much difference.

Maybe I'll take a can of PAM for good measure!

Speaking of Chad and Scott -  how about those guys, eh?  Still together, and Chad on the single.  That's impressive cause I know Scott wants to go fast - no gimmes here.  They've got the rough stuff behind them at just over a day into the ride.  It's just a downhill cruise all the way to Loma now

Marshal started before 2AM and is already at Dewey!  Nice move by Marshal!

I gotta get a spot.

[Stefan_G]

Dang, Scott and Chad are really cooking!  It doesn't appear that they've stopped for more than 2 hours or so since starting (!!) and they're almost to Uravan.  That easily means Bedrock by midnight.

Then comes decision time for them...  If they have enough food, they could bivy for 4-5 hours, starting up again around 4am.  That would give them about 22 hours to finish up in order to beat Dave Harris' 2d19h record - definitely doable by non-DH mortals!  On the other hand, if they need to resupply, they'll have to wait until the store opens (7a or 8a), giving them only 18ish hours to beat Dave's '07 time.  I'd say that's nearly impossible after being on the move for 2 days straight without sleep, but I'd love to be proven wrong!  I'm guessing it's around 130 miles from Bedrock to the finish - maybe more!

Looks like Max and Josh are sleeping at Dominguez CG and should finish up tomorrow, early afternoon I'd wager.  They skipped large amounts of the actual loop, but still put in a massive ride - I hope he doesn't want to kill me for talking up the GL experience so much.

And Marshal will be arriving in Fisher Valley shortly.  That's a great place to get a good sleep, and still be up the next big climb before the sun heats things up.  Of course, with high's in the low 80s, these guys may be more worried about rain coming than getting scorched.

So fun to watch!  Good luck all ya'll!

[MikeC]

If I was reading the SPOT points correctly, the bromancers took two ~two hour breaks so far.  Far from slacking--just enough to recharge the batts a little then head out again.

And I *think* they talked a bunch about making it to the store for resupply, but I also remember hearing some talk about having enough grub to make it.  The SPOT's will tell all.

Lucky us, we get to sleep through the night and wake up to see how they chose...

And DH is probably nearing Westwater right now, where he'll crash out for a few hours before firing up the unicogger turbo diesel to see how it hums up the shandies.  I love that Scott and Chad think that Dave is starting at ~6PM from *Loma*, so they're gonna run into him over half a day earlier and won't that be a little surprising for their sleep deprived selves...

Fun spectatin'.  Beats the hell outta slaving away out there...

MC

[wookieone]

Hello everyone, so looks like I got a bunk Spot, just called them and ran some tests and it is not sending any messages, so looks like I won't be broadcasting, oh well, and I still am wondering if anyone else is doing the friday 6PM start? I am very excited to get out there......Jefe

[MikeC]

Hey Jefe-

Bummer about the SPOT issue--perhaps when you cross paths with Scott/Chad late tonight or early tomorrow you can talk them out of one of theirs?  They'll be almost done and won't need both anymore anyway...

Just a thought.

I will NOT be making it at 6PM, but I think that Jim Leikert might be.  AFAIK that's all.

Have a great time out there--weather looks just about ideal.

Best,

MC

[wookieone]

Ok so I am either complete idiot, very strong possibility, or my friend got the damn Spot to work, I called them, spent an hour on the phone, and no signals were making it to the website. My friend took the batteries out, put it together and it just picked up a check in signal. So maybe I will be broadcasting, see if it works for three days? Ok so maybe JimL showing up, awesome, MikeC if you are out there, have any suggestions for Lunch Loop to Loma?  Thanks Y'all peace Jefe     5 hours to go....

[MikeC]

Hey Jefe-

Hope the SPOT works out.  If not, snag Chads.

LL to Loma .gpx attached.  You're basically staying hard against the low side of the Monument until Fruita, then on the shoulder of I-70 from there.  Avoid Hwy 6 out of Fruita--65mph and no shoulder.  At least on the Interstate you have a rumble strip and 12 feet of tarmac between you and traffic.  Loud, but ultimately much safer.

Good times to ya out there.

MC

[Stefan_G]

Jefe-

Looks like you were broadcasting a SPOT about 1.5 hours ago, so maybe it's working after all?  Check out this page if you're still around the net...

http://topofusion.com/tracker-grandloopi.php?name=Jefe%20Branham

[JimL]

Hey Jefe,

Rolling out of the motel at 5, so I'll be at the TH by 6.

Jim

[cat morrison]

It is probably pretty late for Jefe and Jim to get this but to let others know that Matt Fletcher will be starting at 6 pm as well.  He'll be doing the original Bedrock route and has no spot.  We're heading over from home to the start here shortly and I'll grab some photos of the three and post later. 

[cat morrison]

I followed the boys (Jefe, Jim and Matt) to just past the river on Redlands Parkway and they were off.  Jim and Jefe have their spots and both had GPS, Matt had neither. 
Any ideas on how to insert images on this?  I tried "insert image" and it just types that in this text???

[cat morrison]

Okay, I posted a few pics on the blog since I can't do it here:  http://girls4dirt.blogspot.com/

[DaNM]

Cool Cat, thanks, big crowd for the traditional start as usual..Go Matt, Jefe and Jim.

[DaNM]

Dang, just dang. Scott, Chad, nice display of complete insanity.  Marshall seems to moving around Glencoe, also very impressive . Looks like 'good' weather for the riders out there.

[ZackR]

Looks like Jefe might have gone to Bedrock for something, or maybe he chose the traditional route, but the latest Spot is listed as an OK message. That's only the 4th contact since he left, but it's a lot better than nothing. He will be happy to know he was not just carrying a box with blinking lights, as he put it. After messing with the thing and seeing the whole system at work, I can see I'll have to get one myself, eventually. I still don't have a GPS. My wristwatch has hands on it, too.

Scott, Chad, and everyone else who has finished: Nice job!

[pbasinger]

I saw Jefe yesterday pushing his bike along the Gateway road in the muk right before the turn off for Taylor Flats Road at about 2:30 in the afternoon.  He was planning on taking the regular GL route.  When I came back through there a few hours later the mud had firmed up a bunch.
Also, bumped into some bow hunters right in the area that claimed two campers had been killed the night before by a bear.

[ScottM]

Bummer about Jefe and the muck... Chad and I (and Marshal... and Harris!) got shut down in that area as well.  We were all pushing 50 lb bikes, clearing mud with sticks, riding meadows, etc.  I was hoping Taylor would dry out for Jefe/Matt, but looking back yesterday we could see another storm in the La Sals...

The other big shutdown of the ride was......

... the Tab singletrack! 

Ugh, that thing was no fun at all with many 4-5 foot drifts and in some places solid snow in the trees.  When not snow covered the trail was a complete bog, a running river and also featured 30-40 down trees.  I'll have to check the GPS track, but it felt like it took 4 hours to do that ~10 miles, which killed our chance to make Bedrock.

The cool temps were awesome, but we definitely paid for it in other ways (snow, mud, cold).

I have a lot to say, obviously, but it was a great ride and especially a pleasure to ride with Chad and be continually amazed at how well he was riding (slash surviving) on the singlespeed.

I loved being 'out there', and this route is full of that feeling, but it's nice to be back eating Mike's ice cream too...

[ZackR]

I think some bow hunters have been out in the woods too long. News of any bear attack in that time frame would be all over the news and teh innernets. Not a word of any such thing in the GJ Sentinel. Some folks get a kick out of scaring "tourists" away with such stories. A tourist, to them, is anyone not exactly like themselves.

Bummer about all the mud. That's some sticky goop!

[dkirk]

Scott Wow,
Sounds like you and Chad had it all! Good job. As you know, it's a tough route when everything is optimal. All I had to put up with last year was 7 miles of snow on the Tab.
Hope the weather stabilizes for everyone else out there!