Agree with @Dfindura that a drop bottle would be faster, but the aid station is quick also and it’s unlikely there will be any congestion (particularly on first lap if you are top ~20). Probably looking at the difference between a ~10 second stop and ~20 second stop. Most people do drops since it’s 3 laps and just works out well, but I wouldn’t hesitate to rely on the aid station.
Also, forecast is looking warm-ish (~70 at start and into the low 80’s by the end). It should be manageable if it’s cloudy, but it will feel like a sauna by the 3rd lap if the sun comes out. I personally wouldn’t plan on single bottle laps (especially last lap) if it gets sunny , I typically go through most of a hydration pack per lap when it’s hot out there. But everyone is different on hydration needs, jut putting it out there. Hopefully we’ll get some rain and clouds to keep it cool, that course can be a beat down in the heat.
Had a chance to preride the loop yesterday. First and foremost, I’m impressed. It’s a genuinely fun course. Nothing stands out: not technical, not climby, but overall - hella fun. And that comes from a spoiled Colorado Front Range resident.
Goat heads are merciless. Double up on that sealant, boys and girls. And then add some more.
Other than that, good luck to everyone tomorrow. Let’s hope the weather cooperates.
Turned out to be a nice day. Stayed overcast and reasonably cool. The course never got any rain, but was in surprisingly good shape after all the pre-riding wore in a good line. Based on my numbers (and reviewing results), it was still running about 10 minutes slower than the last 2 years. Felt good all day except a dumb wreck and lost skin. Paced well and finished strong with my 3rd lap a little faster than my 2nd. My only goals for the day were to keep it upright and avoid mechanicals, had no expectations on results. So, it was kind of a fail, but still had an awesome time. Was able meet up with @Dfindura again and also met @mirlord out there (he killed it on a single speed).
I think I’ve had dumb wrecks on this course about half the times I’ve raced it, all happening when I get complacent on easy sections. It’s usually the last race of the year and I’m just in fun mode, probably need to take it a bit more serious. I ended up about 10 spots higher overall compared to last year and the exact some spot in age group, so I guess I’m consistent (wrecks and all).
I would agree with it running ~10 mins slow compared to previous years. The changes on the course seemed like they would have made it faster but I think the wind combined with it being looser and sandier this year probably contributed to that.
People are always getting a bit turned around on this course but this year seems to have been the worst example by a good margin - I think there were probably 40+ people that cut large sections out of the course at some point today
I was one of the 100+ people that missed a corner and missed a good 2-3 miles of course. I missed the same corner twice (1 and 3 lap). I think it was a corner that had flags in the distance for a later section and a marker in the brush, a little lower down, for the missed corner. It was easy to miss if you were looking ahead and saw the course markers for the later section. Annoyed as hell with myself and the group I was with during the first lap, but what are you going to do.
I ended up starting at the back of the 1st corral and didn’t have any issues to speak of starting. I was able to easily get ahead of some of the slower riders and have a good start into the single track. I went down once in one of the sand pit corners, but nothing serious. Scraped knees and one minor bruise.
Another issue I had this year for pre-riding - they (RPR or Rattler) didn’t let everyone know that last Saturday was closed until some of us showed up to pre-ride and got turned away at the gate.
With all of that said, I had a great time riding and it was good training if nothing else. Looking forward to getting my revenge next year with a bit more pre-riding.
Thanks for all the advice from here. It helped my race go a bit smoother.
I was in that same group from corral 1 that all missed the turn on lap 1. And because it was a turn onto the actual course nobody in the group running the route on their computer picked up on it. Everyone just followed the leader.
Well I followed the group and paid for it with a DNF argggh.
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Not to argue with those who made a wrong turn, maybe there was an issue with marking. But I think that the course was set up very well. I pre-rode it on Thursday and I didn’t have to pay any attention to the route on my head unit. Everything was clear enough. Of course, in the race it might be harder to spot things around you, I get that.
I recently did RAD gravel, and unfortunately I do know how does an utterly confusing course marking look like. We all fall victims to that once in a while.
Had a blast. And my pace was good. Had I kept going at that pace and not taken the wrong turn would have been competing with you guys for 2nd and 3rd in Singlespeed.
Congrats to all that completed the 3 full laps. I went for the 2-laps option so i could get myself acquainted with the course, maybe i’ll go for the full thing next year - need to admit I was pretty happy with the decision of only doing two laps for now.
Someone mentioned in this post(or in the past year’s) that it is a relentless course and that word got stuck in my mind for the almost 4 hours that took me to complete 2 laps. Between navigating traffic, grinding uphill and keeping up with loose rocks and sand, you really don’t have too much room to thing about nothing else.
People say that it is not a technical course but i would challenge that. I agree that there are no advanced features but if you really want to go fast, you got to have your bike handling technique on point, specially if you have a lot of traffic to navigate through.
It did not feel like an easy course by no measure.
A buddy of mine raced it this year and had an irreparable sidewall cut 15 miles into the first lap. Had to walk 3 miles back to the finish area. He said a friend of his he went with also had a DNF with a sidewall cut. As others have said, it’s definitely a tricky course in that you have to be paying attention the whole time. Sharp rocks and loose corners show up just when you start getting complacent.
Great event. Sadly, I too, found myself in the corral 1 DNF’ers… Had to have been over 100 of us? Hard to blame the race officials as I thought the rest of the course was marked pretty well.
Fortunately, I had no idea that I cut the course until about mid way through my second lap, so I pushed on as if it never happened and ended up with a really good “ride.” 5hrs 36min course time, which I believe would have put me under my goal of sub 6hr race had I not missed that section.
FastTrak t5 2.35 front and rear was a great tire combo on the 22 Epic Evo.
Planning to return next year and record an actual result.
I think I know the spot where the main problem was (almost exactly half way into the course). I saw a couple people continue straight at that spot when it required a left. I shouted to several riders way in front of me on the first lap who were heading that way. It’s one of the easiest spots to mess up on that course when it’s not marked because the natural path is straight continuing up the hill. I think I saw stakes up and loose tape that would have been blocking it, but the tape was down. Could have been a cow or deer screwing it up overnight, I have no idea. It’s a challenging course to mark well, but they really need to figure this out since it happens every year. Maybe get someone out there on an ATV an hour before race start to do a final check of the markings. I met up with the race director when I was out there pre-riding and they were making a big effort to get things marked well with the new metal signs. I think the rest of the course was really well marked (much better than prior years), but I’m not the best judge since I know the course really well. I do know all the most common points of confusion were well marked this year except that one problem spot. Another chance to make it right next year.
Mark on right is where the group missed it. Pretty bad miss IMO since it’s a pretty sharp turn. Second mark is where I missed it on my own. I saw flags straight ahead and followed them instead of turning.
argggh.