Couch Canyon (Trail 47) has a nice oh 2 1/2" / 63mm wide rut right in the middle of it in a LOT of places. Glad that the Gravel race is skipping it on the first lap, but yes there will still be bodies of folks that blew it out on lap 1 and don’t have the mental energy to make smart decisions on lap 2.
I’m hoping 45mm Ramblers at 28psi with tire liners will be enough to survive the gravel race. Also dropper is a MUST HAVE with all the sketchy loose over hard descents.
As far as dropper - I prerode the Fugeo course last weekend with the same 29er hardtail and high post I’ve raced on for the last 5 years and it was manageable. There was some sketch but no big drops or rock gardens where you really need to get back. But it’s a MTB with 2.4/2.2s, not a gravel bike with drop bars.
While I was riding, I noticed they changed the signs so the return leg of the Fuego adds some singletrack sections and more water crossings. For a mile or two, it did not match the course provided on the website that I had in my Garmin. This leaves some opportunities to pull a Rosie Ruiz if someone follows the navigation file on their Garmin instead of the signs.
Webdev511, Are those Ralph / Ray 2.25 or 2.35 tires? Just reference for size, thanks.
Which Flavor of Fuego were the changes for XC or XL? Either way I hope they update the posted route. The GPX for XL and Gravilla also still had some turns on to trails that haven’t existed for years.
2.25 where what I was running 26 psi F / 29 rear as I’m Clydesdale with kit and osprey
TBH, I was only looking for the Fuego (40K) signs but I seem to recall that the post had the XL and Gravila signs on there too. It was maybe a mile loop west of Addington.
The course for the XC course (actually closer to 50k) now runs Trail 14 and up 18 rather than up Addington and trail 17 per the map.
No, you’re not wrong, Gravilla IS going there, just not until lap 2. IMHO it should be skipped on lap 1 unless they can add at least a couple more miles of fire road before it chokes off. Gravilla shouldn’t be using it at all, but the course creator has been doing it for so long I don’t think he wants to cut it out. IMHO if you want to do Couch, you should enter an XC race, if you want to run fire roads and double track, then Gravel.
Also from a friend that’s camping out at the track.
The entire “P” camping section is flooded/super damp/ uncampable so they’re trying to figure out where to move people. Volunteer trying to do sign in of campers has no info on where to put people.
Volunteers make these things happen, but boy do they get handed a crap sandwich from time to time.
FYI it was hot on course for the Gravel race last Friday.
248 Started 124 finished. I made the last climb on the bike both laps, so that’s something. Cramped at mile 20 (was behind on hydration) and ended up riding alone for a good 70% of the race. SUPER hard to stay on pace with just the head unit prodding you along.
Tough course on a gravel bike! And the 8-ish miles of climbing at the end is brutal (and you did it twice). Well done!
Can imagine that single track on gravel bike now… 
First time for me, caught off guard by the nature of the route. Especially the first descent was quite a rude awakening. After that it was cat-and-mouse with mountain bikers around us: slower on the descents and faster on flats and climbs. And tipping over twice when getting stuck on a steep climb behind MTB in lower gear. But overall still really great experience.
45mm Ramblers with CushCores 29psi/rear 26psi/front, Redshift stem & dropper was as close as I was getting my Gravel bike to MTB. I think the 31-46 final ratio helped too, but that’s a frankenstien mod that I removed right after I washed my bike.
Since I’m a) local-ish and b) interested in having the gravel race at sea otter be more gravel, I’m going to work with the race director on a more gravel friendly course. Granted there will still be some of the signature single track sections, but the stuff with three down arrows. Yeah those gotta go.
Yes, those three down arrows… First thought that meant a 3-wide lane, later on the course it triggered the ‘oh shit’ response 
. Now that I understand the route it would be cool to do it again, but the description on the site might need some tweaking: combines forest service roads and smooth trails
Also a bunch of ultra washed out bumpy AF downhill sections that are right before a sharp turn that you need to brake hard for despite there also being a huge hole right where you need to start braking if you have any hope of making the turn without triggering Fight, Flight or Freeze response. 
