If I were to try and tackle this ( I stress the "if" part), I would borrow a full squishy bike and have some serious tires on it. It looks intriguing, painful and hard. Mostly hard. I will consider.
2012 Hard COEre 100
2
There are only a few weeks left now before the 2012 edition of the Hard COEre 100 (aka Coe 100): ride one big 100 mile loop in Henry Coe, with 20,000 ft of climbing (as per Garmin Edge readout); 'undie hundie' format, meaning it is entirely unsupported and not an organized race, though it features a group start (last year about a dozen showed up - three completed the 100 miles) and most tend to tackle it in small groups or using the 'buddy system'. Time and date: October 6, 2012, 7am (rolling), off the Hunting Hollow parking lot at the south entrance of the park. Route and many more details here. It is now listed under the Southwest Endurance Series (check out the site for the general philosophy behind these rides and similar events).
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It is not for everyone, but if you've done supported 100 milers or 24 hour events in the past, have done bikepacking races or are considering doing them, it could be. Knowing how to use a map + GPS (or knowledge of the park) and proper night ride gear / lights are highly recommended.
Last year some of us aimed higher but TahoeBC assured us nobody can climb 29k vertical feet in Coe. Not sure if anyone will prove him wrong this time around, but the Everest challenge is still out there, for those who would feel called upon.
A novelty this time is a metric route (100 km, or ~63 miles, with ~14,000 ft of climbing), which largely coincides with the 100 mile route. This is still a brutal test for any rider, and could probably be ridden by strong riders without or with minimal lights.
Note that on the same day the Tarantulafest BBQ takes place at Coe Headquarters (at ~mile 36 on the 100 mile route), which is an excellent opportunity to refuel (food is for sale between noon and 2pm - first come first serve).
Endless bragging rights will be your share if you complete this route; some links and reading material below to get 'in the mood'... please reply to this thread or send email using the address listed on the Coe 100 site if you're thinking of joining in the fun (metric, 100 miler or Everest). Besides the usual suspects, we expect to see some special guest appearances, and I also believe none other than Mr. Porkstacker will be lining up. Looking forward to it!
XXC Magazine article
2011 mtbr thread
2010 mtbr thread
2011 video
2011 thread on bikepacking.net
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</img>
It is not for everyone, but if you've done supported 100 milers or 24 hour events in the past, have done bikepacking races or are considering doing them, it could be. Knowing how to use a map + GPS (or knowledge of the park) and proper night ride gear / lights are highly recommended.
Last year some of us aimed higher but TahoeBC assured us nobody can climb 29k vertical feet in Coe. Not sure if anyone will prove him wrong this time around, but the Everest challenge is still out there, for those who would feel called upon.
A novelty this time is a metric route (100 km, or ~63 miles, with ~14,000 ft of climbing), which largely coincides with the 100 mile route. This is still a brutal test for any rider, and could probably be ridden by strong riders without or with minimal lights.
Note that on the same day the Tarantulafest BBQ takes place at Coe Headquarters (at ~mile 36 on the 100 mile route), which is an excellent opportunity to refuel (food is for sale between noon and 2pm - first come first serve).
Endless bragging rights will be your share if you complete this route; some links and reading material below to get 'in the mood'... please reply to this thread or send email using the address listed on the Coe 100 site if you're thinking of joining in the fun (metric, 100 miler or Everest). Besides the usual suspects, we expect to see some special guest appearances, and I also believe none other than Mr. Porkstacker will be lining up. Looking forward to it!
XXC Magazine article
2011 mtbr thread
2010 mtbr thread
2011 video
2011 thread on bikepacking.net
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the "hard COEre 10" sounds pretty tempting! 
I don't think the cartoon imagery is very fitting for this beast of an event. For me, the event evokes feelings more like this:
Attachments
Questions
I have some questions....
The GPX file is a text document, not Basecamp or Topofusion friendly, or at least not for me.
Is there another form of the GPX file by any chance?
Is the Everest deal just another loop? Is there a different GPX for that?
I've never ridden there so I would really need to follow the squiggly line on my GPS to be able to do this, especially at night
I've done 40,000 feet of vert in a 24 hour race but I would guess the terrain here is much more difficult. Do we only have 24 hours?
Thanks for doing this, looks very fun and it's obvious you put some time into it!
I have some questions....
The GPX file is a text document, not Basecamp or Topofusion friendly, or at least not for me.
Is there another form of the GPX file by any chance?
Is the Everest deal just another loop? Is there a different GPX for that?
I've never ridden there so I would really need to follow the squiggly line on my GPS to be able to do this, especially at night
I've done 40,000 feet of vert in a 24 hour race but I would guess the terrain here is much more difficult. Do we only have 24 hours?
Thanks for doing this, looks very fun and it's obvious you put some time into it!
interested in meeting up for the 100k option rock and roll next day with wife...ya thats my excuse haha!
rock and roll next day with wife...ya thats my excuse haha!
It's only like going up Kennedy and back down ... and back up Kennedy and back down ...and back ..... stop @ 7 out and back ... and its done. 2000 ft. gain per trip.
Looks like you already found a fix, but if you right click and 'save as' it should work I'd think... (btw, a GPX file is indeed a plain text file). There is also a Strava segment and you can find a few other formats here on MTBGuru (using the links right underneath the Google map).
EDIT: please don't use the GPX file linked from the MTBGuru trip page, but use this one on the hardcoere100.com site instead.
Last year our plan was to do the 100 mile course, and then do a few subsequent loops near Hunting Hollow (parking lot) so we could (a) stay close to the lot where we can easily refuel etc and (b) reach most of the extra elevation by climbing Jim Donnelly trail a few times - arguably the 'easiest' grade in the vicinity. Note that doing the latter would render the Everest challenge not entirely 'unsupported' (as you could rest, stash stuff in the car and restock on food etc) but at the time I didn't care as it was mainly for fund- and awareness raising. I still think this is ok, though one could argue about making it more 'pure' (which I'm not really interested in).
I could make a GPX of the route we had in mind to reach the 29k (let me know if you want me to), but if you improvize and do it another way that will be accepted as well (just record the track and show the footies).
It would be awesome if you'd show up - you could probably obliterate our feeble times from the pastI've never ridden there so I would really need to follow the squiggly line on my GPS to be able to do this, especially at night
I've done 40,000 feet of vert in a 24 hour race but I would guess the terrain here is much more difficult. Do we only have 24 hours?
Thanks for doing this, looks very fun and it's obvious you put some time into it!
, but I think navigation will indeed be your main challenge. There are many trail intersections and some are highly confusing; in some parts it's hard to id the start of a trail (occasionally you have to follow creekbeds for a while etc). This, and the steepness of the climbs makes the going fairly slow. There is a cue sheet as well on the site that may help. Last year two riders that had hardly ever been in Coe rode the course on GPS and maps (they did get lost a few times and had to retrace their steps) - up until mile 80 or so, after which their batteries were nearly dead and they decided to ride the fireroad home (so bring enough battery power, it is a long night).There is at least one other superfast rider that will show up for the 100 miler, but I'm not sure whether he'll tackle it as a 'social' ride or race it. If the latter, you may have some real competition (and he knows his way around there).
No real time limits; the 'course record' is currently 21hr 12min 58s (ready for improvement!) - for the Everest challenge I initially thought to limit it to 24 hours; but after thinking about it (just imagine rolling in after 24 hours 10 minutes), as long as you do it in a 'single ride' it is fine. If you do it sub-24 hours you'll get an asterisk denoting superhuman abilities!
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