[PattD]

Looking for info on whether it's worth the trek from CO to do mid winter here. Can't imagine my fitness will be remotely on at that point, but course seems pretty tame. Would love to do on SS 29er and test the bike out in long ride conditions.

THanks!

 

[hairball_dh]

Course is very tame indeed

Looking for info on whether it's worth the trek from CO to do mid winter here. Can't imagine my fitness will be remotely on at that point, but course seems pretty tame. Would love to do on SS 29er and test the bike out in long ride conditions.

THanks!

A good bit of singletrack, rolling through the high desert. It's an awesome escape from the CO winter, well, uh, except last year cause it was a freakin' typhoon.

You could view it as a 24 hour base ride, and I'd think it would be a great course for a SS, especially if the conditions are bad.

Good organization, fun course, good times.

 

[sportsman]

It's definitely a great course for a ss. I can only think it would be a better course for a 29er ss.

And a fun race. hopefully the weather will be better than last year.


It is difficult to get in shape for this mid_february race in CO, or northern NM..Lots of long, cold rides in January..

 

[calzonical]

I'm also looking at doing the 24hrs of OP, possibly on the SS (26"). I am curious about the gearing setup for the course. I am currently running 34:19 riding the CO Front Range. What would be a good gear combo for a 24hr solo ss at OP?

 

[sportsman]

How often and long do you ride 34:19?

I live in northern NM (similar terrain to the front range at 2000+ higher elevation) and generally ride 34:18 here, and I ride it often. Last year at OP I pushed 34:18 the whole race, it did begin to wear on me (it is a 24 hour race though), and made me think it might be too tall, but in the end all was good. If the weather had been better, it might've been easier, but then you have to go faster and you still get tired...

So, if you're able to do longish rides on the 19, and ride a few days back to back over the same terrain without feeling that it's ripping your legs off, then you should be able to ride it at OP without too much difficulty. otherwise, a 34:20 would probably be the most that you have to back off. This might be boring at times, but most of the course is tight and twisty, which makes it difficult to maintain momentum, so you sprint out of lots of turns (or at least accelerate out of them)

 

[Snake Muesl]

Looking for info on whether it's worth the trek from CO to do mid winter here. Can't imagine my fitness will be remotely on at that point, but course seems pretty tame. Would love to do on SS 29er and test the bike out in long ride conditions.

THanks!

I'll be making the trek from Portland, OR.

Was there in '04 (I had a tip about the rain last year ).

I'll be running gears, but if there was any venue that I would pop my ss cherry on, it would be OP (gentle and not too big).

 

[douglas]

will be doing the 4 person team @ OP (2 of us live in NY & the other 2 in VA)

 

[schwing_ding]

I will be doing it this year, but haven't decided between a SS and geared. My partner (Dual class) will ride a SS. It seems the solo spots are all sold out. He did it last year SS solo. I believe he started out 34/17 and slowly migrated to a 19, then a 21 or so. If I go with the SS it will likely be a 32/17 with a 19 as the race progresses. Last years deluge was supposed to be a 17 year storm for the area. Apparently brake pads were the main issue for non-disc rides. The local shop was sold out before the lights came out. Stories of duct tape for pads, shoes dragging on tires, etc. The 1st place female solo SS ran a fresh set of Cool Stops v-brake pads the whole race and brought a backup set she did not use. Probably could have sold them for a nice fee though . Looking forward to a fun (warm) ride in the middle of winter. It will also be a good way to tweak intake requirements early in the season. Best of luck...

 

[Roger___]

I hope this isn't the case...

"It seems the solo spots are all sold out."

I just signed up online this morning. Got confirmation Solo SS and gulp...they accepted my credit card!

 

[schwing_ding]

Interesting...

Perhapse you could let us know how it comes out in the wash. I may have received some erroneous information.

 

[Roger___]

I received...

the email confirmation of my entry/waiver form email. So I'll assume I'm in. If I receive anything to contrary stating it's full and I'm being refunded I'll pass that information on here.

Roger

 

[Pivvay]

How bad are the thorns on this course? I don't want to run tubeless but would slime lite tubes be enough? Fixing flats for 24hours doesn't sound like fun to me.

But the race seems to be pretty well liked and it is on my birthday weekend which gets me free no hassle support crew acceptance (my wife ). I'm just getting bored with all these base miles and no racing!

 

[douglas]

there were many chunks of cactus knocked into the middle of the trail.......I wasnt always able to bunny hop them, so thankfully my slime tubes did their job

 

[hairball_dh]

...and you can plan

on going through at least 1 cactus during the event. Yes, that's through, not over

 

[sportsman]

I used slime lites one year, and they failed me during the middle of the night after an encounter with a cactus beside the trail (but I know others that didn't flat) . Used Stans last year with no puncture flats.

The slimes might not have failed if I hadn't plowed through a catcus

 

[schwing_ding]

Erroneous information

Once I informed my duo partner about his error, we both promptly registered solo. He, being the minimalist went SS. Since this is my first solo event, I went chicken sh!t and will bring some gears. Thanks Roger...sorry for the confusion for anyone else. BTW, what is the beef with running tubeless? I average at least one flat per ride, which quickly stopped with the stan's no-tube kit. A new ride came with tubeless stock, and has yet to have ANY problems. Having said that, I did run stans as a precaution. Sh!t, I just said that I don't get flats...what the hell was I thinking?

 

[Pivvay]

Once I informed my duo partner about his error, we both promptly registered solo. He, being the minimalist went SS. Since this is my first solo event, I went chicken sh!t and will bring some gears. Thanks Roger...sorry for the confusion for anyone else. BTW, what is the beef with running tubeless? I average at least one flat per ride, which quickly stopped with the stan's no-tube kit. A new ride came with tubeless stock, and has yet to have ANY problems. Having said that, I did run stans as a precaution. Sh!t, I just said that I don't get flats...what the hell was I thinking?

I've never run stans and don't really want to convert my only disc wheelset to it just for the race. If that was the best option for flat free riding I would but other than the thorn/cactus protection I don't have the desire to install it for riding here in Colorado.

 

[Roger___]

No worries...

glad you both are in....see you in AZ....look for a Sycip rider on a cabbie yellow SS.

I'm use to lots of jagged rock and ruts etc...but thiscactus stuff throws a whole new reason to "watch your line!"

Happy training...

Roger

 

[schwing_ding]

Pivvay,
I am here in CO too. Front Range, Denver area. It was seldom that I would get flats from punctures, only in the front. The rear would pinch flat at least once per ride. The worst I had with the stan's was a burp after a series of big hits. I added a little CO2 as a precaution and rode on.

Roger,
Look for the Dane with an 18" unit. At least that is what he likes to run around telling people. I'll be on a blue revolver. Have you done this one in the past?

Everyone,
I was wondering about running lights on the head or bar. I will likely have a LED 10w equivalent. I don't know the beam pattern yet, but normally find a 10w to be too narrow for speed when on the bar. Especially in tight quarters. Having said that, the light data I was able to find was about 12.5 hours of darkness. I still haven't found anything on moonlight data, intensity, phase, etc. That's a lot of time with extra weight on both the head and back. If I can keep it on the bike, so much the better. The course map looks like there are many straight sections, but photo's I have seen show a few detailed tech areas. Insights anyone?

 

[Pivvay]

Pivvay,
I am here in CO too. Front Range, Denver area. It was seldom that I would get flats from punctures, only in the front. The rear would pinch flat at least once per ride. The worst I had with the stan's was a burp after a series of big hits. I added a little CO2 as a precaution and rode on.

I'm about 160lbs and dropping slightly right now. At 35-40psi I don't pinch flat at all. I might try it on my single speed but I'm not convinced.

As for lights I'll have at least 20w on my head since that's my "primary" light. I'll be duoing it or with a 4 man team though.