Redlands Strada Rossa - March 19, 2016

Got you covered: Elevation: + 9936. We still need to tack on 11 miles and and 64 ft of elevation!

 

What the HALE is that between mile 36-ish and 40-ish?

And does it have an elevator?

 

Come on, Berni! We can pull each other around the course!

 

It looks like about 2000 feet in 5 miles... Pretty stout climb. @Cyclotourist - I'm guessing we didn't do that one... ?

 

Looks like the climb up to Loch Leven off the 38, and no we did not ride that, lol.

 

@Faust29 @Runs with Scissors @riiz @bigringrider101 I look at that profile and see a big middle finger aimed at the complacent world of cyclists!
LOL, J/K... it's a pretty damn righteous climb though! Only hints I'm giving are that roadies gonna' be hurting!

 

A little googling for Loch Leven and highway 38, and I immediately find a route by some guy named "cyclotourist". It looks like he's been all over them thar hills! I'm looking forward to this one...

 

The Google knows quality! Loch Leven/Old 38 is one of my all time FAVORITE rides. No real ST on it, but it's just a pleasure to ride. Great little restaurant at the summit, and you can add on the Postal Loop of the SART.

But remember, I don't believe I said it was on the RSR route!!!

 

@Faust29 I know a guy selling a set of MSOs for $60 shipped. 20 miles on 'em. Let me know if you want to try 'em out.
http://www.jensonusa.com/!CU0g3YXzfsPwt-MORUElbw!/Clement-Xplor-Mso-700C-Tire

 

Thanks for the offer! I think my plan is to go a little wider than that... I'm looking at a couple different tires in the upper 30mm/ low 40mm range. I've ridden the bike with cheap 40mm tires and I like the way it handles. It rolls fast on hardback/pavement, but is still wide enough for slightly rougher dirt.

 

My guess is Oak Glen is the spike. Loch would be an out and back with the same profile.

 

I took a good look at my 1.8" (45.7 mm) Kenda Slant Sixes and they're SCT. Means I can set them up tubeless.

 

@Faust29 I'm looking out for you, man!
@slomosapien Good guesses, but you won't anything out of me!
@Runs with Scissors Those are some of my favorite tires. They won't hold you back, but I'd definitely go tubeless.

Finalizing some trails this weekend, but if it goes according to plan, the English century is going to be on the epic side. Approaching Leadville numbers:

• EC: 104 miles(60 dirt) with 12,100'
• MC: 64 miles(32 dirt) with 6700'
• M 1/2: 36 miles(20 dirt) with 3600

Metric century and metric 1/2 are pretty much in the can.

 

@Cyclotourist - I took a gamble and ordered a set of the Knards for the el Mariachi. 700x41... Wider than a normal cross tire, but a lot narrower than the 2.2 Mountain Kings I use for mixed rides. I wanted something on the wide side, as I'm not the most petite rider. 120TPI, kevlar and 465 grams, which is a lot lighter than the Nano I was also considering. They should also set up tubeless pretty easily, according to Surly. I'm really looking forward to trying them out.

 

~40mm is my go-to tire size for most of my riding. Our trails are smooth, and mostly hard-pack. Unless I'm riding in sandy areas like the river, monstercross tires are perfect for the conditions. And lighter is better of course!

 

got registered over the weekend. Going to do the metric century on my Bantam Monster Cross, probably with Panaracer 40 mm Gravel Kings. I do have a set of 1.8" Slant Six's waiting in the wings if I change my mind. Did it 2 years ago on 650B Hetres which required some caution in the singletrack sections but were super fast on pavement and fire roads.

 

@BigSchill Welcome new member Mike! We're trying to add more dirt percentage to it, but it's a fine line between road and MTB. I don't think anything more than 40mm in width is necessary, but having some knobs on the sides vs. a wide slick like a Hetre is preferable. Lets you scoot up the dirt climbs and descend confidently and at speed. I love Thunder Burts, but their width is overkill. Heck, some guys were tearing it up on 25mm tires, so the rest of us can't complain too much!
https://www.strava.com/activities/271969147

 

Great video showing some of what we're trying to protect and preserve out here. You can see the collaboration, respect, and rapport we have between the different trial users.
The RSR route goes right through here, and I ride there at least once a week (just did today!).

 

Thanks for sharing that vid Dave @Cyclotourist. That did it for me. When we rode thru the "Sun Dial" area last time I felt it, Sacred Land. Not talking smack here, there is a vortex of good vibes going around in the area.
I took me a long time to decide to be part of this 'cuz that same weekend is Keyesville Classic, which I haven't missed in about 10 years. That vid made me look things clearly.
Bottom line I'm registered for the 100K. See y'all there

 

I remember the sundial, also... See you out there, Berni.

 

Thanks for watching it! I'm really proud of all the people that had a hand in putting it together. And thanks for coming out again to Redlands. Hope to not disappoint!

 

Here is their site, it just went live: http://www.saveliveoakcanyon.org/

 

"For those doing the 100 miler, holy crap it's going to be a hard one." @Faust29 this is from their FB page.

 

Yeah, you're going to earn some bragging rights!

We finalized some GREAT new routing over the weekend. There are NO junk miles on the 100 mile route, that's for sure. Actually had to dial back a few sections of it. On the first 32 miles, there are only five miles of asphalt! The next 30+ has a bit more, but maybe only 13 at max.

The 100 and 50 kilo routes have higher % asphalt on them, but the 100 miler is going to be QUITE dirt-biased. Three serious grinds on it.

 

On the money:

Distance: 100.0 mi
Elevation: + 10593

 

Got a Garmin file for this?

 

We will when we finalize the courses. Previous years we posted it on Ride w/ GPS, Strava, and had the GPX.
Typically the weekend before the event.

 

Starting to consider this......just not sure what I will have left after the True Grit Epic the weekend before.

 

Well someone has to keep @Faust29 company!
It's counter-intuitive, but the 100 miler is going to be more fun than the 62 or 31 mile routes. Full of smile-inducing segments of bliss. Well, smile, grimace, same thing, right! More of an off-road ride connected by pieces of asphalt rather than the opposite. Plenty of climbing, but most of that is in the 5-8% grade range. Very little over 10%.
A MTB that's set up for fast hardpack and long hours in the saddle will be great. I've gone everywhere on the route with a road bike and it's doable, but IMHO not that much fun due to the sandy sections as well as having to back way off on the descents. A CX bike set-up is really perfect.
So hope you as well as other IMTBers can make it! I'm promoting it a lot to mountain bikers as I think they/we/us really get the vibe we're aiming for! Yeah, it'll be hard, but there's a joy in it that will really be appreciated!

 

Speaking of RSR, we are looking for volunteers for staffing different SAGs as well as some prep.
Free t-shirt, meal, and drink! This is a sometimes tedious, but mostly really fun way to help out.
If you just want to do the short route, it's even possible to do that in the morning, and help out in the afternoon!

Please register HERE so we can confirm and get your t shirt size.

HERE are the volunteer positions.
Each SAG station needs two volunteers. Registration, Food prep and cooking needs at least four(4) each:

• THURS Course Marking
• FRI Course Marking
• 6:15-9AM Registration and pancake cooking
• 7:45-10:15AM SAG #1 Mentone
• 9:00-12:00AM SAG #2 Yucaipa
• 10:00-1:00AM SAG #3 Yucaipa
• 11:00-2:00AM SAG #4 Calimesa
• 12:00-3:00AM SAG #5 Redlands
• 12:00-3:00PM Food Prep (John's House)
• 1:00-5:00PM Cooking (John's)
• 50K Sweep rider
• 100K Sweep rider