True Grit Epic 100 & 50 2018

Registered and ready to go. Only doing the 50 again. Is it March yet?

 

Awesome Song ... Got me through a really tough marathon.

Now...do I need that again?

 

Come on you slackers.

 

If I interpret this correctly (and I make no claim that I'm reading this right) you're asking all of us to go do this....and while I think I'd like to think I could, I probably would not be so lucky. But to those who can, salud!. Maybe someday...

 

I could but I can’t.

 

You're the only one excused! You have higher priorities until at least 2035.

 

I'll be there. I need to seriously get back on the mileage, but I really did enjoy the ass whooping this ride gave me last year.

 

Who's doing the 100?

 

The 100 is a monster ride. It's actually only 88 miles.....but 11,000' of climbing. It is also not like the riding we do here. The technical aspect of Zen, Barrels, and Barrel Roll feel like doing 2x the miles.

That said, maybe next year I'll go for the 100 again.....this year, it's the 50.

 

Yeah, the 50 sounds like fun. the 88miles with 11k of climbing is just survival (for me)

 

Only 30% full- according to the email I just received...

 

They get a good turnout.....those numbers will go up by race day.

 

Last year I paid for two races that I ended up not going to(Whiskey and Carson)......... live and learn.
I'll probably be there again this year. I'll sign up a few weeks before the race.
The $10 discount for singing early will not be a deciding factor.
I did sign up for CC as my winter motivator.

 

Soooo when I watch the vids / terrain seems like a lot of short travel 29ers... but @mtnbikej @Faust29 you guys survived on 29 HTs ...

 

Faust hasn't been out there yet.

In my experience....it's about 50/50 when it comes to the rigs out there. The chunky sections are chunky, and you pay the price on the HT, but there are also long stretches of smoother trail that is fine on the HT. The chunk/chunder that you do ride is quite ledgy with lots of square edges when you climb.....I've never liked climbing this kinda stuff on FS.

If I knew the trails better and could just bomb down through the chunk, then a 4" FS rig would be ideal. However I still find that I am slowly picking my way through the techy sections like it's my first time.

29 vs. 27.5 : 29 for sure. Faster on the smooth pedaling sections. Smoother on the smaller ledgy sections. No disadvantage in the chunk.

Sign up and join the fun.

 

I haven't survived anything yet!

Funny you should mention survival, though... It's my only goal for the race.

 

My plan for the 2018 rendition is to ride my Scott (FS).
Last year I rode my HT, and I felt that the course beat me up to exhaustion.
A 4" FS might soften the blows (a man can dream, right?).

 

I'm about to pull the trigger on a front tire for the Chameleon... Forekaster in 2.35 is actually a little lighter than the Ardent Race. Good choice for this one? I'll probably have the 2.35 Ardent Race on the back.

 

It’s fine ....it’s what I’m running this year.

This year: Forkaster 2.35-front / 2.35 Ikon-rear

The past 2 years:
2.35 AR-front / 2.2 Ikon-rear
2.35 Ikon-front / 2.2 Ikon-rear

 

Long range weather is looking great. High of 64, low of 39 on race day. 0% precipitation.

Let’s hope that holds.

 

Pretty good recap of the course.

 

Looks like there are 18 SS's registered for the 50.

 

Woo-Hoo! All I have to do is finish, and I'm guaranteed a top 20!

 

Dumb question... Looking at the Trailforks breakdown for the course, they have each section graded by difficulty from jeep road "blues" to double black diamonds. Are the trail signs out there labeled?

 

I don't know. Utah is very very bike friendly....so the trails are really well marked. Wouldn't surprise me if they were marked with color codes. I know that the "alt" lines on Bear Claw Poppy are coded Blue & Green.

 

I will say though that Mile 29.8-32.2 is super fast and flowy singletrack.

 

WOW! A whooping 2.4 miles of fun....

 

I think the first 20 miles are more your idea of fun.

 

Yeah, Barrels and Zen are more like 11 miles of Noble Canyon.....I wouldn't say fast and flowy, but by no means, not fun.