True Grit Epic 2019

YAY!!!!! Oh yeah.......and YAY!!!!!!!!!

 

Dammit. Now I can't use my three-pedaled bike with parallel wheels and a steering yoke!

 

It also leaves out Unigeezer!

 

This is the road up to Gooseberry atm.

 

Better bring the gravel bikes.

 

Gotta love that Utah clay!!!

 

That looks really familiar, 'cept I managed to get out without assistance. Killed my car though.

 

Hopefully it warms up this week.

 

Yuck...

 

I think that my room is refundable.....

 

The race will be fine.

 

I "raced" the 2017 VQ.
Riding up muddy Blackstar in the dark left me with some permanent mental scars.

 

The last time someone told me that, my bike ended up looking like this

 

With 900 racers, I'd doubt they would send us out if that is what we had to look forward to.

 

That was pretty much my thinking before this happened. It was a small part of the course but it only took 10 ft before my bike was completely fooked.

 

Not that it would cause me to change my plans (my place is nonrefundable), but how much rain did they get on Wednesday?

 

A significant amount.

My backyard is flooded.


(getting it landscaped in a month! wooo)

My oldests soccer game on Saturday is canceled, due to the weather/storm. My wife told me this morning that there was "significant damage" done. Note; we played our game last Saturday in a downpour just fine.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1132297486951181

This was taken today, and is the road up to Guacamole.

The locals, who usually are proudly boasting "Everything is open! It's awesome!" are starting to become despondent.

At this point, mostly due to my lack of training, I'm hoping they do one of the shorter courses. I can't imagine Bear Claw Poppy->Stucki is going to be in ANY shape to be ridden.


oh... and it's supposed to rain more tomorrow.

 

8 laps of Zen Trail should do it...

 

Your neighbor had the right landscaping idea...

 

The regulars/locals on the local SW Utah Facebook page said at 10 am Utah time today: "Observations as of now... there is not a single ridable trail in the hurricane cliffs area. Period." He lives in Virgin and is a licensed guide in the area. Others seem to think the True Grit should be cancelled but won't be.

 

Just in...


Relax, it is going to be a great race.
I know you have all been thinking about and talking about the weather. Well so have we. For the last week or more we have studied the soil conditions, along side the BLM and the City to determine , what , if any changes would need to be made to the course on Saturday.

Green Valley is by far the worse area affected . We have altered the course slightly in this area to avoid sections that will not dry. Second is Cove Wash. The pattern has been to have mud in the early mornings and then drying through the day. Because of this we are making the following changes.

50 MIle and 15 Mile racers. There are only minor course changes to avoid some bad mud areas. As of now we expect you will ride the full course.

100 mile race on alert. We will monitor the conditions at 6 am. If they are not passable the start will be routed down Sunset to Dixie Drive, then up Canyon View to Green Valley where you will start your single track on Zen. The rest of the race would remain the same, with a full lap on the second lap. Be prepared for either start.

Gravel - your course has been changed. You will not go down cover wash. There will be a neutral start on the road ( sunset to Dixie to Canyon View) . Once on dirt you will head toward the Zen Feed Zone and up the fire road to the Poppy Trail. The rest of the course will be the same. You could encounter small patches of mud, but on our marking days it was in great shape.
A note on markings. There are very few turns on this course and it always stays on a main road. Major turns have this sign :

 

I am looking forward to the ride reports on this one. I really do not want it to be a recap of the 2017 Vision Quest.

 

A little taste of Zen Trail...

 

So good! Are you guys full squishing it?

N/M - a little more careful scrutiny of the pictures says yes.

 

Good luck y'all. I tapped out. While I've done some elliptical work, I've only been on my bike once in the past six weeks. There's just no easy way to quit midrace if I bit off more than I can chew... and I suspect I've got a tiny bite today.

It's also stupid cold this morning.

 

Sending Mid-Adventure Posi-Vibes...
Be Good... Be Lucky... Be Gritty !

 

I did that road in a honda fit....

 

Hope u all had a great race!