South Park Dirty Fondo (SPDF)

Hosted by Brian Behn!

Please make sure to read all rules for this. This is fully unsupported and you will need to be self-sufficient in order to complete this. The rules are located HERE.

No more than 74 people allowed for this event!

This is intended to be NON-COMMERCIAL, Recreational-Use Activities that are held on parts of USFS lands in compliance with USFS Special Use Rules and Regulations.

NOTE- COURSE START AND FINISH IS IN SALIDA

When: Saturday, May 19, 2012 – 6:30AM.

What: Early Season, High Elevation Gravel Grinder, Self Supported, Ultra-Endurance, Hella-Epic.

Route: ~150-mile route at Mapmyride.com     South Park Dirty Fondo

Start: Meet a 6:00 AM in SALIDA at Cafe Dawn ( NOTE – THIS IS A CHANGE FROM THE ORIGINAL BV START), rolling at 6:30 AM sharp! Restrooms are available at the Start.

Finish: Whenever you arrive back in town – there will be a sign in / sign out board. The start will be at Cafe Dawn. The finish will be in Salida, at a TBD location…

Course Description:

                                        NEW COURSE UPDATED AS OF 4/30/2012

The link to the map has been updated. The course changes are the result of scouting the route and finding some roads only exist on google maps as well as moving the Aspen Ridge section to the beginning of the climb. It would not be fun to do Aspen Ridge at mile 135 and would be very unpleasant to descend from it if you were running late and it got dark.  This new course is much better and the scenery is amazing.

Here are main parts to the course:

• Salida to the top of CR 308, (miles 0-30). This is a climb up and along Aspen Ridge. It is a fairly decent climb and the last 2 miles of the climb are rough, but passable on a cross bike. The 2 miles after the top of the climb are a  jeep road, if you are careless / reckless here it could be an issue but if you pay attention a cross bike will be fine.

typical of the “rough” part of the aspen ridge section

• From the top of 308 you will enter the south park valley, ( miles 30 – 71). you are going to be here a while. It is a wide open valley with impressive views of the surrounding mountains. There is a gas station, a restaurant and an another store in Hartsel at mile 50.

• 39 mile mountain volcanic field, Guffey, Black Mountain (miles 71 – 112). After cresting the pass by 39 mile mountain drop down in to Guffey. Stop at Ritas, (mile 83) to refuel, (note – Rita’s closes at 5pm on Saturdays. You should be at mile 83 after 10 hours or you are in for a long evening. We are going to give her a heads up and see if she can stay open a bit later, but no promises). The terrain here could be described as rolling, but in a big way with some big climbs.

 If you need to bail or just want to do 125 mile-ish take a right at the sign in the picture below ,mile 104 and ride CR 2 and Ute trail home.  However, you should persevere to Mile 112 and I assure you that you can finish this ride. There are no big climbs after mile 112!  TURN LEFT AT THIS SIGN!!! DO IT! TAKE FIRE BOX ROAD !!! (formerly CR 11)If you bail here it will haunt you. GO TO COTOPAXI !!!!

The Course goes to the Left, the Right is the bail out.

• Mile 113 to 128.  Downhill. You earned it! Drop from the High desert to the Arkansas River in Cotopaxi. Go in to the Cotopaxi Store and re-fuel. On Saturdays the store closes at 6pm. To make this you need to be at mile 112 around 5pm. Assuming we start at 7am (I know it says 6:30 but I have never seen a ride start on time) this means you must average around 11 miles an hour to mile 112. Remember miles 112 -128 are downhill and can easily be ridden in an hour.

• The Arkansas river. From here the course is flat to ever so slightly uphill. Most of it is along a 2 track that runs next to the River. From Cotopaxi to Coaldale you have to ride on the highway,  4 miles of pavement. Mile 131-132 is not the best for road bikes as there is a cliff on one side and a river on the other side. Ride single file here please and watch out for trucks or absent minded RV’s.  AT mile 133 escape the pavement to the SE on CR 45. At mile 135 go straight across the highway towards Vallie bridge. This is the dirt road that leads to the double track along the river. At 140 you will see this sign. Although it says “NO OUTLET” KEEP GOING STRAIGHT. THERE IS AN OUTLET.     

Around mile 141 it turns to a double track, but a “good” double track and perfect for a cross bike. At 143 you encounter Badger creek, cross it. I can not tell you to use the abandoned, but perfectly fine railroad bridge that no train ever goes on to cross it as that would trespassing.  At 147 you hit the highway, ride pavement to mile 150.5 and take a right here, cross the bridge and go up CR 102 for 200 yards past the cattle barn. Take the obvious left  at the and follow the railroad tracks back to Salida.

Print outs of the course map will be available at the start. It is highly recommended that riders bring lights with them.

This is a big day, at high altitude. Most of this course is through the middle of no where. You may not have cell phone coverage and the roads have little traffic. Map My Ride is notorious for being inaccurate about the total elevation gain. Map my ride puts the total gain at 9409 vertical feet gain…take that with a very large grain of salt as it is probably more like 12,000. (I’ll try to get a more accurate #)

Do:

• Bring a mountain bike or Cyclocross Bike
• Prepare for a big day at altitude
• prepare for some of the best views in the state
• Bring a light, and a red flashing tail light
• Study the map and have a bailout plan. There may not be a SAG vehichle
• Contact me with any questions (behnbrian at yahoo.com)

Don’t

• Show up with a road bike with 700x 28 tires. Don’t show up with 700x 35 slicks for that matter.

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