Salida Big Friggin Loop (SBFL)

Hosted by Tom Purvis!

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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.

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.

When: Saturday, June 8, 2019 – 6:30 AM.

What: Singletrack, high elevation, back country self supported endurance epic. Ride the base loop or the long loop. The long loop passes through the ghost town of Futurity (with brief hike-a-bike). There will be a 30-minute time deduction for the first 20 long loop riders to pass through Futurity who are able to find a special Futurity Chip. Instructions about where to look for the chips when in Futurity will be given during the rider’s meeting.

GPS Route:  The long loop is 104.8 miles with 12,422 ft of climbing. LONG LOOP GPX HERE. The base route is 89.3 miles with 10,526 ft of climbing. BASE ROUTE GPX HERE. For Garmin Edge users, BASE ROUTE CRS FILE and LONG ROUTE CRS FILE.

Once again for 2019 you will have the Cottonwood Singletrack Option! Here is the GPX for Cottonwood to Salida from the route (here is the CRS version). The Beasway trail links CR175 (the gravel road into town at the end of the SBFL) to Rhumba Trail to Cottonwood Gulch. It will be an option, not required for a finish. The turn is a mere 7 miles from the finish, 20 minutes or less of coasting downhill. Instead, you’ll be riding singletrack that could take as long as 2 hours to complete (more likely closer to 90 minutes). You will get a 100 minute premium if you ride the Cottonwood option, but be aware, it is a technical trail. You will probably be kind of tired, so choose wisely when it’s time to decide on taking the option or just rolling for another 20 minutes with minimal effort.

Start:  Riders meeting at 6:00 AM at Gathering Grounds at 203 West 1st Street, rolling at 6:30 AM sharp!

Finish:   Whenever you arrive back in town you will sign in at Gathering Grounds at 203 West 1st Street.

Course Description: Meet up at Gathering Grounds at 203 West 1st Street. We will ride south on G Street to turn right on 3rd, staying left on westbound 3rd Street to Poncha Blvd, to CR140, to CR250. We will be branching left on 252 up to Blanks Cabin/Mt Shavano TH. Ride north on the Colorado Trail all the way to Cottonwood Creek, then down into Buena Vista at the half-way point where you can restock with food and water. Then we head into the Arkansas Hills via the Midland Trail. At the end of the Midland, climb Shields Gulch to the Lenhardy Cutoff.

The Base Loop will go up Lenhardy to the intersection with McGee Gulch, down McGee to Hwy 24 to a straight crossing and up the Mushroom Gulch Road, up the Castle Rock Gulch Road, crossing Bassam Park to Aspen Ridge. Here is a cue sheet for the base loop from BV to Salida in pdf format.

The Long Loop will continue up Lenhardy Cutoff to Chubb Park and then Trout Creek Pass. Then it will descend Mushroom Gulch and briefly join the base route. Then it will climb up to an intersection of roads call Black Dumps, then up to Futurity. After Futurity it will rejoin the base route. From that point both routes head over Aspen Ridge, and down Ute Trail into Salida.

PLEASE NOTE:  The recommended way to navigate the route(s) is using a device for following a GPS track! The course is NOT MARKED. The first half following the Colorado Trail is pretty obvious, since you are following the Colorado Trail. But after you leave Buena Vista you will be following a course that can be confusing. Especially the long loop is particularly difficult to know. I strongly recommend not attempting the long loop without a GPS that you have used before. I have provided a cue sheet for only the base loop from Buena Vista to Salida, for those who intend to ride with no GPS or to use as a backup to get back to Salida in the event that your GPS malfunctions.

PLEASE USE THE REGISTRATION PAGE IF YOU WISH TO ENTER.