Stagecoach 400 update for tomorrow

Today we made our way from posh desert town of Palm Springs, stark, dry even austere landscape up over 6000 feet to settle in to the town of Idyllwild. For east coasters, it's a little like Cherokee or Murphy NC but with a little flair. In Colorado it's a smaller town than Leadville maybe more like one of the mining towns coming up from Denver just off the highway, only a little more woodsy.

We left PS and clouds were looming overhead it looked like we might even see light snow but it never went below 44 and we reached cloud level at 4500 feet. We drove through the foggy rainy mist for 10 miles to Idyllwild where the streets all 5 or 6 go in a spiderweb of directions. Once we arrived at the Hub Cyclery it was quiet not too hectic and they greeted us very nicely. Brendon the bike builder for Siren bikes is the race coordinator and he pointed us to good food, finished Al's bike and gave us the schedule of events. We went over to the hotel, checked in and had a coffee. Once in our room we realized we were still a bit frazzled and quite unsure how to pack. This is a long story..

At 6pm we went back to the shop to the pre race meeting to find out our SPOT trackers were running late and that we would have a delayed start so tomorrow we start at 10 ish. Great riders showed up and some interesting approaches exist. Some will see how much they can do, others don't plan on stopping or sleeping. Iditabike and Tour Divide record holders here as well as 24 hr national champs, and there's only 40 of us.

Afterwards heading back to the hotel I noticed my bike was not shifting. A problem we noticed but thought we corrected. I took it to The Hub and they tried a few things but it appears my front shifter is dead. This means I will in fact ride a 1x9 as originally planned. Bummer but can't spend time thinking about it now.

Back at the hotel Al and I worked feverishly to load up and trim down our load. Al moved slightly towards buying his bags and I am all made by me or Al's wife ( I borrowed one of her creations ). Once we eliminated I have to say my bike must be near 40-45 lbs. I have 7hrs ready made nutrients, 5hrs concentrate I just need to add water, and 25 hrs of powdered INFINIT nutrition.

I was also able to make room for my Humboldt Adventurewear Wind Stopper vest, I will wear my Adventures Edge riding kit, and I have cool weather gear as well. 2 lights, GPS, chargers, first aid, GoPro camera, baby wipes (disposable biodegradable), extra batteries, tools, tubes etc..

So tomorrow the link to follow us will be
http://trackleaders.com/stagecoach400
You can view Al and myself individually or everyone.

I need to thank my kids Andre soon to be home miss him so, Lucas who will one day do more incredible things than I ever imagined and Noah who is a dream child great student, great athlete and great son. Liz has been helping me make this happen and I mean even helping me buy a sewing machine!! She's so fun!

Humboldt Adventurewear for being cool friends and supporting with their awesome gear.

INFINIT nutrition, just read the middle of this post, I trust them with my life saving nutrition!

Almo, Graeme, Ricky I hope you all feel great in coming weeks!!!

C'yall in a few hours!!!

Stagecoach rules, it's why we do it!

Rules (adapted from other self-supported events)

Ride your bike, self-supported, under only your own power, along the entire route.
No pre-arranged support, no outside assistance of any kind. This means you should be prepared take care of yourself and not burden any other person. This includes but is not limited to navigation, mechanical assistance, and medical support. No caching of food, water, or anything else. Any food, water, etc, acquired on route must be from public sources, ie stores, restaurants, spigots, etc.
Prepare & behave in such a way as though you were riding the route entirely yourself.
Don’t break the law.
Understand that you are on your own, 100% with no outside assistance at all. These events take place on open routes with other users including motor traffic, hunters, etc, and will lead you through very long stretches of open wilderness where food, water, and medical assistance can be very hard to come by.

Ready to roll for Stagecoach 400

Bike check
Bags check
GPS check
Chargers and lights check
Legs ughg well ughg lol

It's here in 2 days I will be heading out to Idyllwild, CA for the start of the Stagecoach race. Things were going very well in preparation until this week then a bunch of work and personal stuff spun up enough to make one feel like your not ready. Truth is I'm ready, I am refocusing while finishing 2 intense workdays.

The race will be tracked on www.trackleaders.com and we will carry SPOT trackers so you can see our progress. Currently Al Maxey and I don't have a gameplan for speed or distance we want to cover each day since there are so many unknowns but I think we are shooting for a 3.5 day excursion through some of Southern California's best terrain.

I think I will update some more from Palm Springs on Wednesday or Idyllwild Thursday.

There was not supposed to be a prize in all this but there will be for me. At the end of all this i get to go see my son Andre who should be back from Afghanistan hopefully by then. What more could a dad ask for.

Serge

Frame bag prototype

Got the bag completed, I used an inexpensive Ripstop that would be nice for garments but has been a challenge in this case. Nonetheless, I used retroreflective straps that have Velcro to hold them in place and a rugged but not waterproof zipper. Inside I made a mesh pocket that really didn't need to be mesh and the mesh stretched out of shape. The bag also needs more straps, although I tried to go minimal the rigidity and structure rely heavily on on being strapped solid.

Lessons were learned, better materials and better layout plan for bag 2. I am happy with bag 1 and it'll be a nice day to day bag as its brand new and should last a while.

Some photos below in process, presented on the bike, mounted empty, mounted full.

Look for pics of the next project, bag 2, handlebar and saddle solutions.

Quick update, I had a pretty lousy cold, "humboldt crud" as many would describe here in the area.  I took almost a week of and not quite at an appropriate time for training.  I was feeling quite well with my training for the Stagecoach and my weight and strength were working together as expected.  I could feel my endurance increasing substantially from my regimen of hill climb runs, spin class intense workouts and some extensive rides.  One single moment of overlook, a depletion of minerals and recovery, lack of sleep and you quickly find yourself susceptible to colds and flus.

Tomorrow I start a rapid attempt to recoup time lost, strength and endurance lost.  Work will be a challenge this next month, major projects, major workload and travel arrangements for end of April, mixed with cycling training.  This is a moment in time that reminds me that I am not a paid athlete, I am a dedicated avid cyclist with very lofty goals.  I am proud to do what I do with the limited training time, the family responsibilities, a job that can need me at any given hour and yet, I keep raising the bar.  One of my bosses said to me in a recent review that I have a "well balanced work-life", I am not sure that is true, I struggle to balance it all but I guess i's not all out of whack so that's pretty good.

My frame bag needs a bit of work, some velcro work should be done this week.  I need to make 2-3 other bags or devices one for the bar, saddle and maybe the top tube.  Toying with ideas from what I see on the market and some ideas of my own to carry a sleeping bag, bivvy, sleeping pad and nutrition.  All other items I need to carry are somewhat already covered.

Had a great time today taking photos for Humboldt Adventure Wear's web pages and catalog.  They have a great product and even better outlook on how the see themselves as a company, not overbearing, with a healthy approach to how their product is made and marketed.  Finished my day with a hot tub visit to Finnish Hot Tubs with Liz and Noah, we all needed it bad.  Good times!

Off to Point Arena tomorrow and finalize some end of month work and then maybe a ride in Ft. Bragg area.

FLASH POW

HOT TUBBIN

Ciao

Bike packing Frame Bag

Almost done with my frame bag, the fabric was a parachute fabric I found at a surplus store, in this whole attempt, possibly the worst choice since it seems to be shredding at edges. The straps are iron on retroreflective ribbon, I will add Velcro tomorrow. The zipper opens both ways and inside is a full size mesh pocket. I can fit my Leadville pillow my mom made me and still have room for quite a bit.

Below are some photos to show how it will sit in the frame but it still needs some tweaking.

Sewing has been fun, this took about 5 labor hours and cost under 40 dollars. I think I will play with this material a bit more then I'll get the good stuff, XPAK.

Well more on this soon!

Just a month away! SC 400

So I had a good training regime going and in one week I feel I've taken about 10 steps backwards. Now most every year this happens, a cold, work or even an injury is a set back. This year though, the mileage, type of race and terrain of the events I chose for 2022 leave little room for set backs.

On a lighter note, Noah is kicking ass in wrestling, Lucas is man of the match against number 7 rugby team in US, my sister is running races again, and getting on podiums, Andre will be home soon as well.

My frame bag is about 75% done, learning to use a sewing machine is not as hard as I expected but I can't say I got it all perfect. Some snags, jams, threading and procedural issues will make an interesting bag. Materials will be ok on the test bag but not great, as I chose some based on price and availability. Pictures soon enough!

Now some meds and tv time to sleep.

Hey is that an ILUV2MTB sticker???