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And it was a fun weekend on the bike!

Saturday’s gathering at Idyology was a bunch of fun. Thanks to Windean for the help setting up our screening of Inspired to Ride, and for providing great food & drink. We also viewed a clip from the 1980 Crested Butte Clunker Classic, which set a groovy tone for the ride on Sunday.

Cool, overcast weather on Sunday set us up for a great day on the bike. This year’s ride boasted a single 55 mile loop, shorter than any previous year’s “long” loop but still very tough. We had 30 finishers, and raised about $1600 for the Idyllwild PTA/smARTS program this year.
Check out the photo album on Facebook.
View the results here.

Team Stravadactyl taking a brief moment on South Ridge trail.

The 2015 San Jacinto Enduro/ Badger ride benefiting the Idyllwild PTA/ smARTS Project is open for registration! 

Nope, we don’t have Badgers in the San Jacintos.

Here’s a link to registration & donation page. And a reminder: 100% of your donation goes to the Idyllwild PTA/smARTS Project, bringing arts eduction to public schools. We are SO stoked to help out, and have fun doing it.

Rundown of the weekend’s rough plan:
Saturday-  outdoor film screening of Inspired To Ride, the new film produced by Mike Dion (Ride The Divide, Reveal The Path) at the new Hub Cyclery Outpost. (and that ain’t the shop- details to come! 😉 )
Sunday- Ride starts at Early O’Clock. This year’s ride follows a 2 loop format. Knock out the first loop and head out for the second loop if you’re up for more trail time.

Follow our Facebook Page if you’d like to join the conversation, and check the Event Page for FAQ’s. Route files (GPX, cues) expected around the first week of October.

The “beta mode extension” for the ride this year is OUT, which hopefully doesn’t come as much of a surprise. 

“That route sucks!”

Heat and general lack of quality pull the extension for the year. It’s destined to improve (mapping with beer goggles) and may likely become an event in it’s own right.

In other news, we are hearing reports of good water flow in Coyote Canyon, and favorable sand conditions in the desert. Pavement to Pavement times sounding good from Split Mountain to S-2.

Tick Tock, 2 weeks out…

We like to think of the addition of Coronado Island this year as an improvement to the route; which may or may not affect your clock time on the ride. In the Mountain/ Desert/ Ocean balance we seek, it brings more ocean. (technically it’s the bay, but still) It makes for a better bike tour and that’s for sure what we’re after.

I contend it makes for a better ride too. As desert conditions and weather are variable, for example, you’ll be required to constantly recalculate your ETA’s along the way. The ferry schedule in contrast is a fixed time sink / speed check that may require you to speed up your pace to catch a given shuttle. Or it might require you to slow your roll a bit, and catch some sleep. These are challenges truly unique to our ride. It requires more on-the-fly strategy, perhaps, and rewards the riders who can leverage it to the fullest.

The ferry schedule runs 9:30am to 9:30 pm, later up to 10:30/10:40pm on Fridays & Saturdays (that’s us!)

We will make an addendum to the cues to reflect the later Friday/Saturday times. In case you’re wondering about the Commuter Ferry, it runs Monday-Friday.

How’s it gonna play out?
My hunch is something like this: The fastest riders might have to slow their roll a bit, waiting for the first Saturday ferry to run at 9:30am. If the desert conditions stay how they have been, it’ll be a fast run through the sand.
For the mid-pack riders, my hunch is you’ll be in the zone. Back-mid-packers might need to focus a bit and step on the gas. Again, that’s assuming good desert conditions. Some late-mid-packers won’t make it. You’ll probably have an idea of this by the time you’re in Alpine. If you need to slow your roll, I’d suggest doing it in Alpine, where you have some of the best beer on the entire route (and that’s saying something)
I could be wrong about all this. Wouldn’t be the first time.

Packrafts?
I had lunch today with a guy who teaches sailing lessons in the area. While using a packraft to cross the bay might technically be legal, it does not sound like a good idea. ‘Nuff said.

Date has been adjusted to March 27th for this year’s event. 

We’re on a mission from God. 

The March 27th date was divinely inspired, so there’s no changing it.
We are 100% sure this is a perfect date. There will be neither bitter cold, nor high heat. It will be a perfect day with a barometric pressure of 29.92 inches of mercury.

This year’s event will have a significant route change, going out to Coronado Island, and will involve a ferry ride across the San Diego Bay.

We will raise money for a charity, to be determined.

Want to sign up? Click here and make it happen.

Better get your act together.

The 6th annual San Jacinto Enduro is going off this Sunday.
We’ll be around the bike shop all day Saturday, and hanging tuff at the campground Saturday evening.
The ride starts at 7am this year (you’re welcome) and will depart from the Idyllwild Elementary School, on Highway 243. Easy riding to get there, just a couple blocks from the campground or most any of the local inns. This is where the GPX track starts.
The ride ends at the campground, site #96 with a sign-in sheet. 

Some words about the routes:
The 45 miler is a better singletrack bang-for-the-buck.
The 73 miler is a climby, character-building route that’ll take you a ways out and give you plenty of doubletrack scenery.