Map Breakdown: Day 1

Let's break down day one! This day has a couple interesting parts and features the widest variety of trail types and surfaces. 

First off, this day has already been the cause of some change and stress due to the Lost Creek Wilderness ride around. This is how the trail looks if you were going to hike it: 

Lost Creek Wilderness in Orange (no bikes)

Initially, I had planned for us to ride a 24 mile detour around the wilderness. This would have put us on the trail for half the day, and then on a dirt road for the other half 

Original Route in Orange, Detour in Blue

I was watching a video of a guy riding the trail and noticed his ride around distance was more than double what I had planned. What is up?! Turns out, I had us riding on part of the trail that is within the wilderness, so we were going to have to further modify the route. 

Original Route in Orange, Full Detour in Blue

This adds significant miles and forces us to reschedule the whole ride. In the end, it is fine, a little more road than trail, still an adventure. There is also an option to detour to the north, but this puts you on 285 for 15 miles or so.

No thanks

Original Route in Orange, 285 Detour in Blue

So, with the route settled here is how it breaks down into three parts:

Part 1: Miles 0-5 - We start in the Buffalo Creek trail system for 5 miles of flowy trail through the trees that should be a fun way to start the day. It is the only singletrack for the day.

Part 1

Buffalo Creek

Part 2: Miles 6-36 - For the second part of the trail we jump on a dirt road that rolls south. This has quite a bit of ride and fall and should be fairly miserable. 

Part 2

Stoney Pass Road

Part 3: Miles 37-52+ - The last bit of the ride is paved, is a gentle climb, and will hopefully be a nice break from the dirt road that precedes it. I had planned for us to stay near the Tarryall Reservoir, where there is a waterfall and some places to camp - but there if we continue up the road another 10 miles, there is a place called the Stagestop saloon that looks like a great spot for some beers, pizza, and socialization. 

Part 3

Tarryall Road

Still TBD whether we want to push through this day, or camp a little rougher. Here is a breakdown of the profile and some of the way points (you can see the middle third looks terrible).

Ride Profile

Next up: Day 2! Shorter, more singletrack, and some support at the end!