advice for long hut to ut ride?

[Brandi]

I am not a new rider but I have never gone on a super long ride. Well in sept of this year I am going on a 200+ mile ride from colorado to utah. Does anyone have advise for me that I can use to get myself ready or stuff I might not be able to live without on this trip. The guys on this trip are all old timers. But they are guys. Can;t ask them anything that doesn't have to do with your bike.

[SadieKate]

Are you doing this by mountain bike on the Uncompaghre Plateau? How many days?

[Brandi]

It's Durango to tel luride to Moab utah. 6 nights,7 days
It's a hut to hut ride.

[Brandi]

Oh, I am using a hard tail cross country bike.

[SadieKate]

I did the Telluride to Moab portion on a hardtail with a tour company. They hauled all the gear and did the cooking. Are you hauling your own gear?

We live at sea level with no hills. We didn't do any real hill climbing training but I wished we had. Nothing we could do about the sea level altitude except get there a few days early. Our endurance was great because we were doing long road rides but I wish we had worked in more hills. We did put on 20T chainrings because we were only running 30T cogs in back and going to such high altititude. If you're running a 22x34 now you should be fine. I think the avg elevation for the trip was close to 9,000 ft and the pass out of Telluride was over 10,500.

Make sure your hydration pack has a large bladder. There is no potable water from point to point. You have a SAG following you? Your rain clothes should be close to hand at all times. We went in July and never had rain. The trip before us had a deluge. I always had the rain jacket in my packet and had other stuff in a day pack in the truck readily available (not stuck way down in the load).

Baby wipes! Lots! With the huts you may have more solar showers available but if not those baby wipes are critical. Since we were hauling everything in a truck, we only had solar showers every few days (other than the wonderful ice cold cattle tank in one meadow!)

A small headlamp like a Petzl Tikl (I think that is the name) can be a nice thing to have around camp. So much more I could say but it depends on whether you are hauling your own gear or have a SAG truck.

That is one gorgeous area. I would go back in a heartbeat.

[fixedgeargirl]

I've done a similar tour on a hardtail (with a bunch of old-timers) on the Kokopelli trail from White Pine, CO to Moab. We did our own SAG and cooking, all of which was arranged by a professional guide friend.

I second what SadieKate said about babywipes. Make sure you keep your *ahem* clean at the end of each day. I was also told to hang my shorts chamois side to the sun each afternoon and not wear the same pair two days in a row. I did this and didn't have a problem. Other folks on the 8-day tour were not so lucky.

If this is fully supported, you may still want to bring your own snacks to have in your pack while you ride. My guide friend chose to buy junky granola bars and other things I just plain don't like as ride food. Having a store of things I know I like and know work for me was invaluable.

Do you live in the area? Are you familiar with the vagaries of weather at 10,000 feet? Hypothermia in July is entirely possible, even likely, if you're caught in a hail storm/downpour 5 miles from the truck. By all means carry your rain jacket every day. On those high alpine days having an extra layer of warm clothes in your pack can save your life. I'm not saying that just to be dramatic, I lived in the area, at 9000 feet, for 30 years. When the temperature drops 20 degrees in 10 minutes and icy rain begins to pelt your unprotected flesh, things can get dangerous, fast.

ETA: I was sooo glad to have my down booties to wear around camp at night!

Have an awesome trip ! Rain or shine, you will be in one of the most beautiful places in the world !!

[Brandi]

We are hauling our own stuff. But the company we are going through is supposed to supply our sleeping bags (except for liner) all our food is going to be in the huts. San juan huts is the the name (am I alloud to say that?)I guess they go ahead of you and stock it. Fresh fruit and all. They even have a theme every night with the food.

Do you think using chamois cream is a must? I had another friend (who has never done this ) suggest thick maxi pads? I would rather wear my shorts with an added liner in it.

We also live at sea level, but we do a lot of hills here. We live in san luis obispo.
The good thing is we are in Colorado for 26 days prior to the trip cause we are working there. My husband and I are (get this) professional Sand sculptors. And are working on a large sculpture for the state fair in Pueblo. So we should be ok with the altitde thing.

[fixedgeargirl]

Maxi pads !!! No, no, no! The chamois is all you'll need for padding and absorbancy. Wait, are you talking about wearing "street" shorts with a "liner"? I very highly recommend bike shorts with a chamois. If you're not comfortable in lycra, there are lots of cute baggies and skorts out there, many of which can be purchased from Team Estrogen!! Just don't rely on old packed-out shorts, make sure they're relatively new. I did 8 days with two pairs, rotating daily and things were just fine. Others on the trip didn't rotate/didn't air their shorts in the evening and had sores to show for it. Ick and ouch .

Chamois cream is not necessary, unless you find it so . It can't hurt to take some along, if you think you might want to use it.

Pueblo is _only_ 5,000 ft. elevation. While that's a heck of a lot higher than SLOtown, it's still a lot lower than T'ride. Any time you can spend in Durango (6500 ft.) or even higher before the tour will have you even better acclimated. I have a friend who lives in Boulder (5800 ft. or so) and every time she goes to her place at 9,000 feet it takes her 2 weeks to feel like she's riding at 100%

[SadieKate]

Chamois cream is a personal thing. This is an endurance ride. You'll be sitting on your saddle a lot. Take it, but you may be able to coordinate one large tube for the group to save weight. Is there any way the group can coordinate on other items like one bottle of Ibuprogren rather than one for each person? One good emergency kit for the group? One roll of duct tape? You could really all get loaded down without some coordination.

Never heard the maxi pad thing. If the huts are stocked with plenty of fresh water, wash that day's pair of shorts, turn them inside out and stick them in a mesh bag on the bag of your hydration pack. I know, I know. Like sticking your underwear out there in public but better than the other things that can happen. As you know, this is an incredibly dry environment so they'll dry fast.

I'd find out how much water the huts are stocked with so you could get away with a re-usable wash cloth rather than hauling baby wipes. Anything to save weight. If the water is limited, bring the baby wipes.

The snack stuff - I agree with FixedGearGirl. I've always brought my own snacks and electrolyte drink because I know what I can stomach on a long day and what will be tasty. However, on one trip they supplied Sour Gummy Worms. Wow, those worked real good! So we were happy to switch to their snacks.

Are they supplying pillows? You may want to take a case to fit those also. We use fully-supported mtbike touring companies but tent camp so we use the small pillows that you can get a REI, Campmor, etc. I made small cotton or flannel cases with draw strings for everyone in our group one year. The bags could do double duty as ditty bags or turned into a pillow with a fleece jacket and be personalized at the same time. Silly, but functional. I sleep so much better with a pillow.

Oh yeah, you know the cheapo shower caps you can get in hotel rooms? Collect those and see if they'll fit on your helmet. Tiny, lightweight and a rain cap for emergencies. They could go on your head underneath if necessary but I'm not sure if the water won't then be channeled down your forehead. Anyone else's opinion? Maybe the drugstore has larger sizes.

Anything that I have attached to my hydration pack goes into a mesh bag and gets a tiny carabiner so if it comes out from under the bungee cord, it is attached. I hate it when someone says "hey, where's my so-and-so?!" It won't be me riding back down the trail to find it.

Check the mileage per day. We had a couple of 50 mile days but we weren't hauling gear which will make you slower. Do some training based on the X hours you think it will take you per day at whatever pace you think you can maintain day in and day out. The riding in SLO is definitely in your favor. I'm in Davis at 52 ft above sea level and about 150 ft of climbing over 15 miles. Yeah, those are some hills we got here.

What company are you using? You hauling your gear via panniers, trailer, what? Since I've never hauled my own gear I'm always interested in what and why of this. I've got a BOB which one day will be used for the purpose but until then it hauls Farmer's Market goodies pretty well.

I'm getting so jealous. That area was our first mtbike tour and is probably my favorite just for the scenery, the air, the something.

[Brandi]

Well I figure the elevation in pueblo is better then nothing. The good thing is everyone else is coming from the same elevation so we can all be lacking together. Except my girlfriend is meeting us there and she is coming from sea level. Bummer! She's prone to headaches too.
Thanks for the advice on the maxi pads. That didn't sound good to me either. I should clairify about the shorts. all my bike shorts are padded (sorry). Someone had suggested adding more by wearing the underwear with the chamois in it on top of the chamois that is already in the shorts.

[SadieKate]

Some people do wear double chamois for road riding. I would think that on a mtbike you'd catch the chamois on the nose of the saddle and get tangled. I personally wouldn't do it. Mtbiking isn't like road riding. You move around so much more that it doens't even compare. You're more likely to cause problems with two pads.

Your friend with the headaches. She needs to drink lots and lots of water. Has she really exerted at these altitudes before? Does she know she can tolerate it? Can she stay away from caffeine?

[fixedgeargirl]

Your friend with the headaches may be in for a very rough time. Avoiding caffeine and alcohol are critical. On my trip home to 9000ft last summer (from 500ft), I was breathing hard, headachy. Day three I ate a big ole steak and felt great ! My theory: the iron helped my anemic-tending body get some red blood cells going.

More cheap rain gear tips: a couple of plastic bread bags for your feet. Pack down much smaller than booties. Put 'em on over your socks. They form a vapor barrier and block the wind. Your feet may get sweaty-wet, but they'll be a lot warmer than they would be otherwise.

DH carries a shower cap to put on over the helmet and has used it. I've been packing one around for years and never had to bust it out. I have used the bread bags, tho!

[Brandi]

We are using a trunk box on a rack and our back packs. We are bringing the min. And we are all carrying certain things and spliting the load as far as spare parts and what not. My husband wants to be in charge of the duck tape. Don't ask.
This is all great advise by the way.
I have a back packing pillow i made. I can not sleep on rolled up clothes. And not if I have been wearing them for days either. My pillow is very light. And if I have to my silk liner for my sleeping bag has a pillow cover built into it as well.
I will look into the water situation as well. I know they limit a certain amount to each person per day. I also know we will be taking baths in creeks. No showers. Can you imagine 6 guys two girls, no showers. Ahhh!
3 of the guys are Dr's and one is a pharmacist I think he should carry the asprin. Does anyone recommend thermacare wraps for sore muscles?

[Brandi]

My girlfriend does triathalons so she is in fairly good shape and tough as nails. She knows she has to drink a lot of water. But I will remind her about the coffee and what not. I might bring along 600 mg ibiprofins too. Just in case. And she doesn't drink so thats a plus.

[fixedgeargirl]

I recommend Endurox for avoiding sore muscles. It's a post-ride drink that has saved me and DH a lot of discomfort.

Is anybody bringing a water filter?