Still waiting on an answer from the park...
In the meantime, JT, KubotaMike, Blind Yak (David), and I decided to do some pre-running over the holidays. We met up at 7 am on Dec 30th with the intent of running two laps of the course. We ended up doing one complete lap and calling it good.
The temps were in the low 30s when we started, making the initial pavement out of Study Butte a brisk beginning. But the sun was shining and the temps eventually rose to the mid-50s by the afternoon.
My KTM 500 EXC ready to go.
Here we are at the start of Old Ore Road
The intersection of River Road and Black Gap Road, looking south
Our friend Waldo (Bob) was riding the course backwards and was waiting for us on River Road west.
In the spirit of Christmas, I present the Three Wise Men of the Desert.
One lap complete and time for lunch. According to Mike's GPS one lap is 174 miles long.
Lessons I learned:
- I need better lights on my 500
- I wish I had electric clothing
- start early, keep moving, limit your breaks, hope your bike doesn't break
- pace yourself
- I need to get in better shape, especially my hands
- three laps is going to be a challenge (I already knew this but the pre-run re-confirmed it)
- those other three guys are noticeably better riders than me