Dixie 200 Race Report

Despite my still-tingling fingers from my literally jangled nerves, I enjoyed a great ride in southwest Utah in the Dixie 200 last week.

I had one goal and that was to finish and to remove last summer's CTR-DNF from my most recent bikepacking memory bank. Once the weather forecast ruled out any chance of rain, I decided to leave the sleep kit in the truck and planned to push through the first night without sleep. I hoped to be close enough to the finish by the time I started getting really sleepy that I could use that as a magnet to pull me the rest of the way in. Turns out that is pretty much what happened, with an assist to Rick Miller who caught me right as we got to the Spruce Trail at dusk on Saturday. I think his company went a long way in helping me to fight off the sleep monsters as we moved into that second night.

Here's a few random thoughts on the course...

Huge 4000' climb to start:
This wasn't too bad. It seemed like it went by pretty fast and I think I was up top after about 2.5 hours. I rode conservatively and managed to finish off the climb without damaging myself so that went according to plan.

Sweet Singletrack up top:
I was captivated immediately when I hooked into the singletrack up top. The terrain was beautiful rolling meadows without too much more climbing for awhile. I got lucky at the blind turnoff into the grassy field when I saw Scott Schaefer riding back up the trail towards me after missing the turn. He saved me a little time there as I surely would have continued down the perfectly good singletrack trail for who knows how long. That was a good lesson that I'd better be on my toes and not assume anything.

Tempting Flatish Roads:
After the singletrack and grassy field traverses, we linked in to some pretty nice dirt roads for awhile. I was tempted to open up the tempo a bit, but instead I stuck to the plan and soft-pedaled through it all. I reminded myself that I was going to go all night and that I had better hold something back so I could keep it together. Looks like some nice camping up there, and I think my wife would enjoy riding on those nice roads so I definitely plan to come back.

Confusing Brush Patch:
Sometime before crossing paved road #14 for the first time, my GPS track strangely diverged off the trail again. I walked back and forth looking for another trail, but finally just chuckled at Dave and started hiking through the brush patches for a half mile or so until it linked in with another old trail and continued on my way.

Water Spigot at Te Ah Campground:
Here I was reminded what an novice I really am at this stuff. All my prior bikepacking experience has been in the Colorado high country with its cool temperatures. Half the food in my bags was already absolutely disgusting. It turns out that a block of sharp cheddar cheese turns into a putrid, liquified mess in 90 degree temps. Same for my snickers bars and chocolate expresso trail mix. I was relieved to be on pace to hit Tod's at a decent hour because I was going to need to switch out a few things.

Virgin River Rim Trail:
What can you say, except, damn! what a fine trail. The scenery was jaw-dropping and I made quite a few stops to enjoy the view. The trail itself was a great mix of flow, tech, and some decent climbing & descending as you worked your way around to the next rim ride. I will be back for sure to ride this trail unloaded. Once it ended I took my first errant turn and flew downhill a good ways on the wrong road. I think this one cost me about 20 minutes. As Nick Woodland stated, at any road junction, always assume that Dave would pick the crappier-looking option and you would generally be correct.

Tod's Store:
I made it here about 5:30pm and was sorta bummed that noone else was there. I hadn't seen anyone since the top of the first big climb and I was starting to think that everyone in front had ridden away and would never be seen again. I ate a burger, replaced my runny Snickers with Paydays, and stowed a Bomb Burrito away for a late night snack. Rick pulled in just as I was mounting up and we chatted for a couple minutes, and I was off again at 5:50pm if I remember correctly.

Approach to the Paunsaugunt Plateau:
It was finally getting a little cooler and I was trying to get my mind prepared for a long nightime push. I got water from the spigot in the park at Bryce Woodlands (hold the handle up and wait!) and continued up some pretty decent roads before the GPS track ended at what appeared to be private property in all directions. I probed around before realizing that the track was indeed telling me to proceed into the overgrown vacant lot right in front of me. I saw evidence of fellow travelers and pretty soon an actual trail appeared that climbed very steeply up to a road of some kind. I got up there just before total darkness arrived and I changed into some warmer clothes and got my lights set up.

Grandview Trail:
I am amazed from looking at the pics from my fellow racers who went through during daylight. I guess I had some sense that there was some scenery and viewpoints, but for the most part I felt like I was riding in Vietnam or something. The trail was rough and overgrown, but still fun and mostly rideable. I was pretty surprised that there were not more downed trees because it sure didn't feel like too many people go riding on the Grandview. I knew to expect some crazy ravine crossings and I was not disappointed there. I was feeling good though and had a very positive frame of mind so I had a lot of fun. I finally popped out at the trailhead about 2am and finally saw some fellow racers bivied up.

Finally I had caught someone. I wondered if they would get right up and start chasing me.

Crawford Pass:
I read the word "Pass" in the trail name and really hoped that I didn't have some ridiculous climb to reach it. I had been prepared for Grandview, but I don't know if I was expecting another difficult singletrack immediately after. But that trail turned out to be fun and a little easier than Grandview.

Sometime around 4am I decided to lie in the dirt for a few minutes. I set my alarm for about 30 minutes but I woke up shivering after only about 15. Felta lot better though. That's really the first time I've tried one of those short cat-naps and I was happy to feel a bit rejuventated.

Running Out of Water on the way to Tropic Reservoir:
After the awesome trail-side spring on Grandview, I missed all the other water waypoints and had to start rationing as the sun came up and I was riding to Tropic. I was getting concerned when I finally noticed some trickling water running through the tire ruts of the logging equipment that was parked all around. I didn't waste any time and immediately started filtering right out of the tire ruts. If I would have just gone about 100' feet furthur then I think I would have found a much more appetizing place to refill (Podunk Creek?), but I wasn't taking any chances.

I skipped Tropic Spring because I didn't want to go off route and I managed to make it to the next campground water spigot about 8:30am. I had made it through the night. I ate alot and used the facilities and changed back into my warm weather clothes. I kept expecting for those I passed sleeping to catch back up, but so far I was staying ahead.

More decent (climbing) roads led to Thunder Mountain, but I getting really sleepy.

Thunder Mountain!
But first its naptime!
It was 10:30am and I felt like I should keep pushing because that's all I'd been doing so far. For the first time I felt sorta close to the finish. But something wasn't quite right, and I knew I wanted to have FUN on Thunder Mountain so I laid down under a tree and took my longest break of the race at 45 minutes. I ate and took my shoes off and dozed off in the shade for about 15 minutes until Scott rolled up. That jarred me awake and then Jason pulled in shortly after so I got up and decided to try and race for a little while longer.

And wow, that is another sweet trail and another I will be back to ride unloaded.

What little power I brought to this game was pretty much gone by this point. I shifted to granny at every upslope, but I did have a lot of fun cruising on the martian landscape of Thunder Mountain.

Indian Trading Post:
I was baking in the mid-day heat, refilling water, and cramming a tuna/tortilla in my mouth as Scott, Jason, and Mike all caught up to me for good. Mike and Jason had the great idea to move over to the shady porch of the Indian Trading Post and to see if they had any snacks for sale. We all enjoyed cokes, and ice cream and candy bars. My lethargy was increasing and I knew I'd better keep moving forward so I bid adieu and hit the road again knowing full well that these guys would be passing me in short order.

100 Degrees to Panguitch Lake:
Shit it was hot and no shade to be found anywhere. I was close enough to my truck that I still had easy motivating to keep slogging forward. Bumpy, butt-hurt, demoralizing roads though. I looked over my shoulder on a rise and saw Jason, Mike, and Scott charging from a good ways off. In mere moments that train caught me and I was shocked at how strong they were all riding. That was the last I would see of Jason and Mike. Scott would have smoked me too if not for his recurring tire problems.

 I laid up next to the piped spring and could have gone down for hours if not for the piles of stinky cowpies and my faint recollection that I was not carrying a sleep system. So I stubbornly willed myself to Panguitch Lake.

Burger Barn:
Schafer and I rolled in together and crushed a burger and fries. I was basically out of food and didn't have a good idea of how much time I had left, so I ended up buying way too much for the final push. My backpack was so heavy. I had a couple hours of daylight left, so even though I was absolutely crawling towards the Spruce Trail, I was getting excited to be closing in on the finish.

Rick Arrives!
Rick and I are friends and we drove up together, but neither of us had ridden together up to this point at all. I was really happy to see him when he caught me at dusk just before the Spruce Trail. It made the last few hours more fun then it would have been otherwise, and I really didn't have any problem staying awake.

The Spruce trail was pretty funny. I knew to expect some deadfall, but I got really concerned when going through one of my most hated experiences.... downhill Hike-a-Bike! Thankfully it didn't take too long before we were wallowing over trees and climbing back up to the Sidney Peaks again.

This might have given me more trouble alone, but instead I remember having alot of fun going through it with my friend.

Dark Hollow:
Rick and I hit the final descent at exactly midnight. I probably should have eaten a little more, but I wasn't expecting someting quite so rocky and technical. I was super cautious and hiked down a good portion of the way. I knew I was not on top of my game and I was starting to get frustrated. All I could think about was climbing in the back of my truck and going to sleep.

Finally after an entire hour we popped out back on the road, but I was still amazed at how far we still had to descend. My hands were hurting from jamming on the brakes so hard. My little GPS arrow just didn't want to get to the end of that damn track!

Yet, finally we did. Rick and I crossed the line together at 1:32am and a finishing time of 1:18:27.

Somehow Mike was still awake and came over to congratulate us. I think I was kindof delerious and not sure I was making much sense but I know I was excited to be done.

Rick had a beer and I thought about it, but instead I crawled right into my sleeping bag and crashed the hell out.

The Dixie 200 is a superb route. I agree with everyone else that has stated that is is just a great mix of bikepacking terrain. Every time I was getting exhausted from fighting through a tough section, then it would usually end just in time and be followed by something where you could semi-rest and put some miles down.

I'm not sure if I'll be back to race it again, but I want to ride these trails again for sure. I'm not sure if I could really go much faster because I had a pretty flawless run.

Thanks Dave for putting together such an awesome route and cheers to all the other riders I met. I hope to see you again on the trail soon. Congrats to Jason and Mike for taking home the victory.