2015 Redlands Strada Rossa --> March 21st

Dan, I was going to sign up for the 50K since I can easily do that on my Heckler. I don't know if I'm up for 60+ miles and 6K of climbing yet. I've ridden Crafton a few times and the surrounding area looks like it is worth exploring. Carl, I chose the cross option vs. super light hard tail so I could swap tires and join in road rides more than gravel grind. Let the experiment begin.

 

Love the Straggler. That looks like such a great bike... hopefully you're rockin' the Glitter Dreams purple!

 

My buddy Jim is probably going to be on his Niner MCR with the rigid fork... perfect with some fast tires!

 

IMHO, low gearing and tire choice is more important than type of bike. Have some tires that roll fast for the road (approximately half the ride) yet offer good grab on hardpack for the dirt climbs and descents, especially if doing the 100km.

 

Duke, I signed up for the 50K but I'm going to see if I can tweek the route to get in more off-road mileage. I'll share my plans/thoughts on this page. Also, if you want to carpool and don't mind having to get back to Fullerton at 4:30 p.m. let me know as we get closer to the date.

 

Sound good. I'll check the thread as we get closer.

 

I just signed up for the 50km.

 

Good deal!
Any problems with the registration process? It was initially a little buggy.

 

It went smoothly, once I figured out that I was supposed to do the Student/club membership and then the ride reg. It says that right on the site, but somehow it took me a minute to figure it out.

 

Now I just need to figure out if I am gonna ride my gravel girl as is, or buy some cross tires.

 

Okay, thanks for the feedback on that. It wasn't working at first, but seems to be fixed. Glad you figured out the process ($15 membership, $10 event). I guess a few signups did just the $35 event instead of the two part process to get the $10 discount.

At this point, the 50km is fine with whatever you want to ride (bike or tire). But light knobs on a fast tire would be optimum. Something like the Clement MSO would be perfect. In fact I'm about to buy another set this weekend I love these tires so!

 

Last year we had shirts, and they came out great, but a bit tough logistically. This year one of my buddies, Philip, developed and is having patches made up. I have some of his previous patches, and they are GREAT!
Here's the posting that links to them, they're worth checking out: http://redlands-strada-rossa.blogspot.com/2015/02/patches-patches-come-get-your-patches.html

 

Just registered for 100 k today.
Looks like I goofed and got no discount= more $ for IE Bike.
The list had $25 gets discounts, but not the $15 student/club.

Signed up for the fast group, even though I'm not.
Hopefully, I can pull it off in 5 hours.

Planning on riding my cross bike with file treads, anyone have opinions on this?
I've never ridden anything out there.

 

I'm sorry you didn't get the discount :-( I realize it's a bit convoluted and overly complicated. We're trying to do two things at the same time and the registration portal isn't the cleanest tool to do it with. If you want the discount, email Mark and he should be able to figure a way to change it for you.

You did mention the extra $10 goes to IEBA, and if you haven't seen the latest posting on the FB, please take a moment to read: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Inland-Empire-Biking-Alliance/156207984434074
The IEBA is NOT just a ride promoter, it's there for coordination, education and advocacy as well. And unfortunately to speak out against the unprecedented amount of cyclists killed on our roads.

 

Well... we may be changing the route, and a lot more dirt miles will be added. Playing around with some ideas that need to be checked out in person over the next few weeks. IF the changes work out, wow, MTB riders are going to be stoked. If we go with the original route planned, a CX bike w/ light knobs/file tread is perfect, something like the Challenge Gravel Grinder tire. If the new route option, fatter but fast tires would be perfect. Think Schwalbe Thunder Burt. I've said it before and will say it again: Tubeless is your friend on this ride. If anyone coming is on the fence about going tubeless, let this be your motivation! The added dirt miles are through agricultural areas, and that's where goatheads grow due to the irrigation runoff.

Right now we basically need to check and make sure no water dept. construction, and no deep-deep sand. There is a .25km section of flat HAB across the Santa Ana River flood plane. Don't freak, it won't be miserable, just deep sand mixed with river-rock granite boulders. If all is good, the length of both routes will increase a bit and the percent of dirt will increase significantly. No, we're not intentionally trying to annoy roadies... we just like the dirt

So put that in your pipe and smoke it!

 

I'm in. Registration went smoothly. Gives me a good excuse to buy some new tires.

 

^^^

 

And take this Kazakhstan: Out of the newer "short" route's 67km, 41km or 61% will be dirt and 30% of that distance (12 km) is on singletrack!
Oh, and the HAB mentioned above is only .25km and at the 7km point, so the entire group should still be pretty together.

 

Good to read! It's a two-step process, but should work. THANKS for jumping in the ring!

 

I want to reiterate that this is a proposed change... IF we stay with original planned route, it will still be 100% spot on good ride.
IF we go with a tougher/dirtier option, it will of course be a 125% spot on good ride.