2008 New Mexico Endurance Series

June 14th, 2008

Chris Hereford
is the ride coordinator/owner for this event.
He will handle any proposed route changes,
pre-rides, event day sign-in/sign-out, etc.
Thanks Chris!!!

See pre-ride information at the bottom of this post.

No more than 74 people allowed for this event! 

Please register here by leaving a comment at the bottom of this page.  Use your real name so we can actually have a record of who is signed up.  Serious entrys only - please plan on being there if you sign up, because if this fills up you could steal a spot from someone who actually planned on finishing this.This ride is for experienced endurance riders only.  As people found out at the 2007 Cochiti 100, these rides are definately not for the faint of heart.   Sign up only if you think you have a realistic chance of finishing.  

Please make sure to read all rules for this.  This is fully unsupported and you will need to be self-sufficient in order to complete this.  The rules are located HERE.   

When: Saturday, June 14th, 2008 6:30AM

Where:  Dixon’s Apple Orchard - west of Cochiti Lake, NM.

What:  100+ miles of awesome riding at Cochiti starting from Dixon’s Apple Orchard.  Climbing is estimated to be over 16,000 vertical feet!  With Dixon’s as a base, the event will consist of 3 separate loops and allow people to restock their food and water when completing a loop.  With technical single-track, and big climbs, this event is not for the faint of heart.  If you question your ability to complete this ride, please do not attempt this, this is a very challenging course - it cannot be stressed enough here.

GPS Tracks in GPX format: 
  - No warranty, express or implied, use at your own discretion.
  - Must be member of and logged into NMES Google group to get files
  - Right click on the link(s) below 
     - Select “Save Target As…”
     - Change the file extension from “.xml” to “.gpx” 
  - If you have issues with the links below,
     log onto NMES Google group,  look under files at the bottom
     to find all the GPS track files.

• Cochiti Loop 1
• Cochiti Loop 2
• Cochiti Loop 3

  - Go here to convert to other GPS formats
  - Go here to download TopoFusion PRO 3.20 Free/Demo 

Since this is an event with 3 separate loops, people may also ride 1, 2, and of course all 3 loops.  Loop 1 is ~43 miles, loop 2 is ~25 miles and Loop 3 is ~40 miles and with roughly 4-6,000 feet of climbing each loop!!

************** Route Information *****************

Cairns are the only trail markers established for this event. These could possibly be non-existent on event day due to human interference. The cairns are stacked on the inside of the turns at many intersections. Some intersections will be obvious as to which direction to proceed, others not. Where possible, road names and/or numbers are given, but don’t depend on the sign posts being in place on event day. 

Loop 1

From Dixon’s, head back toward Cochiti Lake and turn L on Dome Road, FR 289. Take 289 to Motown, Graduation Flats, and on to Crosstown, then to Media Dia Trail, Tr. 424, then onto Fr. 89 in Cochiti Canyon returning to Dixon’s.

1.  From Dixons area , go east towards Cochiti Lake; pavement to gravel to pavement.

2.  Take the first major LEFT, Dome Wilderness/Dome Road, Fr. 289.  After approximately 13 miles of climbing, you will descend a fast steep section of road.  At the bottom of this descent, is the Motown/Carl Shipman trails intersection. Motown is on the right (north) and Carl Shipman on the left (south) sides of Fr. 289. There may be tall brown timber trail signs on each side of the road marking these trails. Turn right and then left into the trees after about 50 yards.

View from Dome Road.

Trail marker for Motown Trail. Turn right here.

Motown trail going left into the tress. Hopefully the small cairns will still be there.

You will come through this intersection on Loop 3

3.  Turn right for Motown, and then an immediate left on the single-track. This will take you to Graduation Flats, several miles away. There are some deep ruts early on, but will eventually open up to epic moto-style single-track. Follow the most obvious single-track, as there are many off-shoot trails. There are a few doubletrack crossings, one in which  you go left on the doubletrack for about 50 yards, then on to singletrack again on the right. Remember to look for the cairns on the inside of the turns.

Motown singletrack going through the pine forest.

4.   Motown finishes on Fr. 287, which leads to an intersection with FR 289, Dome Road. You will cross a three-way intersection when you exit Motown. Go straight through and turn left, onto Fr. 287. This leads to an intersection with Fr. 289. Follow Fr. 289 to the intersection with Fr. 36, Graduation Flats. There are usually campers, cars, horses, atv’s, etc., near this intersection. Fr. 289, Dome Road, turns left, and Crosstown Trail is to the left just beyond this turn, at the huge pine trees, directly across from the camping/parking area.  

Chris pointing the way to the start of Crosstown Trail.
See the small cairn in the grass?

5.  Crosstown starts out on a nice gradual downhill. Follow this until you intersect a dirt road, turn right.  Another singletrack cuts left just before the road, and another continues across the road.  A short distance uphill to the right on this doubletrack is another singletrack turning left into the trees. Turn left and follow epic singletrack for the next ~8 miles or so. It will cross a few old roads, but look for the obvious singletrack.

6.  Crosstown Finish: At the bottom of the old quarry, head up a steep primitive trail that becomes doubletrack. The doubletrack will eventually turn right and ascend the right side of the valley. You will take the steep rutted singletrack left and up just before the road turns. This will most likely be a hike-a-bike for a short distance, and continuing to climb up to the Fr. 36/Fr. 268 intersection. When you enter the intersection, Fr. 36 descends straight in front of you. Go left on Fr. 268 and follow this downhill in a more gradual descent.  This takes you to the next intersection, with Fr. 286.

7.  You will be heading downhill as you come to the Fr. 268/Fr. 286 intersection. Just before the intersection, you will see a metal structure on your right, which will be uphill on your right, after the next turn.

You will come through this intersection on all three loops

8.  Turn right on Fr. 268, and go downhill. This will turn left (east) at the bottom of a steep valley. There may be a few warning signs as you begin the descent through the valley. Continue downhill for several miles through some rocky terrain, this will eventually become smoother before the next intersection.

Double track at the start of the descent to Media Dia single track.
Enjoy the smoothness here cause it gets very rough soon…. 

9. The Fr. 268/Tr. 424 intersection will be obvious by the way that Fr. 268 becomes much steeper and heavily rutted, with Tr. 424, Media Dia singletrack, on the left.

You will come through this intersection on all three loops

10. Follow Tr. 424 to the left going over or through a metal gate after a short initial descent though loose rock.  Follow this epic 6 mile descent through 9 creek crossings. At the bottom, you will cross another gate, and then turn right onto Fr. 89. This takes you out of Cochiti Canyon back to the start/finish area at Dixon’s, with one steep rocky climb.

Media Dia single track

FR. 89 coming out Cochiti Canyon.
You will ride this section on all 3 loops. Down twice up once…

Congrats, you have just completed Loop 1 (~43 Miles) ! 

****************************************************************************************************************** 

Loop 2

This loop climbs up FR 268, connects to FR 286, descends Alamos Switchbacks (Tr. 113) to the bottom of Cochiti Canyon, to FR 89, for a very wet return from this epic ride. Enjoy the nearly 28 water crossings again!

1. From Dixons Parking lot, turn east and head back out towards Cochiti Lake (just like in Loop 1). Turn right on FR 268, to go up Bland Canyon. You will climb for several miles, passing the gated entrance to the abandoned mining town of Bland. This climb will take you up to the Media Dia Trail 424/FR 268 intersection from Loop1.

2. Continue climbing through the rocky section, through the steep valley, and onto the more traveled section of FR 268. The road gets much better as you approach the houses.  Continue up until you reach the intersection with FR 286. The metal structure from Loop 1 will be uphill on your left as you approach the intersection.

You came though here on Loop 1, and will come through again on Loop 3.

3. At this intersection, FR 268 turns left and uphill, with FR 286 going straight ahead. You will follow FR 286 straight, east. You will eventually pass through a small collection of houses. Approximately 1.5 miles from the 268/286 intersection, and a few hundred yards after the last house, take the faint double track that turns into singletrack trail on your left. This is Alamos Switchbacks Trail 113.

Chris and gang pointing to left turn onto TR113.
See the small white “No Burning” sign there on the left. 
Be looking for it.

4. Descend Tr. 113 into the bottom of Cochiti Canyon, turning right at the bottom on FR 89. There will be 28 water crossings on the descent back to Dixon’s. Look for the awesome tent rocks to your left on the Alamos Switchback descent. You will eventually come to the intersection of Tr.424 and FR 89, where you were on Loop 1. Continue down FR 89 to the Dixon area and the end of Loop2.

Congrats you’ve just completed loop 2 (~25 Miles)!

Tent Rocks from Alamos switchbacks

More Tent Rocks from Alamos switchbacks

Yet even more Tent Rocks from Alamos switchbacks

Trail going right by the base of a tent Rock.

******************************************************************************************************************

Loop 3

Climb up Cochiti Canyon to Media Dia Trail. Climb the trail to its top. Continue to the Crosstown trailhead, and then to Motown. At the intersection of Motown/Dome Road/Carl Shipman, take the Carl Shipman descent. Follow the dirt road at the bottom of Cochiti Canyon back to Dixon’s and the end of the loop. This loop will cover 40-miles with over 6000-ft of climbing on dirt roads and epic Cochiti Singletrack.

This is a reverse of Loop 1 until the Carl Shipman/Motown intersection on Dome Road.

1. From Dixon’s, follow FR 89 up Cochiti Canyon. You will hit some steep climbs fairly quickly, and then descend into a forested canyon and start several water crossings.

2. Approximately 2.5 miles up from Dixon’s on FR 89, you will come to a small collection of houses/forest cabins. The intersection of FR 89 and Media Trail 424 will be the first left after the last big house on your left.

You come through this intersection on all loops.

3. Follow the dirt road to the left for 1/3 mile to the metal gate at the bottom of Tr. 424. This is a very popular spot for campers and a good place to camp for the Cochiti 100.

4. Climb Tr. 424. There will be ~9 water crossings! Enjoy the cold wet feet now because your dogs will be hot later on! Climb for ~6 miles and expect some hike-a-bike at the finish. You will come out at another metal gate and be at the FR 268/Tr.424 intersection.

You come through this intersection on all loops.

5. FR 268/Tr.424 Intersection: Turn right on FR 268 and climb up to the FR 268/FR 286 intersection for several miles. After you struggle up the rough rocky upper section, you will exit the steep valley, and begin the climb on the more traveled section of FR 268.

6. Climb until you reach the FR 268/FR 286 intersection. The metal structure will be uphill on your left as in Loop 2. Turn left and continue uphill on FR 268.

7. Continue climbing until you reach the FR268/FR36/Crosstown Trail intersection. You passed through here on Loop 1. Turn right at the primitive logging road and immediately look for a steep descending trail on your left. This is the start of Crosstown Trail.

 You come up this steep hill on loop1.

8. Descend Crosstown to the doubletrack, and turn right, downhill. Continue through the quarry and look for the singletrack beginning on the left side of the quarry area. The trail is faint initially, and then becomes more obvious as you descend the valley. There will be as much climbing in this direction as there was descending in Loop 1. Continue on the most obvious singletrack from here all the way to Graduation Flats.

9. You will eventually come to a T at a doubletrack. Turn right, downhill, as the road curves right, take the first left turn, about 10 yards down, onto a rarely used uphill doubletrack, (just left of an obvious singletrack). This will eventually become singletrack. This will take you to the end of Crosstown, onto FR 36. Across from the Crosstown exit is the campers, cars, horses, atv, etc. parking area.

You came through this intersection on Loop 1

10. Turn right on FR 36, which immediately becomes FR 289. This goes either straight north or takes a sharp right descending back to Cochiti. Go straight north on FR 289. You will come to another intersection shortly, FR 289/287. Turn right onto FR 287.

You came through this intersection on Loop 1.

11. Turn here. Follow FR 287 for a short ways and look for Motown to the right, in the middle of an intersection. A low use doubletrack will continue to the right, Motown cuts between FR 287 and this doubletrack.

You came through this intersection on Loop 1.

12. Follow Motown for several miles. Motown parallels FR 289 and eventually turns right and crosses FR 289, becoming Carl Shipman/Alamos Trail 113, on the other side.

You came through this intersection on Loop 1.

Entrance to Carl Shipman TR 113 from Dome Rd

13. Enter Carl Shipman Tr. 113. Descend this epic trail to the bottom of Cochiti Canyon for a wild ~2 mile descent. You will intersect FR 89 at the bottom of the canyon, at the end of Tr. 113. Turn left and head all the way back to Dixon’s and the start/finish. You’ll be crossing the stream almost 30 times on a very primitive and rough dirt road descent, and then, of course a short climb.

You descended this section of FR 89 on loop 2

Water crossing at the bottom of Carl Shipman.
Turn Left after crossing.

Congrats, you have just completed Loop 3 (~40 miles) and thus the Cochiti 100!

Map of Loop 3 is located here

Here is the elevation profile for Loop 3 (note that this is in REVERSE of the description listed above. - so read this from right to left)

****************************************************************************************************************** 

Notes:

• All Mileage estimates are just that - estimates! Expect it to be harder, longer and tougher than explained here.
• Course will not be marked. Cairns and road/trail signs cannot be depended on, as they are quite often knocked down or shot at by our responsible weapons experts.
•  It is highly recommended to use a GPS and/or maps and the route descriptions here to stay on course. Following mtb tire tracks can get you off route also; expect other bikes on the trails on event day.
•  Cochiti trails see a lot of motorcycle use - in fact the motorcycle crowd maintains the trails for everyone’s use! Please be respectful of them and yield the trail - there is no need to get into an argument with a heavier and faster motorized machine - you will lose! You will find that the motorcycle community will be very, very respectful of your time on these trails so please, be respectful.
• If you ask directions, be courteous. The person helping you could be a local resident who may not enjoy traffic of any type in their neighborhood. Hopefully, you will avoid approaching any home sites on this ride; most are surrounded by NO TRESPASSING signs.
• Bailing out of these loops is possible, but not quick. You can use either FR 289 or 268 to descend back into the canyon, or FR 289 or Fr 268 to go north to Highway 4, which is in the opposite direction of where you started, and will put you far from where you want to go.

Maps;

Sky Terrain Trail Maps has most of the entire course mapped out. However Motown and Crosstown trails are not mapped or marked all that well. They are heavily travelled and are the most worn in paths, so once on them they are easy to follow.

If you have never ridden these trails you will not be able to find your way without this map and perhaps a GPS, or sheer luck. The routes are obvious to most, but note that the roads and trails are usually not marked. Therefore, if you show up unprepared you will risk getting lost. Responsibility is yours and yours alone. Expect absolutely no help from others.

Loop 1- Saturday May 17th at 9am (Firm)
Loop 2- Saturday 31 May at 8am (Firm)
Loop 3- 8 June (Canceled)

We use the word tentative because we may combine two of the loop rides in one day. Scheduling is tough for everyone, and we hope to keep these dates set to reduce any schedule stress. As the dates get closer, we’ll post any updates, meeting times, etc.

Remember last year? Only two riders completed all three loops. How many will complete the entire C100 this year?

Chris