Idea of the day

[shane4x4]

Cross post from:
http://www.fjcruiserforums.com

Ok, so...somehow I came across the Colorado 500:
http://colorado500.org/

It's basically an annual charity dirt bike run that was started back in '74. Looks pretty neat :)

So I thought : "Wow! With all the 4x4 enthusiasts in Colorado, we could do something like that", because that's how I am.

The idea is that we do a multi-day almost all off-road run around Colorado, for charity of course. The most logical weekend would be Labor day, since pretty much every trail is open, it's always a 3 day weekend. I'm thinking maybe to support the troops (and families), or maybe for charity in general.

If something like this already exists, please let me know :)
What does everyone think?

A possible ROUGH route could be:

http://tinyurl.com/2t8fae

[Prodigy]

Sounds like fun! I hope you were not thinking about starting this labor day though.

[Avsfreak1234]

great idea! but maybe next year??

[fjcruzer]

Sounds good, was already trying to think of an odyssey around CO off-road for next year.

[Jacket]

Oh man - that would be a blast. Obviously there would be many eager participants, but the burden of organizing and executing it would be a lot of work.

[shane4x4]

Yeah, not for this year :)
The organization of it will be tons of work, but i think it will be awesome in the long run. I think there'll be enough interest to put something together for '08. An y volunteers to help organize? PM me ;)

[Prodigy]

Especially Since Toyota is already a sponsor..

[devinsixtyseven]

I would potentially be interested in helping with this.

What's the selling point? Who would we be helping by driving around? A big bunch of rigs has a big impact in time and footprint, how would we offset it? Does it even need to be a big event, or is it something that a bunch of people can all contribute a small part of through the year toward a big project?

This is definitely a discussion that a lot of people on the Expedition Portal could help with.

What do the back roads of Colorado need that we could provide? OTOH there's restoration, maintenance, route planning, mapping and designation, cleanup...less tangible benefits are increased public awareness through photography and print, which ideally leads to better stewardship and preservation over time...downside can be increased traffic (like us!) without travel management or user dispersion, which trashes the place.

Ideas? Thoughts?

Personally I think this is a great idea...how can we make it work?

-Sean

[fjcruzer]

Perhaps given the information in this thread:

http://www.ttora.com/forum/showthread.php?t=78882

we could offer to police the trails en route, stop along the way and obstruct, disguise or otherwise make unattractive, the off-trail routes that have been exploited.

[shane4x4]

Those are very good points & ideas.
I see two main benefits we can offer with an event such as this:
1) Make it a fund raiser for YYY charity, such as 'support the troops', 'breast cancer', etc. Maybe each participant gets pledges per mile (probably close to 500 miles in 3 days)
2) Promote stewardship and tread lightly ideas. Show that we can enjoy the trails without ruining them.

I REALLY like the idea to police the trails en route, that could be a great selling point for the trip.

I imagine the initial event would be relatively small. Maybe even limit it to 2 groups of 25 or something? Have each group run the route in a different direction. The route that I've come up with so far is from Breck to Breck, link here:
http://tinyurl.com/2mtmkf

I've posted on expedition portal, but haven't seen much response yet. I'm sure we can gain steam as we go forward. Maybe even setup a google group or something. I'll look into that :)

[fjcruzer]

If we can get USFS and BLM on board they might be willing to provide tools and materials for trail maintenance and repair as well.

[devinsixtyseven]

I love Breck as much as the next guy, but it might be better to choose a different location for start/end...not long on parking and from locals' comments I've heard dropped around town, I'd personally be hesitant raising another 4WD organization banner in Breck, unless we were obviously doing something really, really outstanding.

I like the idea of stewardship through the run. I'm not sure I agree with money for miles, since it's easy to drive, and we're burning a lot more money moving around than guys on bikes. How else could we encourage contribution and participation?

In general I'm of the opinion that it's better to contribute time & product rather than money anyway, similar to the Jenny Creek kiosk by Rising Sun and other projects--for example all the volunteer time that's helping reopen the Gulches.

As an overland loop, maybe a trail mapping run using GPS to mark areas in need of maintenance and repair, trails in contention, and historic construction (tailing, adits, buildings, etc.)?

A lot of the routes in CO lead to historic mining sites, homesteads, ranch areas...personally I'd like to heavily incorporate historic preservation with an event like this, if possible.

Also, resource management and impact mitigation tie in well with marking areas in need of repair, as does the historical aspect...some of those mines leech in to the surface water, which drains downstream toward the reservoirs used for snowmaking in Summit County, which eventually melts back in to the Summit water table...maybe we could help mitigate the effect in a way other than "shut 'em all down". I like responsible multi-use, not just shutting stuff down and hoping the problem goes away.

Thoughts?

-Sean

[fjcruzer]

I'm wondering if we can get agencies that have already done research on problem areas would be into joining us in doing the kind of mitigation you mentioned. If they already know where the alternate routes are they want to shut down, they could point us to them and tell us how best to isolate them and prevent further use, while maintaining wilderness standards. We might even be able to cooperate with conservation organizations and make friends between them and 4WD community.

[shane4x4]

Great ideas guys! "Give a greenie a ride" <tongue in cheek>
I guess we could start/end anywhere in the loop. Buena vista, gunnisson, ouray.....that part would be easy to fix. The original idea for Breck was the relatively easy passes coming in/going out of town (Boreas & Georgia). Maybe Leadville would be interested?

[fjcruzer]

Perhaps a common starting/ending point, but two different loops: one easy for anyone and the other difficult for the 'core crowd?