Aspen Butte Duathlon Supported FKT Trip Report
After spending the summer having fun on long adventure runs and gravel rides I was looking for an Oregon based challenge where I could push myself to see how my fitness had progressed in 2020. I enjoy running ultras, but wanted to broaden my athletic goals to include other sports like cycling and paddling. After watching athletes like Jason Hardrath establish multi sport routes throughout the PNW I started wondering if there was a combo bike + run fastest known time[FKT] that might be well suited to my interests and skills. Upon investigation I discovered the Aspen Butte Duathlon FKT route in Klamath Falls, first established by Winston Mueller.
After a couple weeks of planning, and plan changes due to smoke on Saturday morning (10/3/2020) my wife and I drove down from Bend, OR to the start point of the route. Going into the weekend I had been worried about air quality so we waited until the last minute to make a call. Ultimately the radar showed haze, but AirNow reported “Good — Moderate” air quality so late Friday night we decided to go for it. The air ended up being hazier than expected which impacted the views, but didn’t impact lungs or eyes at all.
The route starts in the parking lot across from the yoga & running store — the park has nice, clean public restrooms. Very handy to note for anyone attempting this route in the future. There are no other public restrooms directly on the route, so I’d probably make use of this park before heading out.
At 9:20 am I started the route — temps were in the mid 50s perfect for bibs, tank top base layer, jersey, and light weight arm sleeves. Took the first couple of miles slowly as you are riding through town and on a relatively busy road. After a couple miles you get onto quieter roads with rolling hills. First 20 miles of the ride are primarily flat with some rollers and 1 small climb at mile 13. Was targeting a 20 mph average, which I achieved coming through miles 20 in 01:03. Probably would have been under 1 hour but I got confused by my Garmin directions and turned off onto the wrong dirt road at mile 17. Luckily I only went a couple hundred feet before my brain kicked in and I realized it was way too early to be on gravel. The real test began at mile 23 with ~3.5 miles of hard road climbing. There are some steep pitches, but enough flats and false flats that I was able to recover and keep my overall effort high. Easy enough to spot the turn off onto the gravel as it has an official sign on the highway. Gravel section for the last ~4 mile was great, well maintained road gravel on top of hard pack. Completed the gravel section in 20 minutes which brought my time for miles 20–30 to ~50 minutes and my overall bike split to 01:54:02. I went in targeting sub 2 hrs, so proud of this time.
The gravel road up to the trailhead is easily passable for most cars, and my wife drove our Sprinter van up to the trailhead to give me a place to change, grab more water, and safely store my bike. We had a slight mishap where google maps took Samantha on the wrong road, pro-tip don’t rely on google maps in that area it has no idea. Luckily she figured it out and got on the right road. She ended up arriving at the trailhead about 10 minutes after me. Could have been disastrous, but my legs were pretty pumped from the climb and my stomach went south as soon as I stood up off the bike. After practicing some leave no trace principles (yay van shovel) I was feeling better, got changed and headed out. Overall this transition took about 16 minutes which could definitely be improved in the future. Probably paid off in the long run though as I got a bit more rest and fuel before starting the run leg.
The run was a very enjoyable part of the experience. First mile or so is rolling terrain that I was able to run and bank some time. After about the first mile you start to come across the blowdown which added a fun dynamic element to the experience. I paid close attention to my Gaia to make sure I didn’t miss the cutoff trail junction, which Winston mentioned missing in his trip report. Successfully made the turn and headed up the official cutoff trail. Navigation got a bit tricky through this section as there are trees down every couple hundred yards, but people have placed cairns making it easy enough to follow if you pay attention. After the cutoff I was back on the Aspen Butte trail which is mostly single track with some short sections of rock to cross. Made it to the summit in 01:23:30, shaving a couple mins of the previous FKT time. Snapped a couple quick pics for proof and then headed back down. Views on the summit would have been epic had it not been hazy. Downhill running was great fun as long as you don’t mind some safe, but slightly technical terrain. Jumping over all the down trees was my favorite part. Made it back to the trailhead in about 55 minutes for an overall run time of 02:17:46.
At this point I was well ahead of the previous FKT and I was feeling good. Quads were a bit sore and fatigued from the dynamic downhill running, but I was doing better than I expected. Jumped in our Van to change again and refill water for the last bike leg. This transition was much faster and I got out of the van and on my way in 00:07:30. Huge props to Winston for the unsupported effort, having to filter water would definitely have slowed things down, especially on a warm day when I was doing 1.5L on both bike legs & 1L on the run. Luckily for me my wife wanted to be involved so I had crew help, and she enjoyed going for her own hike with our Dog while I did my run leg.
Final bike back to the starting point was definitely harder than I expected. Mentally I was thinking it was going to be all downhill cruising sort of like Mt. Bachelor here in Bend, that was not the case. 4 mile downhill on gravel was a bit spicy as I chose to run my tires at higher pressure for better road performance, but some skipping on the loose gravel. I’m also not the most confident bike handler, and I get paid to type on a keyboard so I’m always nervous about crashing and messing with my livelihood. Someone else could probably crush this downhill and gain back some time, but I was pleased with my decision to keep it around 20 mph. After turning back onto the road you have a small roller before a long road descent. That was probably the highlight of the return trip for me as the road is mostly straight, great quality surface so you can really open it up. Gravel bike limits the speed but I was over 30 mph for most of miles 5–10. Following the descent the rest of the ride was a GRIND. Hot, exposed, and a lot more rolling hills than I remember from the way out. I focused hard on keeping my speed up over 15 mph on my Garmin and just put my head down. Last 2 miles are back in town where I almost cramped when I put my leg down at each traffic light. Rolled back into the parking lot where Sam was waiting for me at 3:41pm for a final bike split of 01:43:21
Total time including all transitions was 6 hrs 21 minutes for a new supported FKT. Loved the aesthetic of this route being a bike to trail run. During the summer of COVID these types of bike to trail run have been my favorite activities. I can really appreciate how going unsupported you would complete the full route without any car emissions. Having Samantha involved was worth the tradeoff of going supported for me personally. If you really wanted the best possible time and were okay with the full possibilities of “supported” you could definitely crush the bike splits using several riders, or even motor pacing (booo). I enjoyed doing the physical aspect solo and feel that not relying on other riders to draft was the best way to honor the route’s ethic, while still involving Samantha in the overall experience.
The Klamath Falls area has a lot of great gravel bike potential and I look forward to some more trips down that direction. This experience also has me excited to explore the potential for some FKT bike → run → bike adventures around Bend.
Strava Details
Bike from downtown Klamath Falls to Clover Creek Trailhead — https://www.strava.com/activities/4147453405
Run from Clover Creek Trailhead to Aspen Butte Summit — https://www.strava.com/activities/4147467014
Bike back from Clover Creek Trailhead to start point in downtown — https://www.strava.com/activities/4147453512/
Gear Used
- 2018 Devinci Hatchet — Carbon frame, with AL wheels.
- 700c x 40 tubeless tires with low profile tread running on higher pressure.
- SPD pedals with Five Ten Kestral Pro shoes.
- Salomon ADV Skin 12 running vest.
- Nike Terra Kiger shoes.
Nutrition
Bike Leg 1:
- 1 Clif Nut Butter filled bar.
- 1/2 Clif Gel
- 1 x 750 ML bottle just H2O
Run Leg:
- 1/2 Clif Kids nut butter bar (cinnamon apple)
- 1/2 Clif gel
- 1000 ML H2O + Gatorade mix (~ 80 calories)
Bike Leg 2:
- 1/2 Clif Gel
- 1 x 750ML H20
- 1 x 750ML H2O + Gatorade mix (~ 50 calories)
