Zack and Whitney Allison announced on Saturday that due to the Cameron Peak Fire burning on course, they were canceling the 2020 edition of their Gravel Unkown ride. The four-day gravel experience which was slated for August 27- 30th would have spent considerable time in the Cameron Pass, Red Feather Lakes areas that are currently burning or are likely to do so in the near future. 

Peter Discoe is cautiously optimistic that the Fort Collins Ramble will happen from September 23rd to the 26th on many of the same roads currently being threatened by the fire. The Fort Collins Ramble takes riders from Steamboat to Fort Collins, mostly on gravel roads, over the course of three days and 200+ miles of bike packing. You can read Peters’s statement below. 

 

** IMPORTANT SEPTEMBER RAMBLE UPDATE **
Good morning Ramblers,
I am writing today under orange haze and smoke from the nearby Cameron Peak fire.
A few of you have emailed about the fire and possible impact on the ride.
First; man…2020. Go away.
Second, it’s too early to tell. The fire is still several miles south of the route, and the Forest Service, in the act of great foresight, cut a significant firebreak along the road we use in early July. Roughly 200 yards, it’s tough to imagine a fire jumping this gap. We have another road option to the north, further from the fire area, we could take if the fire reached that far.
More importantly, however, this fire is just a few days old. We don’t know how long it will burn, and what the consequences will be: the area could remain closed, campsites could remain closed, or God Forbid, it is still active. Our 2012 High Park fire burned for nearly a month, which in this case would put us right on top of our ride date. Because of the speed, terrain, and conditions, USFS is currently not actively fighting the fire, and instead, working on containment.
Because we still have an option to move widely around this area, and our third-night camping while currently closed due to evacuations, is a private spot and unlikely to be in the path of the fire, I’m not ready to call this ride postponed. The next week or two will help make this determination as we see where this fire spreads, and have a better idea of the likely duration. That area is 70-80% beetle-kill trees so there is plenty of fuel to maintain this fire under current conditions.
But, since there are a number of you who have travel plans, I wanted you to be fully aware of the situation so that you could change if needed.
If this fire moves south, and our roads reopen while the fire is active, be aware too of air quality. If you have any issues in this regard, please take this into consideration.
There are several links to get information on the fire, what I use, in addition to communications with my Ranger for making decisions.
https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6964/
https://www.arcgis.com/apps/MapSeries/index.html?appid=ea8b0eeb2e9c45b790329c0ed2fdc225
https://twitter.com/usfsclrd
Not the best news, and just more for a tough year for all of us. If you do decide to postpone at this time, please contact me directly.
I’ll make a final determination by September 1 on complete postponement due to this Natural Disaster.
Best,
Peter