Best of luck and HAPPY TRAILS to all the 2010 CTR crazies!  I hope things go great for everyone and you come back safe and sound with tons of good tales!  I'll be keeping a close eye on the MTB cast!  Next year.....................I'm gonna beat 11 days!

tom (ramstrong) Jensen

Hi Stephan,

Thanks for the post.  I might have have had selective hearing that morning.  "Clearly" was a bit of a stretch.  I was pretty stressed.  I appreciate your extending an unofficial finish.  It is an awesome task and to have gotten a DNF would have been heartbreaking.  Honestly by the top of Slumgullion, I was feeling pretty unofficial actually!   I am looking forward to being able to ride a better pace this year and get on that official finisher list!  Any guess how many starters this year??

Hey guys!  Thanks for the nice posts..................Sorry my leathery tough skin show through again!  I shouldnt have taken such offense it must have just been the shock of seeing my name in the thread that freaked me a tad.  You gotta do this thing it is amazing no matter how long it takes!  I am hoping to be on the start line this year (new baby boy on xmas) but if I cant be I will keep plugging for 2011!  LETS RIDE!

TG,  I was surprised to see my result from last year pulled into Jonesy comments "may have to pull a ramstrong to finish" and your subsequent response.  I realize my methods were not the norm but I did finish and to that end I feel that derogatory comments would be reserved for someone who had actually finished ahead of me.  Sorry if I got a little defensive but I'm proud of my tenacity and was bummed to see myself used as an illustration of how not to ride.  Maybe we could get together and train as we are both in FC. 

I was shocked how much more stuff I needed on the ctr than I had trained with.  Day in day out that extra load took it's toll.  I trained with 25 pounds of gear but found that to race I needed closer to 40 all told.  Train with the extra just to get a feel for how the bike rides and how your crotch holds up with more food and water in the backpack.

Hey how did I get pulled into this?  Maybe the shit should be flying towards the quitters.  Maybe you couldn't really consider my attempt totally legitimate as I didnt do 22 and 23 but several issues would have made going up a bad decision.  If you get to the top of Slumgullion maybe you will get to decide yourself.  We were clearly told that if we got there and thing were not just so we could take the 2008 route and still be given an official finish.  Its cool with me if that turned out to not be the case.  For me, it just became a personal battle to get to Durango in line with the rules and be able to live with myself without feeling like I had put a year into training for something and then just bailing like so many of my fellow starters.  I admit it.  At 44 years old I overestimated my fitness and greatly underestimated the scope and challenge of this race.    Toby and Jonesy ,Wait til you have finished before you start judging my race.  It's a LONGGGGGGGGG way to Durango tough guys. By the way, your ass thread is a little wierd.

Hi gang! 

Just wondering where to send my SPOT after the CTR.  I am sure I missed this along the way somewhere, but I need to know who owns it and where to send it!  Thanks

Tom Jensen
970-988-1206

Hey Scott!  Thanks a lot!  It was hard in some ways to get back out on the trail, but I knew I would never be able to look myself in the eye again if I quit!  This is a BRUTAL event!  It's good to be on the finisher side though!  Next year I will take a different approach and hopefully take a couple of days off my finishing time!  Congratulations on a super race! 

tom

WWWWWWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!   I friggin' FINISHED!!!  That was THE hardest thing I have ever done and I am already thinking about how to do things differently for next year!  What a life changing experience!  This event is harder than you can ever imagine.............even as slow as I did it!  11 days with 2 FULL days off in Salida to heal my lungs.  Went out too hard even though it didnt feel like it.  Crushed my CV system so I decided to scratch, but after two days in the hostel( ) in Salida, everything came back and I felt better than before the race!  Settled into my own SLOW pace and enjoyed just having the trail to myself.  Congrats to everyone who finished and thank you so much to Stephan for all the hard work putting this thing together.not to mention an awesome time!  See you all next August!

Hi all!  Way to go OWEN and everyone else who makes it to Durango!  I put you top guys up there with the Lance Armstrong and Chris Sharmas of the world!  Truely WORLD CLASS efforts.  I overestimated my fitness and underestimated the seriousness of this trail.   I'm in Salida and I'm DONE!  I was fighting lung stuff the whole race and just have nothing left.  Thanks for all the great times and I'll be back next year in better condition with a better setup. 

Tom Jensen

It's that "gearing up" that is getting my wife down   You're right though.  Totally worth it compared to expense of "sign up" racing!  Thanks for all of your hard work putting this all together!  No offense intended to the sport or its supporters!   

Hey Jonesy!

Thanks for the very thorough setup description!  I really appreciate all the info from you and the other vets!  I have been out on several overnights now and have things pretty dialed however I think I may be throwing in some more WARM clothes after seeing your clothing list.  My long underwear and rain gear might not be enough.  Can't wait to just get started and stop OBSESSING!  My wife is ready to dis-own me.  PS: this sport is friggin expensive!

see you all sunday morning!

tom

Hey JEFF!  It was great meeting you this weekend!  Did you meet Phil ( british fellow on a to On-One) on the way out?  He was heading out for his solo attempt.  Anyway!  If you want to talk shop give me a call!

tom
970-988-1206!

PS  Ready or not, Steve Stalgren and I are definitely IN!  About $8,000 raised for our charity!   

PSS  Bring you kitty litter tires for the hayman burn area!!!

Nothing like a little added pressure to make this thing REALLY interesting! 


I'm getting picked up by my wife in Durango on the 10th  (planning a new course record here..) or so if anyone needs to get back to dtown we could probably squeeze....

Anyone have a wild guess how many starters will be showing up?               3 WEEKS-------------AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Jonesy! 

Thanks for the trail tale!  Sounds like an epic!  You are helping a lot of us newbies sort out our gear with a story like that!  I just had a great night out on Old Flowers above fort collins and felt totally overloaded so I was in the process of cutting some bad weather stuff..........I may rethink that now!  What were you carrying AND  What would you do differently (bring or leave out)
Great beta!  Better join us August 2nd for the next attempt.

 
I'd be up for something Saturday night if anyone else is into it!  I would love a chance to go over the detours and ask some questions of the vets!  Knowledge is POWER!  PS.....If any racers are needing parts, packs, racks and so forth, I have a little bike repair business and would gladly extend PRO DEAL prices(cost +10%).  My wholesaler is www.bti-usa.com and if I can save anyone a little money I would be glad to do it! I would just need payment prior to order so I don't go upside down on anything-------------margins are pretty narrow!

call 970-988-1206

Tom

Owen!

Thanks for the great info!  A very nice response to be sure!  I like the idea of a bigger pack as I am leaning away from the Pannier idea I started with....I get shit for the size of my camleback as it is so a few wxtra pounds on the back might not be that noticable.  1 thing jumps at out me though, no water filter for the race?  How did you stay hydrated? Thanks again!  Drop me an email so I can send you some info about my cancer fund!  ramstrong1@live.com

tom

CTR Newbie is looking for any advice on what the hell to bring! 

Looking closely at last years start line photos is giving me some direction but I was curious about sleep setups, cooking and food recommendations and getting it all attached to my bike in the most efficient way possible. 

Anyone willing to share some beta??

PS I'm wanting to finish in a week or so not set any records!

That's awesome!  I was just contemplating buying one at my wife's insistance!  There's an extra 149 I can spend on Nutella!  Thanks for the valuable info!  7 weeks and counting!  Hopefully a new weather pattern will have set in by August! 

PS Like the trail changes...........................

I'll take trhe sleeping bag if you still have it!  Give me a call at 970-988-1206!