Including fully rigid? 

I've done the CTR the past two years on a fully rigid steel single speed 29er (flat pedals too!). There are spots where I take it a little easier on the downhill since I don't have suspension, but rigid bikes climb great and I reckon the CTR is more about climbing than descending. I think that my desire to sleep 7 to 9 hours per night played a much larger role in slowing me down than the lack of suspension. I didn't have any problems with my hands, but I always wore gloves for the descents to avoid blisters and did a lot of riding before the race which helped get the hands in shape. The singlespeed actually helps avoid the sore butt since it forces you to ride standing about 50% of the time. I'm planning on riding again this year and intend to stick with the same bike - it works great!

Hi Ace,

On the mac version of basecamp, you can Control-click on the track and hit "Invert Track"

The climb from Durango to Silverton is steep and rugged. Last year I started somewhere around 5:30 am and made it to near Bolam Pass by 8:30 pm, then went to bed since I was totally exhausted. The next morning I woke up before sunrise (maybe 5 am?) and arrived in Silverton at something like 10 am. So, I think that it took me about 20 hours of riding. 4 miles per hour seems kinda pathetic, but actually I think that's a reasonable pace to expect for rough singletrack with a loaded bike. For reference, the whole trail took me 7.5 days.

Hope this helps. Have fun!

I've been running the Diety pedals for the past few years (and past 2 CTR races). http://www.deitycomponentsstore.com/deity-decoy-pedals.html
I tried a few other brands and found that these work as well as some of the more expensive flat pedals. I've had zero problems with them so far, and I ride pretty carelessly, crashing them into rocks all of the time. The pins have the perfect amount of grip, the pedal is surface nice and wide so your foot doesn't get tired, and the pedal is still pretty thin so that you have a little more clearance after rocks.

I've found no shoe that grips as well as the 5.10 Impact shoe, but I think that sturdy trail-runners should work well as long as the tread isn't too course.

Ha ha!

Okay, I'm on it

fastmtnbiker33w, the full loop idea sounds awesomely epic. It would probably need to consist of dirt roads linking bits of singletrack since there isn't another huge trail like the CT, but it could still be a great ride. One option would be to ride the CT as a race and then do a slower tour back on the rest of the loop. You've got me looking at a whole bunch of maps trying to make something work. Any ideas for a route?

It looks like she bailed to Jefferson after an impressive 17-hour push to Georgia Pass. If she was having bike problems, coasting into Breck seems like the more logical option. If I zoom in enough, it seems that she's hanging out at the Jefferson gas-station/market. They do have about 50 flavors of fudge there...

Hi Stefan,

My time is correct for this year, but I think that I may have cheated last year. Has the Durango trailhead always been the lower one? Last year, I finished at the upper trailhead (the one right where the road makes a big switchback and heads up towards the campground). Someone offered me a beer and there were a few other people waiting for CTR racers at the upper trailhead, so it seemed like a good place to finish. However, this year, when I started in Durango, it sure seemed like I skipped the last 1.2 miles of trail in 2011. It was good to have the extra motivation to make sure that I finished this year .

I left Durango at 5:15 am last Sunday and arrived at Waterton at 3:53 pm yesterday for a total time of 7d 10h 38m. What a great trip! Last year I rode southbound, so riding northbound this year was awesome. All of the beautiful sections that I rode at night last year were in full sunshine this year. But the best part was that I got to see the whole race pack surging past me towards Durango. It was great to meet all of you, check out the different bike/pack setups, and witness various levels of sleep-deprivation. I can believe how coherent Jefe was considering that he had been going 2.5 days on basically zero sleep. I'm looking forward to reading through all of these forum posts and catching up on the action that I missed. I'll try to get some photos up tonight.
Cheers, Dan

I think I only got 3 or 4 days in track mode last year, even turning it off at night.

I'm getting ready to head to the airport in 30 mins and catch a flight to Durango. I'll be starting an ITT at 6 am tomorrow.

See you guys and gals on the trail! I'll be riding a bright blue Salsa singlespeed.

Happy Trails! 

Dan

I'm getting a late start on the planning this year, but I'm leaning towards a northbound (Durango to Denver) ITT for a change of scenery and to simplify logistics. I live in Boulder, and it seems that I can take the bus to the airport, catch a flight to Durango for about $100, ride the CTR, then keep riding back to my house in Boulder. I'm planning on flying to Durango on Saturday, the 28th and starting the trail that night or early Sunday (29th) morning.

Anyone want to join me? I hear the the CT is twice as beautiful riding northbound . Of course, the climbs out of Durango and out of Silverton are going to be tough...

Also, in case anyone needs some more ride-stoke, here are my photos from last year - I never got around to writing a trip report: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.699427689274.2181252.13306742&type=3&l=986a8104df

Ride on!

Dan

Hey Boney, do those Mountain Laurel Rain Mitts stand up to much time on the handlebars? They look awesome, but looking at the weight, I'd assume that they would wear through pretty quickly.

To add to the raingear discussion, I used the Arc'teryx Paclight jacket and pants. They were incredible, but I think this was largely due to the fact that I bought them just before the race and the water repellant finish was still brand new. The pants have a stiff section of fabric on the inside of the ankle that keeps them from getting too tangled in the chain.

For sleeping gear, I used an old 40-degree GoLite sleeping bag - it seemed just about right but I did throw it in the drier in Silverton as it had gotten a bit soggy and deflated. I also used a GoLite tarp-tent thing. I like tarps a lot better than bivy sacks, but I did have to spend a little time finding good places to set it up when it was raining.

Yeah, there were lots of cows on the Seargents Mesa section when I rode through last year. I was running out of water towards the end of that section, and when I finally got to the little stream listed in the databook it was completely covered in cow crap. Ugh. I felt bad for the through-hiker that I met that had no choice but to filter and drink it.

And don't forget about the sheep on segment 22! I rode through there in a rainstorm and suddenly about 2000 sheep and a south-american dude pop out of the mist. I thought that I'd been teleported to Peru or something.

Having a water bottle on top of the downtube was bad enough - putting one on the bottom could get pretty gross.

Hi Mtnbound, I too ditched the bar ends for a while since they used up space on the end of the bar and I always found myself pushing the edge of my hands against the bar ends while using the grips. For the CTR bike I switched from a 27" bar to a 28.5" bar and found that this worked much better with the bar ends. It seems that the bar ends each take up 1/2 of an inch or so on the end of the bars, so I guess it makes sense that I had to get bars that were at least an inch longer to compensate. I was riding a singlespeed and really like to climb standing up, so I thought that the bar ends were awesome. If I was sitting down more I don't think they would as useful.

Hi Bart,

I always ride with the Rogues – they are a sweet grip! I've never really understood how the Ergon grips worked for technical riding. I got some cheap bar-ends to use with the Rogues and they worked really well for the CTR. You can grab the bar ends in the middle or way up on the ends, so they provide some variety to keep your hands from getting tired. Also, since you can get your whole hand on them, they are amazing for climbing. http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bc/SBCEqProduct.jsp?spid=41552

Cheers, Dan

The GPS is super sweet and I used it all the time on the CT. But, it's good to bring maps as a backup and to get an idea of the terrain. It's also nice to know what towns you can get to if you have to bail. I had printed maps that covered all of the route. I brought waterproof printed maps from Lat 40 or National Geographic Trails Illustrated for some of the singletrack sections. For the road sections and some parts of the singletrack that I already knew pretty well, I ripped out pages from the Benchmark Atlas: http://www.amazon.com/Colorado-Road-Recreation-Atlas-Benchmark/dp/0929591941
That atlas has really good info on the dirt roads and the Colorado Trail. They are pretty zoomed out, so they quickly give you the big picture about where you are. However, since they are so zoomed out, they can sandbag you pretty good As an added benefit, after you are done with each map you can just drop it in the recycling!

The databook is also really helpful, especially regarding water sources. It has a few mistakes. For instance, it said that the climbing on the segment just before you get to Stoney Pass Road was 1,000'. I think it was more like 4,000'!

Cheers,
Dan

Hi mtnbound,
I used the BD Storm headlamp on my helmet. I attached it with zip ties, which was a little bit annoying, but it worked. It's very bright for a AAA battery-powered light and it was enough for riding technical stuff at night. I think that next year I will try to get a light that is made specifically to attach to the helmet. This is for two reasons: 1) it would save a little frustration to be able to quickly attach/remove the light. 2) I think that moving the light source from the front of my helmet to the top of my helmet should provide a slightly better angle for the light. If you have tried riding at night with only a headlamp, you will see what I mean about the angle of the light - it kinda makes me nauseous after a while.

I have tried wrapping a headlamp around the handlebars and find that it's very hard to get the lamp not to slip when you hit bumps. I used a Princeton Tec EOS last year, and it worked okay. I think it's 80 lumens, which is almost bright enough, but it really chews through batteries at the highest setting. I'm searching for a better AA/AAA powered bar lamp for next year. I wish they made a bar-mount for the Storm!

Hi mtnbound,
I spread the load between a bag behind the saddle, the sleeping bad and pad on the bars (in a dry bag), and everything else in the back pack. I also put two 20 oz water bottles on the frame so that I could carry less water in the backpack. I tended to load more things onto the bike on the road sections and keep more things in the backpack during the tough singletrack sections. The seatbag/handlebar-roll setup is cheap, solid, and works pretty well as long as you don't mind having some weight on your back.

I started on Saturday evening last year in order to avoid taking off more than a week of work. It worked out pretty well. This time I'm thinking about flying to Durango and riding back to Denver. This way I don't need to bum a ride back from Durango and, if I'm still feeling strong after the CT, I could ride all the way back to my house in Boulder. Anyone else interested in a Sunday morning departure from Durango?

I think that some snowshoeing would be good training for the CTR: unless you are a cycling god, there will be plenty of slogging uphill with a bike on your back. I was glad to have done some running during the summer before the race to make sure that I had tough feet!

But why are we talking about bikes? It's ski season! 

Cheers, Dan

Hi guys! I'm back in Boulder after finishing in Durango around five o'clock on Saturday night (total time: 6 days, 23 hours, 21 minutes). I highly recommend the ~1 week CTR, I had plenty of time for a few bacon-and-eggs breakfasts, and a couple showers . Thanks to everyone for inspiration and encouragement - it was a great ride through some glorious scenery!

Dan

I've got everything packed and am aiming for a 6 pm start this evening. It should be a good trip!

Dan