Pueblo Colorado

I rode there in March this year and it was scorchin hot - granted this winter was mild, but I would bet Pueblo has pretty good conditions in March. You could call the guys at Great Divide bike shop to see what they think.

Great trail system down there.

Is there a trail there? lol Its not like that in Evergreen.

If you look close you can see a dirt road on the other side - it was hell getting through that marsh though. Somewhere on the flume trails above Breckenridge...

Surprisingly for me this year on the CTR I found a new fear, more of an obstacle really.
It was this: Realizing I didn't want something as bad as I thought I did (or at least that's what I thought at the time)

It hit me on top of the Ten Mile Range, after that ridiculous push up to the crest. I was so drained, frustrated and angry that I completely lost my desire to get to Durango. I would have happily quit right then and there and gone home. Obviously I had to ride down and then outside of Copper I found fresh legs and had some of the most fun I've ever had on a bike ripping through the singletrack at Copper at sundown.

That is the nature of the beast on the CTR: up and down (literally and figuratively). Major mood swings, unlike anything I've ever experienced.

So how do you overcome the lack of drive? What is it that tells you deep down that you should just keep going because it will get better around the next bend?

Yeah, Thunderstorms scare me (but there is only bad gear, not bad weather!) And crashing scares me, running out of food also.

But for me it's that loss of focus for something you've trained and planned for and dreamed of so relentlessly and tirelessly.

CCB,
after sitting through several rainstorms in the high country this year watching water cascade under my mega light (a.k.a. circus tent) your view from that hammock looks sweet!

2nd that as I held my bivy sack up off my face trying to keep those same downpours from not draining directly down into the mesh opening! Life is grand huh 

All I'm saying is, the Perseid meteor showers peak on August 12th 2013, and there is a full moon on August 20th. For the 'normies' in the race who take about a week or longer to finish, starting the race on Monday the 12th would provide for some mighty fine meteors during the first couple nights on the bike, and an awesome full moon for the finish. Maybe it's too early to chat about the 2013 start date, but Im just saying, it'd be pretty cool if those events happened during the race (which I hope to be officially participating in next year

Sure, would be awesome - except that it'll be raining every night and storming with a vengeance! 

Awesome - thanks for the info, pics, links. Looks like a sweet ride. Knew I would get a good answer from this group 

REI Denver has one in stock, I'll have to go take it for a spin.

Anyone out there have any experience with the new Surly Ogre?

Would love to hear any thoughts on it. I did see one on the CTR this year...

Hey CTR Community!

Check out this facebook page - a group is working to make Bailey into a 'Trails Town'.

http://www.facebook.com/BaileyTrails

The bit that gets me excited is the vision to have a mtn bike trail connecting Bailey to Kenosha - sure as hell would beat riding 285 

Jay Petervary called in from Pie Town. Unfortunately, the hippies ate all the food!

"Ya'll have a great day and I'm gonna go ride a bike"

 

Maybe she realized she wasn't on record pace and just called it - she was clearly gunning for a record (notice the finish time scrawled on her top tube bag?!)

Hi Ski_Loveland: what time of year did you do your White Rim rides?

Should have read that before replying.

And to Tortoise's point - I am not hammering someone for taking a glass of water. Losing a major piece of gear like a SPOT - especially in today's bikepacking racing world - is a major lapse for a potential record breaking rider and worthy of some discussion.

Yeah I understand how hard these events are and what type of effort is needed. I attempted the CTR myself this year and failed. But let's not forget that at the end of the day you are really just riding your bike, eating big fat breakfasts in town, enjoying the scenery, getting rained on and maybe having some aches and pains  . Mentally, I understand how low you can get and the euphoria that follows after overcoming that is what brings a lot of us back.

Life can be a lot harder than that.

We (TL) facilitated quite a few SPOT replacements/mailings/etc during the TD grand depart 'event.'  Spots are different, IMO, in that they really help for course verification.  A GPX file is not as good as points that our code pulls from SPOT's server.  In Jay's case, going for an already stout record, I would much prefer he be transmitting all the time.

Toby's always got the extreme viewpoint, and I respect it, but disagree in this case.  Kurt's point about it being advantageous on the route is a fair one.  Though in most cases we are a commercial entity mailing replacements to POs or commercial establishments, which has long been allowed by self support rules (that'll probably be how Jay gets his replacement).  Just like you could order a replacement GPS from Amazon and have it shipped to a PO ahead on the route.  Toby probably disagrees that even that should be allowed, but then we could spiral into discussions of how far to take it -- to wearing ear plugs, blinders and carrying all your food from day 1.  There are dozens of ways we could ride with even more purity...

Isn't the sticking point though that other people are doing the mailing for him? I understand I can mail stuff ahead to myself, and that any racer can do that given its to a PO or commercial entity. But if other people start mailing me stuff (even to POs or comm. est.) along the route it sure sounds like outside support to me.

But I guess it comes down to verification in these cases and that seems to be a trump card.

Shawn is almost there. Hugely impressive to watch over the last 10 days.
He has a detailed look at the equipment and food aspect of the attempt on his blog.
http://www.shawnforry.com./Margin_Walker...A_Hikers_Chronicles/Blog/Blog.html

37 lbs of food to start!!

Pretty interesting read on his food selections and gear.

There is about to be a new unsupported foot record set on the CT. Shawn Forry is currently at around 10 days with looks like less than 50 miles to go. Trackers says he is averaging 46 miles a day. Pretty damn impressive.

I wonder what 15ish days of food looks like?? Only gets lighter as you go though I suppose...

From everything I have ever read or heard about 'Jay P' (and that has been a lot lately given his clear feelings about the new record set this year - did you hear his line in his first call in 'crows fly in flocks and eagles soar alone' - nothing subtle there) I gotta feel that the guy would agree that a replacement SPOT delivery or a convenient 'premeditated trail magic' drop clearly breaches the self-support ideal that he so vehemently treasures. Plus he even mentions in a call-in that maybe he can get one in Butte...

Superlight bivy + cuben Monk tarp = 12oz total with ultimate flexibility. Both from http://www.mountainlaureldesigns.com/

Thanks for the link!

Dammit! One more trip to add to my 'want to be there now' list 

Looks spectacular

Before I knew what the hell I was doing 

Perhaps the most quintessential bikepacking photo!