Yep, not a very long ride to the trailhead at all.  A perfect warmup before the climbing begins... and oh, boy, how you'll climb.  After crossing Junction Creek the second time you can pretty much get ready to walk to Kennebec.

Mmmm, breakfast.  My recommendation is Carvers - they have delicious breakfast, but they don't open until 6:30am.  I'd wait for that, though, as it is really good.  The Durango Diner and Oscar's are both open at 6am, more of a greasy spoon/diner scene, but still good if grease is okay.  And then there's Bread, which is very good for pastries and such but not really a full breakfast, and it's a 10 minute ride from downtown.  Where are you turning in your truck?  The Uhaul place is literally next door to Bread.  The other three breakfast places I mentioned are right downtown.

If you guys would like some company for breakfast and a spin to the trailhead, say the word - I'd stumble out of bed for some food and an early morning pavement spin.

As someone who rides through the Junction Creek trailhead at least a time or two per week, I'd not leave a car there for 5-10 days.  I'd say it's plenty safe, but it is a small lot, and on the weekends the number of cars there is overwhelming.  No charge to park, but I'm not positive whether there's a time limit on parking there.  Might do some research with the Forest Service (I believe the TH is on FS land, but could be wrong there).

In Durango proper there are plenty of quiet residential streets where I figure a car would be fine for a week, unless some nosy resident called the police.  Even then, not sure if there is a statute as far as parking duration.  The further away from Main Ave, the better.

Not positive about the rest of the CT, but from Molas Pass into Durango should be good to go by then.  We are currently having to navigate a few snowbanks and such on that part of the trail, but four weeks from now the snow should be gone.

Chocolate and Larabars... check.  Some of my favorites as well.  Thanks for the responses guys!

Okay, perhaps a silly question for the extremely hardcore racers (i.e., less than 3-4 hours of sleep at night), but what does everyone do with food at night during an event such as the CTR?  I've done lots of backpacking and it would be really odd for me to not hang all my food in a tree while sleeping... but something tells me most bikepackers probably don't do this whilst racing.  Comments?

Yep, the new top of the line Pearl X-Alp shoe is the X-Alp Elite, which uses dual-density EVA instead of any carbon on the sole.

By the way, everyone, my photos are only appearing on my original post when I'm logged in.  Not sure why that's the case, but if you'd like photos, email me at the address listed above and I'll send you some!  Alternately, if anyone knows the secret to allowing attached photos to show up to the general public, say the word.

For sale:  A pair of Pearl Izumi X-Alp PRO shoes.  Used but in very good condition.  Size 46.  $125 shipped.

I really like these shoes for bikepacking - so much, in fact, that when I realized I purchased the wrong size originally I had to get another pair.  I've used these part-time since March.  March and most of April was on the road, some of April and all of May were trail miles.  Once the high country here began to melt out and I began doing longer rides I really realized that my 46's were a bit too small, and I reluctantly tracked down a size 47.  They're great, so the 46's are up for sale.

This X-Alp model is no longer available - when I talked to the Pearl rep at Interbike last year he mentioned how the new top-end X-Alp is the Elite, which is less expensive and has a softer sole.  The partially-carbon soles on my X-Alp PROs are great for pedaling and also for hiking.  Not as flexible as a hiking shoe, of course, but any softer and I think I'd have hot spot issues, which I think would be the problem with the Elites.  See other reviews of the PRO shoes on the gear section of this site.

I managed to get a pair of backstock PRO shoes from Pearl Izumi directly.  They were $200... Zappos.com has two small sizes left for $220... and an online retailer with a terrible reputation "has" them for $164 (take your chances).  For the used 46's I'm asking $125 shipped to continental US, or $110 if you want to pick them up in Durango.  For reference purposes, I typically wear an 11 or 12 shoe size, depending on manufacturer, and the 47's fit great, while the 46's were a tiny bit small and became uncomfortable after about six hours on the trail.

PM me if interested, or shoot an email to joeydurango (at) gmail (dot) com.  Thanks!

Continentals tend to run tight in general.  My guess based on experience with both lots of Conti tires and several models of Bontrager rims is that you'll have some good fun getting them seated.  As Matt mentioned above, soap solution works well, as does this stuff in a can called Bead Wax (if you can still find it).

Personally I was never impressed with Conti's Mountain King tires.  Like all MTB Continentals, they run smaller (width) than advertised and I never liked the large, widely spaced blocks, but I do like the Protection sidewall.  Conti's road/touring tires are really nice, though!

Have you looked at some of WTB's new tire offerings?  The TCS (Tubeless Compatible) series looks pretty sweet.  Currently available in 26", but if you're on 29" we'll have to wait until Sea Otter before they're even officially announced.  I've been running the 29" non-TCS version of the Bronson and Wolverine, and they are both sweet on anything I've thrown their way here in Western Colorado.  Looking forward to the TCS versions...

Never done the Great Divide route, but have lived in Colorado for the past several years, and I'd say you're really pushing it to try the GDR in October.  I personally wouldn't even think about it.  I'd say that Banff through Colorado you'd pretty much be asking to get snowed on, and the higher portions would probably have snow/be snowed in already.  From Colorado south would probably be okay.

Anyone here have more specific info?

Agreed with Sean and Toby.  I never take stoves on any kind of overnighter - just not worth the trouble/extra weight/bulk.  BUT, if you really need hot food to feel like you're "eating", then go for it!  As for what I eat, my list is pretty similar to what Toby and Sean have already mentioned.

You'll have no problems.  Make sure you leave the tubeless strip (hard plastic strip in the rims if you're currently set up tubeless) in the rim - just remove the valve and bring it along.  The one small issue you may have is getting the tires to seat up correctly - with tubes installed, certain tires can be stubborn about popping into place along the bead seat, leaving you with a hop in the tire.  A combination of judicious pressurizing and good old elbow-grease manhandling should seat everything if you're patient.

Ha, that photo looks a lot like my table did a month ago.  Make sure you check the CT route in the Gazetteer - mine (a couple years old) was wrong in a few places.  Specifically I remember just east of Breck, the old Hope Pass route still marked near BV/Salida, and the old CT route down the valley near Stony Pass.

I would love it if Shelman made a comeback to the CTR in 2011.  Fun guy to ride with, if one can keep up...

Always been interested beyond my knowledge level about ACA.  I just signed up.  Thanks very much!

No personal experience (yet) with the CTR, but my friends Doug Johnson (2nd 2009) and Jon Csakany both have done it on hardtails.  I'll likely be out there on a steel 29er come August, and I'm guessing you and I won't be alone.  I personally just like the simplicity of a hardtail when I'm miles from anywhere.  Plus I've been on SS for a few years, which kind of takes FS out of the picture.

I've had only a couple problems with hydros personally - sticky pistons and leaking piston seals.  Sticky pistons happen on every type of brake I've owned (and wrenched on), just comes with the territory.  I like Shimano in part because it's super easy to reset their pistons, can do it on the trail before a proper cleaning and lube job later.

Leaking piston seals are a different story, unless the brake is well-used.  Had multiple problems with XTR (personally and on team race bikes) but nothing since switching to XT.

I agree with Fixie Dave, sometimes it takes a little longer to really get the air out than people are willing to spend.  Makes all the difference, though.

Mike, that was wonderful.  Thanks for taking the time to create and post all three.

I once saw you speak at a bike shop in Indianapolis, a couple hours from my Midwestern home town.  At the time I was a (slow) amateur XC racer who thought any ride over three hours was long.  Since then a lot has happened - I've been in Colorado for years, lengthened my "long ride" definition by quite a bit, and I'm working towards the 2011 CTR.

Thanks for being one inspiration among many!  You helped open up my definition of what is possible.

Had zero problems with my new-generation XT brakes.  Way better than the old XT's and last-gen XTR's and much more user-friendly than any of Avid's, Magura's, or Hayes' offerings in my experience.

I agree with Bart though - any brake will require maintenance, hydro or otherwise.

Yep, the carbon struts in the end of the Moment will prevent you from packing the tent any shorter than about 18".  However, the 4x20 claimed pack size of the Moment is, I think, a little bigger than necessary - that's the size in the supplied bag, but as I said you can certainly compress the girth down to much less than 4".

I also looked at putting the Moment in a handlebar bag.  The one I made needs to sit up really close to the bar and levers, so 20" was a little long as it got in the way.  However, a different bag design that allows room for the levers and carries objects a little lower could work with the Moment - kind of like Dave Harris' setup in the 2009 CTR (check Scott Morris' TopoFusion blog for pix).