I admit I was pretty scared in Silverton after I loaded it with enough food to get to Buena Vista...

I picked up Ski_Loveland's back pack and I was scared for him. Maybe I should have tried his approach though. Making my 3rd (1st finish) attempt this year. It IS the year. See ya out there.

If anyone doesn't know, Nic Handy (just strolled thru Durango) is not stopping there. His final destination is Lake Tahoe. Go Nic!
Congrats to all who have finished and keep trucking for all of those still out there!

anyone in the littleton/front range area guessing what time they might finish?  anyone wanna go draw a line in the dirt to see the end of this epic battle....i think i might venture down there...any intel on a time they might be there?

I am sure they still ride fast than I do. This was w/o gear to give you an idea. I would be down for heading out there to cheer them through.

http://app.strava.com/activities/57919186

Where is the finish? At the end of the single track or at the end of the road? Will there be a sprint?

CTR'ers are amazing people! Even more respect now for you all!!! Ugh I'm out! My problem was that I could NEVER rest my mind starting Thursday night. Before the race I was thinking about different scenarios. During the race I was still thinking about how I was going to ride the next day, what I could have done better the day before, and just replaying everything in my head. I started the race after being awake for almost 48 hours. I didnt sleep one minute Sunday night, nor could I even get 10 minutes anywhere on the trail. I stopped in Silverton, got a bed thinking that would help, but I laid there for 6 hours wide awake. I started up Stony with Forest in hopes to find what was needed to get through S23/22 (what an amazing sense of ease Forest carries) and being with him got me over Stony. Once back on the CT, I told Forest to go as I was feeling like I could REALLY sleep. But, I fumbled through the night. At one point I remember moving by bivy cuz I thought I was too close to the cliff (I was on a flat grassy section...no cliff).  I also kept visioning this gremlin looking thing climbing over the cliff carrying a person by the shirt. WTF? I knew it wasnt there but I kept seeing it. I just waited for the sun to help me get out as I simply could not get any sleep again.  I rode back to Silverton, got a ride to Durango. Driving home now! No question, doing this again! BTW, funny, I started to apologize to the driver who was taking me to Durango. When I woke up in Durango, he asked what I was going to apologize for. I said, I was going to apologize for probably falling asleep.WHY WHY WHY couldnt I sleep like that on the trail!!! Go racers!!!

Last call for interest in a Saturday afternoon/evening get-together.  Is everyone thinking they'll be too nervous/busy/prepping to hang out for a bit, or should we have dinner somewhere?  Either way is fine - I've just had a few people asking if we're planning something, so wanted to throw it out there again.  I'm not tied to it either way...

I'd be up for an early eve get together/dinner!

Interesting conversation came up today. Toby will like this one. I was telling a buddy, who completed the CT ride on his own in 2011, that Tarryall is the official route this year. In 2011 there was also construction happening on Tarryall when he road through that area. He was told that he could not ride his bike through a 5 mile construction zone. Therefore, the pilot car driver put his bike in the back of their truck and drove him through. Considering that the construction zone is ~9 miles this year, could they do that again? A 9 mile break will sound really nice at that point.

JoeyD..., I will be in town Friday eve and would be up for a Sat. early eve get together. Let us know if anything is decided on.

The trail passes just by a convenience store at the base of Copper Mountain ski resort which is last relatively close resupply before Waterton.  Hours are somewhat limited so that is something to be aware of.  There are rumors of food options on Tarryall but none seem reliable.

As soon as you get onto the paved section of the Tarryall detour there will be store on your right. It has very basic gas station type snacks. Although I dont know the exact hours they are open, they were open both times we rode by it earlier this spring. FYI.

Did you just put "ride" and "Sargents Mesa" in the same sentence?

Rookie!

Now you really know what hike-a-bike means... until you hit Sargents Mesa. 

HaHa ... No need to ride Sargents Mesa twice in less than 30 days huh?

Rode segments 22 & 23, eastbound on Friday...we had some amazing views of the West Gulch fire. Also, have a new found respect for this race after those 2 segments. Wow! Now I really know what hike-a-bike means. We were not familiar with the area so we ended up ditching our goal of making it to BV. Sure hope these fires settle down before 7/21!

Is the detour around S18,19,20,21 a fast detour?

http://thectr.blogspot.com/2013/06/west-gulch-fire-from-colorado-trail.html

Finished riding the Tarryall detour yesterday (didn't miss the turn this time, but did not notice any sign indicating FSR211...FYI). Anyway, not hard, not easy, not really fun, not boring though. I certainly gained a new perspective on how big the Hayman fire was though! Wow! Somewhat indifferent on the detour overall. Finishing is the focus.
http://app.strava.com/activities/57919186

Curious, perhaps this has been broached before. Stefan, would it be worth the time to ask the Forest Service to see if they could temporarily allow mountain bikes through the Lost Creek Wilderness? Just an idea.

Also, in my earlier post I mentioned the water spigot at the fire station near the town of Tarryall...well it is locked so dont count on getting water there.

Hey ya'll. Just wanted to let you know we did a little recon trip this weekend. We were attempting to ride the Tarryall detour from Kenosha Pass. I have never ridden the Tarryall detour, but I had assumed it would be easier to find than it was. In particular, forest service road 211.  We totally missed it. I am almost positive it was not marked, so we are going to head back up there this Sunday (6/2/13) w/o bikepacking gear and re-ride the detour. Anyway, we ended up in Lake George...we drank a 6 pack of Coors Light on the front bench of the grocery store before we made it home! Tasted so good!

Also, we got behind a water truck that was spraying the road. It was not going to let us by. If it had been 90 degrees it would have been a gawdsend, but it was only 50 degrees so we elected to wait it out until some cars came by. There was def a lot of construction happening!!

Also, there is a fire station on the east side of the detour near the town of Tarryall. It had a water spigot. FYI!

I posted a pic on my blog if you want to get a good visual of the FSR 211 turn. I pulled it off of Google.  I'll confirm the road after this coming weekend!
http://thectr.blogspot.com

Looking fw'd to being out there with you, as my family calls me/us, crazy people!

Very excited to race the CTR for the first time in 2013!! IMO the idea of donating time and/or money to the CTF is the right thing to do. As far as enforcing time/money from CTR participants...I don't know Stefan. Maybe the best thing to do is do what you have just done, made all the readers of this forum aware of the CTF and their efforts to support the CT, as well as your efforts to make the CTR happen!!

I cannot stop thinking about this race. Looking forward to being out there!!!!

Hello, could you have a frame pack built by July 22nd? I have a large Niner...would like one to utilize the entire triangle section of frame. Can send measurements.

Let me know,

Matt
matt.hubach@gmail.com