Plan for my first CT foray-comments?

[BD]

Waterton to Marshall Pass in 7 riding days, late July. Would likely take 50 up to Monarch Pass and ride the full MCT into Marshall, then roll down to Sargent's to get scooped up by my family (near my home).

I have soloed most of the Divide trail in 5-700 mile sections with usual average of 70-90 miles a day. My kit is about 16 lbs without food/water. I day ride a lot of cross-country type singletrack, but am a mid to back of the pack rider with determination and staying power, and clearly not super fit by standards of what I read on this site: kids, job, family farm, etc... you know- life.

I have done very little true steep, up, singletrack riding with my full kit. Lots of mountain and wilderness experience, and logistics, navigation, savvy are not an issue.

Unfair question I know, but I am not sure how average 80-ish mile day on TD route compares to average 40-ish mile day on this portion of CT? Any comments on whether an old and in the way mortal like me might pull this off welcomed.

Love stalking this site, and have learned a lot of great lessons about how to translate my mountain experience to the bike by doing so. Peace. Out.

[Colorado Cool Breeze]

HI BD,
Welcome to the site. Waterton to the Wilderness area near Bailey is pretty much an uphill slog the whole way.  
I ride this(seg1-3and 6) 3-4 times a year however I go West to East. I'm a gravity junky I don't race and do
most of my bikepacking/camping on these 4 segment. I have tons of picts if you are interested.
Water and biting flies will be an issue in late July.
Looking forward to your trip report.

EDIT
Water supplies known by me to run all the time even in a drought like this year.
End of Waterton Canyon road just below the dam S Platte River.
Once you leave the dam and hit the singletrack you might cross tiny water flows have a way to collect water in the tiniest trickles.
Start of seg 2 is the North fork of the S Platte river at the steel bridge.
A year round stream flows next to the trail as it crosses CR550
The town of Bailey when you ride around the Wilderness Area on 285
The Campground at Kenosha Pass the start of seg 6
Seg 6 should have many snow banks and the streams they make all the way in to Breckenridge.
I can't help after that I have no experience beyond that.

Other may know of additional water supplies and tips hopefully they will post.

[joeydurango]

Can't say I've ridden the TD route, but I've ridden a lot of what looks an awful lot like every TD photo I've ever seen, and you can expect the CT to be much more difficult.  Waterton to Marshall is mostly rideable though!  The Ten Mile Range is a push for sure, but worth it, because it's beautiful up there!  I'd have to say that for non-CTR purposes, riding from Hwy 50 up to Monarch and doing the complete Crest is way worth it compared to hoofing it up Fooses Creek.  You can actually take old railroad grade/dirt road to the top of old Monarch Pass (higher than the current one), skipping everything but a small bit of highway.  From just before the old pass you can take singletrack to the left which will drop you to the current pass and the beginning of the Crest.

As for mileage - that's so dependent on all kinds of things, but for what it's worth I've done 85 miles a day on the CT in the same amount of time per day that would have taken me well over 200 miles per day at my all-day gravel pace.  It's not fast or easy going, that's certain.  But it's awesome.

[Done]

This is a tough question to answer. Fitness is certainly one gauge, but equally important is how hard you are willing to push yourself, how fast you can hike-a-bike, etc.

But as an advocate of the concept that most people are capable of accomplishing much more difficult tasks than they realize, I think that you should get out there and see what happens. Worst case, you don't get as far as you'd like. Best case, you arrive early and have time for a few extra beers!

[BD]

Thanks for responses.

1. Joey, from where I hit 50 is it pretty obvious where/how to access old RR grade to Old Pass? My guess is it is probably 10 miles or so to Pass?

2. Any suggestions on preferred maps for biking CT route. Guidebook references both CT Map Book and National Geographic Trails Illustrated maps. I am not going to be using a GPS to navigate...having to look at the map will give me an excuse to get off and gasp.

3. Does anyone know if there is a decent-ish bivy spot/first water source once I start south from Monarch Pass on the MCT? Guidebook tells me there is water about 2 miles past where Fooses hits the MCT. Suspect I may need to crash before I get to there on my final day.

4. Anyone know mileage from Monarch Pass to the Fooses junction on the MCT?, mostly up, mostly down, mostly what?

Thanks for any input. bd

[joeydurango]

You hit the RR grade just before you cross 50.  There is also a fair amount of trail/dirt road to get to the pass.  I've ridden the route a few times and could probably follow it in person... but honestly, after perusing Google Earth for a bit, I'm not positive I can piece together a coherent route description for you.  I seem to recall a fair bit of private property as well, so there's that...

You can take the grade at least some of the ways up the pass and still skip Fooses.  Take the grade west through a few long sections of deep, large, black gravel.  The passage will eventually narrow and become more overgrown, and you'll pass a large boulder just on the right hand side.  Look left soon afterwards for a STEEP, short, fall-line trail that drops you on the highway.  From here is where I get fuzzy on things, and you should probably just take the road.  I believe the grade would take you into some active private property if you followed it.  If you find your way to CR 237 (near the ski resort), however, and don't mind some extra climbing to (almost) the top of old Monarch Pass, there is some sweet singletrack off to the left before the old pass that will drop you just to the west side of the new pass.  The beginning and end of this route are all I clearly recall, unfortunately - the middle part is where I'm generally following locals.

From the pass, I can't recall a water source at all until the one past Fooses (spring on left), unless there's a lot of snowmelt.  I don't know mileages, but from the Pass you climb a good bit, top out, and roll along the Divide until Fooses.  Not much shelter - almost all above treeline once you leave the pass area.  I'd shoot for Fooses if I were you, or stop before you leave the trees.  It's not a long ride from the pass to Fooses, but could be tough at the end of a long day.

Sorry for the sketchy info... hope it's a bit helpful!

[BD]

That helps a lot. I will hit Google Earth too.

Are you maps or GPS? Any preferences on which map set is best (CT Map Book vs. Trails Illustrated)?

Thanks!

[joeydurango]

For shorter stuff around home I use maps.  But for long trips I study large-scale maps - like Benchmark's Colorado Atlas - thoroughly until I have a good idea of the route, and then use a GPS.  So no experience with either of those map sets.  But it's pretty easy to navigate the entire way... the detours are the most difficult part, and not really difficult.

[BD]

10-4. Thanks.