2011 CTR Planning

[bartspedden]

Hey Toby!  Congrats on finishing last year.  You were so stoked on the trail I knew you would suffer through all the rain  

My chamois got soaked first thing in the morning on the start day and never really dried out.  By the next morning, like you, I couldn't really sit on my saddle without pain.  Climbing up Hoosier pass I just had to lock out my suspension and get out of the saddle for much of it.  Things seemed to settle down a bit heading up to georgia pass, but that must of been adrenaline because the next climb had me disfiguring my face with each bump on the trail until finally I just started the hike-a-bike routine for lots of the uphill. I got to ride with Emily Brock, Gabe Dillion, and Dave? for a while which made things a lot easier.  But with most of the trail to go and being in so much pain I bailed in Breck and road -- out of saddle -- to Frisco where I learned I had open sores on my rump!  A bacon cheese burger with fries a few pbr's latter at the moose jaw and my spirits were better, even if my tail was still in between my legs.

I'm thinking that a combination of the wet chamois and the 20-25lbs on my back was just too much friction!  So this year, like you, I'm experimenting with chamois cream and different shorts.  I'm unloading the weight from my back and getting it on the frame.  I'm also training much differently this winter too.  I've been able to ride every week so far this winter and I've been riding a 1x9 setup.  Things with the 1x9 are very encouraging, so I ordered a chain guide and a SRAM X9 1x10 setup that's should be at my house this Wednesday.  Can't wait to see how things go on some bigger mountain climbs, so far on smaller climbs like Mt. Falcon I'm loving it!

Let me know if you find any shorts that rock, I'm all ears!

[Mr.Pink]

Ride a single speed you will be standing a lot.

[bartspedden]

Ride a single speed you will be standing a lot.

LOL - yeah, standing next to my bike trying to catch my breath!

[Done]

Last year, I purchased the excellent Colorado Trail waypoints from Bear Creek Survey. In addition to uploading the file to my GPS, I also added them to my printed maps. Combined with Stefan's excellent track files, it was pretty cool to have so much information available at the touch of a button (and the turn of a page).

In light of the new Colorado Trail Guidebook (and presumably Data Book) coming out in a bit, I checked with Bear Creek to see if the waypoint file is also changing--and indeed it is. New files should be available to purchase in a "couple of weeks."

Information on the updated Colorado Trail Guidebook:
http://www.shop.coloradotrail.org/NEW-Official-Guidebook-of-the-CTF-8th-Edition-GUIDE8.htm

Bear Creek Survey:
http://www.bearcreeksurvey.com/

[Fettis]

SS looks fine for CTR. About 22x34 should do the job (for us mortals anyway). At least you'll be pushing a light bike.

Plenty of time in the saddle in the years before the race and extra thick chamois grease should help the undercarriage stay intact. Re-apply frequently.

[TruthRider]

CTR newbie here.  Believe it or not, after 16 years of living in Boulder and riding the mts as much as I can, I never heard of the CTR until a month ago, when I picked up the edition of Mountain Flyer that covered last year's race.

I  ...  AM  ...  SOO  ...  INTRIGUED.   At this point, leaning heavily towards joining.  My wife, two little girls, and summer travel plans may get in the way, although I hope not.   Knowing the start date would help a lot - Stefan??

[Done]

I  ...  AM  ...  SOO  ...  INTRIGUED.

Let the obsession begin!

[TruthRider]

Well, since I read that article about last year's race, I've scoured every link on Stefan's CTR page, read all these Bikepacking threads, read about half of the individual race reports and look forward to reading the others.  I've checked out lights, racks, and other gear setups.  I've had the maps out and have been mentally reviewing the 100 or so miles of the CT that I've ridden over the years ... Yeah, I think the obsession has set in.

The very first mtb ride of my life occurred on the CT.  I road tripped from Madison, WI out to Durango with some buddies and met a friend who took us up past Purgatory Ski area up to Bolam Pass and we camped at Celebration Lake there.  Got there at dusk; taped some flashlights to the handlebars of my fully rigid Bridgestone MB-3 and rode the CT toward Molas for a while.  My first ride in the mountains ever.  Seems like coming full circle this August would be quite prudent.

[bartspedden]

Yeah, it sounds like you're hooked  Do you feel like a fish?

[sherpaxc]

That's what I thought.  Trained hard all year (much of it fully loaded) for the CTR on my SS in Austin.  Up all of the steepest/longest climbs and never had any issue.  Got out to CO and after the end of the first day my knees were just toast.  I could barely walk.  Well, don't walk, ride right?  Nah, not on the SS!  What a terrible and depressing outcoming!  Finally, FINALLY getting my chance at redemption this summer, but on a geared and front suspension bike.  Oxygen will be the limiting factor as I won't be able to get there early.

Not doing any kind of special training this time around either.  Just gonna do my daily commute to work and back and ride on the weekends.  Gonna worry more about the mental training than the physical this time around.  Riding it with a couple buddies will help as well.

SS looks fine for CTR. About 22x34 should do the job (for us mortals anyway). At least you'll be pushing a light bike.

Plenty of time in the saddle in the years before the race and extra thick chamois grease should help the undercarriage stay intact. Re-apply frequently.

[gdillon]

I bought the LW CTR training plan for last year's ride and I couldn't recommend it more.  I probably only completed 70% of the workouts and rode all summer on a SS.  This year I will modify the plan a little and also will be on a geared bike.

Not doing any kind of special training this time around either.  Just gonna do my daily commute to work and back and ride on the weekends.  Gonna worry more about the mental training than the physical this time around.  Riding it with a couple buddies will help as well.

I would still do a fair amount of core training, weights, all that.  Pushing your bike for 4 hours a day is not something you do while commuting...

Anyway, good luck out there and hopefully you can put yourself in difficult mental situations over the summer to prepare mentally (we do this on purpose?)

[sherpaxc]

Well, I guess it's not the end all be all for me like it was 3 year ago.  I put all my cards on the table for the CTR.  It was my world for over a year.  Since having a kid I've come to realize that something like the Colorado Trail isn't what my life will revolve around.  Yes, I'll give it it's fair share of planning and respect, but I'm not going to loose any sleep over it this time around. 

I hike plenty with my kid in a backpack so I'd say that is training enough for the hike a bike.  I've also got a TON more days/nights bikepacking for multi days as compared to when I first attempted it.  I'm not racing it, I just want to finish the trail with my head held high and have a fantastic time riding my bike in the process. 

I've had to watch from the sidelines the past 2 summers, I'm excited to be involved this time around. 

[bartspedden]

Sounds like you're in a good place mentally sherpaxc 

Have fun with the CTR this year! 

[sherpaxc]

I would still do a fair amount of core training, weights, all that.  Pushing your bike for 4 hours a day is not something you do while commuting...

Oh yeah, one other thing (I hate getting pulled into internet discussion, but alas, I guess I am), I've got a fair bit of a commute by bike (40 mile rt) so I feel, and have come to see, that riding 20 miles twice a day most days does a fair bit towards getting a good bit of fitness.  And what's with the anger thingy?  You're not angry about my plan are you?  Different strokes right?

[Done]

Oh yeah, one other thing (I hate getting pulled into internet discussion, but alas, I guess I am), I've got a fair bit of a commute by bike (40 mile rt) so I feel, and have come to see, that riding 20 miles twice a day most days does a fair bit towards getting a good bit of fitness.

Commuting is the biggest part of my CTR training too. Worked well enough to get me to Durango last year, although I wasn't exactly the first guy there! I'm adding some upper-body strength this year to reduce some of the back and arm pain I suffered last year.

I think that Bart's "angry face" simply referenced the pain of the long hike-a-bike sections, not anything aimed at your training approach.

[gdillon]

Yea, I saw that the label for the little red guy is "angry" but yes, it seemed to capture the "heat" of many hours of uphill effort.

I, too, have a 30 mile round trip commute that is helpful for training.  Last summer I would often ride longer on the way home around the Boulder/Denver corridor and catch the bus in Louisville or Broomfield (towns along the bus route).

I can't really talk because I only made it to Leadville last year, so my comments were only meant to help.  Different strokes, indeed.  I did very little of the core training last summer since I was riding a singlespeed, and I found that to be a mistake.  More upper body strength this year, for sure.

[sherpaxc]

I would totally agree about having more upper body strength on a SS.  It is my primary ride.  I had a geared bike built specifically for multi day riding.  I found out that being labled a "SS'er" was as important to me as enjoying the experience of multi day riding.  I don't suffer anywhere near as much and I have zero qualms about being in my granny gear!

[saferider]

I can also relate to having other priorities in life.  I did not think that it would be fair for my son to be out training every day after work and all weekend.  My solution was to take my son on my training rides.  I loaded up the trailer with my son,  plenty of snacks, a portable DVD player and a few coloring books with crayons and set out for the hills.  The total weight, not including myself or the bike was about 65 to 70 lbs.  Most of the rides involved about 3k to 4k of climbing and about 30 miles...  I got a lot of funny looks and comments from other cyclists that I passed and that passed me!  Pulling all of that weight REALLY helped a lot in last years CTR.  I also did lots of night rides.  I would put my son to sleep and head out from about 9PM until 11 or 12 pm.  It was pretty lonely as few of my friends were into night riding during the summer.  I guess that was also good mental preparation for the solitude and long stretches of the CTR where there were few, if any, other trail users.  While doing the CTR I actually rode very little past dark.  After riding for 14 hours during the day, I was pretty much toast by dark.  There were a few times that I rode after dark but it was mainly to get to a lower elevation so that I could recover better at the "lower" altitude.  This strategy certainly was not going to keep me anywhere near the leaders but I was able to finish.  That was my primary goal.    bOB

[ETURK]

I can also relate to having other priorities in life.  I did not think that it would be fair for my son to be out training every day after work and all weekend.  My solution was to take my son on my training rides.  I loaded up the trailer with my son,  plenty of snacks, a portable DVD player and a few coloring books with crayons and set out for the hills.  The total weight, not including myself or the bike was about 65 to 70 lbs. 

Saferider: Good tips for those with kids...I am doing the same except while skate skiing at Eldora...I can barely walk afterwords! Once the peak to peak hwy is dry I am going to consider your idea as well. Thanks. 

[bartspedden]

ETRUK,
Another idea for some winter training is the bike path on C-470. It's certainly not as beautiful as the peak-to-peak, but it does offer a fair amount of distance, rolling hills, a really safe place to ride without cars, and most importantly it is snow free much more often then peak-to-peak.