2014 CTR Discussion

[Done]

Here's the full story behind my CTR GPX tracks:

http://tobygadd.blogspot.com/2012/01/colorado-trail-race-gpsgpx-tracks-and.html

In a nutshell, my GPX includes all of the Colorado Trail waypoints. The entire track was generated from actual tires on the ground, and has been cleaned up and refined over several years. Stefan adopted my track as the official CTR version a couple of years ago.

It's currently very clean and accurate, but I'll look through it again in a few weeks to see if there's anything that might make it better.

[crazylarrybanff]

GREAT to see your doing the TDR - I don't know what CTR means? ?
I think there was a typo in your writing re: 50 miles / day ....Finish in 10 days! Wow! Epic! *BEST of Luck on that endeavour! 
I'm here at the Banff YWCA back building where the bicycle racks are...1st & 2nd window with the fan in it....parking lot side. Leave msge or knock on window or back door = descent hour = before 9 pm. AFTER 9 am.
I've lived here for some 31 years. I know the town well.I know the bike shops even better. Let me know where and HOW I can help you k!?
Window is best...as there is a guy who sleeps at the front window that stays up late most nights; young youth guy...so better the side parking lot window k?
Love to hear back from you!
Lets chat it up TDR stuff!
Bike? Tires? Equipment ? Bags? ...you know the stuff?/ LoL
Your Banff bud
Crazy Larry
http://crazylarry.ca/today-i-ride-for-you-riding-for-mom/

[joeydurango]

Ummmm... huh.  Howdy?  Welcome to the board, Larry.

CTR = Colorado Trail Race.  That's what this particular thread is all about.  Although I'm sure someone has mentioned the TD on the last 14 pages.  And in the CTR, an "all-day touring" pace is about 50 miles a day, which leads to a 10-11 day finish of the 550-mile Colorado Trail.  Nutters like Jefe, Ethan, Jesse, Schiff, et al, will pull the entire thing off in 4-5 days.  Yes, much lower daily mileage than on the Divide - but much, much rougher and slower terrain.  You should come down and check out the CT sometime, it's amazing.

[Yogi the Barry]

Good that the date is now in August. I didn't know Stefan was clairvoyant. Water sources will be much more plentiful. However, will also be taking a bit of bug juice. In 2012, only skeeters that buzzed me were during the Fooses HAB...

I don't have to tell you where this is...lots of snow still up in them thar hills

[Couloirman]

I'm trying to move my schedule around to be at the official race start going in the proper direction, but as it stands currently I will be ITTing from Durango to Denver starting somewhere around August 1st-3rd. Anyone else going Durango to Denver this year?

Also fun fact: the Perseid meteor shower peaks August 12th, on the 3rd night of the race for most. Good timing! The full moon might make them hard to see, but should be pretty cool either way

[wbcmaelstrom]

I raced CTR in the Ascents last year. They were great except the the inside of the forefoot is wide and sharp. The insides of my heels were a bloody mess from getting hit as I took steps. Every night when I put my other pair of socks back on the scabs would be one with my socks and peel off. If you go with them I would consider running a belt sander on the inside of the outsole. The shoes held together really well though, I was really happy with them. I think I'll be running these adidas with stealth bottoms this year though:
http://www.rei.com/product/866101/adidas-terrex-solo-stealth-hiking-shoes-mens

Full disclosure: I now work for adidas, but I didn't when I bought these.  I did a 2 day trip on the Koko last month with them and they were great.

The Aescents fit me like a glove and after 4 days I don't have any complaints.

I spent 4 days in Moab/Fruita/Grand Junction. I did full suspension all mountain riding on my Turner 5.Spot with DMR Vault pedals. When I first got the shoes, I thought they they might be too thin in the soles, but while riding I thought they were stiff enough. I couldn't feel the tall pins in my pedals. Although they're not as grippy as my Impacts, they still grip very well. It's nice to be able to move your feet around a bit riding long hours.

It wasn't super hot, but wasn't cold either. These shoes were very comfortable and didn't get hot at all. I'm sure they'll be fine during the hottest days.

What was really nice about these was how easy it was to hop off the bike if I needed to hike a bike over big obstacles or drop down unrideable stuff. If anyone has ever been to the Horsethief Bench entrance, you know what I'm talking about. It was also raining when we did Horsethief so all the rocks were wet. At not time did I slip or think I would slip. It would have been pretty sketchy on stiff clippy shoes.

The only time I had a problem with these shoes was after a desert rain that caused huge muck mud in Fruita. I could barely walk or ride, but I don't think anything could have helped. I think these will be great bikepacking shoe because they are so comfortable. I wore them four days straight because they're the only shoes I brought. On the trails, before the trails, dinner, restaurants. Everything. They're really great.

Since they don't have a reinforced toe or anyhting, I thought that could be a problem. However, if you're not clipped in it's really easy to dodge rebel rocks. I had a bad crash at one point but I'm fine.

In conclusion, these are great. If they work good doing blue/double black AM rides, they'll be fine bikepacing. This weekend I hope I'll be able to do Ring the Peak on my Pugsley and that'll be more of a 'bikepacking' test. These should be perfect for CTR.

Sure, climbing was a little bit rougher. But it just takes practice.

[wbcmaelstrom]

Does anyone know what's up with the map book?

I'ts been sold out at the online CT Store for months.

[Shirey]

Does anyone know what's up with the map book?

I'ts been sold out at the online CT Store for months.

Hmmm... I bought one a few weeks ago with no problem

[THE LONG RANGER]

If all else fails, try the museum of mountaineering in Golden. The library in the basement is amazing. The CO Trail foundation is also in that same building. If you can't borrow it, you may be able to buy it straight from the gift shop.

[Yogi the Barry]

Re: Tarryall vs. US-285 course time difference
Anyone care to offer an opinion as to how much longer the new Tarryall course is compared to the older US-285 route? Without having done the new route, I'm speculating it makes the course about 3-5 hours longer...[?]
-Barry

[THE LONG RANGER]

Re: Tarryall vs. US-285 course time difference
Anyone care to offer an opinion as to how much longer the new Tarryall course is compared to the older US-285 route? Without having done the new route, I'm speculating it makes the course about 3-5 hours longer...[?]
-Barry

Last year, starting in Waterton, it took me about 10 - 11 hours to do the detour (depending on how you want to interpret the SPOT data). Remember the detour is 75 miles. Mike, the other guy who started with me, overnighted at the last res. At the end, you're around mile #100 for the day. It's quite the haul.

[nepbug]

Hey guys, it's been a long time since I've been on here.  I'm currently planning on CTR 2014 after my CTR 2012 attempt fell short.  I'm currently working through an Adductor Longus Tendon strain, so hopefully that doesn't keep me out of it.

My lessons learned from my first time around:

• 285 isn't scary (I'm a bike commuter though, that seems to be the commonality between people not bothered by it, irrelevant for Tarryall detour though)

• The Ten Mile Range hike a bike is the crux of the race, get past it and it gets easier.

• Eat, eat, eat, be a rolling smorgasbord with variety

• Your body stops revolting after day 2

• Fooses creek, easy, what was all the fuss about?

• Cochetopa Hills (Marshall Pass to Sargents Mesa) is dry and a bit tedious

• Sargents Mesa isn't bad

• Apple is an awesome human being

• La Garita detour is full of demoralizing false flats

• Coca-Cola is wonderful (I hadn't had any soda in ~16 years prior to the race, it was like rocket fuel.  I now only use them when doing long races like this)

• Consuming 5000 calories every 12 hours makes you feel fantastic (assuming you can stomach it), but makes your food run out quick (pulled out because I was going to be short ~5000 calories at the worst time (Cataract section))

• Liquid calories are heavy, but awesome!

• Pack an extra set of brake pads

I really look forward to seeing everyone out there.

-Nick

[nepbug]

Re: Tarryall vs. US-285 course time difference
Anyone care to offer an opinion as to how much longer the new Tarryall course is compared to the older US-285 route? Without having done the new route, I'm speculating it makes the course about 3-5 hours longer...[?]
-Barry

Last year, starting in Waterton, it took me about 10 - 11 hours to do the detour (depending on how you want to interpret the SPOT data). Remember the detour is 75 miles. Mike, the other guy who started with me, overnighted at the last res. At the end, you're around mile #100 for the day. It's quite the haul.

Yeah, watching as a spectator last year, it seemed as though Tarryall added 8-12 hours.  There is a lot of vert in that detour.

[Yogi the Barry]

Long Ranger,
Sorry, guess I'm dense, but I'm still a bit confused. Can you summarize how much longer you think it [Tarryall vs. US-285] is, in hour and/or miles, from Waterton to Kenosha Pass? What... 75 mile detour [turning left at the end of Segment-3], compared to... what... 25-30 gravel/pavement miles via Bailey...? I'll answer my own question when I contrast both GPX tracks in TopoFusion, just going for the anecdotal ping first, since I've never done the Tarryall gravel grind myself. On a related thought, I already mourn the loss of the vanilla chai milkshake I'm not going to get in Bailey... 
-Barry

Last year, starting in Waterton, it took me about 10 - 11 hours to do the detour (depending on how you want to interpret the SPOT data). Remember the detour is 75 miles. Mike, the other guy who started with me, overnighted at the last res. At the end, you're around mile #100 for the day. It's quite the haul.

[THE LONG RANGER]

I've only taken the 285 detour once, but didn't find it too hard, my, "10 - 11 hours" for Tarryall is from the turnoff onto the road to Kenosha, just on the other side of 285.

First is the profile for 285, second is Tarryall. You'll see 285 is 50 miles shorter, mostly on pavement and hard-pack dirt. Bet you can do it in 3-5 hours, depending on how many chili dogs you have in Bailey.
 
Tarryall is on mostly nice gravel, then pavement, then more looser stuff, then single track Colorado Trail. Lots of ups and downs.

[Shirey]

... "10 - 11 hours" for Tarryall...

My only hope is that I can make it to the Stagestop Saloon in time to eat 4 or 5 chili dogs there....

Gonna dry run it Waterton to Frisco starting June 20th - 6am start so I can find out...

Anyone else wants in on that then they are welcome.... hope not to be post-holing over Georgia Pass by then...

[mtnbound]

I haven't ridden Tarryall either so take this for what little it is worth.  Obviously, it depends on speed of the rider.  I believe the fast ones do Tarryall in about 7-8 hrs while mid to late pack is more like 9-12 hours. For a slow poke like me, it took me about 3:45 to get to Kenosha from the turnoff using 285. So I was estimating it would take me an additional 6-8 hours to get to Kenosha on Tarryall as compared to taking 285. YMMV.

[THE LONG RANGER]

I'm not Jefe, but I felt like I was cruisin' Tarryall, and the smooth stuff beforehand. Long, shallow climbs are totally my jam. Here's my first day on Strava, if you wanna get some data:

http://app.strava.com/activities/70740479

From that, it was around 10:40:00 for the Tarryall Detour. Remember: that's after 6:30:00 of riding singletrack - yer legs aren't going to be super fresh!

I totally had problems after day #2, with my shoe getting destroyed, my fork blowing a seal, and then getting asthma attacks for a 2 days - fun times. Even though Mike started out much slower than me (and doing a video project during), he was able to pass me at the end!  

Here's doing the 285 detour:

http://app.strava.com/activities/63957728

It comes to around 3:50:00 for 285 - not sure how many chili dogs in Bailey, though, when I stopped for lunch. At least two!

[Yogi the Barry]

Ha! You uncovered the meat, pun intended, of my question. I'm trying to plan the feasibility of me getting to Stagestop in time for a pint and some burned meat before they close! Don't believe Stagestop is a breakfast bastion. I called Stagestop a few weeks ago, to confirm that they are indeed still open, and they confirmed so. They also said that weekend hours [do only hopeless drinkers consider Sunday evening still the weekend?] are extended [how much past 10PM is TBD] and they will be expecting us...

My only hope is that I can make it to the Stagestop Saloon in time to eat 4 or 5 chili dogs there....

[sherpaxc]

Anyone have a mileage breakdown of towns starting from Waterton?
~Bailey
~Breck
~Leadville
~BV
~Silverton