2016 CTR Planning

[nepbug]

Hey all, on a road trip and will be in Denver this weekend. Can anyone tell me what conditions are like on the first sections of the trail? Thanks

Last I heard you can ride all the way from Waterton to Kenosha (via the Tarryall detour), so go have some fun!

[danwiz]

a week or so back I rode segment 1 to lennys bench (due to time, had to turn around).....it would be easy to conclude that the segments 1-2-3 will be in GREAT SHAPE.  I will caution that if you make it out buff creek section of the CT you might encounter a trail run event.  I saw some blurb on social media about trail race being this weekend...but did not look into all of the trails they'd be using......buff creek is a massive chunk of land with lots of trail options.  for both trail runs and mtb....so just please be nice/pleasant to all that you come across.
 

[tetontodd]

CTR on the Brain!! Just wanted to chime in, Im going for a self supported run....NO SERVICES!!! Carrying all my food, Ive done and finished the CTR both ways so I thought lets go for it,do something different...carrying everything i need to Durango! Has anyone tried this yet?

[Yogi the Barry]

Todd(?),
Your idea is inspirational. I did a quick calculation, based on the 44K calories Bob used for his MATLAB simulation, a few posts prior in this thread. Assuming 5 calories per gram [about what protein is, somewhat in between 4cal/g for carbs and 9cal/g for fat] that works out to about 8800 grams of DRY food... which is just shy of 20 pounds of food to have packed at the start. That could be cut down to 11 pounds, if you could subsist only on pure butter/oil/fat. That would bump up to ~24 pounds for pure sugar. Any moisture in the food would also add to those weights.
-Barry

CTR on the Brain!! Just wanted to chime in, Im going for a self supported run....NO SERVICES!!! Carrying all my food, Ive done and finished the CTR both ways so I thought lets go for it,do something different...carrying everything i need to Durango! Has anyone tried this yet?

[Bob Loblaw]

Just as a note, the simulation above was with the calorie model recommended by Lynda W:
260*movingHours + 1500

Based on how you define the movingHours, that could provide a much higher value than the 4000-5000 calories per day I've seen referenced on this forum.

So that 44K calories you reference could be on the higher side. I'm sure you're all aware of this, I just wanted to throw that disclaimer out there before someone launches into the wilderness using that model as a reference. 

[tetontodd]

Yeah, I figured a rough estimate of 6500 cal. a day, broken down in 6 bags, day 1 day 2 etc.. i was figuring like 4 lbs a bag..Im going for a sub 5 day finish..im carrying all my food, stove in my backpack. tough for the first 3 days but will get lighter towards the san juans.  :thumbs:Probably carrying too many calories per day but id rather finish with food rather than finishing with no food!

[Yogi the Barry]

My launch into the the wilderness is going to be tempered with food supplementation at the Stagestop, Endo's [Copper], City on a Hill [Leadville], Eddy Line/City Market [BV], Mt. P convenience store and anything open in Silverton [Grand Imperial/Avalanche/Grocery/etc.]. Also, anything edible accidentally dropped on the trail, by those ahead of me, will be picked up, inspected at a low standard and most likely consumed on the spot... 

...Based on how you define the movingHours, that could provide a much higher value than the 4000-5000 calories per day ... I just wanted to throw that disclaimer out there before someone launches into the wilderness using that model as a reference. 

[elobeck]

anyone know snow status of Searle/Kokomo/10 mile?

[Yogi the Barry]

Going up to Salida/BV area over the 4th of July weekend and either might ride Kenosha/Georgia or Koko/Searle. I'll update with conditions if we do.
Tenmile? I'd only ride [I mean HAB] Tenmile as a form of mandated punishment, which will soon happen for me on July 25th during the race...
BTW, two years ago, we rode Koko/Searle over the 4th weekend and there were about half-dozen snow patch we had to HAB.
-B

Edit: Due to what looked like a very wet 4th of July weekend forecast, stayed in NM and rode locally. For those of you seeking to ride at elevation, are closer to northern NM and can't get up to CO, one of my favorite rides is to camp at the Santa Fe Ski Area base, over 10,000' elevation, and ride some great snow-free terrain in the 9000-12,000' elevation range. Also, coming up this weekend is the Chama Redneck NMES race, with course options of 50-100 miles, which rolls thru 10,000' to 11,000' for much of that terrain. BTW, the monsoon is forecasted to be minimal this upcoming weeknd.
http://nm-es.weebly.com/chama-redneck-epic.html

anyone know snow status of Searle/Kokomo/10 mile?

[Stefan_G]

Toby Gadd is the man and has posted the updated .gpx track for 2016 here: http://tobygadd.blogspot.com/2012/01/colorado-trail-race-gpsgpx-tracks-and.html

And the SPOT rental + trackleader sign-up form is live here: http://trackleaders.com/ctr-signup.php

[Yogi the Barry]

Stefan/Toby/Scott [Morris],
Thanks to all of you for your investment of time into crazy things like the CTR...
-B

Toby Gadd is the man and has posted the updated .gpx track for 2016 here: http://tobygadd.blogspot.com/2012/01/colorado-trail-race-gpsgpx-tracks-and.html

And the SPOT rental + trackleader sign-up form is live here: http://trackleaders.com/ctr-signup.php

[Adam Alphabet]

Stefan/Toby/Scott [Morris],
Thanks to all of you for your investment of time into crazy things like the CTR...
-B

+100!! Thank you guys!

[Robzilla_Killa]

Toby Gadd is the man and has posted the updated .gpx track for 2016 here: http://tobygadd.blogspot.com/2012/01/colorado-trail-race-gpsgpx-tracks-and.html

And the SPOT rental + trackleader sign-up form is live here: http://trackleaders.com/ctr-signup.php

Heck Yeah!  Muchas Gracias Amigos!

PS:Stefan is on post 420 

[bncrshr77]

I know the race is from Denver to Dgo this year... I'm going the other way so my question is on the stretch from Silverton to BV...  Guessing it will take me 4 days-ish.  Without carrying all the food from Durango or shipping myself a package to Silverton how do you get 20,000 calories without most of it being junk food?  Anyone got a list of what they are looking for when loading up for the stretch?

[jakomait]

... how do you get 20,000 calories without most of it being junk food?  Anyone got a list of what they are looking for when loading up for the stretch?

I never figured that out!  I'll be curious if this is possible but I lived mostly on poptarts, gummies, peanut M&M's, beef jerky, granola bars, nuts, trail mix and a few gels.  The only thing not classified as 'junk' was 2 frozen burritos that I made sure to eat within 24 hours.  I also tried cookies, muffins, snickers bars, Clif bars but it all ends up about the same.  Good luck!

[Yogi the Barry]

Re: [Junk/All] Food weighs too much
If only there were something more energy dense than the 9 calories per gram for fat. Buy some butter and boil-up some ghee/clarified butter. It doesn't go bad/rancid and a pound of the stuff provides 4100 calories. Five pounds should get you to BV.  
On this theme of survival...
"A 15-year-old boy pulled from ruins 5 days after the powerful April 2015 Nepal earthquake survived on nothing but two cans of ghee."
If he can do it, so can you...  

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuGnKlt0hno

I never figured that out!  I'll be curious if this is possible but I lived mostly on poptarts, gummies, peanut M&M's, beef jerky, granola bars, nuts, trail mix and a few gels.  The only thing not classified as 'junk' was 2 frozen burritos that I made sure to eat within 24 hours.  I also tried cookies, muffins, snickers bars, Clif bars but it all ends up about the same.  Good luck!

[bncrshr77]

Something about eating butter for 4 days straight just doesn't seem to appealing!

[ScottM]

Just a quick note since I didn't see it mentioned here yet.

Our first contender in the CTR started this morning @6am from Waterton.

http://trackleaders.com/ctr16

Kaitlyn is aiming for the fastest known time, and is early enough that snow might be a bit of an issue.  Good luck to her!

[ScottM]

Oh no!  She crashed on the first descent and has scratched.  Tough year for Kaitlyn so far, sorry Kait!

[Bob Loblaw]

That's terrible to hear. I rode Kenosha to Breck yesterday and it was definitely slippery and nasty. There are some downed trees the whole way down Georgia pass.