2019 CTR Preparation & Plannning

[xlewisx]

Thanks for the update Stefan

[Yagi]

Thanks for the info Stefan. The hikeability was ultimately my concern. I have limited experience in your neck of the woods.

Sidebar - No idea why Chiappa has me quoted talking about delaying. I said nothing of delaying the race and would not interject my opinion on such matters when there's an active RD handling everything just fine.

I'd guess he just inadvertently typed his message within your quote.  It's not the first time it's happened.

[Yogi the Barry]

Re: Water Treatment
One has to wait a few minutes with this technique, but the pair of tiny dropper bottles will treat something like 25 gallons of water. No taste, simple, no clogged filters to clean/replace, lightweight, relatively cheap for a racing kit... After flailing and getting burned with pump/gravity filtration systems, it's what I use.
-Barry

https://www.aquamira.com/

...snip...
I need a better water filter setup for next year.  I used a sawyer mini, but filling the plastic bag was a total pain in the ass.
...snip...

[Bigbuck]

So, 2020’s AZTR thread has more activity. Is anyone gonna race the CTr this year? Gonna be a nasty one

[timon.fish]

2 weeks of rest and fine-tuning, and ready to roll.

No negativity! Snow will melt, except for a couple drifts.... Gonna be all good. 👍

[SlowRide]

I had a really surreal dream last night, which is rare for me.

I had made it to Silverton in great time....but when I looked down at my bike, there was nothing on it.  No bags, no extra clothes, no lights, nothing...only (scantily clothed) me and a bare bike.  Apparently I had been so rushed at the start I had forgot to carry anything with me.  I found some bike/ski shop in silverton and was scrambling around trying to find warm pants to buy, but all they had were bib-length swim pants....like the kind they wear in the olympics to go faster.  I started continuously cursing myself for being so stupid and absent minded, and then the dream ended.  Fun times.

Anyway....

I need a better water filter setup for next year.  I used a sawyer mini, but filling the plastic bag was a total pain in the ass.  It would take forever to get the bag full (even when there was enough water to dunk it in), I'd get my gloves/hands all wet, then would have to screw on the filter, and squeeze the bag into my camelback bladder to get ~12oz worth of water.  Then unscrew everything, refill bag....etc and repeat 5-8 more times to get a full bladder.

Maybe I'm just doing it wrong?  Should I attach the filter in line with my camelback hose, and fill the camelback with stream water and make it filter while I'm drinking?  Or is there another faster/easier solution/product?

Also would like to find a GPS unit to use that will either last ~4 days continuously, or has replaceable batteries with long life.  Did it last year with the guidebook and pulling out my phone with trailforks to double check.  Took one wrong turn that cost me an hour and 8 extra miles and also spent way too much time stopped looking at book/phone making sure I was going the right way.  Is an etrek the best option, or any other recommendations?  I have a wahoo elemnt, I suppose I could wire it up with an external AA battery pack, but no idea what the usage would be.

Throw the Sawer “bag” away. That thing is a pain. The sawyer mini has threads that match any soda or disposable water bottle, use one bottle as a non-treated water bottle and fill others from it. You still have to squeeze the water bottle but it’s way easier that the bag. As far as GPS I’d be looking at eTrex20. If you want more info go eTrex30 but I found more info just eating at my mind on Tour Divide as I flipped through screens anticipating climbs etc. wasted mental energy. eTrex20 has all you need, is rock solid, and if you turn the backlight completely off will last quite some time.

I’m in Colorado and play in the high country daily. I’ve been in a tent for a few weeks now at 10,000’-12,500’ here around Steamboat, there’s definitely a lot of snow left in this area but as Stefan speculated, most of it is hikeable. Watch out for trap doors near rock piles that heat up during the day and near logs where the rotten snow can give way and branches can puncture or snare your leg etc. All in all it’s tough travel out there, I just came in from some nights on the CDT last night, but, it’s doable.

[Yogi the Barry]

Re: New eTrex models
FYI...
Both 20 and 30 just recently got upgraded to 22 and 32 models, with a better base map already loaded. Since I last purchased a GPS, there is also a variant of the 20 I didn't know about, the 20x, with more memory and other [?] upgrades.
I'm not in the market for a new GPS, but I'm always on the lookout for something to replace the 20/30, which are the benchmark GPS models for bikepacking. Battery life can never be too long... Anybody have any experience with the 20x, 22 or 32?
All the above probably means you can find the 20 and 30 at lower prices.

... As far as GPS I’d be looking at eTrex20. If you want more info go eTrex30 but I found more info just eating at my mind on Tour Divide as I flipped through screens anticipating climbs etc. wasted mental energy. eTrex20 has all you need, is rock solid, and if you turn the backlight completely off will last quite some time.

[timon.fish]

Some eTrex 30x questions if anyone's familiar, since this is my first time using the device for any length....and the garmin user manuals are useless.

1. What's the realistic battery life, using fresh energizer lithium's, and running it with no backlight (except for occasional position checking at night)?

2. Is there a good setup that extends battery life?  (like having it in a north-up position, instead of track up position)  Any preferred data fields?  I feel like always looking at the mph or mileage might be depressing.

3. Am I missing something, or is the correct way to navigate a track to go into the 'track manager', select the correct .gpx file, then show in map....and ride it.  My Wahoo and Garmin watch will 'lock' onto a track and beep at you if you go off course, but this doesn't appear to have that function?

4. The 'current' track is always recording what you're doing, so long as the device is on...correct?  So delete all current track data prior to start, then turn device off at the end to get an accurate .gpx of what you actually did?

[xlewisx]

1. Maybe 30-40 hours with Lithiums. Much less for alkalines. Maybe 20. Make sure you go to Setup > System and then select the appropriate battery type. It makes a big difference to getting the most out of battery life.

2. Not really much way to extend life except keep the backlight down/off. Maybe only using GPS only and not Glonass? I’ve never bothered with the Glonass on the etrex but have heard it can use extra battery life on other devices. I like to have mileage, average speed, stopped time, elevation, time of day on a seperate data screen and then have the elevation plot in the data field for the map screen. Theres a way you can set it up to cycle through screens with the back button. From memory it’s something like Setup > Page Sequence, and then remove menu and have Map and Trip Computer. Then you should be able to flick between with one button and forget about using that stupid joystick while you’re riding. To access the menu, you then double press on the Menu button.

3. You can either select the Track file and show on map. Or you can go “where to?” And navigate off a track that way. I think Gadds file runs southbound though. So you’d have to flip it with a gpx editor if you wanted to actually “navigate” off it and not just “show on map”, this would give you the elevation profile. It won’t beep at you if off course though.

4. Yes. Exactly. You can save the track at the end of each day if you like too. Then it will give you the option to reset data fields or you can opt not to if you want to keep cumulative counts running.

[timon.fish]

Cool, thanks!

When you swap out batteries, theres nothing special to save/do, correct? Simply re-load the CTR track, show on map, and keep going.  Current track data will be saved automatically...?

[xlewisx]

You shouldn’t have to do anything when you swap batteries. Once you turn it back on everything should load as you had it and will continue tracking from where you left off. No need to save.

[BD]

I have an eTrex 20, circa 2012. Love it. I do not have maps or anything loaded- just a line (and my waypoints) I follow. Simple. Infallible. I use a Sigma computer for all data, so never changes screens on the eTrex.

There is one odd Garmin ripple I have found it to be very helpful to understand. Not sure if Garmin has changed this since I last looked into it- if so, sorry.

Garmin has (had?) a default purple color to the track you designate you are actually following... a faint lavender-esque purple which I find virtually impossible to see in many/most day situations. Last I checked you could NOT change this color for the track you designate you are following... even if you go into Track Properties in TopoFusion, or Track Manager on the device itself, and change the track color- I can make it a black line either of those ways- but it displays purple on the eTrex screen. Brutal for my eyes.

So, I keep a short track in my device from around my house. I ALWAYS navigate that track (it displays as purple). Every other track (i.e. the ones I want to follow) in the device I:
1. Make track black and bold in Track Properties in TF (I like size 4 line- old eyes!!) before I upload it into eTrex;
2. Make track show on map in Track Manager on the eTrex (on my device to have it "Show on Map" the list in Track Manager has to display "Hide on Map"- this means "Show" is actually on for that track- some bizarre form of 2012 Orwellian Garmin doublespeak...).

This process makes the track(s) I am trying to see black, wide, always showing.

I get 20-30 hours out of a set of Li AAA's- never use the light.

Oh yeah, if you use the Garmin handlebar mount (which I love- simple, light, low profile) put a lanyard on the eTrex and girth hitch it around your bars before sliding it into the mount - it WILL fall off. Peace.

[xlewisx]

You can change the colour on the 30x which is a newer model. So not sure if it’s a feature of the 30 or a feature of the updated version.

If you need a basemap you can get one here for free http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/

[timon.fish]

one more etrex question.

when it shows the 'battery low' screen, it will keep recording until it completely shuts off....correct?  so if i know where i am, no use in changing batteries until the screen shuts down.

[xlewisx]

Correct!

[flyboy]

Hey folks, a super late question but is there anywhere on the web with photos of the racers, their bikes and finishers, ala Tour Divide? I want to check out people’s rigs in my prep for 2020 and I can’t really find much info on the CTR.
TIA.

[mvmorten]

Hey folks, a super late question but is there anywhere on the web with photos of the racers, their bikes and finishers, ala Tour Divide? I want to check out people’s rigs in my prep for 2020 and I can’t really find much info on the CTR.
TIA.

Bikepacking.com did a feature on the bikes and riders:
https://bikepacking.com/bikes/2019-colorado-trail-race-rigs/

[flyboy]

Bikepacking.com did a feature on the bikes and riders:
https://bikepacking.com/bikes/2019-colorado-trail-race-rigs/

Thank you very much.

[mvmorten]

Thank you very much.

You're most welcome. Of course they added more pictures just after I posted!

https://bikepacking.com/plog/2019-colorado-trail-race-photos/