I finished a west bound ITT a few days ago in just under 11 days race time. Had a great time, though not much time to acclimate to elevation meant I was pretty worked by sunset or so each day. Rode late a few times but mostly rode an hour or so past dark and going by 7am ish. Had storms going up Searle, next day in Leadville and again at Mt Elbert TH, and then really bad storms by Celebration Lake and Kennebec pass.
I went with an Old man mountain rack on my Transition spur since that bike can't fit a seat bag of any size. The rack itself was very solid. Packing a bag onto it was more problematic as it always wanted to shift forward or back, and any part that hung over the front or back of the rack would bounce around. Still need to work on that, likely I'll try to get some better bosses installed to strap down the load. Bike performed great, no mechanicals until the final descent when I bent the front rotor hitting a rock in a swollen creek crossing.
Best of luck to everyone out there racing!
Flew from Durango to Denver then took metro to Littleton and rode bike paths to the start at Waterton Cyn. Started at 6pm on a Saturday
Nice ride up Waterton Cyn. I rode Segment 1 and did the 1800ft climb out of the river on Seg2 before calling it a night around midnight.
Day 2 was finishing Seg2/3 and most of the 70 mile road detour around the Lost Lake wilderness. As far as roads go it was pretty scenic
Day 3, got back on the CT and climbed up and over Georgia pass ending in Breck by dark
Day 4 was the climb over 10mile range to Copper and then climbed towards Searle before an incoming storm stopped progress before dark
Day 5, rolling by 430am to get up and over Searle and Kokomo before storms resumed in the morning. Rained on from Hwy 24 into Leadville and then again from Mt elbert TH for a couple hrs. Then got nice as I passed Twin Lakes.
Day 6, drop down into Buena Vista, resupply and then up to Cottonwood pass, over to and beyond Mt Princeton hot springs.
Day 7, cross Hwy 50 and up Fooses in the rain to Monarch crest, nice double rainbow the reward up top. Then drop down shitty moto trails which make up the CT in this area.
Day 8, connect over Sargents Mesa, obviously my favorite part of the route so far. 30+ miles of mostly thrashed moto trail and then onto the 70 mi La Garita wilderness detour. Ended the day with 20ish miles of cool forest road riding by moonlight
Day 9, lots of La Garita road detour left. Nicer scenery but it was a tough grind. Up to Spring Creek pass and back to CT. Made it over Jarosa Mesa before dark.
Day 10, ok 2 shots for this day. Started 430am, up to high ridge for sunset and then up and over high point on the CT at 13,278ft.
Day 10, continued over high point to Cataract lake and onwards to Stony Pass before dropping down to Silverton for dinner. Up Hwy 550 to Molas pass and a few miles beyond before finding camp
Day 11, got hammered by a brutal electrical storm near Celebration Lake. Things cleared up and I continued past Blackhawk pass, camping at top of Corral Draw
(Calendar) Day 12, up and over Indian Trail ridge. Got hit by another bad storm just cresting Kennebec pass. Rain down to the start of the climb to High Pt.
Finished just before 6pm for sub 11 day time. Beer me!
