C TR 2021

[schillingsworth]

Quite a few folks spent the day milling around Silverton. Hmmmm. Drying out? Pushing out later this evening, we'll see.

[ScottM]

Yeah Jarral, it's a hot race for 2nd in the men.  Could go to any of them.

The weather never came today!  Shows you what a 99% chance of rain can be sometimes.  It did rain hard for 20-30 min, I should say, so it hasn't been without incident.  But the route heading east on the high and exposed country of Segs 22/23 has looked quite clear all afternoon and there have been very few rumbles of thunder.  That's remarkable and quite good for the bulk of the racers having to traverse it today.

A number of folks are still reeling from yesterday's storm though, thus the milling in town and milling over options.  I'm surprised there haven't been a bit more scratches.

I ran into the Pleskos on the tandem while out for a day ride today... they seemed good and determined to finish.  But they were feeling very wet so were getting a room to dry out and regroup for the seg 22/23 push early tomorrow.  Can't wait to see how that goes for them!  They are my heroes right now.

[Woodland]

I ran into the Pleskos on the tandem while out for a day ride today...

Now I get 'Parent Trap' - that's funny. Wonder who's watching the kids!

The CT must be hard, hard, hard on a tandem. Has anyone ever completed the CTR on one? The Petervarys?

[ScottM]

The CT must be hard, hard, hard on a tandem. Has anyone ever completed the CTR on one? The Petervarys?

I don't think it's been done on a tandem.  

Weather is looking pretty darn good considering the still available monsoonal moisture.  Very good news for the bulk of the pack going across 22/23.

Good to see veterans Jefe and Jeff K battling it out for 2nd right now.  Jefe may have as many finishes as Jeff has scratches (!).  I believe Jeff said this is his 7th attempt, the previous 6 being scratches.  Hope he can pull it off this year, and it looks like it'll be a quick one, to boot.

[schillingsworth]

Yeah, Kerkove has had his share of bad luck over the years, really hope he finally knocks this one out.

[jryter]

Wow 6 tries for JK. I knew of 3 or 4. Well he should get points for sticking to it! They are just about about at the turn for the Vapor Trail! It's back on this year FYI.

[Bigbuck]

Does anyone know the CTR better than Jefe!? So great to see him in the position he's in. Just seems like he is very calculated out there. whoo hoo!

[ScottM]

Neil is saving time on the Leadville bypass.  He reminded me to add it to the map, which I just did.  

[mtbordie]

I?m rooting for Jeff K this year, I?m sure he will be happy to finish and it looks like it should be up towards the front.
Envious of the Plesko?s how awesome would it be to be able to complete this with your spouse, although I don?t think I would want to do it on a tandem.   I have a friend who calls tandems a divorce machines because of the arguments that happen on them. I?m sure that isn?t the case with them.
Thanks for the great pics and trip report Evdog looks amazing as always out there.
Hoping to get out there this year for a few days next month to partake in some CT goodness

[schillingsworth]

Will Bodewes is really throwing down a heck of a ride.

[danwiz]

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!





Well done.....Love the pictures....Especially the Rainbow one.....and the best is the middle finger to sargeants mesa.....made me chuckle big time

[ScottM]

Will Bodewes is really throwing down a heck of a ride.

For sure, fantastic rookie run and an youngin'.  He signed up the evening before the start. 

[jryter]

I just was looking at him. I think Will is steadily gaining?? 20ish miles? Hmm...

And Jefe is starting to push harder while Kerkove is cracking? I'm sure it is getting hot over there. Ouch.

[Woodland]

It has been a scorcher here in Bailey today, and hazy.

Could we see another sub-4 day finish? 10 hours to ride the Matukat road, and the 40 miles from Wellington to Waterton? Man...

[jakomait]

Neil is going to be close to 4 days but I think the toll of the first tough rainy day was too much.  I'm putting him about 4d 2hrs based off of where he is relative to my 2015 splits.  But it will be a massive win with a beautiful dawn finish.  Huge props to all the other folks out there crossing the entire state under their own power!  Ever one is doing something amazing.

[schillingsworth]

Man, Jefe is really putting it down out there. I thought he may get caught on the long paved gradual downhill beyond Stagestop, BK came within 5 miles or so, but Jefe must've been spinning like a madman!! He's now up 9 miles or so near Goose Creek.

Great to see The Parent Trap make it through The Sargents Mesa Trap!!

And our loco Yoyo rider is steadily climbing the eastbound ranks, saying hi to everyone again....Go Andrew!!

[ScottM]

Heck ya Parent Trap -- current projection is for a sub 10 day finish, which would be incredible.  They crossed HW 50 and at least on paper, it's easier from there.  That's the way Chris explained it to me, anyway.  Certainly it's overall more rideable on the 2nd half of the route.

Congrats to Neil -- one of the fastest times period and a stellar performance!

Will is in too and Jefe on the homestretch.  Yeeaah!

[timon.fish]

They crossed HW 50 and at least on paper, it's easier from there.  That's the way Chris explained it to me, anyway.

*after brown's creek/chalk creek it gets easier.  I think that section between hwy 50 and shavano TH might be some of toughest on the CT, though some of that might be where it sits in the course and not how hard it actually is.

They're almost to the top of Georgia, then it'll really start to get easier.  Bet that Tandem is fast downhill and through Terryall, and I know they trained a fair amount on buff creek.  I can't even imagine riding that whole thing on a tandem, so impressive.

Fantastic run by Neil.  Blasting through the San Juan rain and thunderstorms and never looking back.  Legend

[Biggs23]

Timon looks to be off to a smooth start. Going to be fun to follow.