CTR 2011: Race Updates & Results

[mtbcast]

Zach Allen called in to say he and Marco Capote are in Leadville.

You can get the audio here, via RSS,  or on iTunes!

[DaveH]

Some interesting turns...

Ezster's spot has not updated in 2 hours, and oddly enough that point is right at a road fork where if she left the route it's a beeline north to go home to gunny & CB.  In reality, she is running a SPOT II and they chew through batteries much faster than SPOT Is.  I bet it's just her batteries going south.  She did stick to her 4 hours shuteye/night, while a few guys around her slept less and got a gap.

GP is moving fast!  He's perhaps 5.5 hours off of KTs pace right now and is getting to the highest part of the route just as the storms build up.

Now for some armchair musings...

On a tactical note, one of the things about this years start that really caught my eye was how aggressive some riders were in terms of how much sleep they opted for.  Several riders chose none.  Kurt Refsnider had that 38 hour foray in the middle of Wyoming in this year's TD - it was amazing from so many perspectives.  One was that it was so well timed since it was on pavement where it didn't require as much focus to stay upright.  Another was that he seemed to have a little "micro-peak" as he found his legs that day.

Trouble is (putting aside that Kurt is indeed a mutant), there is no time to ride yourself into a micro-peak in this race.  Kurt was over the Montana adaptation hump; nobody in CTR gets that effect.  A couple mutants aside, history shows that for the fastest riders, the fastest way to get something like CTR done includes sleep in the plan.

Right now neither Cat nor Ezster knows about each others position.  If history repeats itself in this race, we can expect Cat to have one helluva fast finish with a solid block of 24+ hours of riding, and that is going to make the ladies race super tight.

OK back to work now 

[Emily]

Dave, do you know if Cat and Eszter are both riding gears this year? I know Cat was racing on SS last summer, and Eszter's been singlespeeding it a lot lately too.
This could be an exciting finish indeed! Go go go!

[cocavaak]

Looks like ET and DH are passing. I can imagine DH asking how far Kevin is ahead and ET saying "Oh about 25 miles".

[DaveH]

Dave, do you know if Cat and Eszter are both riding gears this year? I know Cat was racing on SS last summer, and Eszter's been singlespeeding it a lot lately too.
This could be an exciting finish indeed! Go go go!

Both are on gears!

cocavaak, how interesting that ETurk will be rolling through the front of the field in the next few hours with beta on Kevin's whereabouts.  He could sell that info - paid for in food of course.

DH probably won't be too interested as he's an ITTer that started a day before the race, but GP will sure be interested. 

[RyterFanClub]

Picture #38 - you just caught Jarral Ryter, the one on the right.  He looks focused.  

Since Jarral seems a bit of an unknown, you should check out his blog - http://livethinline.blogspot.com/
You will see why his fan club of family and friends are glued to the race.  We know he knows what he's doing, but he does live on a thin line and he's going a very long route right now.

[Yogi the Barry]

Not to detract from the the leaders and late breaking drama, but I find the little details from back of the packers also interesting. Especially beer drinking back of the packers. I just did my lunch hour bike ride and the whole time this LICE thing kept coming into mind. Somebody please elaborate. OMG, this is beyond cruel and usual...
-B
PS - The Honey Badger almost made my face hurt from laughing.

...Received this text from him at some point today: ... lice ...

[cocavaak]

DaveH,  Yep ET and GP are having a confab. 

[Dro]

here's an interesting detail irrelevant of placement - tim's mom sewed him a sweet bike frame bag customized to fit his 'salsa big mama' thats rolling with some serious tlc.   

[edogcooter]

What ever happened to the 17 year old?  His name was Dylan I believe?

[wookieone]

Hello everyone, This is jefe branham. Made it home. Bailed out in Leadville, got a motel, ate pizza thought about things. Just didn't have any mojo, none, nothing in the legs. Damn, but not too bummed, first bikepacking drop out for me. Decided to ride home via the highway and cottonwood pass, camped on the Gunny side of the pass, got rained on all night! Made it home today around noon, still feel cooked, tired, cooked, legs are still crampy. Make me respect the CT even more, that is some really brutal terrain. Sorry to hear about everyone else dropping, damn it! Everyone else, keep it up!!! Thanks for all the love, you all rule, Jefe

[Done]

The CTR didn't go well for me this year. Here's my story:

http://tobygadd.blogspot.com/2011/08/failure.html

Cheers,
Toby

[jakomait]

Hey everyone,

I gave that trail a good run for its money and had a lot of fun the first two days.  I felt great, my bike was working awesome and I dodged the rain for the first day and a half.  I actually planned on sleeping the first night but after being curled up in my sleeping bag for two hours and still no zzz's I gave up and started pedaling again.  Tuesday was more of the same cruising and I was geeked to hit 50 before it even got dark but my demise had already begun.  Shortly past chalk creek my throat started locking up and I couldn't get gas in the tank.  I spent a little extra time at camp trying to eat but it wasnt working too well.  By morning I was in bad shape and was struggling even to walk and drinking water made me feel nauseous.  I spent the day hoping to nurse myself back to health but I wasnt making any progress nutrition or mileage wise.  Not wanting to quit I camped out past silver creek hoping I could regain myself but eating a poptart this morning took more effort than getting up Fooses creek.  Going fast only counts if you make it to the finish line!  I was left with no choice but to bail into Salida and call it the end of my adventure.

Good luck to everyone who is still out there!  

[ThatDudeOnABike]

Hey, RyterFanClub, where is picture #38?

Picture #38 - you just caught Jarral Ryter, the one on the right.  He looks focused. 

Since Jarral seems a bit of an unknown, you should check out his blog - http://livethinline.blogspot.com/
You will see why his fan club of family and friends are glued to the race.  We know he knows what he's doing, but he does live on a thin line and he's going a very long route right now.

[ThatDudeOnABike]

How many racers are going without GPS? Anyone out front that can't be seen--aside from Eszter?

[mtbcast]

Hello everyone, This is jefe branham. Made it home. Bailed out in Leadville, got a motel, ate pizza thought about things. Just didn't have any mojo, none, nothing in the legs. Damn, but not too bummed, first bikepacking drop out for me. Decided to ride home via the highway and cottonwood pass, camped on the Gunny side of the pass, got rained on all night! Made it home today around noon, still feel cooked, tired, cooked, legs are still crampy. Make me respect the CT even more, that is some really brutal terrain. Sorry to hear about everyone else dropping, damn it! Everyone else, keep it up!!! Thanks for all the love, you all rule, Jefe

Keep on the Gunny side...always on the Gunny side.... I couldn't help it, Jefe!

Sorry to hear  you're out but it sounds like it was best.

[Done]

...but eating a poptart this morning took more effort than getting up Fooses creek.

Damn, that says a lot. Good work getting yourself safely out of there in that condition.

[Stefan_G]

Looks like Kevin Thomas will be rolling into Silverton just in time for a big dinner.  Then he'll have to do some decision making:  chill, get some sleep, and finish strong well in front of the rest of the pack.  Or hammer all through the night in an attempt to break Owen's current course record... 

In other news, the front half of the pack (Sargents Mesa and beyond) is enjoying a glorious Colorado evening, while the back half is getting soaked yet again.  A lot have dropped out, but I am amazed at the tenacity of this middle group trucking their way through Sargents and the Cochetopa hills - everyones favorite part of the CT.   

Zach and Garret in particular I imagine are enjoying the amazing sights in perfect soft light high in the alpine.

[RyterFanClub]

Hey, RyterFanClub, where is picture #38?

  On page 8 there is an entry where pictures were taken of a lot of pictures.
http://snowcatcher.smugmug.com/Cycling/2011-Colorado-Trail-Race/18339147_FD62rV.

[DaveH]

Looks like Kevin Thomas will be rolling into Silverton just in time for a big dinner.  Then he'll have to do some decision making:  chill, get some sleep, and finish strong well in front of the rest of the pack.  Or hammer all through the night in an attempt to break Owen's current course record... 

And it appears he's made his choice - in and out of Silverton in about an hour.  Damn.  He had some significant weather on 22/23, he must be hard as nails to just push on.

Can he do it?  He was still 3 hours off the pace at Carson Saddle.  Leaving Silverton he's got about 15 hours.  Not impossible but ouch, he will have to push through the night and take few breaks.  No time for sleeping tonight if that's his goal.

For perspective, there's a race from Molas to Durango every year.  Nick Gould just established a new record this year and 9 hours and change.  I think T. Brown was the previous record holder, so it's a solid one.  Kevin will have roughly 13-14 hours to cover the same distance.  He's got the speed if he can keep his eyes open, that section is really good for a SS.

It's been interesting to this point seeing riders chase Owen's record.  I don't think Owen had a single bad minute in that ride, such an amazingly high bar.

Go KT!