CTR 2011: Race Updates & Results

[kuvcol]

Jarral is in Durango and looking for food!  The family, Anne, kids Lila and Julian are there and parents.   He rode the last day with a broken axel - some how. 

Congratulations to Jarral for a great CTR race!!! even more amazing riding on a broken axle on the last day!

[dannyo]

Where does the race end?  In other words, if I wanted to see the "finish line," where would I go?

[lidarman]

Where does the race end?  In other words, if I wanted to see the "finish line," where would I go?

In Durango, from US 550, take W 25th street to Junction st.   Follow junction st, which turns into Junction Creek Road.  Follow this to a split. Take the left on CO rd 204 to the campground.

 

[dannyo]

lidarman, thanks for the info!

[dannyo]

Jerry Oliver has finished the race at 2:20!  He did awesome!  We're all so proud of you!

[mtbcast]

Jerry Oliver called in with his finish!

[bikerwife]

Any news about Todd Johnson?  His spot says he has been in Silverton all day and the only update has been dropping his placement in the race. I spoke with him last night and he was set to finish today.  All his friends and family are wondering what happened. Any news would be greatly appreciated!

[manco]

Even more amazing is knowing that Jarral is insulin dependent diabetic. He has to make sure his calorie intake matches his exercise and insulin. Not only did he make a great run, he showed that diabetes does not stop one from doing what he sets his mind to!  Great ride, Jedo!

[edmiston9]

Anyone headed from Durango thru (or to) the Gunnison area on Monday?  Looking for a rideshare.  PM me if you might be able to help.

[Dro]

Congratulations to all the finishers, great job, truly inspirational.  Sending Tim some good juju for the leg from Silverton to Durango and a great finish to this adventure.

[DaniG]

Shawn Gregory's (SG) spot quit working.  He finished on Saturday at 10:24pm.

[MtbkrsMom]

Hi Everyone!!
What an amazing race!! I have also been watching the spot-tracker results every few hours from Illinois since the race began on Monday. My son Jordan Carr, Gunnison, is racing his first CTR this year and we are so amazed by his strength and determination.  At one point he had gotten off the trail and his balloon was moving west off the trail. It was so stressful watching this happen with nothing you could do to help.  He did get turned around and back on track and continues to move up on the standings, currently 14th. 
I wish I had found this blog sooner. It has been enjoyable reading the updates on racers and the comments from their fans and family. 
We are so proud of you Jordan!!   

[mtbcast]

Overnight and this morning: Eszter Horanyi called in to say she finished! John Fulton called in from Durango to say he finished! Jeffrey Rank called in from Silverton to say he’s out! He needs to catch his flight. Forest Baker called in from Salida to say he’s out! Jarral Ryder called in from Durango! He finished and wanted to give encouragement other Type 1 diabetics! Shawn Gregory called in from Durango! And Jordan Carr called in to say he finished!

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

Also today: Cat Morrison called in from Durango to say she finished last night!

[forest_on_bike]

Just wanted to give everyone some appreciation of what Jill, Becky, Andy, and Jonathan are going through.

On Saturday, we all woke up within about 5 miles of each other.

I started my day with 4.5 bars left for food. Based only on the number of miles, I thought I could make it to Silverton. I'm an idiot and didn't appreciate the climbs and elevation that were coming up.

By noon, I had two bars left and hadn't eaten for several hours. At that point, I had just struggled up to 12,000ft at the start of the last two sections to Silverton. (Throughout the ride I had a hard time with altitude and was reduced to a death crawl anytime the trail went over 11,500ft.)

Exhausted, I sat on a rock for 20 minute and stared at the elevation profile in the data book. And then I cried because I knew that I couldn't make it Silverton. The trail was only going to get a lot worse (climb to 13k and then stay above 12k for many miles before climbing to over 13k a second time). Not enough time, not enough food, not enough air, and no good bailout options if things got bad. I sat for another 20 minutes and enjoyed what I knew were going to be my last views on the trail.

I said goodbye to Becky, Andy, Jefferey, and Jill as I backtracked down the trail. All of them were also low on food and just as exhausted as me. None-the-less, they kept going...

I checked this morning and saw the Jill pushed through the night - unbelievable! Really, a totally amazing effort on her part.

24 hours since I last saw them, Becky and Andy are still struggling to get over the pass to Silverton. I can't wrap my head around the strength they are showing. You guys are my heroes.

And Jonathan...his spot isn't working.

Godspeed to you all.

Forest

[Dro]

Cmon Tim one last big push into Durango and you are the man....

[mtbcast]

Great effort, Forest! I can appreciate the altitude as I feel it every time I visit Colorado. For a sideline observer, I can only imagine what having to pull out must be like. However, I think it gives fans a chance to peer into what it really takes to do this. It's easy to sit back and think, "Why didn't he/she keep going?" But when you remind yourself of where people are in their strength and the abilities of those who've dropped you have to take pause. I know even those who drop are still amazing riders with incredible skills and stamina. So much of this type of racing is timing and chance too. Will I stay healthy? Will the weather hold? Do I have enough food? With a bit of luck you will have no more combination of good or bad circumstances befall you that you can just get through. Any one of these, and a myriad of varying portions of each, can tilt your ride from "press on" to "pull out." In the end, the wise will know when to walk away and perhaps return with a new quiver of lessons.

[ETURK]

And, then there's the Eastbounders.  Eddie Turkalay appears to be bailing Segment 23 by way of Cataract Gulch!  That trail looks to be a total ass kicker by bike in any direction, but if the weather gods say you gotta bail what's a guy to do?  Radar is starting to look fairly ugly up there.

Hey all this is ETURK:

I did not bail segment 24 to quit! I did get freaked out by the dark clouds starting to surround me so I bailed to trees (pole creak I think) and camped out! It was about 12:30pm when I was all tented up and like, ok, what do I do now. So I slept, ate, slept, and waited to the morning. I hit over Coney the next day and got out of their! It was beautiful and freaky at the same time. Thunder was LOUD, but no lightning that I saw.

I did pass everyone one by one and it was awoesome to chat up just a bit. You see more people going in reverse - thats for sure - but it is lonely biking alone.

I am in BV right now at another coffee shop and need to get more batters for my headlamp, spot and GPS! GPS wouldn't turn on backlight - headlamp was dim, and spot died last night. Dam I should off had extras cause last night was dark going DOWN to Mount Princeton (I was racing against the available light - dam I made it to the last down just before full dark - so close). Getting a hotel room for tonight, departing tomorrow. 

I had two interesting sheep encounters:  1) After getting up stony pass and into real deal altitude, meet a man on a horse with a dog who didn't speak English - I don't speak Spanish - who told me "Two Sheep!" several times. I said I didn't see them. Then he said "Bam, Bam, Bam!" with his hand in a gesture they would peck at me. I was eating some food then and got the picture - so I said "I go" and he said "go" and then looked over the mtn and about 200 or more sheep started coming towards us! Now I don't have sheep experence, but I bolted! Looked behind me a few times, crossing over a few big ones - no sheep.   2) Ran into someone who told me there were sheep ahead and the dogs were cool - ok - so I guess no worries. Got up to the last feild areas of segement 23 and right on the trail - 500 sheep or so. I was tired and not going to put up with trying to go around - so went right threw them - they moved away real quick when these two dogs came in barking them to split the heard for me - VERY COOL DOGS!

Sergent Mesa - was hard (the end section for me - all those rocks). Section from Hwy 50 to Mount Prinction - was the hardest for me (very ridable, just lots of ups/downs = hard).

So thats my stories so far - still got more riding to do.

ETURK 

[ETURK]

Correction: I think it was Cataract Gulch I bailed down to tree line for safety - there was a huge lake way down that I passed. Wasn't easy coming back up it.

[DaveH]

Hey all this is ETURK:

I did not bail segment 24 to quit!

Yes I see that, you are having an awesome ride!  You must be so STOKED to be through that long hard section.  From BV to the end it's all downhill with tailwinds and tacky dirt.

Almost there, keep it rolling ETURK!

[mtbcast]

Edward Turkaly called in from Buena Vista!

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