CTR 2012 Planning

[anth]

At this point, with the fires and low snow/creek flows, I wouldn't mind being on the wet side! Maybe I'll regret saying that in 5 weeks......

Would love to join you guys but will actually be up in Crested Butte getting some training in myself as well. Enjoy!

Cheers
anthony

[boatmana]

Looking for help with shuttle from Denver on the 29th to race start and also are there any shuttles back to Denver post race going on?

Thanks peeps.

[Flounder]

Any of you Durango riders have any information on the fire currently going at the base of Junction Creek? I guess it's actually at Lightner creek.

[Yogi the Barry]

http://www.inciweb.org/state/6/

Any of you Durango riders have any information on the fire currently going at the base of Junction Creek? I guess it's actually at Lightner creek.

[joeydurango]

Yeah, it sucks.  Lots of smoke visible from town.  Lots of houses in that area, too... it seems silly to think about the trail when so many homes are at risk, but as far as that goes the fire is at best only 2-3 miles off the CT.  We're getting ready to do the Durango Dirty Century a week from Saturday, which uses the CT from Bolam Pass back to town, and I'll let you all know if there's trouble.

If they don't get that fire out quick the lower section of the CT will be scorched, along with Hoffheins and Dry Fork, two sweet trails.

Dry lightning storm sparked at least four new fires last night in the immediate area.  Hoping like hell the next storm actually brings rain.

[Flounder]

Joey, thank you for reminding me of how many homes are in that area. I don't know that area as well as some and to hear many homes are in harm's way is really disheartening. We've got lots of clouds overhead here in northern AZ, so let's hope it drops rain in Durango and Mancos...and CoSprings.

Sending you good vibes in Colorado.

[riverfever]

The fires are simply unreal this year. My wife and I were evacuated yesterday from Woodland Park. I don't think I have lost my home but having a helluva time finding out information.

[Woodland]

The fires are simply unreal this year. My wife and I were evacuated yesterday from Woodland Park. I don't think I have lost my home but having a helluva time finding out information.

Hope you can return soon Riverfever. It's tense in the foothills. I feel for all the folks losing homes. Unbelievable images coming out of CO springs this morning...

Hey maybe all this smoke will make for some good sunsets on the trail! Just trying to find a few positives...

Here's a gear question: I bought a new Fenix light and did an overnight ride on Mon/Tues and found out somewhat surprisingly that the light on high power only last 1.5 hrs. It's a great little light, but man that is a lot of batteries if I'm going to be riding some at night and early morning. I have a Princeton Tec EOS as well, which is a great little headlamp/bar light, but only 70 lumens.

Any other strong lights (150 or more lumens) that have longer battery life out there and don't cost a fortune?

[Done]

Any other strong lights (150 or more lumens) that have longer battery life out there and don't cost a fortune?

I've been using a Petzl MYO RXP with lithium batteries for a couple of years. It kicks out 160 lumens on high. I don't know how long it runs on high though, since I usually dial it back a lot on rides. It's programmable, so I run really dim settings whenever possible to save battery life. I also have a Planet Bike bar light, which isn't very bright, but runs for a long time. I run one or the other, sometimes both, depending on the terrain.

I also have a Gemini Xera, which is stupid-bright--but it uses rechargeable batteries. It's great for faster overnighters like Kokopelli's Trail. Although it has huge batteries, they burn down too quickly on the higher settings for something as long as the CTR. I'm looking forward to the day that powerful lights like the Xera can be powered for multiple nights from a small energy pack.

The truth is that you may not need very bright lights on the CTR. For me, it's often too technical to go fast at night, and I'm often too tired to ride really aggressively anyway (especially at night). Although I love brights lights, I was surprised how quickly I adapted to dimmer ones on the CTR.

[Woodland]

The truth is that you may not need very bright lights on the CTR. For me, it's often too technical to go fast at night, and I'm often too tired to ride really aggressively anyway (especially at night). Although I love brights lights, I was surprised how quickly I adapted to dimmer ones on the CTR.

My over-nighter the other day had me on the Nate Stultz trail at night (anyone ever had the pleasure of riding that one!!) which is so overgrown and rough and full of dead-fall that I needed some strong lights. My light on the low setting lasts for like 40 hours...so maybe it is just about managing the settings.

[joeydurango]

I really like my CygoLite Mitycross 400 (which is now 480, not 400, lumens).  Rechargeable batteries, yes, but very small and light.  I brought three batteries on the CTR and rode a whole bunch at night.  Programmable settings helped manage battery life, and with a combo of high for descending/techy, low for walking, and medium for just riding along, each battery lasted over eight hours.  When I made it home after dark on the fifth day, my last battery had just an hour or so of juice left.  Perfect!

[mtnbound]

I am also still debating lights but so far I am going with 2 BD Storms (helmet and on the handlebars).  They put out 100 lumen each but good points are light (3.9 oz w/batteries), waterproof and only use 4AAA each, with 50 hour runtime on high (longer on lower settings).  So, I am not planning on bringing any extra batteries and will avoid extra battery weight (but will change them in BV) since 50 hours is a long time and I think 2 100 lumen lights will work (if pointed in the same area, roughly it brings that area closer to 200 lumen).  Not particularly bright but decent enough since I don't expect to be going that fast after a long day, but it depends on your riding style, how much you plan on riding in the dark each night and how much you want your lights and batteries to weigh.  One weak point still working on is how to attach it tighter to the handlebar - it bounces around a bit on the techier stuff.

[Done]

I am also still debating lights but so far I am going with 2 BD Storms (helmet and on the handlebars).  They put out 100 lumen each but good points are light (3.9 oz w/batteries), waterproof and only use 4AAA each, with 50 hour runtime on high (longer on lower settings).

Have you actually tested that 50-hour run-time on high? Backpacker Magazine says that it'll only run for four hours on high. http://www.backpacker.com/gear-review-black-diamond-storm/gear/15882

[mtnbound]

Toby - thanks.  I haven't tested their 50 hour runtime claim.  I know most of these lights have overstated runtimes. I have a NR light and despite exchanging for two different ones, the runtimes were 20-25% lower than stated on their website.  The Fenix LD20 I had had the same problem - runtime was about 20% less than stated.

I have used regular batteries and ran the Storm on high for about 10 hours before it started getting dimmer but I can't say how much dimmer (maybe a loss of 30+%) but it was noticeable.  I am going to try it out with lithium batteries and see how long it lasts and how long before it gets noticeably dimmer (and compare dimmness to my other one that will remain fully charged).  Hmm, maybe the 50 hours (more likely 40hrs) is b/f it runs all the way down.

[Done]

Toby - thanks.  I haven't tested their 50 hour runtime claim.  I know most of these lights have overstated runtimes. I have a NR light and despite exchanging for two different ones, the runtimes were 20-25% lower than stated on their website.  The Fenix LD20 I had had the same problem - runtime was about 20% less than stated.

I have used regular batteries and ran the Storm on high for about 10 hours before it started getting dimmer but I can't say how much dimmer (maybe a loss of 30+%) but it was noticeable.  I am going to try it out with lithium batteries and see how long it lasts and how long before it gets noticeably dimmer (and compare dimmness to my other one that will remain fully charged).  Hmm, maybe the 50 hours (more likely 40hrs) is b/f it runs all the way down.

I'm going to check out this light some more. To be honest, getting 100 lumens out of a light for 40-50 HOURS seems too good to be true--especially since Backpacking Magazine posts very different numbers. But if I can verify that this is accurate, I'll be whipping out my credit card before the sun goes down. I just e-mailed Black Diamond, and I'll let you know what they say.

Edit: I just checked the manual, and it has a "Distance with Fresh Batteries" chart. It seems to state that after 30 minutes, the light will drop from 70 meters of visibility to 57 meters. And then after 10 hours, it'll drop to 9 meters. Seems to contradict the other chart, which shows 70 meters for 50 hours. Damn, I'm confused...

[Flounder]

The truth is that you may not need very bright lights on the CTR. For me, it's often too technical to go fast at night, and I'm often too tired to ride really aggressively anyway (especially at night). Although I love brights lights, I was surprised how quickly I adapted to dimmer ones on the CTR.

Agreed. For 24 hour races and much of my fall training I use a 3000 Lumen Nite Rider. It's overkill on an epic scale. Then, I remember I used to do those same 24 solos with a 150 lumen lamp and thought that was almost cheating.

I've been using a 100 lumen Black Diamond Storm headlamp on my helmet and for bikepacking purposes, it's fine.

[Flounder]

By the way, aside from owning a BD Storm, I've got a whole display full of them about ten feet from my desk as I type this. The boxes do say 50H at 100 Lumens.

Not a chance. No way. I bet I might get 25-30, but to me...that's impressive.

[mtnbound]

I am starting to doubt BD's claims too but their website does show a comparative graphs of burntime duration vs. distance that seem to indicate that it will last near that high level for most of 50 hours.  REI's review page has around 54 reviews and a few of the reviews do state that after 4 hours, it did dim considerably.  A couple other reviews said they had no problems with burn time and the rest of the reviews make no mention of burntime (for whatever that's worth).

I am charging some lithium rechargeables so I can test it and will post the informal test results.  Toby - if you get an email back from BD, I would be interested on their comments (particularly given their contradictory info!)

[Done]

Toby - if you get an email back from BD, I would be interested on their comments (particularly given their contradictory info!)

Here's what I got: "It looks like it goes about 4 hours at full tilt (100 lumens), then drops to about 85 lumens regulated for the next 8 hours.  Another drop regulates it at 70 for 8 hours.  When voltage hits 4.2 volts we end the regulation and let it drain gradually.  This avoids the annoying 'suddenly it’s off' syndrome on a lot of regulated lamps.  So you will get about 50 hours of burn time on the “high” setting but it will not be at a constant 100 lumens. It’s a goofy system and the more I look into it the entire industry tends to measure almost the exact same way."

So, it "looks like" it's possible to get 70+ lumens for 20 hours (4+8+8). Based on some of the review that I've read, even that sounds a very optimistic. I've asked him to clarify whether I've done the math properly. Considering that the verbiage on the box is utter BS (50 hours of 100 lumens), I'd like something more definitive than "it looks like" before pulling the trigger.

[AZLobo]

Hey guys, with any LED light you want to look for a fully regulated output. Same output from start to finish on your batteries. The run times quoted on these type tend to be accurate. BD, Petzl, and PrinectonTec are often not regulated. The run time they quote is from fresh, full output, to unusable, dim. I do not want my light gradually going dim as I get more fatigued and judgement impaired.

This is why you see so many guys like Kurt and Jefe using Fenix lights strapped to their helmets. Reasonable price, regulated, AA batteries for easy resupply, and just about bullet proof. Do not be fooled by some huge run time numbers. The emitters and battery's that everyone uses have very defined limits. No secret sauce for you. Have fun. See you out there.