CTR 2012 Race Discussion

[NedCOJo]

Dave Pickett-Heaps is not tracking. Was at the top of Molas Pass around 1/2 hour ago.

Go Cat!

[Stevo]

I am really enjoying the pictures this year.  Keep them coming!

[edemtbs]

Toby Gadd, Paul Bosworth and Anthony Arena are traversing this section of trail after Cataract Lake (all photos by jj):















Ed

[jakomait]

I’m sitting here clean, dry and without the uncontrollable urge to want to just curl up on the ground and sleep!  I have a roof over my head and a fridge full of food that I’m not worried about how heavy it is!  But yet the CTR is a magical thing and I’m glad to experience all the struggles that it brings.   My state of delirium is still pretty heavy but I don’t have to stare at tire tracks in the mud trying to invent in my mind what is going on with the race.  I gave that trail everything I had in the most methodical way I knew.  For three and a half days things were going about as perfectly as they could while dealing with the mandatory weather in the Colorado mountains.  It wasn’t until the last 40 miles that I started to unravel.  Until then I was eating more food than I thought was possible and my body and mind were staying sharp covering ground.   

Shortly after Molas pass I became engulfed in the most violent hail storm I’ve ever experienced making me nervous my jacket was going to get ripped to pieces.  As I dried out and the clouds began to clear my thoughts began to focus on my mission to break 4 days and the only way possible was ride through the night.  I had carried a pound of Ayup batteries all the way from Denver for this and it was time to make good on the promise I made to myself to shut out the fatigue and keep moving.  By Blackhawk I spotted two dinosaurs lurking in the night and black masses hiding down the side of ridges.  I started stumbling and was so sick of eating the only way I could get more food in me was to stop and make it the only thing I did for 15 minutes.  My last burrito and fresh batteries on my lights kept me on track but my mind desperately wanted sleep.  I pressed on.  Keep moving.  Stumbling.  It’s so hard.  Keep moving.  Just before leaving the last woods before Indian peaks I just couldn’t.  I couldn’t eat.  I couldn’t pedal.  The 5 hour energy drink I just took helped my focus for about 5 minutes then was gone.  My coordination to walk was gone.  There was no way I could make it over the next section. 

In my heavy fog I had not choice but to lay down on the trail and set my watch for an hour later.  It felt like seconds later I woke up shivering and acutely aware of how insignificant I was to these mountains.  My throat and tongue were blistered to the point I was almost crying trying to eat a granola bar.  It was all I had left.  I kept checking the ground for a dropped gel but I knew the dinosaurs would have got them before I had a chance.

Finally when I passed the last ridge the sense of death left me but that was quickly replaced with dread at the top of Kenebec when I saw the sign that said there was still 21 miles to go.  But shortly the sun started to light up the sky and just before the final climb I was stunned to see Ethan, completely shelled but getting back on his bike.  Suddenly I was not the only human alive on earth and together we gained competitive energy from each other’s presents.  We were ready to keep fighting to the end but my hands were so beat up I needed to dig out my gloves for the descent.  I stopped quickly, my pack was now an unorganized mess as I shed my warm layers an hour before not caring to keep the order I maintained over the last 4 days.  Digging, where are they?  Damn I pulled everything out to find them, put them down then jammed everything back in.  Then I look over to put my gloves on.  No gloves!  Ahh I put them back in with everything else.  By the time I got back on my bike I knew Ethan was long gone and had to settle for besting the long standing record yet placing 3rd.  Being beat by Jefe and Ethan is nothing to be ashamed of and finishing the Colorado Trail in 4 days and 2 hours is an accomplishment I will always be proud of.

Huge thanks to my wife for putting up with my obsession, Joey at Velorution for meeting me and Ethan at the finish with a breakfast burrito and to HB for hauling my grimey body to his place to clean up and rest.

-Jesse Jakomait

[cocavaak]

JJ,  thanks for posting and giving us a taste of what riders go through towards the end.  Sleep deprivation is a tough thing. Way to push through it. Glad the dinosaurs didn't get you. 

[goldenboy]

The post-ride, mini write ups are a nice view into the challenges you all faced. I wish my worst moments started after a three day, four hundred mile bike ride/push. Still nice to hear that even though most of us couldn't compare, you all still face the same demons we do. Especially in contrast to the beautiful photos that Ed and Jen are posting up.  I would guess that for a lot of the racers, their memories of the trail are so much less idealic than what we are seeing. All of it is inspiring. Thanks for all the posts.

[jakomait]

The post-ride, mini write ups are a nice view into the challenges you all faced. I wish my worst moments started after a three day, four hundred mile bike ride/push. Still nice to hear that even though most of us couldn't compare, you all still face the same demons we do. Especially in contrast to the beautiful photos that Ed and Jen are posting up.  I would guess that for a lot of the racers, their memories of the trail are so much less idealic than what we are seeing. All of it is inspiring. Thanks for all the posts.

Actually the memory of the hardship and agony fades very quickly and all you have left are the visions of being high up on mountains with the majestic morning glow of the sun turning the alpine grass the most beautiful green you have ever seen in your life.  Only the tip of the serenity is captured in these pictures!

[goldenboy]

Actually the memory of the hardship and agony fades very quickly and all you have left are the visions of being high up on mountains with the majestic morning glow of the sun turning the alpine grass the most beautiful green you have ever seen in your life.  Only the tip of the serenity is captured in these pictures!

Having done a 200 miler a few weekends ago, this makes sense.  The elation of making the big passes and the final push towards the finish are all happy memories for me now and the hard work, sore muscles, et cetera have all faded. I may even do it again.

I guess the magnitude of what you have accomplished just is not apparent in the photos.  I have ridden/hike-a-biked most portions of the CT and it is definitely a monster.  The effort required to complete a few sections in a day, let alone all of it in four days, seems to lose some of the edge when compared to the serene paths in the photographs.

Thanks for your honest reply

[Bedrock]

I just returned from congratulating Cat and Kurt at the Junction Creek trailhead. They seemed alert, calm and in remarkably good shape considering what they had just accomplished. It blows my mind when I meet people like this who have just done something so incredible that very few people on the planet could do and yet they are still humble, down to earth and easy to talk to. It really speaks to the character of the people who are involved with this race (and others like it).

Andrew

[Roland Sturm]

My ride was cut short by a punctured lung. I started last night in Durango. With all the great times this year, maybe a bit too greedy and should have stopped earlier, but a night time tumble didn't seem too bad (stalled crossing a creek and just fell over into some branches). I rode a bit longer and took a dip in the creek before bed. Full moon and pleasant temps (even though I had started a few hours earlier on a trail alternating white crunch or brown mud. This morning, Chris Miller was coming down for a great time, while I was crawling uphill. An hour for 500 vertical feet at full effort?  So I turned back to Durango and enjoyed the downhill (which really proved that no aerobic fitness is needed), but had to push (and rest) on every uphill bump. Rolled to the urgent care center on 25th and the room quickly filled with firefighters who thought that I was an interesting case. Some took care of the bike which is now at their station and they'll get me when I'm ready for it. Unfortunately, that might be a while as I have a garden hose in my chest that runs into the hospital's central vac. At least that's how it looks. I sure feel a lot sicker now than this morning.

[ScottM]

Hello Everyone.
Jefe here with quick update.
Be Good! Jefe

Wow, thanks for the report, Jefe.  3-4 hours of sleep over ~96 is mind boggling.  Your comments about 'is it worth it?' resound a little with me, after my ~55 hours with no appreciable sleep in the 300.  I can't imagine what would have happened had I continued.  It may be fast, but you kind of get the sense that it isn't the healthiest thing to be doing to yourself.

Hell of a ride, all three of you.  So close!

[sj]

Beautiful photos, Ed and others who have posted pictures.  
I am in awe of those who do this epic event.  

[rippling over canyons]

Wow, congratulations Jefe, Ethan, Jesse, and all the other racers! I'm in Durango on vacation and have seen some racers pass by on Blackhawk on friday and Molas pass today. One racer who started a few days early on Thursday said he got pounded by hail west of Spring Creek Pass on Wednesday or Thursday.  He said there was a couple of inches of it on the ground after it was said and done! I'm totally whipped by my two day rides totalling only 40 miles, so I can only imagine the extreme difficulty of such an endeavor. Heading back up to Molas Pass tomorrow.

[the tortoise]

Roland!

Sorry to hear about your mishap. Hope you heal up quickly.

[riverfever]

Hello, I'm Chris Neumann's wife.  I spoke to Chris today.  He was in Silverton and getting a hotel in the hopes of getting some sleep.  He sounded like he had a cold and he was a little loopy and not thinking clearly probably from lack of sleep. I know he got a little sleep but called me at 8pm to let me know he was checking out of the hotel and pushing on.  I think he may have forgotten to turn his spot back on after resting because he is not tracking.  Kinda freaks me out because I'm a worrier and I need to watch where he is to know when to head to Durango.  If any one sees this and runs across him on the trail I'd be forever grateful if you'd let him know he is not tracking.  Hopefully he will realize it eventually.  To all of the riders who have finished or attempted this...I am in awe.  You are all truly amazing athletes.
  Thanks...Heather

[mtbcast]

Calls: Chris Neumann called in from Silverton where he’s been getting some rest before pushing on! Toby Gadd called in from Silverton. He’s gonna get some pizza and figure out his finish. And Wendy Skean called in to say she’s done. She met her goal of reaching Hwy 50! Way to go, Wendy!

[tomis916]

After my meager, but nonetheless challenging ride today (for me); I came away just that more impressed by everyone's performance (finished or otherwise).  And, its all for the prize money and contracts?  Any time some paid racer starts whining about the lack of a lead-out or teammates for protection, I can't help but smirk these days.

Congratulations, Chris on a strong finish!  When can we expect Chris and Eszter to team ala Babe the Blue Ox?

[Rob151]

I'm in Durango looking for a ride bak to Denver.  Can help out with expenses. 303-941-3005. Anyone out there? Rob

[NedCOJo]

Fine job, Dave Pickett-Heaps! We are all super proud of you! I especially like that I got to talk to your wife more in the past week than I have in the past year, and was more than happy to add her to my CTR Spouses' Support Group.

I love this race and following everyone. We have no TV at our house, so no Olympics, but who needs that when we've got this? Punctured lungs, impending dinosaur invasions -- this race has it all!

[edemtbs]

Tom Kavanaugh, Jennifer Wolfson and John Harness are a little ways past Spring Creek Pass and are approaching Jarosa Mesa:












Ed