CTR 2013 Discussion

[riverfever]

I thought Jefe was on XX1 as well but don't quote me.

Pretty sure too.

[mtbcast]

MTBCast: Colorado Trail Race Day 5 True Ups! Today’s theme: Poo!
http://mtbcast.com/site2/category/podcasts/

[Buttermilk]

just want to give a shout out to Joe P. of MTB Cast. Thanks Joe! it 's a great service you provide for us armchair folks. Some pretty funny things from the racers on their calls. I'll be sure to call in on my future rides. Keep up the good work!

[Gimmearaise]

Just finished with Travis. At 1:30am, will fill you in on blog post later. Can't wait to hear the stories.

Bed time.

Neil

[AlanG]

Hey Travis! Congratulations on your mega impressive ride. You've certainly come on a bit since last year when even I was able to keep up with you for a couple of days! See you (at the start) in 2014. Alan the Brit.

[mountainjah]

http://youtu.be/kfL8uLqGvFs
 

[jakomait]

Pretty sure too.

Yup, I confirm both myself and Jefe were on XX1 with 28t ring up front.  Interestingly Jefe ran Gripshift but mounted it on the left side of the bar.  I have the trigger on the right.  Since Jefe had 29" wheels he was geared just a little taller than me on 27.5" but either way the range is huge.

[mtbcast]

just want to give a shout out to Joe P. of MTB Cast. Thanks Joe! it 's a great service you provide for us armchair folks. Some pretty funny things from the racers on their calls. I'll be sure to call in on my future rides. Keep up the good work!

Thanks! May have to throw some CTR calls into the Funnies this year!

[mtbcast]

Overnight and this morning: Jefe Branham called in with a finish call! Scott Shirey called in from Buena Vista. This call breaks up. Jerry Oliver called in from the finish! And Forest Baker called in from near Leadville.
http://mtbcast.com/site2/category/ctr13/

[Homegrown Rider]

I just wanted to post these pics of Jefe at Lenny's rest from yesterday morning...about 8 miles from the finish. He actually stopped and talked to us, not like most races where there is no time. But I think he thought Jesse was in front of him at that moment, as he thought he had heard him pass in the night. Maybe someone did pass, but we all now know it wasn't Jesse! Anyway, it was good to meet him, he could have knocked another 3 minutes off of his time if he hadn't stopped to talk but he did not believe he we the leader anymore.
I rode last year's CTR (Brad Fuller) and only made it 288 miles. Jefe/Jesse's kind of human endurance is something I will never understand I guess; just finishing is amazing, but in this time? I can see why someone called this the "alien class" earlier!

[danwiz]

What drivetrains were JJ and JB running? Looks like Jesse is on the new XX1, but Jefe?

Enlighten this lowly singlespeeder.

Both ran XX1 with a 28t ring.  Both gave it glaring/good/thumbs up reviews

[danwiz]

the couple of us that went there for the finish put up tape as a finish line..here is jefe skidding up to it

[ScottM]

SPOT's servers came back online at 10pm PST last night.  Looks like most points backfilled, though maybe some data is missing between 2:30 and 5pm.  Really sorry about that outage folks.  Luckily no one finished right at that time.  I see Jerry Oliver finished at ~9pm (according to his call in), so I fabricated a point for him at the finish there.  It looks like his SPOT hasn't worked for a few days.

There are some funnies on the call ins, like Jerry trying to help a girl fix a flat only to not be able to get his pump to work... or Forest Baker demanding he be given 5 minutes of Jesse's time for helping his wife fix a flat on Fooses creek.  Thanks for the call in support, Joe -- really helps to tell the story behind the dots!

Props to my man Max for finishing in just over 5 days.  He killed it on the last ~60 miles, covering it a few hours faster than the leaders did.  Would have easily been a sub-5 finish if not for the Tarryall.

[mtbcast]

Aaron Weinsheimer called in from Breckenridge.
http://mtbcast.com/site2/category/ctr13/

[mtbcast]

John Greig called in from Leadville to say he is OUT! And Eric Foster called in from Hwy 9 heading in to Breckenridge. He lost his breaks then taco’d both wheels and cracked his helmet after a nasty endo!
http://mtbcast.com/site2/category/ctr13/

[Matt Schiff]

Lots of time to reflect while riding the lonely CTR this year. I'll eventually write a blog but wanted to share a few things (now turned into many). Unfortunately I feel there’s more of a negative tone than positive.

- Lots of respect and admiration is usually given to the fast people and it's assumed that suffering and going faster form a pretty linear relationship. Last year I suffered immensely because of a bad stomach, eating and drinking difficulties the whole race. This year I knew I had solved some problems, would suffer far less, and ride much faster. All of that came true. Riding slower=riding faster. Riding even faster would not involve more suffering as the first step. I'd work on eating more. Just because you’re making yourself hurt doesn’t mean you’re going your fastest.

- About 2 days into the race I forgot how long it is. It's hard to quit anything for me, even if it's for the right reason. I knew I didn't need to wear myself out. I've had trouble getting the sleep I need for a few months now. I know if I had quit for the reason of not wanting to wear myself out, I could have lived with it. I've seen the trail already. The CTR was not feeding my soul and knew it wouldn’t give me a boost afterwards. I would have done something good for myself, one of those hard but BIG choices, and that's not something to regret. I stayed in probably because I didn’t feel like answering questions about it.

- I became an expert trail tracker and knew when Jefe was leading and Jesse was. On the final climb, I knew unless Jefe was passed on the descent, he had won yet again. Jefe, you thought you were second? You have to know what a racing ralph (2.4?) looks like by now.? No? That must be because you were leading most of the time? haha

- I followed the tracks of Jefe and Jesse from Kenosha, through the Taryall detour. I thought of what the two must be going through actually racing each other. I found a gel wrapper. I noticed tire tracks pulling off and then back on again. It helped create the story of two people battling in the night, minutes apart, each one trying not it let it all fall apart. I felt like I had it much easier, knowing they were hours ahead and confident no one was close behind. The wet soft sand seemed to suck all the power out of my legs.

- I feel like a became a better rider on the CTR. I’ve ridden for years and bike handling is my strength but somehow, even when I was fatigued I rode lines cleaner and smoother than I could expected, like a no hesitation night descent off the top of Fooses Creek.

- I was close to running out of food at the end. I hate always carrying so much extra food. I’m always a safe instead of sorry person so I took a little more risk, but also bought more sweets and snacks in Leadville. The Taryall detour was about 5 hours longer than I thought. 200 calories per hour soon became 100 but luckily by the end the body burns fat so well. I saved a bit of food for the last singletrack and the climb out of the Platte.  Once north of hwy 9 I realized my mistake but made the choice I wouldn’t accept any food if offered or take any from a trail angle box. The reason being is that it would significantly help me and I had to live with the decision I’d made in Leadville. I took a gatorade at apple’s tent and an applesauce at hwy 50. The difference being that I didn’t need the food or drink, I was fine on my own. Sure enough, I got offered and had to explain myself.

- My sleep program I would call the all natural sleep deprivation program. I slept about 7.5 hours total but never set an alarm. The bugs were pretty bad when it was warm but sleeping when it is cold, is well, cold. I don’t believe in 5 hr energy of other massive caffeine sources to prolong staying away. I wanted to stay safe without the spot. When I felt like I’m dosing off while hiking or riding, it’s time to get some rest. The last night I took a one hour nap but couldn’t make it past 3:30. I tried hard because maybe if I made it until sun up, I wouldn’t need the sleep but I had to succumb to another 2 hour nap.

- I had trouble with motivation on the Taryall construction  segment. I slept next to a tree for an hour. I got up with more motivation and in my dream we (all sleeping under the tree) solved the motivation problem of the construction workers. Win , win for everyone. I think I even said bye to them when I left.

-One of the most beautiful moments was riding through the burn area at the break of dawn with everything lush and wet. I wasn’t blown away by beauty as much as last year. Good weather is more boring than powerful storms.

- Wildest thought. On the 5th day I had a thought about my job and where I worked. It seemed so foreign and distant and could have been years ago. I suddenly became aware that I was a person (or had been) beyond someone just trying to survive on the CTR.  

- Best comment. “You’re training for Leadville, aren’t you.”

- Interesting conversation with a large group scurrying to get their bikes off the trail as I passed. “Those are camera bags, aren’t they” I decided not to correct the woman. “You look like an expert, can you tell me if her tire pressure is too high?” “It’s really a preference thing.” “Well how would she know?” I squeeze the tire and said, “yeah it’s too high.” A guy comes in saying “won’t higher tire pressure help her get over roots better.” “No, that’s not how it works.” No elaboration on my part. They start to talk among them themselves and not about to get drawn into the process of adjusting her tire pressure, let it be known that, “I really have to go”. Sort of dick on my part. But I never care much for the Doctor/Lawyer types with $10K bikes that are still working on common sense 101.

- Did I hallucinate? Descending the last descent, but before the small uphill into waterton, was there not an american flag and a carriage of belongings that looked like a homeless man pushed up? That would be the only real hallucination. Everything else was just things in nature that as you get closer is just a stump or tree.

- I regret not having the spot for the people that wanted to watch it. The CTR didn’t involve family at all this year. I didn’t really anticipate how much they’d be into it. The spot is just one more thing to mount, feed batteries, etc, and with my work and lack of work I had to save the money as well.  I was trying to remove myself from getting caught up in what other riders were doing. No cell phone either. I couldn’t get away from the helpful hikers relaying incorrect gaps to the next rider. One told me Jesse and Jefe were way ahead of me. I must of seemed uninterested because he said, “seriously, those guys are way the hell ahead of you”. I don’t know what he wanted me to do or say.

- A couple of days into the ride the biggest revelation I had, for the whole trip for that matter, was that I love descending so much and I’ve wanted a trail bike for a while, that I could make this happen not by waiting another year but by selling my road bike. It’s something I’ll lat east consider. This ride continued to increase my love of mountain biking.

[Done]

Wow, Matt, that's one of the best post-CTR write-ups that I ever read. Great stuff. Thanks for posting it.

[Woodland]

- Did I hallucinate? Descending the last descent, but before the small uphill into waterton, was there not an american flag and a carriage of belongings that looked like a homeless man pushed up? That would be the only real hallucination. Everything else was just things in nature that as you get closer is just a stump or tree.

Not unless we both did  That thing has been sitting there for ages - what is the deal?


Nice effort Matt, and thanks for sharing some insightful, personal stuff.

[FoldsInHalf]

Just a few more pics for y'all of CTR blue dots...

Wednesday morning, JB & JJ emerging near the Tiger Run RV park:


Thursday mid-afternoon on West Ridge:  ("RF" I think)


Thursday mid-afternoon minutes later on West Ridge: ("PB" I think)


Friday just after a good lunch at Copper and about to head up Tenmile: ("JT" from South Dakota)




Friday a few minutes later, crossing the Copper ski runs: ("DH" on a bright blue rigid singlespeed  )






Sure been fun putting faces to the dots over the past few days on the trails around Summit... awesome stuff, keep it up!

[danwiz]

Lots of time to reflect while riding the lonely CTR this year. I'll eventually write a blog but wanted to share a few things (now turned into many). Unfortunately I feel there’s more of a negative tone than positive.

- Lots of respect and admiration is usually given to the fast people and it's assumed that suffering and going faster form a pretty linear relationship. Last year I suffered immensely because of a bad stomach, eating and drinking difficulties the whole race. This year I knew I had solved some problems, would suffer far less, and ride much faster. All of that came true. Riding slower=riding faster. Riding even faster would not involve more suffering as the first step. I work on eating more. Just because you’re making yourself hurt doesn’t mean you’re doing your best.

- About 2 days into the race I forgot how long it is. It's hard to quit anything for me, even if it's for the right reason. I knew I didn't need to wear myself out. I've had trouble getting the sleep I need for a few months now. I know if I had quit for the reason of not wanting to wear myself out, I could have lived with it. I've seen the trail already. The CTR was not feeding my soul and knew it wouldn’t give me a boost afterwards. I would have done something good for myself, one of those hard but BIG choices, and that's not something to regret. I stayed in probably because I didn’t feel like answering questions about it.

- I became an expert trail tracker and knew when Jefe was leading and Jesse was. On the final climb, I knew unless Jefe was passed on the descent, he had won yet again. Jefe, you thought you were second? You have to know what a racing ralph (2.4?) looks like by now.? No? That must be because you were leading most of the time? haha

- I followed the tracks of Jefe and Jesse from Kenosha, through the Taryall detour. I thought of what the two must be going through actually racing each other. I found a gel wrapper. I noticed tire tracks pulling off and then back on again. It helped create the story of two people battling in the night, minutes apart, each one trying not it let it all fall apart. I felt like I had it much easier, knowing they were hours ahead and confident no one was close behind. The wet soft sand seemed to suck all the power out of my legs.

- I feel like a became a better rider on the CTR. I’ve ridden for years and bike handling is my strength but somehow, even when I was fatigued I rode lines cleaner and smoother than I could expected, like a no hesitation night descent off the top of Fooses Creek.

- I was close to running out of food at the end. I hate always carrying so much extra food. I’m always a safe instead of sorry person so I took a little more risk, but also bought more sweets and snacks in Leadville. The Taryall detour was about 5 hours longer than I thought. 200 calories per hour soon became 100 but luckily by the end the body burns fat so well. I saved a bit of food for the last singletrack and the climb out of the Platte.  Once north of hwy I realized my mistake but made the choice I wouldn’t accept any food if offered or take any from a trail angle box. The reason being is that it would significantly help me and I had to live with the decision I’d made in Leadville. I took a gatorade at apple’s tent and an applesauce at hwy 50. The difference being that I didn’t need the food or drink, I was fine on my own. Sure enough, I got offered and had to explain myself.

- My sleep program I would call the all natural sleep deprivation program. I slept about 7.5 hours total but never set an alarm. The bugs were pretty bad when it was warm but sleeping when it is cold, is well, cold. I don’t believe in 5 hr energy of other massive caffeine sources to prolong staying away. I wanted to stay safe without the spot. When I felt like I’m dosing off while hiking or riding, it’s time to get some rest. The last night I took a one hour nap but couldn’t make it past 3:30. I tried hard because maybe if I made it until sun up, I wouldn’t need the sleep but I had to succumb to another 2 hour nap.

- I had trouble with motivation on the Taryall construction  segment. I slept next to a tree for an hour. I got up with more motivation and in my dream we (all sleeping under the tree) solved the motivation problem of the construction workers. Win , win for everyone. I think I even said bye to them when I left.

-One of the most beautiful moments was riding through the burn area at the break of dawn with everything lush and wet. I wasn’t blown away by beauty as much as last year. Good weather is more boring than powerful storms.

- Wildest thought. On the 5th day I had a thought about my job and where I worked. It seemed so foreign and distant and could have been years ago. I suddenly became aware that I was a person (or had been) beyond someone just trying to survive on the CTR.  

- Best comment. “You’re training for Leadville, aren’t you.”

- Interesting conversation with a large group scurrying to get their bikes off the trail as I passed. “Those are camera bags, aren’t they” I decided not to correct the woman. “You look like an expert, can you tell me if her tire pressure is too high?” “It’s really a preference thing.” “Well how would she know?” I squeeze the tire and said, “yeah it’s too high.” A guy comes in saying “won’t higher tire pressure help her get over roots better.” “No, that’s not how it works.” No elaboration on my part. They start to talk among them themselves and not about to get drawn into the process of adjusting her tire pressure, let it be known that, “I really have to go”. Sort of dick on my part. But I never care much for the Doctor/Lawyer types with $10K bikes that are still working on common sense 101.

- Did I hallucinate? Descending the last descent, but before the small uphill into waterton, was there not an american flag and a carriage of belongings that looked like a homeless man pushed up? That would be the only real hallucination. Everything else was just things in nature that as you get closer is just a stump or tree.

- I regret not having the spot for the people that wanted to watch it. The CTR didn’t involve family at all this year. I didn’t really anticipate how much they’d be into it. The spot is just one more thing to mount, feed batteries, etc, and with my work and lack of work I had to save the money as well.  I was trying to remove myself from getting caught up in what other riders were doing. No cell phone either. I couldn’t get away from the helpful hikers relaying incorrect gaps to the next rider. One told me Jesse and Jefe were way ahead of me. I must of seemed uninterested because he said, “seriously, those guys are way the hell ahead of you”. I don’t know what he wanted me to do or say.

- A couple of days into the ride the biggest revelation I had, for the whole trip for that matter, was that I love descending so much and I’ve wanted a trail bike for a while, that I could make this happen not by waiting another year but by selling my road bike. It’s something I’ll lat east consider. This ride continued to increase my love of mountain biking.

matt:  can you or anyone explain a bit more of the tarryall construction segment?  i was at the finish (just a blue dot fan) when Jefe and Jesse came in and i heard them mention how hard it was, how time consuming it was etc......and i'd like to know more about this part...thanks for the personal accounts and congrats on an amazing effort....