CTR 2013 Planning

[peteshoe]

Thx. Know anything about the section between Silverton and Salida?

I rode from segment 17 backwards to Leadville on Friday and Saturday. Sargents is open with only a couple of snow drifts. After Marshall, it gets tougher with more snow, and Fooses was an hour and a half post hole session. So I would drop down Marshall pass road to Salida and avoid the snow.

[cmn529]

Donation done 

Question showing my GPS ignorance-
Does it matter which direction you go when using the GPS track?  I'm leaving about 12 days later as an ITT from Denver to Durango and do not want it telling me I'm 480 miles off course.  Even after having a GPS last year on the CTR, using it is still an adventure for me!

[bncrshr77]

Nope, a track is just a line on your GPS. Doesn't matter what way you're going.

[bartspedden]

Just an FYI - the area around waterton canyon has just been closed due to the lime gulch forest fire:

http://www.dailycamera.com/news/ci_23501754/lime-gulch-fire-prompts-closure-waterton-canyon

[Woodland]

As has access to the CT at HWY 126 south of Buffalo Creek.

Apparently the fire is still south of the North Fork of the South Platte - somewhere near Lion Gulch just north of Chair Rocks (the misnomer of the name - Lime Gulch - is driving people nuts around here)

[Stefan_G]

Hey all!  Getting stoked yet?   I sure am and it's still a month away...  A few things:

1. SPOT Tracker Rental and Leaderboard

To start the signup process, the Paypal form is live here: http://trackleaders.com/ctr-checkout

Fortunately for me (and you!), Scott Morris is living in Durango for the summer and will be around to distribute rental SPOTs during the days prior to the race. This will help immensely with a prompt 4am start. Racers will need to supply their own Lithium batteries and know how to operate their SPOT prior to the race start. Please coordinate pick-up with Scott as needed: smorris@topofusion.com


2. Forest Fires & other Closures
As everyone knows, this is always a probable situation that could arise before and during the CTR. If there are known, existing fires prior to the start, I will alter the GPS track and route for the race. If something flares up or otherwise closes the trail during the race, it's going to be up to each rider to find the shortest way around the closure and back to the CTR course without violating rule #3, "Don't break the law". So bring yer maps and know your bailout options!


3. Tarryall Detour
I spoke with the foreman of the construction project on Tarryall Road the other day. Bikes will be required to wait just like vehicles and must be escorted through by a pilot vehicle during working hours M-F. Pilot vehicles will run at 6am, 7am, 8am, 9am, 10am, 12:30pm, 2:30pm, 4pm, 5pm, 6pm, 7pm. No weekend work or nighttime closures, but I will check again the week prior to the race.  See the attached file for more details.

So, while there are potential delays of up to 2 hours, we are going to stick with the Tarryall Detour as I believe it will become the route for future CTRs. All racers need to follow any rules set by the construction crew, even if they are inconvenient. If someone catches up to you while you are waiting, well, there are still 60ish miles left to push through.


4. Leadville Bypass
For this year (and probably in the future) the Leadville Bypass will be the official route. Since this is already on a CT detour, leaving the detour to detour further into Leadville, and then rejoining the detour later on instead of backtracking will be allowed. I hope this doesn't cause too much confusion, and I'm guessing that only a few folks will actually skip Leadville in any case.

That's it for now, new .gpx coming to the CTR website soon.  I'll post here when it is up.

Keep pedaling,
Stefan

[Woodland]

These are my favorite posts on bikepacking.net. Gets me all giddy, game on!  

Thanks for all your efforts Stefan.

[markphx]

Just an FYI - the area around waterton canyon has just been closed due to the lime gulch forest fire:

http://www.dailycamera.com/news/ci_23501754/lime-gulch-fire-prompts-closure-waterton-canyon

Keeping my fingers crossed the fire doesn't cross the CT. Looks like it's within 2000 or so feet of it...

[Johnny_mtb]

We might not need to bring lights  

http://www.baltimorenewsjournal.com/2013/05/30/june-2013-supermoon-coming-soon/



edit: oops I'm a month early. Still going to be full on July 22ond. Should be good riding if clear!

[Yogi the Barry]

SOLD: MLD Cuben Tarp
Sorry to slide this FS blurb into the thread. I'll keep it short. This is what I used for last year's CTR and thought a fellow CTR'r might be interested in this uber-light shelter option. Good luck everyone. I hope to make it back for CTR 2014.
http://www.bikepacking.net/forum/index.php/topic,5840.msg49026.html#msg49026

[bncrshr77]

Pm Sent

[Johnny_mtb]

According to the CT Facebook page segments 1&2 have reopened!

[Matt]

Rode segments 22 & 23, eastbound on Friday...we had some amazing views of the West Gulch fire. Also, have a new found respect for this race after those 2 segments. Wow! Now I really know what hike-a-bike means. We were not familiar with the area so we ended up ditching our goal of making it to BV. Sure hope these fires settle down before 7/21!

Is the detour around S18,19,20,21 a fast detour?

http://thectr.blogspot.com/2013/06/west-gulch-fire-from-colorado-trail.html

[joeydurango]

Now you really know what hike-a-bike means... until you hit Sargents Mesa. 

Yes, that detour is pretty fast, unless of course you've been riding 18-22 hours a day for days.  Hopefully it will feel a little faster going the other direction...

[Matt]

Now you really know what hike-a-bike means... until you hit Sargents Mesa. 

HaHa ... No need to ride Sargents Mesa twice in less than 30 days huh?

[timroz]

HaHa ... No need to ride Sargents Mesa twice in less than 30 days huh?

Did you just put "ride" and "Sargents Mesa" in the same sentence?

[Matt]

Did you just put "ride" and "Sargents Mesa" in the same sentence?

Rookie!

[Eszter]

Sargents Mesa is haunted.  Just an FYI.

[joeydurango]

I'm pretty sure any forested area in the middle of nowhere is haunted when you're alone in the dark of the night and have been fighting off the sleep monster for days... or at least that's always been my experience.  A herd of cows about gave me a heart attack between Leadville and BV two years ago.  Stumbled upon six or seven huge sets of eyes reflecting my light at around midnight after riding for twenty hours, the last six in the rain - and in the second between first sight and realization of the facts, I almost died of fright.

[THE LONG RANGER]

Gonna try to recon some of the route in race-ready UL kit, beginning on Thur. Looks like Segment 1 + 2, and maybe 4+5? are closed again because of fires. My contingency plan on that is to ride up Deer Creek/Pleasant Park to 285, and take that to where ever (Bailey), and maybe say hello to the Tarryall Detour and snap some photos to share. Depends though on what's open. Plan is to get to Camp Hale by Friday, noon, but with all these trail closures, I'm going to be twiddling my thumbs on HW 24.

I am contemplating doing an ITT from Waterton at the same time the race starts in Durango, glad the Tarryal Pilot car/construction might not affect me. Good time to for the NoBo'ers to gauge a ~6 day finish time!