CTR 2015 Race Discussion

[Platform Power]

Congrats Jesse !! mind blowing....especially considering all the other races Jesse has been crushing. Mark's ethic is remarkable 

[lotomojo]

I'm camped out at the finish parking lot awaiting buddy Alex Lussier, rookie phenom, in a couple hours.  Will try to post a couple photos.

[danwiz]

I'm camped out at the finish parking lot awaiting buddy Alex Lussier, rookie phenom, in a couple hours.  Will try to post a couple photos.

sweet...i think im gonna head down there to catch JP coming in and and hopefully some others.....

[joeydurango]

Oh no!  Robert Maye took the HWY 285 detour instead of Tarryall.  Hope everything is okay, he's in Bailey now... that would be a major bummer to miss the actual detour by accident so close to the finish. 

[tyno]

I scratched today at highway 50 near Salida. Achilles' tendons could not take all the HAB. I had some other issues too but that one took me out. I'm not at all disappointed and am actually feeling pretty good considering what I went through for a few days. I could barely eat without puking. I spent the better part of days 2-4 seriously bonked. Segment 23 was especially brutal. I could barely push my bike up some of the hills. I finally just sat down for a long time and ate a little at a time then took a nap. That got me over Coney and all the way to Los Pinos pass. Today was the first time I could eat any significant amount but I was still not getting enough calories. On top of that I've developed a seriously sore throat so now I don't want to swallow. I feel lucky to have made it through Sargents Mesa and Monarch today but the HAB just finished off my Achilles. Last time I had this issue it took six months to recover and I just can't see any sense in continuing and making it even worse. The HAB is bad enough without the pain. I wasn't really committed to "racing" anyway so I don't mind dropping out. I may come back next summer and just finish the second half so I will have seen it all.

I will say that I was disappointed in the actual trail itself. I knew there would be lots of HAB but I assumed it would be worth it. Yes there were some amazing views etc but the riding was not worth all the effort. I kept waiting for there to be stretches of just riding on decent trail but there wasn't much, at least not for very far.  At times having a bike on the trail seemed as silly as wearing swim fins in sand dunes.

The brand new bag for my Sawyer water filter sprung a leak and I was already suspicious that the msr water tabs I used the first day might have started my stomach issues so that kind of sucked. My spot quit on day 3 too. Never had an issue with it before. 

My Salsa Horsethief was awesome. It allowed me to ride up stuff I should have walked but didn't because I was trying to save my tendons. It gave me pleasure to see the grass trampled from others who had walked even though I was grinding out only 1.8 mph in my 26x42 granny. The Horsethief was amazing on the rocky rooty downhills even loaded for bikepacking. I can't imagine a bike better suited to these rough trails.

Overall I'll chalk this one up to experience and move on but I'll say that I'm not too interested in repeating most of the trail I completed. I am amazed at the guys who crush this course. Both for their fitness and ability but also the willingness to go ride a trail that really isn't fit for mountain bikes.

Chris, I wouldn't blame the water, you sound like you had exactly whatever I started with.

I've also just scratched at Salida. Too sick, and it really only hit me how feeble I was when I was on the mtb tracks after hwy 50. Although I could still bomb the downhills, as soon as the two went even slightly up, I was a broken man.

I'm disappointed, but really loved the part of the trail that I rode, and am sitting here in Salida working out how to get back to Denver, and having to remind myself that it won't be on the trail. :-(

Much respect to all who've finished, and those that do. I may be back...

[Cadence Lee]

If you noticed my Spot hasn't moved in awhile... it's because I dropped out at Clear Creek Res, just after BV. My shifter blew up (as did my Dynamo hub/light setup).  I could've ridden back to BV or converted it to a SS and biked on to Leadville, but... I didn't WANT to do either of those things. Instead, I found a nice cool shady spot and laid down.  It felt good. I felt good. I felt happy with what I accomplished and felt good about my experience thus far.  I knew I COULD finish if I wanted to. I've ridden most all of the trail from this point to Denver.  But when I considered what I stood to gain/lose by pushing forward, it didn't make sense.  I wasnt breaking a record and wouldn't be proving anything to anybody by pushing forward.  What an amazing experience. What an exciting adventure!!! Thank you for cheering me on!!!  

[Danno]

mad props to all of you just for making the attempt.

[mtbcast]

‪#‎ColoradoTrailRace15‬ - John Fairbairn called in from Buena Vista!

http://mtbcast.com/site2/category/ctr15/

[Roland Sturm]

My spot hasn't moved in a while either and still shows me on top of Mt Shavano, but only because it ran out of power. I dropped to Salida to resupply, including batteries,  nurse  my road  rashes.and get back on the trail tomorrow. From now, progress should be a bit faster as the additional part of this new ct(r?) variant is over: if you cross a trail to a 14er, first take it up, then continue. I actually hadn't planned that, was a decision on day 3. But now that the regular ctr record has been pushed beyond what most of us thought possible (I saw Jesse maybe 20 mins after I came down from Elbert), there is a new alternative route for you to set a record.

[lotomojo]

At the finish around 1pm today with (L to R) Alex Lussier, Sam (Papa Murphy) and Sam Koerber done with CO Trail Race. JayP came by a couple hours later.

[bigportions]

After I turned around after Los Pinos Pass, I enjoyed seeing all the riders coming the other way. Most seemed to be enjoying the dirt road and lower elevation (a lot said they really suffered up high, especially getting/keeping calories down). While chatting with JayP, Jeannie and Martin rolled up. They seemed to be sharing gear and food. Interestingly, they ate the last of their food (!!) right there and said that they were going to resupply from Apple since they ran out of food so far before BV. So yes, Jeannie is really flying but under a different strategy than the rest.

I saw Jay and Alex sharing a bivy on the high point before descent into Buena Vista. And while I know that they each brought there own pouch, they were rubbing each other down with baby wipes before they got in

[cjdunn]

I saw Jay and Alex sharing a bivy on the high point before descent into Buena Vista. And while I know that they each brought there own pouch, they were rubbing each other down with baby wipes before they got in

That's creepy!  Great job on your finish. I want to hear your story. I was there just minutes after you finished but couldn't find you.

Joey,

The trail definitely goes through some amazing country and is challenging. My favorite part was Bolam to Molas. That also happened to be when I was still feeling good. My second favorite section was Coney. It was beautiful and mostly rideable. I'm sure I would have enjoyed more had I not been sick and bonked half the time and dreading the HAB killing my Achilles' tendons. I still had almost half the food I started with when I dropped out on day five. That means I was only getting about 2000 calories per day.

Tony,  I think you are right about being sick. I've never had those kinds of problems. My tonsils are all swollen and hurting too. The second night I could hardly breathe just like you described.

I'm at home now with my ankles wrapped trying to get the swelling down. They don't hurt much now but I definitely did some damage and am glad I dropped out when I did.

[nepbug]

I'm back home now and getting ready to wash up and take a nap, both are needed badly.

Yesterday morning, I decided I would push straight from Copper to the finish.  It worked out great for me as I felt good for the entire Tarryall detour and could really hammer.  Tarryall Pat had his reservations on whether I could make it through before sunrise, but didn't dismiss it completely, and I arrived back at the CT at 4:40 a.m., 6h 40m after leaving the Stagestop.

Apparently Brad and Kurt didn't care for me passing them in the night, and they caught up with me as I was eating, purifying water and generally taking a siesta at the South Platte.  They promptly attacked up the climb.  I scrambled and packed up my stuff and gave chase.  I eventually made my way ahead of them, but then I was running scared the entire segment.  So, I never figured I would be at the end of a 560+ mile race (and about 145 miles into my current stretch) and find myself in an XC race/TT, but we were in a "race", so all's fair, you want it, fight for it.  It definitely made the end a bit more interesting, hats off to Brad and Kurt, you guys were flying up the climb.

I'm really happy with my 6d 7h 50m finishing time considering my stomach wasn't cooperating and I took 2 full days to reach Carson Saddle (10-ish day pace?).  Thanks to Jens and Mike for getting me out of that funk at Carson Saddle by simply inviting me to join you for a campfire, such a moral booster.  It was fun moving up through the field though, you constantly get to talk to new people.

-Nick

Here's a few shots from my week:

[joeydurango]

Dang, Chris, those ankles!  No bueno - I don't think I'd like HAB much either in that condition.

Nice shots, Nick!  In 2013 I took a cool shot of a marmot sitting atop that pile of rocks you leaned your bike on at Searle Pass:

[danwiz]

Dang, Chris, those ankles!  No bueno - I don't think I'd like HAB much either in that condition.

Nice shots, Nick!  In 2013 I took a cool shot of a marmot sitting atop that pile of rocks you leaned your bike on at Searle Pass:

that is just PERFECT Joey......great shot!!!

[joeydurango]

Thanks! 

[danwiz]

Went out on segment 1 today....there was lots of traffic.  in a good way.  lots of people backpacking, riding bikes, and bikepacking.  I crossed paths with Nick Patzer, Brad Kee, and Kurt Ireland.  Everybody was perfectly behaved on the trail.  given all the traffic.  some people out there for 5 days, 3 weeks, and up to 40 days to finish it. 

These guys finished in 6 days, 9 or 10 hours....+/-
Nick Patzer- super focused on getting this done.
Brad Kee-heading up the final and tough switchbacks.  he had a big smile on his face!
Kurt Ireland- he was all charged up!  could've talked to him for an hour.  he was having a blast out there.  he and his stumpy marathon just kept pluggin along.

Congrats guys!  Congrats!

[stagestop]

WOW  My hat is is off to nick making it from stagestop to finish in less than 7.  Beers on me iron man. This year has taught me to not doubt the will of all of you.  And what about that Alice on a SS in the top 20?  WOW  Been a good year so far.  Great to see you all.  Jessie you owe me a visit, hardly had time to say beep beep road runner.    Jefe you were less and 5 miles from me when you rested.  FYI  I was waiting till midnight.

All who finished YAHOOOOOOOO

All on the road Not long now keep the guts and see you soon.

Pat

[Cadence Lee]

Alice Drobna did it!!!  First womans triple crown!!!! Amazing!!!! Strong work!!!!

[schillingsworth]

Huge hat tip to Alice, first female to finish the Triple Crown Challenge!! SS to boot. The bar has been set!! Congrats.