CTR 2015 Race Discussion

[nanath]

Huge congratulations, Mark!  What a fantastic accomplishment.  And many thanks for giving me a phrase I'll use on the trail from now on:  "I'm living the weather layer."  Brilliant! 

[nepbug]

Wait, didn't Mark bail on the front side double for the ctr?  I think he said he was going to do it on the back side

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[fotooutdoors]

Double as in two triple crowns, not double as in yo-yo. You are correct as to that, however.

Crazy persevere on Mark's part. He rides at my sort of pace, so he is out there longer than the leaders; harder in some ways. Not to trash the leaders' performances...those are hugely impressive and difficult too, just in a way I can't relate to.

[dream4est]

Triple double complete
I am stuck at waterton
Need a ride To evergreen
Too messed up to ride
Edit - danwiz is picking me up
Thanks bikepacking ppl!!
Mark
720-635-7429

[Majcolo]

Congrats Mark. Incredible effort.

[Homegrown_CTR]

Lots of ghosts out there...did those people quit, or not officially?

[danwiz]

Mark Caminiti is done.sometime last night he arrived at Waterton.  Stayed the night out there trying to get a ride home....he was really out of it.  his stories of pressing on through segments 3-2-1 were something else.  He made it and is quite relieved to be home.  Time for a nap....Congratulations man!!!

[Roland Sturm]

Having lunch at the jarosa Mesa radio tower ( and therefore Internet). Todd k just came the opposite way looking good after being followed by the rain for 2 days.I escaped down to lake city where the ghosts of some CTR Starters and Alferd Packer' victims linger. Good to get dry and Lake city is nice. But the climb back to the route was an additional 3000 feet bonus climb. Now I've done both of the long slumgullion pass climbs!

[Adam Alphabet]

What a truly incredible experience. I've had a couple days to relax and eat before getting on here. 11 lbs lighter after a week of riding and more sleep the first night off the trail than I had total from Durango to Waterton. It was great; difficult, frustrating at times but the type of physical and mental challenge I'd been seeking for a long time.

There were so many highs and lows. The best part was meeting and riding with people I'd only known on here via avatar names or blue and pink dots watching other events over the years. Very cool to hang out and suffer alongside such a good group of like minded folk. Robert and Alice are my heroes. They're truly the best.

This route is unrelenting and preparing for it I knew it would be as I'd toured it in 2012, skipping the shitty parts; sergeants, tank 7. A couple personal notes from my journey:

*I brought big time lights as I'd wanted to ride a bunch at night.
While the number of batteries I carried were heavy it was so fun riding through sunset, all through the night and into the next day. Time didn't exist on my ride and I really enjoyed that part of it. There is no feeling like being the first and only person on a pass or summit at sunrise after grinding all night.

*I also wanted to experiment with sleep deprivation a bit to see how my mind and body would hold up. It was interesting and kind of fun but after repeated days it started to take its toll. Fun to mess around with though seeing and hearing things and staying in control. I would just enjoy the ride and sounds and sights even when I knew they were all in my mind. I could see why people don't like it. Bad trips would be spooky. 'Sleep is the cousin if death'

*As much as I'd been bikepacking and touring over the last number of years it still rings true for me that every trip, every route and every set up is a little different. I really wanted to hammer the descents when I could. I wanted a light enough bike that I could shred any trail. The only caveat to that was a bit too heavy of a pack at the start with all the food which lead to brutal ass pain and sores. I'll figure it out. But it was really fun to let it rip on the descents and not feel held back by my bike especially on the second half of the route once the food weight had dwindled to a manageable weight. I'm a mountain biker first, then a bikepacker/tourist and racer... not so much anymore.

*Being a myog person I love experimenting with new gear and new ideas on trips and there were a few things I made and wanted to try especially for this trip. I'd used many items before but not in this combination and was really happy with how things worked out. Constantly tinkering and evolving I've got some cool ideas for next years 300 in April.

*Tarrayall. The paved part sucked as I had two rednecks shoot moves at me in their penis extensions, I mean big jacked up picks up trucks. One swerved into the shoulder onto the dirt right after he passed me, the other buzzed me pretty close. Nothing new to me just not cool. And all the talk of 285 being dangerous. The second half on the dirt through the burn zone was one of the coolest dirt road sections I've ever bike toured. Such a stark and unique landscape I so badly just wanted to pull over and camp for the night. It was spectacular. I know people don't enjoy this section but I thought it was awesome.

Re: Jeanie and Martin. I usually stay out of this stuff because it's not my business but I had the privilege of hanging out with them for a day and a half after my ride here at Andy's place. We shared stories from our rides, it was fun to vent and share with people who had just endured what I had. I found it a little upsetting to read the, what I thought to be rather accusational posts commenting on their rides. This is a couple of super fit, world class, multi sport athletes who have competed at the top of their respective disciplines for years. On another level than most bikepackers. New to bikepacking, not at all new to mountain biking or suffering they came over to the US for a vacation ride, to experience something new, something so pure and raw as the CTR. They each had their own kit, they each full well understood and respected the rules laid out before them and rode accordingly.

It seemed to me that because they were in the 5 day range and near a record that some community members jumped on them without knowing a single fact about their ride, which may or may not have been based on one single observation. This, from what I generally view to be such a welcoming and open group was a little disheartening to read. They didn't come here for records or glory, they didn't care about that in the slightest, they came here to fast tour a challenging route, experience Colorado and the American West and enjoy their time meeting new people and taking on a new type of challenge. Ask them of their stories and their experiences, they were radiating when they told them. They ran short of food due to poor resupply planning but knew how to ration and endure as it hadn't been the first time either of them ran short of food in their racing careers. They stopped and chatted with people all along the route, they found a family's dog that had been missing for days, they enjoyed restaurant and town stops, they flew literally half way around the world and had the time of their life.
This is still such a niche sport but we should be welcoming of those from other disciplines and perhaps not be so quick to judge when the facts of their rides are not fully known. If they were in the 8 day range no one would've said anything. Where's the difference?  I'm not going to comment further on this as I have nothing more to add I just wanted to add some insight.

Thank you to Stephan and the CT foundation for all your hard work. Thank you to all I shared time with on this ride, you are the best. A truly memorable experience. One that I can hopefully replicate someday in the future. Now where's that tub of ice cream!?

Adam.

[Rorr]

Wow Adam I didn't know u were so articulate! Loved having someone to share the pain of Sargents Mesa with, good wholesome fun. BTW u r one hell of a downhiller dude!

[Mick80234]

Apart from breaking my derailleur two hours into the race and having to coast back to Durango for a repair, I had a great race. It seems like I missed the storms and was only rained on a bit in Buena Vista.

I wanted to give a shout out to Devin at Boneshaker Cycles. I had developed a wobbly rear wheel and so dropped in after hours to get it taken care of before leaving town.

Boneshaker Cycles
310 E Main St
Buena Vista, CO 81211
719-966-5075

You do not have to even take a detour as the race goes right past his shop. Sounds like Buena Vista is trying to create more mountain bike trails.

I never seemed to get my caloric intake right. I was low on energy for many days and only started to get it sorted out by Leadville.

My worst section was immediately after Sargents Mesa, going straight up a hill that must have been made by a motor cycle and then washed out.
Ten mile was also bad. I was prepared for the climb, but was not expecting the barren landscape on the decent into Breckenridge.

I stopped and chatted to many of the through hikers to find out how many days they had been on the trail etc and to find out if anyone was just ahead of me. Everyone was friendly.

Great race and thanks to everyone who has shared on this forum.

"No negative thoughts EVER". - Billy Rice

[Adam Alphabet]

Thanks Robert. It would've been a very tough go through Sargeants solo. Thanks for picking me up out of the funk. 
Mick I was right behind you when your derailleur went. Glad you got sorted and back out on the route. Good job!

[Stefan_G]

Thanks for all the posts and stories so far everyone.  Check the results thread (http://www.bikepacking.net/forum/ultra-racing/ctr-2015-results/) and correct or add your time if necessary.  Also, feel free to post your trip reports and/or photo album links there, and I will link them to your name on the CTR results page like I have in years past.

[Stefan_G]

I wanted to share another email I got with respect to CTR riders.  A good one this time!  Mad Props to Martin and Jeannie. 

Hi Stefan,
I wanted to tell you about a great story involving two of your bike riders in the 550 mile race from Durango to Denver.

My 5 year old Bernese Mtn. Dog "Maisy" was spooked by I don't know what on the evening of Sunday the 26th of July on Tennessee pass at the entrance to Ski Cooper.
I spent three nights up there looking for her in the evening after work and in the morning when I awoke with a wonderful woman Ruth and Maisy's brother Mosley and sister Callie (2 Berner's).

On Wednesday the 29th we headed across the highway to search the Colorado Trail and adjoining structures.
We spent some time talking to people in the trail head parking lot.  and joining Fellow searchers Jody, Jason and Enzo the crazy big Bernese.
Two of the wonderful people we met there were Martin and Jeannie Dreyer who were riding in your race. 
They stopped for a few minutes to chat as a break to bicycling for hours on end. 
I told them about Maisy.
Martin took my phone number and said he would contact us if he saw our dog.

We spent probably another 20 minutes gathering our options and deciding who might go which direction.
Just as we were about to depart, Martin came racing back into the parking lot and said "we've seen your dog".
Jeannie was right behind and offered a direction to start looking from where they saw her.  Maisy ran away from them on the trail as she was afraid and alone.
We ran the mile and 1/2 to where Martin dropped my vest to show us where they saw her on their way along the Colorado Trail.

We searched till dark and finally as we were about to call it a night.  Maisy came tearing through the grass and we had a joyous reunion as great as I can ever remember.
She was quite hungry, very grateful for being found, sorry for taking off and we were so glad to have found her.

Martin and Jeannie sacrificed time and distance in order to help unite us with our great friend Maisy.  Heroes to myself and my family... 

I heard that you had some unfortunate interactions between riders and hikers in this years event. 
I just wanted you to know that some of your riders did marvelous things for hikers and dog lovers. 

[joeydurango]

That's awesome.  Bicycle karma!

[dream4est]

Way to go John F.
Career triple crown
In first 3 grand depart attempts

Edit :
John and Jens McAller also pulled off the azt750 earlier this year. A very hard double, which other than the triple crown challenge finishers (now 8 racers after Ctr ) has only been done by one other person outside a triple. So a very rare feat congrats to both racers.
Edit 2:
Also noticed Aaron Denberg pulled off the double. Congrats to AD as well a fast double that would have been even faster had Aaron been able to keep up his amazing pace he had going in the 750

[Majcolo]

Thanks for sharing Stefan, that's a great story.

[SlowRide]

Way to go John F.
Career triple crown
In first 3 grand depart attempts

Edit :
John and Jens McAller also pulled off the azt750 earlier this year. A very hard double, which other than the triple crown challenge finishers (now 8 racers after Ctr ) has only been done by one other person outside a triple. So a very rare feat congrats to both racers.

Thanks Mark! Great job on your double-triple!!

A big thanks to Stefan for putting together an excellent race, it was nice to meet you at the start.

Joeydurango: always a pleasure to see you, great to get to talk to you at the shop the day before the race.. and then nice to get to say a quick hello out of nowhere when you came past hiking with your friends on the trail!

Addy Marx and Nick: great to get to ride(well....push) with you up the San Juans before I eventually got dropped. You guys are some strong doods!

Mick: Really nice to play leapfrog with you for a couple days. I don't think I'll ever forget you bouncing up and down on your bike as you plowed through those rock strewn fields in the high country, some really nice bike handling there.

recover well everybody....

Addy Marx and Nick in the San Juans:

[nanath]

Fantastic photo!  It should be shown to anyone who contemplates taking on the CTR.  And to anyone who wonders why it's such a tough race! 

[Adam Alphabet]

Congratulations on your career triple John! Huge accomplishment. It was super fun riding with you the first day. Seems like such a distant memory, I think that's the short term memory trying to forget the hardship! 

Rest up dude. Until next time.
Adam.