Had to bail in Buena Vista with Achilles pain that I was not tough enough to fight through this time. It was a disappointing result, but considering how much fun I had out there, I've mostly managed to get the sour taste out of my mouth already.
The toughest part of the decision was how quickly things went south on me. I was feeling good while filtering my last batch of water before exiting the singletrack and riding the wilderness detour to Buena Vista. But when I got back on the bike I noticed a little something different going on with my right ankle. I tried to deny it, block it out, and pedal on in to BV, but it quickly got much worse. I had to dismount twice around the railroad tunnels to try and get some relief, and by the time I finally rolled into town it was in severe pain.
So it was difficult to face those facts. I went ahead and bought my $50 of food for the trip to Silverton, and purchased a better water filter, thinking that if I completed these chores, then my Achilles would get back on the program and I could keep going.
I took an unhealthy amount of ibuprofen, taped it up, and tried to ride out of town twice, but it just wasn't happening.
So I made the call to drop. Maybe I could have fought through it, or maybe not, but having finished the race the year before, perhaps I just didn't have the will to deal with the pain.
So that is the end if the story, but what I actually remember from my 2+ days is the kickass fun I had out there.
It was a very different experience than 2013 when I had a slow start and spent most of my days on the trail solo and alone with my thoughts. This time I rode within a group of about five other guys and we just traded spots depending on who needed to filter water or eat and whatever time it was. It actually felt like a bike race.
So here's a recap of my too-brief time on the trail:
Day 1 - Waterton Canyon to a few miles past Kenosha Pass - 124 miles:
It was a smaller group than usual this year, with quite a few CTR regulars sitting out. Stefan said a few words and we all took off in a big group and chatted away during the six road miles leading to the singletrack. I got a chance to talk with Mark Caminiti and hear some about his Tour Divide run.
Once we hit the singletrack I just tried to climb at whatever speed would allow me to stay on the bike without spiking my heart rate.
Last year I lost my camera on day 2; well, this year I managed to lose it within the first two hours. However, I got lucky when I met Garrett Alexander for the first time and he was kind enough to pick it up for me. Garrett is one in the group that I would try to stick with for the next couple days. I cinched my stem bag tight and tried to refocus on keeping the rest of my gear along for the whole ride this time.
The storms were brewing as I crested mini Stony Pass, but I managed to mostly dodge the rain and lightning for about two hours until it started dumping on me at Goose Creek Campground. Heavy cold rain continued solid for the next two hours turning the road into a muddy mess, but it finally let up just as I reached the pavement at Tarryall Road. I noticed a bike leaning on the bridge guardrail, so I called out under the bridge so see if there was room for me to hide there as well and that's how I met Bryan Klahn for the first time. We shivered and bitched about the rain for a few minutes and then Bryan took off while I ate. But Bryan is another rider I would trade places with until he finally rode away from me out of Leadville.
About five miles from the Stagestop Saloon I ran out of water and bonked about as hard as I ever have in my life. I was numb and shaking when I crawled in, but I went straight for the gatorade cooler, ate an ice cream sandwich and a stack of oreos and recovered enough to go into the restaurant. Kept on eating.... cheeseburger, chips, pizza, and got back on my way at 8:30pm.
I hit Kenosha Pass at 11:15pm and decided to keep going as long as my progress was somewhat productive. Got about five miles, almost to Jefferson Creek Road before I started swerving off the trail and it was time to sleep. Climbed in to the bivy at 12:30am after 124 miles and an 18.5 hour push on day 1.
Day 2 - Sixty Six Miles of Singletrack to Tennessee Pass
I set my alarm for 4:30am, but of course I did not get up right away. Then I heard one rider go by... and then another... and so I pulled myself up and was riding again by 5:30am for the 2000' climb to Georgia Pass.
Enjoyed the climb, settling in to the CTR rhythm... gained the pass and met Aaron Boatman up there. I knew the Breck Epic would join the Colorado Trail at the bottom of the descent so I kept pushing in hopes of staying out of that traffic and I just barely managed to do so. I did get to watch the top 3 Pros blast through
the turnoff on Red's trail so that was cool.... took my one and only picture at that spot... CTR meets Breck Epic:
Weather turned out to be great this day, but I was still hustling to get over Tenmile just in case. I know lots of people hate Tenmile, but living here, I've done this climb or some other close variation tons of times and I guess I've gotten used to it. I just kept thinking about what I wanted to eat @ Copper and that pulled me along the trail.
Large Nachos and ice cream for dinner...... best part of the CTR is the gluttonous food you get to eat. We had a full-on dinner party @ Copper.... myself, Aaron, Bryan, Garrett, Josiah Morgan, and two other riders all ate and pulled out of town together around 5:30pm.
The climb up and over Searle & Kokomo Passes, down to Camp Hale, and back up to Tennessee Pass was possibly the best I felt during the entire race. Just a spectacular feeling when you are riding like that. I even entertained ideas of pushing into oblivion, but I settled for another bivy at Tennessee Pass @ midnight. Another 18.5 hours on the trail.
Day 3 - Tennessee Pass to Quit-town:
Aaron and I had crashed together and we got rolling at 5am, getting into Leadville for a breakfast burrito at 6. Aaron had some blister maintenance to do, but I was still feeling pretty good. No ailments to speak of at all really... I felt confident about keeping this 6-day pace up.
Once again I ran into Bryan and Garrett at the Loaf and Jug and along with Aaron, we all made our ride out of town together about 7am.
Still was making solid time around Twin Lakes where I took my first food break, but was soon pushing again with BV on the mind.
Aaron and I filtered water about 5 miles from Clear Creek Road and he asked me what physical issues I was dealing with.... I responded that I was pleasantly surprised that nothing was really bothering me yet..... but then I got back on the bike and the Achilles started jacking with me immediately. But I've already hashed out those sad facts.
Limped in to BV, made a feeble effort to convince myself to go on, and then I quit.
So that is my CTR 2014 story.... I have a few other themes I may delve into over time..... like how can I solve this Achilles thing? Which direction do I find tougher? How did the psychology of knowing I had already finished before contribute to my decision to quit?
Can I keep doing these bikepack races or is it just too much for my body?
Will I do the CTR again?
Sure would like to try CSTR some day too.... And the Moab Mountain Mashup..... Dixie 200????? Cococino???
Touring these route? Maybe kicking back, enjoying the towns and the associated beer?
I'll try to get down to the bottom of all this before CTR 2015 rolls around.
