Final Pre-Race Thoughts

Tonight I'm relaxing and having a few beers after spending the last three evenings obsessing over gear, how much food to carry, mileage splits, horrific elevation profiles, and how to dodge lighting for a week while riding a couple hundred miles above 12,000 feet during Colorado monsoon season.

I'm nervous about the upcoming challenge, but I'm very excited to get out there and get started. I like my gear-packing system and I feel relieved to have abandoned a silly idea that I might skip resupply in Silverton and try to carry enough food all the way to Buena Vista from the start. That decision has significantly lightened my load.

I know from some prior endurance racing experience that I can push through the first night and into the next evening without sleep if I needed to. With the full moon, I wondered if I might be able to get through Silverton and then continue to push on through the exposed Cataract / Coney segment during the night to reach relative safety before the inevitable electrical storms blow up on Monday afternoon.

But rather than basing this cockeyed plan on mileages and elevation profiles, I finally started digging into hard data from racers that have covered these sections in the last couple CTR's. What I discovered was a stark reality that I better add about 10-15 hours to my estimates for those first 100 miles. So I'm relieved to take that unnecessary pressure off. I'll just carry enough food to get to Silverton and then make my plan for crossing Cataract / Coney once I get there.

So we are heading out for Durango about noon on Friday. I am sharing a one-way rental and a motel with two other racers from the front range. One is a rookie like me, and the other is a multi-year CTR veteran. It will be nice to pick his brain on the ride down.

Even though I was actually in better riding shape last summer, my mindset in good. Although I am competitive and want to go as fast as I reasonably can, racing other people is not really my goal. Finishing is my goal. I can't really remember quitting any competitive event I have ever started, so even though the toughness of the CTR makes that a distinct possibility, I refuse to let that enter my mind right now.

I have no arbitrary time pressure. I've taken off work until August 5th, so barring injury or serious illness, I have enough time to finish this thing. I want to remind myself to have fun and enjoy my time in the wilderness, and to just keep making progress towards Denver. I know there will be some serious low points, but I have to persevere.

Its going to be beautiful to a spiritual level out there. Its going to be the most amazing adventure of my life.

I'll take lots of pictures and check back in on the flipside.

For in-race coverage, go here: http://trackleaders.com/ctr13

CTR Gear List

After several rounds of mock-packing I've finalized my gear list. Hat tip to Toby Gadd since I used his list as a template to develop my own.

Bike:
Yeti SB-66C
Maxxis Ardent 2.4 w/ EXO protection on front
Maxxis Ardent 2.25 w/ EXO protection on back

Luggage:
Cleaveland Mountaineering Bar Sling and Bag (sleep system, water filter, batteries, tp)
Cleaveland Mountaineering Large Seat Bag (clothes)
Revelate Designs Gastank (camera, Honey Stingers, almonds, ipod)
Dakine Apex 1600cu in Hydration Backpack (tools, spare parts, food)
(2) 13L Sea to Summit Ultrasil Nano Drysacks
(1) 8L Sea to Summit Ultrasil Nano Drysack
(2) 10L Sea to Summit Event Compression Drysacks

Sleep System (whole thing is 3.5 pounds):
Sea to Summit Micro II Sleeping Bag (AWESOME! compresses to size of a water bottle, but warm!)
Thermarest Neo-Air X-Lite Inflatable Sleeping Pad
Marmot Alpinist Bivy Sack

Hydration:
100oz bladder
Spare 50oz bladder
MSR Hyperflow Microfilter
30 MSR Aquatabs

Clothing:
Helmet
Gloves
Pearl Izumi X-Alp Enduro Shoes
Short Sleeve Jersey
Bike Shorts
Wool Socks
Watch
Marmot Super Mica Rain Jacket (packed)
Marmot Minimilist Rain Pant cut off below the knee (packed)
Patagonia Synthetic Jacket (packed)
Extra Chamois (packed)
Long Sleeve REI Quickdry Shirt (packed)
Thin Tights (packed)
(2) Extra Sock (packed)
Fat Tire Visor
Warm Gloves
Warm Beanie

Navigation:
Garmin Etrex 20 GPS w/ Toby Gadd CTR track
Colorado Trail Databook
Spot 2 Tracking Beacon
Backup Maps
Cygolite 750 lumen headlamp w/ extra battery for 36 hours of light on low power.

Toolkit and Spare Parts:
Park multitool, chain tool, and other small wrenches
Minipump
Chain lube
Zip Ties
Patch Kit
(2) Tire Boots
(3) Extra Tubes (1 is ultralight)
Derailleur Hanger
Shifter Cable
(2) Brake Pads
Extra Chain and Quicklinks (heavy, but good peace of mind)
Shoe Cleats and Bolts
Duct Tape
Small Rag

Camping and Other:
MSR Pocket Rocket Stove and Fuel Canister (got to have coffee)
Small Pot to heat water
Coffee Cup
Sea to Summit Spork
Sunglasses
Sunscreen
Lip Balm
Toothbrush and Toothpaste
Toilet Paper
Wet Wipes
First Aid Kit w/ insect repellant
Ibuprofen and Alleve
Camera
Ipod
Cell Phone
Device Charger powered by AA Batteries (phone, ipod, lights)
Cash, Drivers License, Credit Cards, Health Insurance Card
Extra Batteries
Small headlamp for camp use
Knife
Lighter and Waterproof Matches

Food (for the trek to Silverton, plus a bit more; approximately 13,000 calories):
Coffee
(10) Honey Stinger Bites
(2) PB&Honey Sandwiches
(2) 8oz Blocks Extra Sharp Cheddar
(2) 5oz Pepperoni Packs
Trisquits
(2) Snickers
(2) Peanut M&Ms
(2) Skittles
(2) Cajun Trail Mix
Salted Almonds
(6) Flour Tortillas
(8) Tuna w/ Olive Oil
(2) Lipton Instant Pasta Packs

Firecracker, Trestle and Peak One

My annual Firecracker 50 was a disaster.

Felt good the first lap. Despite the heaviest, most impassable traffic I ever remember during that lap I still came in at 2:35, just a few minutes slower than last year. That was about what I expected.

I hit my aid-station truck at the ice rink before lap 2 and ate a banana, half a Snickers, took an alleve and a couple caps of Sportlegs.

OK great, heading back up Boreas Pass Road for lap 2... feeling some fatigue but about normal. Not far past the lower Bakers Tank TH and my vision started closing in. A rider passed me and I could hardly see him. And I really got freaked when I heard a car pass by me going downhill and I didn't see it at all. I thought I felt ok, but I was going freakin' blind. I needed to pee anyways so I pulled over and faked a cramp. 

The details are hazy, but I remember thinking that my "race" was over but I just needed to drink and eat and get my shit together so I could finish. Quitting is just not an option. I was bumping into unseen logs and the thought of descending fast singletrack was preposterous, but I just rested and drank and ate and slowly it started coming back.

Dehydration is the only thing I can figure. My confidence was pretty much shot but I got back on the bike and kept riding. I would grab on to someone's wheel and just follow them. It felt better to follow someone. Probably ten times the rider in front would ask me if I wanted a pass, but I would just tell them I was hurting and just trying to finish. Sortof true, but my body felt decent. I just couldn't see.

First Lap = 2:35; 2nd lap = 3:45 for a 6:20 finish. Just horrible and a full 1hour15min slower than last year.

I drank about 10 gatorades and still woke up peeing brown the next morning so I'll chalk it up to a bad day and severe dehydration. 

Friday I met some friends at Winter Park's Trestle Bike Park and crushed downhill all day. Had so much fun! Rode all day and by the end I was clearing the huge jumps. I rented a World Cup DH bike and that's the first time I've ever ridden a bike with 9 inches of travel. Certainly bails you out if you land short.

I was feeling pretty worked when I woke up this morning. I drank some coffee and tried to rally my sore body to meet some friends for a Mt. Guyot circumnavigation ride. General sleepiness won over and I climbed back in the sack until about noon.

Later this afternoon I geared up for a long hike with Max and set out for a bushwack hike to the ninja cairn trail that leads from Frisco to the huge amphitheatre below Peak 1.

Once I got there I was surprised that the weather had totally cleared. And Peak 1 was so close.

So I climbed the south ridge of Peak 1 and summited that mountain for the 9th time. Really great hike considering I never set out for anything that ambitious.

2 weeks from today for the start of the Colorado Trail Race. I won't allow my Firecracker 50 experience to become worrisome. Rather, I look back happily on my stubbornness that allowed me to finish.

Stubbornness will be my greatest asset in the CTR.;

Crestone Needle - 14,197

Had another solid weekend. Pre-rode the Firecracker 50 course on Friday and did a hard effort ride to Vail Village and back where I chopped 27 minutes off my best time ever. Granted, I have a carbon 29-er hardtail I'm using for pavement stuff this year, and last year I was still riding my 7-year old Specialized FSR, but 27  minutes is a lot of time to chop off regardless.

The highlight of the weekend was a climb of Crestone Needle on Saturday though. My buddy Jeb is making a strong push to finish off the last few 14-teeners he needs to complete them all, and I didn't want to miss the chance to climb the Needle with him. I also figured it would be decent HAB practice for the CTR so I didn't mind skipping a ride on Saturday.

We left Summit County Friday evening about 7:30 and got to the trailhead at 11:00pm. I laid out my bivy on the dirt and we set the alarm for 3:30am. After a little snoozing and gear-prep, we were hiking up the trail at 4:15am.

We made excellent time and had reached Upper South Colony Lake by about 5:45, just as the sunrise was starting to light up the Needle:

Broken Hand Pass was looking super-steep, but we kept up a solid pace and got there at 6:45am. I was happy that there was no difficult snow to deal with because I didn't have an axe or crampons. Luckily, it was just steep. Here's Jeb scoping out the tight section at the top:

We stopped and ate for about 15 minutes at the top of the pass, but soon continued on. From Broken Hand Pass @ 12,900', there is a good climber's trail that weaves around and avoids the lower cliffs until you reach the bottom of a large gully @ 13,300'.

From there you just start climbing on the wonderfully solid conglomerate rock. Supposedly the easiest way is to continue up gully #1, then climb over a rock rib into gully #2 for the rest of the way to the summit. I don't remember ever switching gullies, so maybe we just stayed in the first one. We did climb a few sustained class 4 sections, so I'm not sure we took the "easiest" way. But as I said earlier, the rock on Crestone Needle is amazing solid so I was comfortable and having fun the entire time.

Here are a few looks at the terrain on the steep final 900' to the summit:

It was only 1 hour from Broken Hand Pass and we made the summit right at 8am after 3 hours 45 minutes from the trailhead. The weather forecast wasn't great for the day, and it was already looking like something might come together, so we didn't hang out for too long. We just ate some Honey Stingers and decided that we'd get down to Upper South Colony Lake before breaking out lunch.

Total trip was 12.5 miles in 7 hours and 15 minutes. A great day in the Sangre de Christo's.

This was my 28th ranked 14-teener, and leaves just Crestone Peak and Kit Karson left to climb in the Crestone group. I need to figure out a way to combine those.

Bikepacking - Coffee Pot Road into the Flat Tops

Its been a little while without posting, but things are going well with the training. I've gotten in a few 50 mile MTB rides with 6000' or more of climbing and my weight is down to 168. So I've been making some good progress. Less than a month to go before we line up in Durango, so last weekend was a good time to get out with the gear bags and a loaded down bike and go for an overnighter.

I didn't have anyone to watch my dog, so I had to keep the trip into a roughly 24-hr period. I scoured the maps to find a good ride with a long climb to test the legs with the heavy bike. A friend suggested that I look at the Flat Tops over by Dotsero, so I broke out the maps and decided on a trip up Coffee Pot Road.

Coffee Pot Road starts at 6300' and climbs relentlessly to 10,100' before continuing on up through rolling terrain to a high point of 10,700'. I figured this would get me at least 5000' of climbing on day 1 with the bonus of sending me to an amazing area to camp and explore more the next day.

I took my dog Max for a 5.5 mile hike early Saturday morning so he would wear himself out, and then headed over to Dotsero and began my climb up Coffee Pot Road at 12:30pm. I was encouraged that I was able to climb just fine even with the heavy bike and never had to reach into the easiest of my granny gears. I passed through pinon and juniper and up through the aspen and spruce before reaching Deep Creek Overlook after 15 miles, 2.5 hours, and almost 4000' of climbing.

View of Deep Creek 2500' below:

I took in the views, ate a PBJ, and got my stoke on to have the big climb over and to be up top with the rolling terrain like this:

The views were opening up in every direction to the Sawatch, the Elks, and the Southern Flat Tops. There was water everywhere and I was thoroughly enjoying the ride as I rolled in the Crane Park.

I rolled up on Deep Lake after about 28 total miles and a little over 4 hours. I filtered a full bladder of water and watched a group of 20-somethings "fishing" by chunking boulders at fish in the stream inlet. I'm not sure if they had any luck with that method.

Here is Deep Lake:

From there, Coffee Pot Road would start to descend for 10 miles and 1700' to its dead-end at the South Fork of the White River and Budges Resort. The wilderness was getting much deeper and more beautiful, so I started scoping out potential campsites on the way down. I saw several fine ones, but wasn't ready to stop yet so I just kept on going down.

About halfway down you reach Indian Pass Camp at 9750':

You are surrounded on all sides by the Flat Tops Wilderness area and it is stunningly beautiful. Someone already had the best campsite at Indian Pass and I was in the mood to keep exploring so I decided to take Coffee Pot Road all the way to the end.

I had read that a cabin at Budges was $250 a night, so any fleeting thoughts of kicking back in style were quickly dismissed. The terrain had flattened out in the valley and I could tell there had to be great campsites all around. I carried my bike about 100 yards to a line of trees next to Wagonwheel Creek and sure enough:

And for all the times I've donated my leftover firewood, someone had kindly paid it forward to me:

It was about 7pm so I had plenty of time to explore the valley, the South Fork of the White River, and odd random skeletons resting in the woods behind my site:

Any clue what this is? I'm a little rusty on my wilderness skeletons.

I cooked up my favorite backcountry meal, shells and cheese with Tuna, enjoyed a small campfire, and tried to stay awake long enough to watch the rise of the Supermoon. I waited as long as I could, but it was still deep in the trees at 10:00pm and the bivy was calling.

I set my alarm for 4am and slept fantastic all the way. It was chilly enough to freeze the hose on my hydration pack, but by telling myself I better prepare for the CTR, I was out of the bivy, packed, and riding back out of the basin at the slightest hint of light.

I felt awesome. Its rare that I ride that early and it was fun and invigorating to watch the sun gradually brighten the day. I took a detour from Coffee Pot Road on the way out and was blessed to reach the amazing Heart Lake at 7:00am. 

Wow, what a beautiful place:

I took a longer route on the way out ('course I didn't have to start with a 5000' climb,) looping down White Owl Road to the Grizzly Cow Camp 4-wheel drive road. Grizzly Cow Camp was a weathered, crumbling group of 3 old buildings in another amazing valley at the head of a waterfall on Grizzly Creek.

Grizzly Jeep Road eventually dumped back into Coffee Pot Road for the final 20 miles back down to the truck. The 15-mile climb that took 2.5 hours turned into a 33 minute descent - and despite the gravel road, 4000' descents are just fun, I don't care who you are!

So I was back to the truck at 11:00am. Day 2 was 42 miles, so I covered 80 miles in less than 24 hours. Granted, there was zero singletrack, but my goal was really just to get in some good climbing and to lay down some miles.

I'll be back here to explore more and I highly recommend it to anyone. I might not climb from Dotsero next time, but I barely scratched the surface of the roads and trails up top and they beg to be explored. 

Weekend Wrap - June 7-9 2013

Curt Gowdy & the Blair Witch

The big loops are STILL snowed-in around Summit County. What to do, what to do, let's go to Wyoming!

We rolled into Curt Gowdy State Park on Friday afternoon and somehow found the last available camping spot in Federal Bay. Unbeknownst to us, there was a Wyoming Parks Festival during the weekend so it was waaaaaaaay more crowded than expected.

Still we got a good spot, made dinner, and prepared for a psychedelic night right.

1am and the time was right, We had a short road right out of the campsite and were soon onto the Stone Temple Loop. Using excellent judgement, we left the intermediate Stone Temple Loop for a right on the advanced trail Ignoramus, to be followed by an other right on the expert 2% trail. All that is normally fine and dandy, but this was 1:30am after thorough pre-game festivities. All's well that end's well, and it was a tremendously fun ride.

Next day after breakfast we reversed our Stone Temple loop from a few hours before, and then took Pinball down to Crow Creek and explored the hidden waterfall at trail's end. Back out on Crows Creek to Mo' Rocka and then finished with the Stone Temple, Ignoramius loop from the night before. Good times, great trails, but we need to go back mid-week when its less crowded and get a slightly better camping spot.

On Sunday I slept late to make up, but got out in the afternoon for my longest Summit County ride of the season. Rode out from the house and took the Peak's Trail to the Gold Hill section of the Colorado Trail. Up and over Gold Hill and into a Blair Witch Loop with a final finish on the Ewok Flume and back to the house.

I've been doing more "fun" riding than actual training, but so be it. I'm sure I'll pay for this approach during the CTR, but I have plenty of time to finish, and as I explained in an earlier post, that is my only goal.

I still have 40 days to go. That's plenty of time, right???

Here's a sweet trail at Curt Gowdy that I happily hiked down:

40 miles of Buffalo Creek

Work and weather has made the long ride elusive, but I finally got one done last Sunday. This was my first ride at Buffalo Creek proper, and my first 5000'+ climbing effort on the new SB-66C.

All things considered, it went fairly well.

I've heard amazing things about Buffalo Creek. I mean, its an IMBA epic, and the front ranger accolades run deep. I enjoyed the myriad loops and the ability to link big mileage, but the trail surface SUCKS! Loose, gravelly sand its like riding in a giant litter box. Good for training which was what I needed, but the the zero-technical, loose, energy-sucking surface was a big downer on the fun factor.

I know there is the hyper-technical, free-ride, Blackjack Trail, but I could never find it. My goal was mileage and vert and I got that so it was a success. But absent training for a looming 500 mile trail race, I doubt I'd go back just to ride for fun. If the high country near home is still under snow, I guess I'd prefer to drive on a bit  longer to ride Fruita where you can still get big miles, but with a bit more tech to keep the brain engaged.

Here's my GPS profile:
40 Miles of Buff Creek

Gonna try my first overnighter of the season this weekend with a fully-loaded bike. Still lots of snow, so not sure where to go, but I'll think of something.