2011 Colorado Trail Race: Tracking and watching

The time has come!  After months of training and gear testing, the time to tackle this nearly 500 mile 60,000 ft of climbing route from Denver to Durango has come....again!  This past week leading up to the event has me pacing a worn out line in the living room carpet.  Personally, I feel I am 100% ready to handle this beast.  I have confidence in my equipment and my race plan.  This is a race where it is almost better to be the tortoise rather than the hare.  Seriously.  You won't win the race on the first day....but you can loose it.

Unsure what this Colorado Trail Race is all about?  It very well might be the hardest mountain bike event you have never heard of.  Some details for ya:  Well, each rider is self-supported.  Each rider must carry all needed equipment to get from Denver to Durango.  Riders can only resupply (food, etc) at pass-thru towns....ie: pick up more food at grocery stores or gas stations in towns like Leadville or Buena Vista.  There is NO outside pre-arranged support!  Riders are also self-navigating.  Sorry, there are no course markings here...no arrows....no course tape.  Most riders get from start to finish either on memory or GPS.  Me, I am going on a little of both.

While us racers are out suffering, you folks at home can follow along in great detail!  Almost all riders will wear a SPOT tracking device, so you can follow in real-time.  Also, there will be non-required call-ins to MTBCast.  Riders will call a specific phone line and provide audio updates....which are then uploaded to the web.  Finally, there is the web forum.  Bikepacking.net will have a forum thread rolling during the event for anything and everything to be discussed.  Below are the links!

CTR LIVE Tracker Leaderboard
Jeff Kerkove LIVE Tracker page
MTBCAST Call-ins and Coverage
Bikepacking.net Forum with real-time discussion of the race
CTR event webpage

Race starts on Monday, August 1 at 6:30 AM!  Tune in!

Jeff Kerkove said at 9:28 AM :: ::

2011 Colorado Trail Race bike

Received the last piece of my 2011 CTR race kit from Eric up at Revelate Designs in AK. The new frame bag fits like a glove!  Went out for an easy 2 hour spin in Ft. Collins wearing and carrying everything I plan to leave Denver heading to Durango with. Bike is dialed and ready to see action!

Jeff Kerkove said at 12:44 PM :: ::

Friday at altitude

The taper for CTR has begun. Ride are short and easy. Most of the rides are 1 hour....with a few 3-4 hour easy efforts also put in to keep the body reminded it will be riding non-stop for a few days starting Aug 1. To beat the weekend crowds and to beat the closure of Mt Evans Rd due to the hill climb race on Saturday, Sonya and I headed up to Mt. Evans to do an easy 3-4 hour ride at altitude. The plan was to park about 20 miles from the summit then pedal in HR zones 1 and 2 all the way to the top. On the mtb with the pretty easy gearing ration on the SRAM XX, this is not that hard to do.

Done paying the $3 fee, now it is just over 14 miles to the top of Mt. Evans.

Not after too much pedaling, treeline is well below us.

Riding at about 13,000 ft.

Sonya riding her own pace for the day.

One of the many switchbacks. Took 2 different photos and merged them together in Photoshop to get this perspective.

Less than 1/2 mile to the summit.

Sonya poses at the summit of Mt. Evans. Elevation is roughly 14,130 ft.

Fresh water bottles thanks to the folks over at FRS.

A slight uphill on the way back down to the Ergon van. Descending at nearly 30 mph at this elevation equals a windchill in the 40Fs.

Elevation and HR data posted on STRAVA.

All photos for the day that were taken with the EPIC cam are posted here.

Jeff Kerkove said at 9:46 AM :: ::

The day after the B68 Marathon, CTR training

The last bigger effort for the 2011 Colorado Trail Race was the day after the B68 Marathon.  Saturday was a 6 hour race day.  Sunday was a 5 hour CTR-mode day.  For once, actually had a good group of riders for the day which included the Crack Heads, JD, and SL.  Rarely do you get a group for these types of rides.  The route was a mix of everything: dirt roads, hike-a-bikes, and primo CO singletrack.  As always, the pictures tell the story.

The group rolls out of Breckenridge.


Let the riding/pushing up to Georgia Pass begin!


Sometimes the bicycle is better. Here, some motos are stuck in the mud. We just walk on by.

The final push up to nearly 12,000 ft.

Good 'ole Georgia Pass.


Heading from Georgia Pass over to the Colorado Trail.


The Colorado Trail.


More Colorado trail.


Even more Colorado Trail.


Seriously, more Colorado Trail.

The good stuff!

Now, the 2 week taper down to Aug. 1 begins. All the BIG training rides are done. Now to keep the system sharp and prep the gear.

Jeff Kerkove said at 3:44 PM :: ::

Race Report: B68 Marathon

It was a great day in Breckenridge for the B68 Marathon.  Using loops 2 and 3 of the three loop Breckenridge 100, the B68 is a good solid race effort without digging a huge fatigue hole.  I have done this event the last 3 years.  This year is year number 4.  In previous years I have won the overall and hit the podium.  I have this race and the pacing pretty much dialed.  This year proved to be the true test with a stacked 'Pro' field.

The field rolled out of Breckenridge at 10 AM.  The pace was slow and chatty.  My legs felt good, so after about 10 minutes of soft pedaling with the group I went to the front and had the group running single file up Boreas Pass Rd.  I wanted the hole shot to the singletrack....and I got it.  Once on the trail, I rode my pace.  This race is long and hard, and I was going to start chill and pick up the pace.  After a few minutes in the single track I was over taken by 2 Honey Stinger - Trek riders.  They would ride off the front and I would not see them again.  They would also go 1 and 2 for the day.

I soon found myself with a Crested Butte rider and Len Zani of Honey Stinger - Trek.  We would all basically ride within sight of each other to the Little French climb along with a few other riders in our race.  Here I would get past Len and start chasing in 4th place.  On the flume trail after Little French is when disastater struck.  I was flying through this slightly downhill tight singletrack when I hit my pedal on something.  By the time I realized what happened I was flying through the air on my back with my bike doing circles over my head.  I landed about 20 feet down the mountain......my bike about another 40 feet up the mountain.  I lost my sunglasses...never found them.  My seat on my bike was pointed up and down instead of level.  Lucky me, nothing broke on the bike.  As for me, I got a bruise on my arm and my ego.  Len came by and stopped.  He asked if I knew where I was and what his name was.  I was perfectly alert.  Once he saw I was OK he pushed on.


Later on the Colorado Trail I would catch Len and pass him.  I would ride the rest of Loop 2 by myself catching 100 mile racers and searching for the other 6 riders in front of me.

I came in from Loop 2 in 7th place in the Pro Men's 68 mile race.  Heading out on Loop 3 and the final 30+ miles of the marathon, I knew this is where i needed to start picking off riders.  I grabbed fresh bottles and nutrition.....and began my quest.  Loop 3 starts with a big climb up to Boreas Pass via a rutted jeep road.  It was here that I caught Derek, a RMR Team rider, on the jeep road climb.  We rode together for a bit....then he dropped me once on Boreas Pass Rd proper.  He got to the summit and the aid station before I.  He stopped for aide.....I kept going.  I would not see him the rest of the day as I started the Gold Dust Trail.

Climbing up Boreas Pass Rd on the way to Como, CO. Burning matches.

I knew I had other riders in front of me.  Just had no idea how close they were.  I pushed through the Gold Dust Trail.  Just prior to the end of the trail I caught the 5th place rider, Rob Sousa of the Pro Cycling MTB Team.  He was riding well.  We hooked up to ride Boreas Pass Rd back to Breckenridge.  I pulled....then he pulled.  He actually dropped me at one point, but I kept my pace.  Soon enough, I caught him back.....then gapped him.  I soon found myself riding up Boreas Pass Rd solo.

Over the top, I started the last 8 miles downhill to Breckenridge and the finish.  Pushing hard to keep Rob behind me and hoping to catch any other Pro B68 riders.  I would not catch any other Pro B68 riders going back to the finish line.

In the end, I was 5th overall in the Pro Men's field. My time was just over 6 hours for the nearly 70 miles. GPS and data can be seen here on Strava.

Jeff Kerkove said at 8:23 AM :: ::

Colorado Trail Race training: Beastly!

The training for the Colorado Trail Race (CTR) is some of the best riding I have ever been able to do.  It really isn't even training....or doesn't feel like it.  No intervals....no HR data.  These rides tend to be more 'adventure rides' than anything.  This weekend was a 2 day 1 night ride to test out all the gear....including the sleeping gear.

On Wednesday of last week I grabbed all the area maps and pulled up TOPO! on the computer. The plan was to map out 2 days worth of 6-8 hour rides that included some hike-a-bike and traversing terrain from 9,000-14,000 ft. I drew up a hefty route....about 120 miles round trip. In CTR terms, this is a good 2 day training ride. About 70 miles a day....nothing crazy and nothing that will blow your system. Well, the funny thing about maps is they don't show you what the trail surface is like. You can get an idea of elevation gain and steepness....but you get no idea about how smooth or rough a trail is. Well, the route turn out to be what Sonya and I later termed, "Beastly."

Below is the route in pictures. We ended up riding a total of 14 hours over 2 days. We only covered about 70-75 miles, and climbed nearly 12,000 ft. There was a ton of hike-a-bike....most of it tougher than anything we will see in the week long CTR starting on Aug 1. Photos below are from my camera during the weekend.


Starting the weekend on the Colorado Trail near Hwy 50.


The balancing act of trying to carry 50lbs of gear across a bowing beam of wood.

The beginning of what would be a nearly 5 hour hike-a-bike section up to almost 14,000 ft.


Still pushing, but with rain gear. Warm summer day and monsoonal flow equals rain showers.  Rain gear would only be needed for a few hours.

Above treeline....rain finally stopped.  It was good to be pedaling again!


While it looked good on paper, this climb was a beast!  This one photo sums up the entire route.  If you look closely, you'll see Sonya pushing her bike up the road  in the lower left-hand corner of the photo.

It took nearly 5 hours to get up to 13,000 ft......near the base of the 14er known as Mt. Antero....because of the lengthy hike-a-bikes. It was windy and cold.  Sonya scrambles through her Ergon pack from some arm warmers.

This is the descent off the back side. Insane!  Also one of America's most dangerous roads.  Check it!


Back below treeline and getting some fresh cold water in the Ergon pack before getting to the high point for the night.

So much for dry feet!


Heading up to the Alpine Tunnel at 11,600 ft for the evening. Staying this high was the plan as to test the sleeping gear and get away from the thick mosquitoes.  I have ridden this road about 4 other times.  All 4 times at about 1 AM in the Vapor Trail 125.  Odd to see it in the day light.


The campsite for the evening looking east along the rail-road grade to the Alpine Tunnel.  This is part of the Vapor Trail 125 course.

Waking up Sunday AM. Mosquitoes were not an issue at all. Although we had to deal with off and on rain showers all night. I did not have a tarp and Sonya did. While we set up camp about 20 ft from each other, the rain quickly put us next to each other to share the tarp. Sleeping would be good for the evening....stayed 100% dry. Temps dropped to the low 40Fs and the rain wasn't that big of a deal once set up for it.

The morning started with a big push to the Continental Divide.  Didn't take long to get the blood and legs going.

Once on top, the trail was awesome! We spent a few hours riding and pushing at 12,000 ft towards Tin Cup Pass.

What a way to spend the morning!

Lots of water still flowing from the massive winter snow fall.

Below treeline....the first time in nearly 12+ hours.

The ghost town of St. Elmo, CO

Riding back to where we parked on the Colorado Trail.

One of the few times were you can say "It's all downhill from here" and it's actually true!

Here is what we actually rode. My original route was nearly 120 miles round trip. Due to the slow going of the route I had drawn out, we altered it to only get in about 70+ miles over 2 days. We would climb nearly 13,000 ft. There was as much, if not more, hike-a-bike than riding!

Nearly 100 photos from the weekend are located HERE.

Jeff Kerkove said at 9:22 AM :: ::