Colorado Trail Race by Chris

Eszter and I just got back to Crested Butte from riding the Colorado Trail Race.  Feels good to be home.  

Last year I had to bail, and Eszter succeeded. As I rode the trail this year, I became more and more impressed with Eszter's ride last year.  This is pretty fucking hard, and she did it by herself in the rain.  

On Monday, I got another chance.  

 75 crazy strong riders lined up not far from Denver to race the 500 mile Colorado Trail.  

I start kinda fast, and Eszter always reels me in with her slow and steady riding.  I got to ride most of Buff Creek with Eszter.  John Fettis, the Brit I met last year, was back to finish as well.  

I said Farewell to Eszter and had a smooch as she powered up Kenosha. From Kenosha I started riding with my good friend Drew from Crested Butte.

Nice little summit party before dropping into Breck with the Brits, Drew and Jordan.

There was a bit of confusion with a closed West Ridge trail off Tiger road, we eventually talked to Stephan who told us to detour.   We were able to push over the Ten Mile under the stars which was totally rad!  over 12k feet at midnight... sweet.  We descended to Copper and passed out by the river.  Over 100 miles the first day.... I was stoked.  Turns out we nearly caught back up to Eszter, who was sleeping just across the river.  Eszter got up early and pressed on, we slept in and went to the coffee shop for donuts. Next push was Searle and kokomo passes.  This is the third time for me over this route, and still love it.  This Marmot wanted my lunch.  

 The walt bike was riding good with the 1*10.

Drew had to drop because of his knees, so I hammered it out alone to Leadville.  Drew coasted down to Leadville on the highway, and we met up for 1 dollar PBR's and cheeseburgers.  After packing it in, I set out alone to BV into the storm.

The trail by Twin Lakes is one of my favorites.  Super tacky from the rain, I was ripping it.  

When the trail opened up it started pouring on me.

When it rains I am often inclined to seek shelter.  I was soaking wet, it got dark, so I just took Eszters hardcore mentality and just pedaled through the rain.  It actually was pretty damn fun ripping single track in the dark while its raining.  I slept just out of BV in a nice little bat cave.  It was cool/erie waking up to bats shooting out of cracks in the rocks.

I ran into Cat Morrison in Buena Vista and got coffee/donuts with her.  We went shopping together, met up with Kep, and then Cat started off a little in front of me.  Leaving BV with the clouds clearing.  

I was feeling pretty good but then I had a moment.  I got spooked by a close lightnight strike high on the flanks of Antero.  Then I realized I was out of iodine to purify water and I did not bring enough food.  Eszter stressed and stressed to me about bringing enough food to get to Silverton, but I still had no concept of how much you need to eat when you ride for 19 hrs a day.  Once again, I borrowed Eszter's mentality of not stressing... just deal.  I'll just bust it out and drink the water and hopefully I won't get the shits... right?  I ran into an old bike courier friend at one of the trailheads and drank a tall boy.  I was really surprised to see Ian. He just happened to be passing through and saw that I was nearing a particular trailhead by following me on the spot tracker.  

 The final drop before Hwy 50.

I started up Fooses and realized I was being a fool.  I trucked it down to Salida which was a good 10-15 miles down the highway.  I went into Walmart dazed by the fluorescent. I bought iodine, granola bars, an instant meal, and jerky. 

I stopped into the Poncha Springs gas station for a beer a some tamale's.  I met a friendly guy at the bar, Andy, who raced it the year prior.  He was super enthusiastic and was showing me on his smart phone how Eszter was sitting in second... awesome! I pinned it back to the trail head, slept an hour or two, and tried to push on.  I passed a group with my friend Aaron of Salida.  I got so tired, I had to lay down and sleep another hour part way up the pass.  Aaron's group caught me at the top.  

The Crest was amazing at sunrise.  

I rode with the crew for a bit then got in a rhythm on Sargents.  I rode it years ago with Eszter, so I remembered the 8-10 hours of pinball with tires.  

I did not remember that there is some nice sections of trail, views, and a new descent that was a ripper.  At the bottom there was the infamous trail angle.  I drank two mountain dews and two bags of chips.  I need to send that dude a thank you.  The group caught back up to me here.  

 I started riding with these guys.  Todd from Jackson Hole, Aaron from Salida, and Joey from Durango.  Great group of guys.

We pedaled into the dark and slept 3-4 hours.  I passed out hard after pushing myself back into the race after my 4 hour Salida detour and the sleep deprivation.  It rained a little bit that night, but I was too exhausted to really care.  We got going around 4am.  After the first pass we stopped for a break, and Aaron instantly passed out.  

Another pass, some hiking and we were onto the high section.  34 miles of 12-13 thousand foot ridgelines.  Jordan of Gunnison caught up to us at this point and joined the party.    Sure there was quite a bit of hiking, but it was stunning.  We were actually able to ride more than people have told us.  This is the one section of the Colorado Trail that I had not ridden before, and I was super nervous about the exposure if a storm hits.  We got a bit of electricity.  

We bailed off the ridge for  bit to let the lightning pass, and somehow the weather was stable for the rest of the day.  Joey gaining 13k.

Absolutly stunning.  

It was like riding your bike though wilderness.  The San Juans are totally sweet.  I started eyeing ski lines.  

Highs and lows.  Joey was hurting.  Something sparked in him shortly after this photo and he started cleaning the climbs.  Most people hike when it is moderately difficult in a ride this long, but it was great seeing Joey clean some super techy stuff.  

I completely ran out of food, bonked, and pushed through the hunger pains.  

I felt like I was high.  There is really nothing you can do when you run out of food, but push it to Silverton.  I got pass the food stress, and just took in the beauty of the San Juans.  

I got motivated, picked up the pace and pushed it over 'Stoner' pass.  I pinned it down the 3 k descent to try and catch Joey  and Todd who had put a half hour on me.  I arrived in Silverton around 9 pm , and Todd had already ordered 3 large pizzas.  Todd is a skinny dude who moved to Jackson Hole 20 years ago with big deal skier Micah Black.  He had boundless energy and formed a bond in our crew.  The beer was flowing, and we were stoked.  What a big day!

7 of us split a hotel room... I slept in the lobby.  A crew left at 4 am, but we descided to wait and get some food/coffee.  Silverton is a good 50 years behind the rest of 'merica, so nothin opens til 7am.  I got ancy because the other group had a 4 hour jump on us.  We'll finish late, but the americano and breakfast Burrito was divine.  

We started at around 8 am, and we were motivated to finish in under 6 days.  So we just had to finish before 630am the next day.  The crew was Jordan, Todd, and myself.  The last 80 miles is possibly some of the best singltrack in the world.  I had not ridden it years, and it still blew my mind.  Blackhawk Pass down.

We leap frogged with some locals that invited us to their campground for a beer.  The Durango mountain bikers are pretty damn hardcore.  There was a lot of people out there getting after it.  We put our heads down after sharing stories and Red Stripe.  Peaking out on Indian Ridge at sunset.  

I was tired but stoked.  

We  did the final 25 miles in the dark.  I had been talking about how awesome the descent was to the guys, but in the dark with just a small light.... it beat the shit out of me.  I had to focus so hard not to crash.  I got dropped, got pissed and hammered the final 1000 k climb.  This by far was by far the hardest bit of the race.  I have enjoyed the whole ride and now I just wanted to be done.  We finished together at 1 am.  5 days 19 hrs.  I have never pushed so hard day in and day out before.  My ski tours can be hard, but I generally don't do bigger than 10 hr days and sleep a full night.  I gained a new respect for my wife Eszter who finished around 15 hrs before me and set a new course record.   She chose a damn hard sport!  

 

It was a great ride.  A redemption for me, and simply incredible trek.  To see the whole state in under a week in the backcountry, that is priceless.  I really enjoy the people along the way as well.  It was great riding with Drew, Joey, Todd, Aaron, and Jordan. You guys rock.  It was nice chasing the wife, making a mess in city Market with Cat, and bumping into Kep in BV, Ian by Hwy 50, Miles and Jen onHwy 550 who honked at me and yelled "Miller!"  The through hikers were great to talk and met a dude who calls himelf ,'Cookie Monster.'  What an amazing State we live in and how cool is it that you can ride singletrack across it.  Thanks Eszter and Steiny for all of the advice, JJ for the bag, Scott for the GPS, Stephan for putting the race together, Kep for your balls and that sweet sweater, Drew for picking us up, Quinn for driving our car home, Mihaly and Anna for your hospitality in Boulder, Walt for the sweet ride, Timmy for lots of bike help, Miles and Jen for letting us crash at their place in Durango, My fam for their support, and all of those who cheered us on along the way.  

Cheers,

Chris

 

Comments

[the lamb]

Congrats dude! You da man.

[Chris Milucky]

You guys are terrific! I want to race the 2012 CTR!

[aaron w]

So so glad I got to ride with you and all the other guys. These type of things strip you down to your core and it's so great to relate to people on that level. And oh man just the incredible journey of riding through this amazing place...fast...wild stuff. I feel good knowing that if we are ever on an adventure together and I pass out that you will be there to take a picture. And Eszter, you rock!

[chris]

Thanks guys! Yea Aaron you rock! You looked like you were going to die several times... and you just keep going! I am sure I appeared that way a few times as well...
Bama, you would dig it. Joey that we rode with, made all of his own bags and racks. I am assuming you would too. For a rear rack he bolted on some old chainstays from a dual suspension, pretty clever idea.

[Jason (Durango)]

Chris, been following your blog on my reader for some time now for skiing. This post I had to comment. I was up on Blackhawk Pass riding on Saturday, and saw a couple people that were doing this race, and were still pushing at a pretty good pace at mile 400+. The guy in white I saw at the top of Bolem. He looked battered, but kept pushing, it was very impressive. You must have been around that mix too, and your wife 15hrs ahead, damn. Good work.

And I splitboard the San Juans, and I was up in CB a few weeks ago checking out all your ski lines while biking. Your mountains pretty awesome too.

Good to be able to relate to your blog. Keep it up, good to have something to strive for.

[Dave Byers]

I have never been remotely interested in doing the CTR...until I read your post. Great writeup, great pics, and phenomenal job man! Tremendous!

[Rsteve]

Killer ride Millertime and Ezster!!
Used to live at bottom of junction creek in dtown
I want to do it someday
Rsteve

[Dan V]

Thanks for helping me fall back in love with mountain biking this week.

[Ed]

Wow! Great work Chris, congratulations! I enjoyed reading the story and viewing the images.

Ed

[Joey Ernst]

Chris, great to meet you and ride with you for that day or two. As Aaron alluded to, somehow spending even a few hours with someone during this type of thing can allow one to relate with them so much more thoroughly than during the typical day-to-day. Great job out there!
Joey

[David Wilson]

Great photos....did you take all of them with a GoPro? HD?

Also....what is that beast leaning against the garbage can in front of the avalanche coffee house?

[chris]

Joey- yea it was fun riding with you. We'll have to check out your shop the next time we are in D-town. Jason- pretty sure you saw Aaron. We were not too far off from him. David- yea GoPro photos the whole way. Takes some fun stills, and it's super-tiny. The Beast of a bike was someone's townie. Thanks Dan V, Ed. Rsteve- you and Gandalf should ride it, sure you guys would dig it.

[Todd johnson]

Chris great write-up about the race! I'm so glad we linked up at fooses that morning! You were a key piece of the puzzle out there. The group dynamics were at an all time high' I felt like we were riding strong everyday! You are one tough dude! Let's get together this winter in Jackson. Im still riding high from that race, silverton was like new York city wasn't it, beers were flying pizza was off the hook, had the best coffee of my life! I will never forget it! All the best, Oh yea it was great meeting Eszter at breakfast that morning! Tell her hi you are one of the most bad ass couples I've ever met!

[chris]

Yea Todd it was a blast riding with you. I'll be knocking on your door in Jackson for sure!