2009 CTR Update Thread

[jnordby]

Thanks for the info - and the tracking fix.  Looks like Dan updated his spot info in the last couple hours and it appears they are together. (and descending into the upper animas as mentioned by Mathewsen.)

[mtbcast]

Alex Platt calls in with some final thoughts on his ride. Nick Thelen called in to say he and Dan Joseph are in Silverton.

[omurphy]

Hi everybody. Thanks so much for all the love and support. What an experience!... Natalie and I took our time getting home from Durango, just arrived this afternoon. We  camped out (actually sleeping in a tent with a stove and hot meals!) for the past few days... I am so impressed by everybody who lined up this year, thank you for the inspiration. I'll try to put some words on paper in the next couple of weeks when I get my head screwed back on straight. After so many days in a haze, it's funny how "trail moments" keep popping up now.

Hope everybody is home safe and sound (or will be soon). Ethan, Jason, Doug, and Jefe, it was great to meet and ride with you! And Stefan, thanks for everything!

Take care,
Owen

[Marshal]

Just got done reading all the earlier posts.  I kept thinking ya, ya, I remember just that climb, just that section & had just that same exact experience etc etc.  

Still assimilating all the mental snap shots that keep popping up in my head.  I start to tell Sharon about a particular ‘trail moment’ and then ‘snap’ I am talking about a different experience altogether.

Congrats to all the ‘fast ones’, it never ceases to amaze me what those with a strong mind and a trained body can do! Less than 5 days, blows the mind…………

Congrats to all who started & all who persevered and with that touch of necessary ‘good fortune’ finished this wild ride across the Colorado Mountains.

Thanks to all the fellow racers that I had a chance to meet out on the trail.  
Particularly --Alex who eased my ride through section 17 (doing 17 at night last yr left some mental scar tissue) and also Cat and Dave, who pulled me deep into and on up/down, up/down, on to the end of section 22.  Personally, it was a bit intimidating to step off into the deep of 22/23, knowing I would not make it out the other side with out a high altitude bivy. Then I was ready to solo (escape the high mtns?) sec 23 the next morning.


And what about that sec 23 in the sun rise with perfect weather.  And with just the right amount of calories for each climb.  Eat, climb, veiw, blast down to the bottom, eat, climb, view, blast down, repeat till Stony pass. A truly perfect morning, it was a race highlight, a true ‘life experience’ wow!!!!  



Marshal Bird (53 yrs young)



& a note to Blackhawk mtn: You are now firmly in the rear view mirror, smaller & smaller……..  

[Pivvay]

Marshal I'm so stoked for you!!

[cat morrison]

Just wanted to post a few comments.  First I'd like to say thank you to Stefan for all your amazing work and determination and for offering an event that creates such a challenge for us dreamers.  Thank you for helping me achieve a dream.  It was great meeting so many amazing and inspirational people out there.  It was so many things I thought it would be and so many things I didn't think it would be.  I'm also so lucky to have an amazing s.o. Matt Fletcher, who totally supports my endeavors in so many ways and never has any insecurities about the possibility of being "chicked" by me:).  Lastly but CERTAINLY not leastly I would just like to say that, MR. TRAIL ANGEL YOU ROCKED THE HOUSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Adios amigos. 

[mtbcast]

A little late on posting this, Folks, but Mark Caminiti came in today at 11:50am! Good riding, Mark! That should be 9:05:50 if my math is right. He is in Durango and could use a ride. His number is in the call-in. I will keep it there but remove it from the summary.

[flash278]

Go RAMSTRONG!  I’m watching your tracks with the same intensity that I was watching the leaders bust out amazing distances each day.  
It took a lot of guts to get back out on the trail after almost throwing in the towel in Sillyida.  That's awesome! 

Being a CSU alumni and cancer survivor, I’m with you in spirit....sending you good vibes for that last section to Durango.

[ScottM]

Well, this was quite the event.  Thanks so much to everyone involved, from Stefan/Chris/Matthew to all the racers (solid crew, the lot of them) and all the spectators and posters here.  I'm stoked I was able to be a part of the 2009 CTR, and managed to finish up the route.  Railing those last miles down to Junction Creek TH is easily in my top 10 all time moments on the bike. 

I have three video playbacks from the SPOT data.  The first is everyone in the race:


Please note that 99 times out of 100 if a racer look like they are off course or 'cutting' it, they aren't.  The software is interpolating their position between widely spaced points.  This is especially true at the start of the race when deep canyons and tree cover prohibit good GPS reception.

The second vid is of our top five racers, whose pace is still a little hard for me to wrap my weak little head around:


Finally, just the finishers of the race.


Thanks for watching.  I'm looking forward to doing more with SPOT coverage, both during future events and post race replays.

[wookieone]

Yo Scott, that is the coolest thing ever!!! Thanks

[Bral]

I am still trying to process the real race and then I watch this virtual replay and it blows my mind.  It's funny, I had David Bowie's Major Tom playing in my head almost every day.  I hope to put some stuff down in writing soon but not quite there yet.  Thanks to Stefan for putting this together, the other riders for making it so fun, my wife Jenny for supporting my effort.  Marshal and Cat, you are awesome.  It was great to get to know you out there, thank you.  More soon,
Alex

[mtbcast]

Nick Thelen and Dan Joseph finished today. Though out of the CTR due to a detour, they made it to Durango at 6:45p which should give them 10:12:45.

[cat morrison]

I am still trying to process the real race and then I watch this virtual replay and it blows my mind.  It's funny, I had David Bowie's Major Tom playing in my head almost every day.  I hope to put some stuff down in writing soon but not quite there yet.  Thanks to Stefan for putting this together, the other riders for making it so fun, my wife Jenny for supporting my effort.  Marshal and Cat, you are awesome.  It was great to get to know you out there, thank you.  More soon,
Alex

It was great meeting you and riding with you Alex.  I was so happy to see you in the middle of my big frustrating screw up unintentional detour turn around crap.  You gave me the determination to continue on, knowing I wasn't the last person in the world out there.  You have a great, strong, solid core for enduring and you proved it.  Great job!  I look forward to running into you again.  Please tell your wife it was great meeting her, she is a wonderful women. 

[KO]

Way to go Tom.  You hung in there and did finished strong.  Awesome!!!!

[mtbcast]

MTBCast: Episode 116 wraps it up, Folks! Great race this year!

[Pivvay]

Awesome job everyone! It was so fun to follow along on your journey.

[Carney]

Hey everyone - I've posted a few pics over here for your viewing pleasure -  http://s140.photobucket.com/albums/r23/carneyam/CTR%20-%2009/?albumview=slideshow

I took around 250 but a few aren't quite pg-13....

Take a gander and if you want any feel free.

Andrew

[jonesy792]

wow great pics carney.  I didn't realize the top of 10 mile was so good looking, the last (and only) time I was up there visibility was less than 10 feet and I was being pelted with hail, freezing rain, lightning etc.  

[ScottM]

A few CT visuals.













(both Andrew Carney in the 10 mile range)







Cochetopa Park







Dave Harris near Coney Summit.







Harris, Cataract.







Dropping to Silverton.







Near Molas Pass.

My writeup / photo log is up, but very long:

http://www.topofusion.com/diary/2009/08/14/colorado-trail-race-2009/

If you haven't read Jefe's, do so now.  It's here on bikepacking.net:

http://www.bikepacking.net/?p=1410

And it looks like Dave Harris just posted his.  I'm heading over there pronto!

http://2-epic.com/?p=875

[ScottM]

Awesome job everyone! It was so fun to follow along on your journey.

Great job with the updates, Chris.