Actually the memory of the hardship and agony fades very quickly and all you have left are the visions of being high up on mountains with the majestic morning glow of the sun turning the alpine grass the most beautiful green you have ever seen in your life.  Only the tip of the serenity is captured in these pictures!

Jesse first off, congratulations!! Very well done!!

Nothing but actually being there can capture the majesty of those mountain ranges and valleys. The pictures do a poor job of conveying the quietude, immensity and beauty.

Ed

Hi everyone!

I'll write more when I can think properly.

Thanks for the write up and congratulations Cat!!!

I hope that deeply resting the last couple of days has helped you recover.

Ed

Still a few riders on the course. Looks like Jason Osborne is still out there enjoying the scenery. He's in a beautiful valley below Carson Peak. He's about to go over a pass I know not the name of and soon thereafter he'll reach Cataract Lake.

Some scenes as you enter the valley, climb up it and after the pass, then drop to Cataract Lake. As you can see storms moved in as we approached Cataract.





















Ed

Tom Kavanaugh, Jennifer Wolfson and John Harness are a little ways past Spring Creek Pass and are approaching Jarosa Mesa:












Ed

Toby Gadd, Paul Bosworth and Anthony Arena are traversing this section of trail after Cataract Lake (all photos by jj):















Ed

Cat and Kurt are on Indian Ridge:















Ed

Hello Everyone.

Jefe here with quick update. So just before hitting the DH to Taylor Lake/Kenebec Pass, I find one Ethan curled up next to his bike.

Be Good! Jefe

Way to push the boundaries Jefe. Glad you're safely back from such an endeavor. Remember those tame 100 mile rides?

This is JJ heading down off Indian Ridge towards Taylor Lake. We were in the midst of a violent storm and ended up hiking the bikes all the way down which was a shame.

I can't seem to catch anyone on Indian Ridge proper so I can post some Indian Ridge images - everyone goes through in the middle of the night :-)



Ed

Wondering the same.  Sleep deprivation does funny things to ya.

Indeed.

Or maybe someone else found it and they crossed paths.

Ed

How'd Cat get another SPOT?

I wonder if she simply misplaced the Spot unit and didn't actually lose it...?

Ed

Matt Schiff, Dan Miller-Lionberg and Chris are approaching Section Point:




From there they will have a view of Blackhawk Pass (just left of center) and Blackhawk Mountain (just right of center):




And once they gain Blackhawk Pass, the view looking back from whence they came. Blackhawk Mtn. is in upper left corner:



Ed

Go Fred Hankinson, and Cat, yah grrl, rip it up!

I think I met Jesse in Moab several years back. At another underground epic ride.

Congrats to him. I hope you heal quickly and cleanly!

Ed

Funny how this years top 3 male riders are same top 3 as 2010, just different order.  I'm sensing a theme here ... like a perverse game of CT limbo on mtn bikes - the bar keeps getting set lower, and lower, and ...

Their consistency and ability to race and finish rides as big as this is very impressive. And to keep lowering the limbo bar on top of that is truly remarkable.

Ed

This is the view Leslie Handy has right about now, the upcoming climb:



With some of this effort pending:






And then more views:



Ed

2:02pm MT Friday Aug. 3rd.

We just got a call from Cat!

She is doing great!

She's loading up with food in Silverton. She'll be leaving Silverton in a few minutes and is headed for Durango via the CTR route, all systems are go!

She's sorry she lost the Spot!! It was accidentally left behind after she took a nap yesterday.

Ed & Jen

Top three Jefe (middle), Ethan (right), and Jesse (left) at the shop this morning.

Thanks for the shot of those guys!! What an incredible result for all three.

Attention now turns to the next group and speculation on how well Spotless Cat is doing.

Go Chris!!

Ed

Kurt Sandiforth and Fred Hankinson are approximately in this area and getting close to Stony Pass:









Ed

Freakin' Jefe!!!

Is Ethan going to make it an even tighter race at the end?

What a pace!!

Ed

Ethan is just about here right now.

That's a great rainbow picture, very nice catch. It makes dealing with the rain a little easier when you see sights like that.

I think it's cool that the race followers can see snapshots of what the riders are seeing.

Ed

Jefe is about here, nearing Rolling Pass:



Ed

I do love Rolling Pass.  And HDR

When you cross it's like you enter a totally different world from one side to the other.

No HDR!!

Ed