Saturday, July 26, 2008
river
I was playing around with the CTR leaderboard tonight and it looks like everything is working as it should. The only thing that you all need to know is that my icon will show up with the name "river" on it.
I am packed and ready to roll. I probably have way more stuff than anyone else but I'm gonna say that's because I've never done anything like this before. I took everything out again today and looked it over but I'm keeping most everything. Those that know me know that I eat A LOT of food. The majority of the stuff I'm carrying is food. I'd rather have too much food than not enough. When I'm hungry I get cranky and then I get emotional and lose focus. If I'm fed well I have no doubt that I will be in Durango next week in good spirits. Others would do it differently I'm sure but I know what I gotta have to run right and it's a lot.
See you in Durango over ice cold beers and nachos.
I am packed and ready to roll. I probably have way more stuff than anyone else but I'm gonna say that's because I've never done anything like this before. I took everything out again today and looked it over but I'm keeping most everything. Those that know me know that I eat A LOT of food. The majority of the stuff I'm carrying is food. I'd rather have too much food than not enough. When I'm hungry I get cranky and then I get emotional and lose focus. If I'm fed well I have no doubt that I will be in Durango next week in good spirits. Others would do it differently I'm sure but I know what I gotta have to run right and it's a lot.
See you in Durango over ice cold beers and nachos.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
CTR Leaderboard
It looks like there are now about 18 racers and it also looks like almost all of them will be equipped with a SPOT. Kevin Montgomery is the guy who maintained the leaderboard for all of the Tour Divide racers. He has been nice enough to offer to do the same for the CTR. So...for anyone interested...all you have to do is click the link to the right (below the new music) and it will take to the Tour Divide site. There you will see a map of a portion of Colorado. The pink line represents the actual Colorado Trail. The lime green line follows the mandatory detours around all wilderness areas. Once we get going, you should be able to see 18 (or how ever many SPOT devices there are) icons. When you click on an icon it will tell you who the individual is and offer some times.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Well it appears that the Oxyoke fire was deemed contained last night at 6:00 so it doesn't look like it will present an issue for us.
I'm so anxious to get this thing started. I hadn't been sleeping well at all but, for whatever reason, slept like a rock last night. Sometimes I lay in bed, seeing the trail that I know of already and wondering what the rest will look like. I wonder just how slow going things will be along Sargents Mesa. I've heard there is a stretch in there that is so slow it deserves a reward after just making it halfway through. I sit pouring over maps and calculating distances of water sources. I hope that the ones that are "reliabe" actually are and if not, I try and figure out how far to the next one.
I think I'm fine with most aspects of the ride. I know, as other experienced riders have mentioned, that there are things that I have not even considered that will present problems for me or things that I assumed were no brainers might stump me for hours. What terrifies me the most about this ride is not the distance, climbing, mechanical knowledge, route finding (of course I say all that now when I'm comfortable in my living room and not de-hydrated and 8 hours into a 13 hour day). It's not the loneliness, or the chance encounters with bears or mountain lions. It's something that I think most would shrug off and I'm not proud of. I'll go on the record now as saying that I am absolutely mortified by lightning. When it's present, it causes more of a pucker factor than even the gnarliest spider. When I think of most obstacles along the way, I can sit here (under perfect conditions again) and problem solve it pretty quickly. Overcast skies in the mountains really make me stop and take notice.
Last summer when my good friend Scott and I were deep into Cheesman Canyon chasing trout, we heard thunder close by and then, almost immediately, smelled something burning. We looked but didn't see anything. As much as I adore trout and pursuing them, I had no problem walking away from the 18" rainbow that was feeding in a nice riffle just out from shore. Scott and I hunkered down in rock outcropping and joked and sipped whiskey for an hour. I think I was the one that actually said that lightning/thunder hadn't gone off in about 25 minutes and I felt safe. I waded out, took my position on a large boulder and, with Scott behind me and peeking over my shoulder, went back to work. Not more than 30 seconds later a bolt popped off directly above us and I swear I walked on water and was done until blue skies emerged.
Lightning will really put me to the test. I know that some will ride despite it. I'm sure I'll be the one that stops at the sound of thunder to try and determine how far away it is. I'm positive that lightning will make me seek shelter for a while and lose precious time that I'll no doubt have to make up through out the night.
I'm so anxious to get this thing started. I hadn't been sleeping well at all but, for whatever reason, slept like a rock last night. Sometimes I lay in bed, seeing the trail that I know of already and wondering what the rest will look like. I wonder just how slow going things will be along Sargents Mesa. I've heard there is a stretch in there that is so slow it deserves a reward after just making it halfway through. I sit pouring over maps and calculating distances of water sources. I hope that the ones that are "reliabe" actually are and if not, I try and figure out how far to the next one.
I think I'm fine with most aspects of the ride. I know, as other experienced riders have mentioned, that there are things that I have not even considered that will present problems for me or things that I assumed were no brainers might stump me for hours. What terrifies me the most about this ride is not the distance, climbing, mechanical knowledge, route finding (of course I say all that now when I'm comfortable in my living room and not de-hydrated and 8 hours into a 13 hour day). It's not the loneliness, or the chance encounters with bears or mountain lions. It's something that I think most would shrug off and I'm not proud of. I'll go on the record now as saying that I am absolutely mortified by lightning. When it's present, it causes more of a pucker factor than even the gnarliest spider. When I think of most obstacles along the way, I can sit here (under perfect conditions again) and problem solve it pretty quickly. Overcast skies in the mountains really make me stop and take notice.
Last summer when my good friend Scott and I were deep into Cheesman Canyon chasing trout, we heard thunder close by and then, almost immediately, smelled something burning. We looked but didn't see anything. As much as I adore trout and pursuing them, I had no problem walking away from the 18" rainbow that was feeding in a nice riffle just out from shore. Scott and I hunkered down in rock outcropping and joked and sipped whiskey for an hour. I think I was the one that actually said that lightning/thunder hadn't gone off in about 25 minutes and I felt safe. I waded out, took my position on a large boulder and, with Scott behind me and peeking over my shoulder, went back to work. Not more than 30 seconds later a bolt popped off directly above us and I swear I walked on water and was done until blue skies emerged.
Lightning will really put me to the test. I know that some will ride despite it. I'm sure I'll be the one that stops at the sound of thunder to try and determine how far away it is. I'm positive that lightning will make me seek shelter for a while and lose precious time that I'll no doubt have to make up through out the night.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Woke up to this news today:
Needless to say I'll be watching this story. This fire has gone from small (under 50 acres) to now approaching 150 acres. Sounds like there has been quite a bit of air support but the swirling winds/high temps are not helping.
Sounds like the fire is currently somewhere in segments 2 and 3 of the trail. If this doesn't get under control, the forest service can/will shut down the trail in the area. This is not good. I'll keep you posted.
Needless to say I'll be watching this story. This fire has gone from small (under 50 acres) to now approaching 150 acres. Sounds like there has been quite a bit of air support but the swirling winds/high temps are not helping.
Sounds like the fire is currently somewhere in segments 2 and 3 of the trail. If this doesn't get under control, the forest service can/will shut down the trail in the area. This is not good. I'll keep you posted.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
I really haven't done much riding the last few days. I've been spending time sleeping and addressing some last minute details with gear. I kinda went over the Alma last night a bit. I don't think I ride as well (technically) as I used to. I told TK that all 4 crashes I've had have been because the front end washed out. It's most likely due to my lack of finesse. With a ride like this, I gotta be careful. A small incident could be a major problem in the middle of no where. Ghisallo Sports treats me like I'm some kind of super star. They listened and sent me a new set of tires and the front one has a bit more bite to it. Hopefully it'll keep me from getting their clothing dirty. I gotta tell ya...I know plenty of guys that have some pretty nice sponsorships through grassroots racing programs but I don't know anyone that gets as much support as I do from one bike shop let alone a factory ride. I am eternally grateful.
Heather's been super cool about this ride. The SPOT was something we discussed but I really wanted to use it b/c I thought it would be cool for friends to be able to follow along. One thing that she really wanted me to carry was bear spray. A few days ago we went to look at it and after holding it, I really wasn't in favor. It's a bit heavy and it really needs to be somewhere that's easily accessible or it might as well stay at home.
However, I can certainly see where she's coming from and if the tables were turned, I'd be thinking the same thing. So I picked up this 230 gram bottle. Initially I just thought I'd put the holster on one of the shoulder straps to my pack but they were out of holsters. After a bit of research on mtbr.com I found how a lot of Alaska riders mount their bear spray. So I went to Home Depot and picked up some 2" inner diameter PVC pipe and some Red Hot pipe adhesive.
I cut a 1" wide piece of pipe and then removed a section of it so I could slide it around the main pipe and make a straight cut. I cut a 5.5" piece of pipe.
Next I cut a length-wise section of the pipe out. I guessed here as to how much I needed to remove. I started with a 1" section.
Then after a bit of measuring on the bike and using one of the bottle cages as a guide, I marked where I wanted the holes drilled. I drilled holes on both the main section of pipe as well as the 1" section that I cut out. I cleaned up both pieces and laid the inner portion of the smaller piece onto the outer portion of the larger piece and made sure everything lined up. Then I glued the 2 together and let it set for 10 minutes.
I actually made 2 of these mounts. On the first one I had the bolt heads recessed but I was worried about the 2 pieces of PVC separating on day 2 and leaving me hosed. So on the second mount, I drilled through both pieces with the same bit and used some bolts that had pretty flat heads. Now the bolts actually compress the 2 pieces together while the mount is on the bike. It worked out well. Some of the people in Alaska used electrical tape around the bear spray to get the tolerances just right so the mount really holds on. I took a different route. If you take PVC pipe and stick it in the oven at about 350 degrees and leave it in there for a bit, it actually becomes quite moldable. So it didn't take much. I actually had cut a bit too much out and then had to go back and close that gap a tiny bit. The bear spray snaps right in to place and I can either pull it out of the mount or slide it up and out.
However, I can certainly see where she's coming from and if the tables were turned, I'd be thinking the same thing. So I picked up this 230 gram bottle. Initially I just thought I'd put the holster on one of the shoulder straps to my pack but they were out of holsters. After a bit of research on mtbr.com I found how a lot of Alaska riders mount their bear spray. So I went to Home Depot and picked up some 2" inner diameter PVC pipe and some Red Hot pipe adhesive.
I cut a 1" wide piece of pipe and then removed a section of it so I could slide it around the main pipe and make a straight cut. I cut a 5.5" piece of pipe.
Next I cut a length-wise section of the pipe out. I guessed here as to how much I needed to remove. I started with a 1" section.
Then after a bit of measuring on the bike and using one of the bottle cages as a guide, I marked where I wanted the holes drilled. I drilled holes on both the main section of pipe as well as the 1" section that I cut out. I cleaned up both pieces and laid the inner portion of the smaller piece onto the outer portion of the larger piece and made sure everything lined up. Then I glued the 2 together and let it set for 10 minutes.
I actually made 2 of these mounts. On the first one I had the bolt heads recessed but I was worried about the 2 pieces of PVC separating on day 2 and leaving me hosed. So on the second mount, I drilled through both pieces with the same bit and used some bolts that had pretty flat heads. Now the bolts actually compress the 2 pieces together while the mount is on the bike. It worked out well. Some of the people in Alaska used electrical tape around the bear spray to get the tolerances just right so the mount really holds on. I took a different route. If you take PVC pipe and stick it in the oven at about 350 degrees and leave it in there for a bit, it actually becomes quite moldable. So it didn't take much. I actually had cut a bit too much out and then had to go back and close that gap a tiny bit. The bear spray snaps right in to place and I can either pull it out of the mount or slide it up and out.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)