[Froman]

First update - pics will be up tomorrow! Thanks CHRIS!!!

The CTR is underway!!!!!

This is directly from Chris P, who was at the start this afternoon. Thanks Chris.

Sounds like its a solid field - experience vs. endurance - Matt Lee showed up. I'm sure coming off the GDR gave him some solid stamina. Not sure what to think about a Denver Post reporter making a story of this - but we'll see how it pans out. Good luck to all the racer - it'll be an interesting week or two...

Pics will post tomorrow morning


And they're off!!!

The CTR pre-race meeting began as you might expect considering the cast of
characters that would dare to dream of even starting such a ride. The
meeting was pretty laid back and between noon and 1:00 p.m. 8 of the 10
riders straggled in. At 1:00 they went over the Wilderness detours and other
specific trail notes along with the usual basics such as "leave no trace,"
and war stories from other rides.

Just before 2 p.m. they all headed out to the Waterton Canyon parking lot
where gear was assembled and strapped to bikes and couple more riders showed
up. There was the usual group photo and a Denver Post reporter was
interviewing riders and even joined them for a ways up the trail. Look for
his story in the paper next week.

At 3:00 p.m. sharp the riders began with a neutral start for the first 6
miles to Strontia Springs Reservoir to warm up those legs and get to know
one another. At the reservoir all was fair game and they were off!

The field consisted of the following 10 riders:

Jim Ishman (Silverthorne, CO)
Dan Montgomery (Dillon, CO)
Ethan Passant (Crested Butte, CO)
Fred Wilkinson (Moab, UT)
Jason Trimm (Crested Butte, CO)
Mathew Lee (North Carolina)
Dave Nice (Denver, CO)
Stefan Griebel (Boulder, CO)
Jefe Branham (Gunnison, CO)
Mark Caminiti (Silver Plume, CO)

Pre-race photos, group and individual shots, plus some trail photos are soon
to follow.

Cheers,
Chris P

 

[Froman]

Dave Nice Call in -

Reporting in at the start line at Waterton canyon. Um Matt Lee and I rode from Quodba after the pre race meeting, we were the only ones to ride to the trailhead. Uh, Matt Lee and I had a flat this morning getting down to Waterton Canyon, hopefully we got that bad ju-ju out of our way. Its lookin like theres about a dozen of us. Looks like a couple single speeders, I'm on the fixed and the rest, everybody else is on a mix of 29-ers 26 full suspension and all that good stuff. Hope to call from ****** if theres a phone there, if not then Frisco or Copper. Thanks...

 

[Pluto Pilot]

Woah - Ethan Passant is there? Two time Montezuma's Revenge champion and a dominant force on the Colorado Randonee uphill/downhill alpine mountaineering ski racing series. I'd tab him as the favorite.

First update - pics will be up tomorrow! Thanks CHRIS!!!

The CTR is underway!!!!!

This is directly from Chris P, who was at the start this afternoon. Thanks Chris.

Sounds like its a solid field - experience vs. endurance - Matt Lee showed up. I'm sure coming off the GDR gave him some solid stamina. Not sure what to think about a Denver Post reporter making a story of this - but we'll see how it pans out. Good luck to all the racer - it'll be an interesting week or two...

Pics will post tomorrow morning


And they're off!!!

The CTR pre-race meeting began as you might expect considering the cast of
characters that would dare to dream of even starting such a ride. The
meeting was pretty laid back and between noon and 1:00 p.m. 8 of the 10
riders straggled in. At 1:00 they went over the Wilderness detours and other
specific trail notes along with the usual basics such as "leave no trace,"
and war stories from other rides.

Just before 2 p.m. they all headed out to the Waterton Canyon parking lot
where gear was assembled and strapped to bikes and couple more riders showed
up. There was the usual group photo and a Denver Post reporter was
interviewing riders and even joined them for a ways up the trail. Look for
his story in the paper next week.

At 3:00 p.m. sharp the riders began with a neutral start for the first 6
miles to Strontia Springs Reservoir to warm up those legs and get to know
one another. At the reservoir all was fair game and they were off!

The field consisted of the following 10 riders:

Jim Ishman (Silverthorne, CO)
Dan Montgomery (Dillon, CO)
Ethan Passant (Crested Butte, CO)
Fred Wilkinson (Moab, UT)
Jason Trimm (Crested Butte, CO)
Mathew Lee (North Carolina)
Dave Nice (Denver, CO)
Stefan Griebel (Boulder, CO)
Jefe Branham (Gunnison, CO)
Mark Caminiti (Silver Plume, CO)

Pre-race photos, group and individual shots, plus some trail photos are soon
to follow.

Cheers,
Chris P

 

[Saint John]

I haven't heard any definitive reports yet, but it's looking like weather is gonna be a factor. I'm seeing strong chances of heavy rain in the racer's path.

 

[Froman]

Another update from yesterday


About 3:50 P.M.

At about 8 miles into the ride and only 2 miles on single track, the field
is basically still together. Five lead riders of Stefan, Mathew, Fred,
Ethan, and Jason seem to have set a tempo and are all hanging together (see
photos).

Only a minute back are Jefe and Dan with Mark another minute behind them.
The two single speeders follow a mere 3 minutes back each with Dave riding a
single speed fixie and Jim a single speed freewheel.

 

[Froman]

Race Start

 

[ionsmuse]

Woah - Ethan Passant is there? Two time Montezuma's Revenge champion and a dominant force on the Colorado Randonee uphill/downhill alpine mountaineering ski racing series. I'd tab him as the favorite.

True, he tore up CB this past weekend. We'll see how he holds up over a couple days, once the race goes mental. Matt and Fred have massive strength in the head, so it'll make for some good reading in the leather lounger over scotch and cigars (eh, Ed?).

:thumbsup:

 

[Froman]

Leaders at the 350PM Update

 

[Froman]

Stefan

Matt Lee

Mark

Jim

Jefe

Jason

Fred

Ethan

Dave

Dan

 

[bd.sahib]

Looks like lots of different gear selections. Jefe w/ most everthing on his bike to Caminiti's nekkid DH setup.

 

[Pluto Pilot]

Exactly. We should all go to the Brown Palace and analyze this proper style.

True, he tore up CB this past weekend. We'll see how he holds up over a couple days, once the race goes mental. Matt and Fred have massive strength in the head, so it'll make for some good reading in the leather lounger over scotch and cigars (eh, Ed?).

:thumbsup:

 

[pipes]

Look Mom - No Hands

When I was down at the starting line, I noticed on Mark's bike that he has what he calls a "hands free" device that you probably can not see in the photo. It is a length of coat hanger wire doubled over, twisted together, and attached to the end of one handlebar. This allowed him to sit up on his saddle and grab this steer wire to direct his bike.

I talked to him about it on the neutral ride out to Strontia and he said he is experimenting with this idea so that he doesn't have to be hunched over all the time. He thought it would work out well on easier terrain, but had not illusions that he would be able to sit up for the whole ride.

It was an interested idea, considering he put all of his gear on his body. I'm skeptical about loading up the body with gear. I'm sure it would destroy my back, but heck - perhaps it will be the new thing. Interesting none the less.

Cheers,
Chris Piper

 

[jav1231]

Those of you using IE probably noticed that the mtbcast.com page was fubar'd. I rarely us anything but Firefox so when I made some changes I didn't notice it was screwed up. Thanks, Matt McFee, for pointing it out. It should look fine now.

 

[SlowerThenSnot]

I'm Out

Thanks Edmtb for the bail out from Deckers....

Rain,

Crash,

Broken Bike , broke brooks, bent/dented niner fork, computer cable

Me bruised hip, elbow,shin

Maybe a cracked rib

Good luck to everyone else hopefully I took care of the Bad JuJu

 

[Froman]

Call in from Jim Ishman. Jim withdrew at Silverthorne:

Hey it’s Jim, calling and checking in from Silverthorne. Um, I’m officially out of the race. A couple little mechanicals added up to be a big pain in the butt. So, um, I am pulling the plug. I wish good luck to everybody. Looks like there’s a strong possibility of rain up here so hopefully those guys are staying dry.

 

[Froman]

Call in from Dave - although it looks like he beat me too it. Dave crashed a couple times, damaging his bike and himself and withdrew from the race.

This is Dave, had to bail in Deckers off route. Had a crash during the evening during the rain. Had another crash this morning and don’t know which crash it may have happened on but it put a quarter size dent in my right fork leg, not to mention my right hip and elbows are a little sore, so I’m out. Only two highlights really – the milkshake I’m eating right now and when Mathew Lee asked if I was carrying a shock pump. Anyway, I’m out. I’ll talk to you soon, bye.

 

[Froman]

Call in from Stefan - Arrived at Copper at 4:43PM Friday (25:43 Elapsed). I haven't recieved any other call-ins yet, so it appears Stefan is in the lead.

Hey Abe or Joe, its Stefan, I just arrived at Copper Mountain. It’s 4:43 Friday. Last night was pretty epic – it pretty much drizzled all night long. The road was sopping wet and muddy, and the last thing I wanted to do was have a sopping wet cold bivy so I pushed on through the night and now I think I need to go and get some sleep. Yup, groovy – talk to you guys in a bit.

 

[Froman]

So we're down to eight riders:

Dan Montgomery (Dillon, CO)
Ethan Passant (Crested Butte, CO)
Fred Wilkinson (Moab, UT)
Jason Trimm (Crested Butte, CO)
Mathew Lee (North Carolina)
Stefan Griebel (Boulder, CO)
Jefe Branham (Gunnison, CO)
Mark Caminiti (Silver Plume, CO)

It appears Stefan is in the lead, hitting Copper at 443PM Friday afternoon - 25:43 elapsed.

 

[edemtbs]

Thanks Edmtb for the bail out from Deckers....

No worries Dave. Sorry that you had to bail but I was glad to see you were alright.

It looks like Jim also bailed, too bad. Nice effort Jim!

Good luck to the remaining contestants

Get some rest and see you soon Dave -

Ed

 

[jav1231]

Second episode is up with Jim, Dave, and Stefan. Wouldn't you know after I post Jefe calls in. I'll have that for playback tomorrow.