Colorado Trail Race Dreaming

 On Monday, July 30th at 6am the 6th Colorado Trail Race begins at Waterton Canyon southwest of Denver and finishes in Durango. Here are some stats:

• Self-supported ride (no outside support allowed of any kind)
• No prize money, no entry fees, no aid stations, no sag vehicles, no goodie bag - only a route description, suggested start time and your name on a website as a finisher if it so happens.
• 493 miles (300 of which is high country Colorado singletrack)
• 65,000 feet of elevation gain
• Highest elevation reached on the trail = 13,200'!
• Less than 50% of those who start actually finish this one.

See here for more details: Colorado Trail Race

I remember reading an article about a race organizer (I think it was one of the early organizers of the Tour de France before it became a big commercial melee and was still held on dirt roads) who declared that the best race is the one that has only one finisher. The Colorado Trail Race (if it could) might respond with one word: Touche.

 I have always been a bit restless and always a big dreamer. Probably I undertake 10% of the actual plans I set down in scribbles and scratches in various notebooks scattered around my desk. But maybe that is not a bad thing. It would be worse to stop dreaming.

 But this dream is one that I feel I can actually tackle. A goal that I can attain. An epic that I can put down in that 10%. I've done a few bike-packing trips in the past on the Colorado trail and I loved them...some of my most memorable outdoor adventures of all time. Bike-packing combines all the best of outdoor travel: the ethereal beauty of wilderness settings and the unpredictability of the outdoors, the ultimate in forward motion, and the comfort, awesomeness and ruggedness of a fully-loaded, tightly-refined, smoothly-running bike-packing rig!

 Am I fit enough or experienced enough or strong enough for such an undertaking. Well, I know only one answer to that question: Only one way to find out. And I think that captures the real essence of any endurance event or epic. For anyone who has gone beyond their limits, physically and mentally, you realize that at some point you break through a barrier, a wall within yourself, and you simply move on. Of course the struggle and suffering prior to walking through that door are monumental. My first bike-packing attempt was a one day ride from Waterton to Wellington Lake...only about 40 miles. But there is some rough country in between and a big climb out of the South Platte up to Chair rocks. And I set out woefully unfit for such an undertaking and highly inexperienced with fully loaded riding. Well, I made it to the top of the South Platte climb, but not before a staggering break-down, an epic bonk, that had me close to tears and throwing my bike down in disgust at my inabilities and lack of strength and endurance - I simply could not put another foot in front of the other (yes, I had resorted to walking and pushing and could barely carry forward with that much less ride). But I got through it, and I got back on my bike and eventually rode on. And I realized that I had pushed my limits out a little further, broken through...and for that I became stronger.

 So now I am more fit, and have tackled two multi-day rides and with my new found experience and love of the bike-packing trail I am going to attempt the CTR. If I can simply show up on the start line on Monday, July 30th at 6am I will feel that I have accomplished something.

 Honestly I think getting to the start line for me (a husband, a father with an infant and a toddler and a full time day-jobber) will be the big accomplishment. Simply being able to ride my bike for days on end along the Colorado Trail and camp under the stars for a week or more is really a privilege. Yes, it probably will be cold and wet and lonely and exhausting and nauseating and dirty and pain inducing and unending but from where I sit right now it looks like a romantic glorious odyssey into the unknown :-)