Stage 10

After my late night push the day before and my early wake up to get to Durango not too late I was feeling a bit tired and sore, not bad that it took me 10 days to get feel this way for the first time of the trip.  I had limited water so I opted not to do my typical breakfast coffee & oatmeal.  I got packed up fairly quickly and tried to figure out where the trail went as I couldn't the night before.  Again I started down an ancient jeep road and realized quickly that there was no trail markers, I got on the main road and rode for a bit before seeing a trail marker but then found where the trail turned off the road.  The riding was much less steep than the books elevation chart would suggest and I was stoked as I was making pretty good time.  The trail eventually got as steep as I thought it would and I struggled to ride some of it.  I came up on a father and son hiking pair who I scared from stalking them then asking to pass, the father said I need a bell, whats wrong with people? Your saying a bell/horn ringing behind you in the middle of no where is less startling than a human voice?
It seemed like the climb was never going to end and then I came to a major intersection and new I was getting close.  I came out of the forest onto some rocky plateaus and saw the next plateaus I'd have to carry my bike up, crap.  Once I got over the 3rd one I saw Taylor Lake and knew it was mostly downhill from here.  I hiked the short hill over Kennebec Pass.  At the top I put my knee brace on for the first time in the trip as I knew I was about to descend for 6,500 feet and would be more comfortable riding at full throttle with it.  I started down the terraced shale walls.  I came into a waterfall just off the trail and checked my water and saw I was nearly completely dry, not surprising as it had been over 24 hours since I had filled up my Camelbak in Silverton and I hadn't filled my bottle since late in the day before.  I just filled my bottle as I knew I was close to the end after just one more hill.
After crossing the creek several times on some really fun flowy yet rocky trails I started up the hill.  In the book I knew this was only 1000 feet of climbing split over two climbs with some flat between them.  HOLY CRAP this was a rough climb, I ended up walking most of it and I just wanted the climb to be done.  When I finally got to the top I met a local on a day ride. He knew the race was going on and told me it was a descent from here all the way to town.  I put my knee brace back on and started down.  I quickly got stopped by some cows and the local caught me, we waited a minute for the cow to figure out where to go and I kept going.  I rode the rest of of the 2,500 foot and 10 mile descent straight without a stop.
When I got to the parking lot I powered up my phone and called my friends in town to let them know I made it and where to meet up.  I made plans to meet one of them at a school at the bottom of the road.  As I rode down the hill I was pumped to see some old friends I hadn't seen in years and see Durango for the time ever.  I thought about how far I had just ridden and how few people had probably accomplished this journey successfully, and I couldn't stop thinking about what trail to ride next year.

Mileage: 49
Climbing: 6,083
Sleeping Elevation: ~6,800

Stage 9

I woke up still amazed by the radness of the place I was.  I wanted to just stay here.  I was able to get packed up fast today as I was warmed by the Sun early on the exposed east facing ridge I slept on.  As I put my front bag on my bike fell onto the Cairn it was leaned up against and I put a small scratch in the stanchion of my fork. CRAP.  Although I knew the only thing between me and Silverton was a short mostly downhill ride I still made breakfast.  I still had just over a liter of water in my bag from Spring Creek.  The last descent was short and fun, it looked like it had been re routed in the past few years.  At the Stony Pass summit there was a tourist jeep tour.  I stopped to read the sign and talked to them for a minute and told them I had ridden from Littleton, they thought this was absurd and gave me a bottle of water.
Stony Pass was steep and as with all the other detours even having memorized the directions at the top I was confused if I was going the right way.
At the bottom of the hill there was finally a marked dirt highway and I knew I was going the right way.  The old mining "chairlift" over this road was cool. I rode a pass through Main street deciding where to get food and a beer.  I ended up at "Thee Pits Again", I figured it had to be good with Guy Fieri's picture in the window.  While I was eating I texted my mom to also look into flights and maybe book one for the 19th.  The food was good but I was still hungry and decided I could use a shake so I went to the burger and shake place on the side street across main.  I then went to the outdoor store I had seen on Main to see if they had a the MSR pump filter I wanted.  They didn't but had some cheap options, I decided to stick with the tablets.  I wanted to go to a bike shop to add some oil to my fork but knew I needed to get back on the trail.
I stopped at the grocery store on the way out of town and resupplied on bars and picked up a sandwich for dinner.  Last I stopped at the gas station and filled up water.
The pedal up the road was rough, there wasn't much shoulder like 285 but to top it off it was hot.  It took much longer than it should have to get to the trail head at the top of the pass.  A roadie passed me and asked if I was riding the CT and when I told him I was he told me to keep it going I was almost there.
The climbing was easy on the start of the trail.  I ran into a older couple that looked like they were through hiking, they told me they were doing trail work and I was excited to ride some fresh dirt.  I told them I wanted to get to Hotel Draw that night and they told me I had quite a ways but there was good camping there.  Shortly after I ran into 3 guys on rigid's wearing assorted Jerseys that said Fort Collins on them.  They were through riding from Durango to Denver and were on day 2.  I told them they were closing in on Silverton.
I got to Rolling Mountain pass which was pretty cool, in one direction was another endless gulch and in the other a epic valley.  This descent was fun.  I crossed a waterfall with shall at the base which was pretty neat, there was people camping on the small plateau next to it.  I then crossed a bridge and a guy told me I was out late.  The sun was started to set.  I got to Celebration Lake at Bolam Pass and there was a couple setting up camp and a tent already setup.  It looked like the same tent I had seen at Razor creek days earlier and I believe it was Marks.  I contemplated camping here as it was getting dark but I knew the next day would be rough if I did.
I kept pushing on knowing I was back in big cat territory.  Right off the bat I saw a bunch of eyes in a field looking at me.  I focused on the closest one and identified it was just a deer.  It seemed like a cool area if I could see.  There was a lot of riding on terraces and I couldn't tell how high up I was.  I summited the pass next to Section Point, it was really rad here and I thought I was already on Black Hawk Pass so I decided to keep going.  A few minutes later I was climbing again which means I was not on Black Hawk pass and I was still climbing to it. As I was pushing my bike up the steep hill close to the top of Black Hawk Pass I saw HUGE cat foot prints and what looked like drag marks in the middle of the trail for a few hundred feet.  I was on edge at this point and just wanted to get over the pass and down to Hotel Draw to camp.  I kept looking around to make sure I wasn't going to be a mountain kittie's next meal.
I made it to a jeep road and a gate to a service road.  There was a camp site with a big jug of water that had a sign that said "water".  I knew I still had plenty of water in my bag from town but I wonder if this was trail magic.  I couldn't find any great camp spots after searching around the intersection with Hotel Draw Road and I found a big patch of dry dirt and decided it would have to do.  My phone was off to save battery and camera battery dead so no pictures for this day.

Mileage: 51.44
Climbing: 8,229
Sleeping Elevation: 10,385

Stage 8

I woke up a bit later than I wanted to as usual but very excited that I should make it to Silverton by the end of the day, which would be great because over the past 4 days where I hadn't seen civilization for the longest stretch in my life I was running low on food.  Sleeping on the picnic bench kept me away from the moisture I typically had in my bivvy sack, however it was still cold sleeping at nearly 11,000 feet.  I saw some day & through hikers in the lot and asked if they knew where the water the book was talking about was.  I met a lady named "Marmot" that pointed me to the spring on the other side of the highway.  I got some water to make breakfast with then filled up with water. The last water filter bag broke but I was able to finish filling up. CRAP!  I knew this would happen and I was glad I brought some Iodine tablets & was already boiling water for cooking before this to conserve the filter, I figured I would have a chance to get a new filter/bag in Silverton.
The trail followed some old jeep roads then disappeared into some rock fields.  From here you must learn to follow the Cairns.  Unfortunately at this point my camera battery died.  After a bit there was the a big antenna onto of a hill.  I had been keeping my phone off to conserve the battery but I decided to check if there was service.  There was but only enough to text so I asked some friends who I knew were at computers to look into flights home for me and asked my friends in Durango if they could help me with a ride to the airport.  There was a short and fun descent into the woods were I had a snack and sat in the shade.
The second half of the segment had climbs up cliffs and short descents on shale following the edge of several-hundred foot cliffs, the most high risk & high elevation riding of the trip so far.  I came into a herd of goats and chased them down the hill for a bit.  I ran into some hikers just hiking a few segments and they told me I wasn't far from Carson Saddle.  I felt like I had been riding forever but hadn't gotten very far.
I crested a hill and saw side by sides driving on some steep mine tailing's next some of the old structures that were part of Carson Saddle.  The old dirt road here was crazy steep and rutted, the only way to ride it safely was wide open and stay loose.  I stopped and had a snack before hopping back onto the single track.  I was hoping from here I would be able to ride more than hike.
The trail was fairly flat but rocky for the first bit of the segment.  I fell into a bush trying to climb a steep wet rock.  The trail was deep mud in spots making it hard to ride but narrow the whole way so it was hard to hike.  I saw a huge moose staring up at me.  The trail got steeper and I new I'd be hiking for a bit until I got onto the top of the saddle at the head of the valley I was in.  There was some really cool rock outcroppings that reminded me of Moai.  Coming to the top of the climb my left knee (my good one) started to have a sharp pain on the inside while pedaling and my right ankle hurt a bit from/while hiking.  I decided it was time to take my first Advil of the trip.  I pushed through the pain and kept pedaling and it was gone in 5 minutes.  My fork started to squeak as I pedaled and I knew exactly what it was, time for service as it was out of oil (not to knock Fox but I don't think they put enough in when performing their recall service).  I put some chain lube on it and knew I would just have to do this a few times a day.
I got on top of the saddle and the view was like nothing I'd ever seen before.  This was the first time I'd ever seen a remote high alpine tundra and it seemed surreal.  The grass was so green on the rolling hills in the valley and the terrain so rugged above it.  I didn't ever want to leave this area but I was excited to see what the valley was like.  I was excited to finally descend.
The first descent was amazing, high speed loose dirt with rollers.  I saw there was a lake at the bottom of the gulch and was hoping I was heading towards it.  I also saw a tent at the far side of the gulch no where near the trail, I could only imagine this was another CT user who was so taken by this area they had to explore more of it.  There was a fun rock section to end the descent.  I was not far from the lake and checked my book to see this was the only large body of water on this segment and I still had 2 liters in my bag but my bottle was empty.  At this point I created my strategy for water which would be rough and the opposite of my original plan.  I would fill my bottle without the filter and put Iodine in it then put the electrolyte tabs I had in it to cover up the taste and that would allow me to keep my clean water in my bag for teeth brushing, wound cleaning if needed, etc.  The area near the lake was beautiful and I wanted to stay and explore all the trails in this area but I knew I had to keep moving to stay on schedule. I'll be returning here to explore.
As soon as I started riding there was a short mud bog crossing the whole trail. I picked what I thought was the best spot to cross, shoved my front tire into the far side and went OTB into the mud, I had the exact same crash on my dirt bike the month before and should have learned my lesson.  I got up and only my hands got muddy but I was embarrassed even though no one saw.  I climbed a small hill and had another short fun descent on high speed flowy single track.  I climbed a big hill and was between two gulches.  The one I was about to enter was mysterious and looked like it extended north forever maybe eventually becoming a canyon with a river.  It looked as though both gulches had ribbon spread across them in the form of a trail.  The trail had a long descent and pedal across this gulch.
I got to the top of the next hill as dusk hit.  I looked at my book and knew I wasn't far from town but I would have to do some riding by headlamp to make it which would be slow as I was once again following Cairns and already having trouble seeing the next one.  It was Saturday night and after our experience of trying to find a hotel last minute in Leadville I contemplated if it was worth it to keep going at risk of not finding a hotel, plus this area was so epic I felt like I needed to wait until morning to see the rest of it.  I hiked over the next 20 foot hill and knew I had to camp here.
Euphoria hit as I saw a small high alpine lake with a rock outcropping over it to my left, a small cove between two rocks to my right, and a 360 view of a rolling another endless Gulch filled with Alpenglow with high rocky cliffs surrounding it.  I set up camp in the cove as the Sun set and the sky was filled with the most Stars I had ever seen.  The temperature was perfect and there was minimal wind given how exposed the ridge I was on was.  I walked around the lake looking for a spot to get water and the whole thing was filled with tad poles.  I finally found a spot to fill my stove with water.  As I started cooking I looked around in every direction to take it all in.  The peaks to the west were epic. I saw a red light intermittently and randomly flashing what seemed like Morse code on the ridge across the gulch from from the direction I had come.  I have no idea what or who it was.  I made some Cocoa, packed my food into a dry bag and stashed it on the far side of a Cairn.  I had trouble going to sleep just looking around at my surroundings and the Sky.  This was truly the most epic place I have ever slept.

Mileage: 30.7
Climbing: 6,793
Sleeping Elevation: 12,819

Stage 7

I woke up cold, hungry, and slightly dehydrated.  I hoped today would go a bit better than the day before.  I didn't want to get out of my sleeping set up so I laid there for longer than I wanted waiting for the sun to hit me.  At this point I realized I need to sleep where the sun will hit me first for the rest of the trip, this way I can get going quickest.  A squirrel jumped out of a tree I was sleeping under onto my bivvy and I decided it was time to get up.  I got up and was wiping off the dew from my bivvy and sleeping bag while in them when another bike packer came up the road.
He was wearing a COS kit and introduced himself as Mark, I later came to find out he was doing the tripple crown of the AZT, Great Divide, and CTR, gnarly.  He said he camped at Razor Creek so I assume he was the person I almost camped near.  I told him I was just doing a ITT, he told me we weren't far from Apples place.  I told him hopefully I'd see him there, I really did hope that so I could have someone to ride with for a bit but knew given how long it took me to pack up this probably wouldn't happen.
I got packed up and left some cold weather gear on as I was a bit chilly, probably from being so hungry.  I crossed the highway and immediately got to a small creek and knew I had to fill up.  I wish I had found this last night.  As I was riding knowing I was getting close to Apple's I kept eating to keep going as quick as I could hoping to catch Mark. 
I came to a field with some cattle grazing in it near the trail, they all stared at me as I rode by.  I had to wait for a minute and they cleared off the trail.  I saw a steer off to the left of the trail and didn't think much of it.  As I got around the corner it was at I saw a baby calf.  I decided it would be safest to take a detour through the woods, you don't realize how scarey cows are until your by yourself in the middle of nowhere.
I passed through a cool gate at the top of the final hill I would climb in this segment.  I saw a guy doing what looked like trail work which was very odd for how remote the area was.  I startled him and he stood up and I saw he had a name tag that said Apple.  I introduced myself and he told me he was pulling out his trail counter as he was about to head out for the season.  He told me there was a rider at his setup and to head down to it.  I got to his car just below and was confused then hiked up.  He told me to keep going down the trail a half mile and I'd see it, and to take as much as I needed as I was going to be the last person through.
I got down to his camp and drank a Coke, a water, 2 Gatorades, ate 3 bags of chips, some crackers, filled my bag with crackers, and filled both my camelbak and water bottle with Gatorade.  I was feeling so refreshed.  I chatted with Apple for a bit and found out he was just a trail enthusiast from Ohio that came out for the peak season of the year to support all the trail users.  I offered to help him pack the last of his stuff up but he said he could get it.  I thanked him for everything he did for trail users, asked for our location so I knew where to go and he gave me the next few turns I would take.
I headed down the hill and started on what I knew would be a rough 55 mile dirt road ride.
As I neared the Dome Reservoir Apple drove by and turned off the main road.  The Dome Reservoir were pretty cool, I had considered camping here in planning my trip and regret now having gotten there or at least to Apple's the night before.  I stopped at the reservoir still hungry and decided to cook while I had access to water to clean my dishes and wash my wet clothes from the day before as the would dry quickly on this dry hot road ride.  I cooked the canned ravioli I bought in Breck finally knowing I could use all the fuel I could get for this detour.
I kept pedaling down the road watching for my turn onto the road I would spend the rest of the day on, "George Bush Drive" as it is called on Google Earth.  I quickly realized this was a very appropriate name for this road when I rode past the first very nice ranch which was lined with Republican Candidate signs.  There was a sign which said the mileage to the "Old Agency Ranch" and I was excited as I figured this would be a public place where I may be able to fill up my water.  I kept pedaling down the road impressed by my pace, I was averaging something around 22 MPH, I knew this was crucial to do on the flat sections as there was much climbing the road that would be slow.
I got to the Old Agency Ranch and it was lined with signs saying it was private land and to stay on the road.  The ranch wasn't as big as I was expecting.  There was a family flying kites and playing outside of the main house which all looked recently redone and very posh.  There was an intriguing little stone building I wanted to know more about.  There wasn't much but the road for a bit with forest on either side and to the left there was some decent sized mountains and to the right some historic wagon roads that go towards Gunnison.  I passed a lot more ranches some very old some new, crossed a very old bridge and filled my water up again.
A Mercedes SUV with Texas plates stopped next to me to make sure I was okay as I pushed up a steep loose hill.  I told him I was fine but asked how far I was from 149 and he said I was about 15 miles from it.  He said I had passed his ranch, if he saw me earlier I could have stayed in his guest house and said there was great camping right before the highway.  There were an endless amount of great camping areas from here one with tons of picturesk lakes.  I stopped at one to fill up my water as I knew I was close to the road and wasn't sure what the water would be like where I camped.  A older couple CJ with Texas plates stopped to make sure I was okay, the woman was very concerned I was hurt as I was again pushing my bike up a steep loose hill.  I said I was fine and again asked how far I was from the road, they said not far at all.  In about 10 minutes I passed another great campground and considered camping here but I wanted to use all the daylight I had.  At the end of the dirt road there was a lady sitting in her car with a dog, she was the first non Texan I'd seen since leaving Apple's, I was surprised when she asked me if I was in the race.
The ride on the highway to the trail head wasn't bad.  There were several firepits/picnic tables to pick from and a brand new USFS restroom, I picked my favorite one, started cooking and set up my sleeping setup on a picnic bench. I tried to start a fire but the wood was all too wet.  The trail book said there was water but I couldn't find it, luckily my fill up just before the road left me with enough water to cook and have hot cocoa.  My butt was the most sore it had been all trip because I finally got to ride more than hike but this was the second easiest day so far.  I felt like I was on the home stretch from here.

Mileage: 68.4
Climbing: 6,719
Sleeping Elevation: 10,915

Stage 6

We woke up, both glad to not have gotten badgered during the night.  We cooked breakfast & filled up our water.  While we were packing up I saw some people about to go on a day ride and told them how I was on the CT and lost my chain lube asking if I can use some of theirs.  One of them gave me a bottle with an eighth left and told me to take, I can't thank him enough.  We set off on what Kyle told me was his favorite trail riding the opposite direction we were going, I wasn't pumped for this climb to say the least.  The first bit wasn't bad but the top of this was the steepest/loosest push yet.  When I got to the top Kyle was waiting and some riders doing the ever elusive "Monarch Crest Trail" stopped to talk to us, asking about our trip so far.
They set off on their way and Kyle gave me some heavy news.  Kyle told me he was done.  I laughed and responded Ya me too.  He told this was as far as he was gonna get on this trip, were gonna get to the next trail intersection and he was going to ride Greens Creek and call his wife for a ride. I asked if he would reconsider, as I couldn't comprehend quitting this far in especially after having a day like the one over Ten Mile and Kokomo I figured it could only get easier.  He told me he had thought really hard about this and he was confident in his decision and that what ever he had that I needed to finish the trip I could borrow.
So we rode down the infamous "Monarch Crest Trail" and I got stuck behind a spode trail that wouldn't get out of the way.  We stopped at the intersection that Kyle was going the other way as me at and went over how fun the trail had been so far.  I took the SPOT device, his camp soap as I had lost mine, and the smaller not yet leaking water filter bag.  He asked if I wanted the last of the whiskey but when we realized there was only 2 shots left we decided it would only be appropriate to take the shot before we part ways.  We high-fived and parted ways.  I pulled out my rain jacket as I knew I was heading for a storm.  From here it was a fun but cold and wet descent down to Marshall Pass.
When I got to the road the rain was coming down hard and I just wanted to get back into the trees and keep riding as I couldn't see an end to the storm in any direction.  I started heading down the road as I thought this is what the sign said. After about a mile I questioned my decision as I hadn't seen at CT signs in awhile and roads like this had been well marked in the past.  At about two miles I realized the trail must have been up the hill when I joined the road, which I confirmed with my Data Book.  This was a valuable lesson that I now needed to know where I am going rather than just following someone.  I pedaled back up the road which now had a stream coming down it.  I got to a Forest Service built bathroom near where the trail was and read the next couple of turns from the data book so I wouldn't keep making mistakes.  While I was there Barry showed up.  He told me he was struggling, had run out of Advil and was going to bail.  I asked where I should camp for the night since I knew water on the trail was scarce for this section of trail and this was prime big cat/bear territory and I was a bit worried going solo with minimal back country experience.  He told me if he was gonna keep going he would be sure to get to Apple's place just before the La Garita detour.  He decided to ride down the road and call for a ride.  Bummer as I was hoping to have someone to ride with some for the rest of the trip.

I decided to keep moving to get out of the storm and headed to the trail.  It was a easy pedal on a mellow uphill jeep road for the most part.  There was a gate to cross the divide on an exposed saddle.  I kept feeling like I wasn't on the trail as I didn't see any signs for awhile but I saw some through hikers that confirmed I was still on it.  There was some super fun rocky descents that I'd read most people hated in their write ups, I loved them on my SJ and ripped down them to Tank Seven Creek where I filled up my water, hoping to be able to make it through the whole Sargents Mesa segment without filling up as I knew the only guaranteed water was off the trail at Lake Baldy where I knew I could camp safely if needed.  The rain had let up but I could see several storms around me.  I was soaked and desperately wanted to change socks but I was worried as I had left a pair drying on my rack that was now soaked that if I put on my last pair of dry socks in wet shoes near another storm I could have a rough day the next day so I dealt with it.
I started the push up the hill, it was steep so I had difficulty pedaling all of it.  I got close to the top of the hill and there was more cattle and some sort of big cat near them.  As I got closer to it, crossed the trail to the field without cattle and I am pretty sure it was a Lynx.  I'd never seen one before but it had pointy ears, broad shoulders and was somewhere between the size of a bobcat and mountain lion.  I knew it would leave me alone after it ran away but I was more concerned about mountain lions stalking me as it was starting to get dark.  I knew I should get as far as I could tonight hoping I could get out of Cat Country since I only had a bivvy.
After several times of thinking I was at the top of the hill I finally got there looking forward to a nice easy pedal over the mesa. NOPE. It was crazy rocky as I had read in all of the write ups.  Some short sections were so rocky I had to hike on flat sections.  The sun set as I neared Baldy Lake and I considered camping as I heard this was a great camp spot but I was determined to make it to Apple's to make the next day easier.  I turned my music up so I wouldn't hear any sounds and be worried about being stalked by a big cat.  I also checked behind me every few minutes and scanned the sides of the trail looking for eyes reflecting back at me
I got to Razor Creek, another good potential camp spot and there was even someone else already camped there.  I considered setting up camp and really wanted to fill up on water but the creek was too low and again I decided after checking my data book that I could make it to Apple's.  I swapped out for some more of my cold weather gear here though as I felt more comfortable near someones camp.  I started on some rocky and fun descents which were especially exciting since it was dark.  I finally got out of the woods onto a road near a field.  I checked my book to figure out where to go.  It was really cold here.  I thought about camping here as I stated to get too tired to keep a good pace but decided this field was probably a prime area for big cats.
I rode down the hill on the road.  I got to a major paved highway and decided camping near here would be ideal as the little amount of traffic may help keep cats away.  I made sure in the book that Apple's place wasn't achievable which it wasn't.  I set up camp behind a fence next to a cattle guard.  I didn't have enough water to cook and wanted to keep a little for the morning.  I packed my food into a dry bag, hung it from a low tree not as far as I wanted to, and set up my sleeping stuff.  I had trouble falling asleep listening to the big cats howl getting closer until a car passed by on the highway then they seemed to get further.  This was a rough day, I was hoping to make it to the end of the La Garita detour the next day and hoping it would be easier of a day.

Mileage: 47.18 mi
Climbing: 8,637 ft
Camping Elevation: 9,720 ft

Stage 5

We woke up and saw Barry was already gone.  We packed up and started riding.  I forgot to put sunscreen on so 15 minutes into riding I stopped to put some one to realize the bag I had my sunscreen, chainlube, & camp soap in was gone.  I thought it must have fallen off a few sections back where it was rocky so I hiked back and ended up walking a full mile back to camp never to find it.  It must have fallen off the bike the night before on the pedal up cottonwood after I had lubed my chain near the base since it was loud.  Kyle had turned around when I didn't show up for 20 minutes.  Right passed where he had been waiting for me we found some more trail magic.  After awhile we got onto a dirt road that was surprisingly outrageous fun which transitioned into asphalt and we knew we were getting close to Princeton Hot Springs which was good as we saw rain clouds.  We got to the store where we ate and waited out the rain.  We considered stopping to shower but figured we may get to Fooses early enough to do that at the camp ground near there.
We started up the road towards the chalk cliffs.  There's some really cool houses along the way.  We knew we were in for a few rough pushes.  The first was steep and un-rideable for us.  We figured it would get better but it was either rocky or steep the whole way.  There was also a lot of confusing signs along the way and we stuck to the book.  There was a surprising amount of trails around here given how remote it was.  It took a long time but we finally got on top of the hill and Kyle recognized where we were and he knew we were close to U.S. 50.  Crossing a river on a bridge 2 pieces of timber spread apart a bit and my wheel dropped in, fork caught, and I went OTB hard.  My bikes stayed on the bridge sitting upside down.  I got lucky my bike was undamaged and all I had was some scratched knees but I was definitely mad at myself for not being more careful.
We got down the final descent which I was overly cautious about.  We crossed the highway and started up the dirt road, Kyle said this is his favorite area in Colorado and he had been coming here every year for the past 7 years so he was excited.  It was getting dark as we pedaled up the road.  All of the sudden a creature ran from the woods straight towards Kyle as he yelled at it to get away.  He unclipped, it hit his bike and ran off into the woods on the other side of the road.  I'm glad I was behind him as I would not have believed that happened without seeing it.  The created looked like a big black marmot but we decided it had to be a honey badger cause it didn't give a shit.  We kept going trying to keep an eye on both sides of the road while staying in the middle.  We decided to get to go a few more miles to the top of the camping area to stay out of the badgers territory.  We found a pretty good spot in an open area near a creek.  We decided to start a fire first to let the honey badger know were claiming the area for the night, to mark our territory.  Then we filled up water, cooked/ate, and went to sleep worried we may get honey badgered.


Mileage: 39.8 mi
Climbing: 6,652 ft
Moving Time: 7:45
Camping Elevation: 9,587 ft

Stage 4

We woke up at the Super 8 both agreeing our legs felt the most sore so far.  Kyle taped/glued our water filter bag and then we went down for their continental breakfast and I ate/took a lot of food.  We were hoping to hit the sauna (mostly so I could dry some clothes in there) but it was closed.  We packed up and pedaled back up to town and got to Cycles of Life as they were opening.  This shop was rad!  Kyle worked with them trying to figure out a shifter while I pulled my rear wheel off to inspect, clean, grease, and tighten the hub.  It was pretty dry and definitely loose and after I got this taken care of I had confidence that my bike may just make it through the whole trail.  Unfortunately they didn't have a shifter for Kyle.  He picked up a new dry bag for his front end setup as his had developed a hole and then we started to head out of town.  At this point it was 11 A.M. and we didn't think we would make it to Buena Vista before everything closed at 6 so I suggested we call a shop and try to pay for a shifter over the phone and have them leave it outside before we lost cell service.  No shops in BV had a shifter but ones in Salida did so Kyle tried to get a hold of a friend of a friend that works in Salida to grab it and meet us in BV.
We started pedaling towards the Mt. Elbert trail-head on some country farm/forest roads which were filled with campers.  We stopped to snack at the trail-head before pedaling across the base of the highest mountain in the U.S. Rockies.  The push up was not terrible and the ride across was an epic journey filled with some really rad Aspen groves.  I was trying to figure out how I could quit everything and build a shack to live in the Aspen groves, the trail through here wasn't bad too.  I also knew I'd have to come back here to ride to the top of the mountain sometime.
We encountered our first Trail Magic and a pretty cool guy who put together the Breck 100 who had put the cooler out.  We started a fun descent to Twin Lakes and stopped to fill up halfway around the lake.  The patch job on our filter wasn't doing so hot so I called ahead to a outfitter in BV to see if they had anything worthwhile for filtration as I didn't own one anyways.  They had the same filter we had that was broken or a filter that was more than I wanted to spend given I'd heard mixed reviews on it.  We decided we would sort it out once we got to town.
We got to the intersection of the Collegiate West trail and headed up what we knew was our last major climb of the day.  A bit steeper and longer than we expected but so was the fun descent on the other side.  We saw rain clouds between us and BV and threw on some rain gear and started down the hill.  A CTR racer pulled up next to me heading down the hill and he was excited that he was having knee problems the day before but it had seemed to be better today.  We chatted while coasting down U.S. 24 until the rain picked up and he stopped to throw on his gear.  We turned off onto the dirt road which was part of the official detour and were both looking forward to warm food and milkshakes.  The tunnels on this road were pretty neat.
We hit the pavement coming into town and immediately ran into a guy on the sidewalk that had been obviously following the race on his laptop in front of a local shop.  He asked if we had everything we needed as the local shop owner lived down the street and could open up if needed.  He also let us know he was the owner of MTB Cast (I had no idea what this was but Kyle did and later filled me in that it was a podcast site and that I had heard it in "Ride The Divide").  We stopped at K's Dairy Delite and both went all in for a burger, fries, and large shake.  We saw Eddyline across the street and knew we had to stop there for a beer before we left town.  We ran into the MTB Cast owner and some CTR racers there and had a beer before heading to the grocery store where we were meeting Kyle's friend to install his new shifter.
It looked like base camp at the picnic table next to the store where some CTR racers were packing their bags full of food.  They recommended 4,000 Calories a day and one even suggested we bring 20,000 Calories in case we get pinned down in a rain storm.  They also gave us the tip that Princeton Hot Springs had a general store that was open until 8 P.M. if we thought we needed anything else.  I bought as much as I thought I could fit in my bags.  I ended up getting more than I could fit in my bags but strapped my trail mix to my rear rack using the net figuring I would free up some room after breakfast.  I ran to Subway while Kyle put on his shifter knowing it would be the last good food I would have with me for the next 4 days.  I managed to fit it in my front bag.  It was about 9 P.M. when we were ready to leave the store but we decided since we were now properly fueled up, the weather and traffic would be ideal, and since we had stayed at a hotel the night before that we should do some riding.  We decided to at least make it to the trail-head and evaluate if we wanted to keep going to Princeton as some racers were saying that was their destination.  The pedal up Cottonwood Pass wasn't bad, there was a cool drive in theater at the base that I definitely want to come back to.  We got to the trial-head and decided that was as far as we wanted to go by headlamp.  We made the first campfire of our trip and a racer that we met at Eddyline named Barry camped at the trail head near us.  Although a big day, this was the easiest day on the trail by far.

Mileage: 61.6 mi
Climbing: 5,133 ft
Moving Time: 7:12
Camping Elevation: 9,395 ft

Stage 3

We woke up around 8 A.M., bit later than we wanted to again. It was very cold where we camped 1000 ft above Breckenridge/Frisco.  We both started our breakfast routine to try and warm our hands on our stoves.  It was cold enough that I opened the hand warmers we found in Kyles kitchen while leaving to discover it was expired and it wasn't working too well.  While we were eating two riders having a casual conversation passed our camp with bike packing gear, we were assuming these were the leaders of the race.  While packing up a third rider came through our camp with a bike packing setup.  We started what we knew would be a tough hike up the ten mile range, we passed through a meadow with water that in the future would be a better camping spot.

We reached the summit after a tough push and ate lunch while talking to a through hiker heading the other way.  There was excellent cell service at the top and we looked at the race leader map.  While yes the three riders that had passed through our camp were in the race and not too far ahead of us we were amazed to discover that first place had passed us during the night and was already closing in on Leadville.  We started our descent off Ten Mile, it was steep, rowdy, & fun.  We crossed the highway to Copper decided we should stop somewhere at the base to fill our water.

We figured we would stop by the base before climbing up it at all and found a public restroom in a parking lot with water and a vending machine.  We saw a bike with gear on it outside, a racer doing the same thing we were, filling up before the climb.  It was the third rider through our camp earlier in the day who was sitting fourth in the race.  He was mentally in rough shape.  He was shocked when we told him he was in fourth as he said he was struggling.  We told him to keep it going as second and third were just in front of him.  We filled up on water, I took a Euro shower, and got some drinks from the vending machine before heading up.  The ride cutting across the base of the mountain was very fun after the initial climb.  We crossed by the main village not even 100 ft above it and agreed if we did this again that we should have stopped there for water/beer.
The climb turned up the hill and was steeper but still for the most part ride-able.  We stopped to evaluate our water and when we started going again Kyle discovered his shifter died.  It could shift up into harder gears but not back down.  He pulled it apart and forced it into his climbing gear but couldn't fix it.  We decided to deal with it in the towns we'd pass through the following days and continued.
The top mellowed out in grade but got rocky as we neared Janet's cabin.  We ran into a fat biker who was on his way down, seems like a torturous trail for a day ride.  We summitted Searle pass a bit concerned given it was about 3 P.M. and we'd heard the storms in this area were rough this time of day/year.  We pushed on towards Kokomo pass. At the high point we saw what seemed like thousands of goats on the higher hills and a trailer with horses, a rancher, and no car/truck to be seen in the field below.  We think this was a one man wool operation.
We herded some sheep as we came through Kokomo pass.  This was arguably the best major descent on the trail, it was loamy and flowy through the woods up top & steep/rowdy through the bottom and I caught my pinky toe on a downed tree but kept the bike upright.  We stopped to fill up on water and I washed my Jersey in the creek.  Our filter bag developed a leak and we knew it would only get bigger.  We finished the descent and crossed the dirt road we were on knowing we were near Camp Hale and nearing Leadville, our destination for the night.
We started up the next hill and Kyle turned around and realized we had just passed Camp Hale.  We turned headed back down to check it out.  I noticed some big pillars and still wish I could see the place in its prime, I really like WWII era fortress's & structures.
At the next trail intersection some riders asked if we were with some hikers with a dog and we instinctively said no. Kyle asked what they looked like and realized it could totally be our friend Reed.  The rider said they definetly had beer so we picked up our pace to try and catch them.  We crossed the highway and hadn't seen them so we were worried we missed them but kept up our pace in order to get to town before 9 when everything closes.  My rear hub started getting loud on the next mellow rail road grade climb and it started to get cold so I stopped at the old 10th mountain ovens to put on my night setup and check my hub to find it was a bit loose.
When we got to the parking lot we instantly saw Reed and his wife Kristen.  We talked with them about our adventures so far and had beer and a giant donut they had as we knew town would be closed by the time we got to town.  We started down to town and realized we'd need all of our cold weather clothing.  When we got to town we had hoped that at least the Pizza Hut or Grocery store would be open but they weren't (I later found out Mondays are cheap microbrew night at the local bar...CRAP!).  Since Kyle's sleeping bag was so wet and we both had issues we wanted to stop by the shop to fix we decided to try and find a hotel.  After some calls we found a room at the Super 8 at the far end of town.  This was definitely the physically toughest day of my life.

Mileage: 47.5 mi
Climbing:7,540 ft
Moving Time: 8:50
Sleeping Elevation: 9,935 ft

Stage 2

We woke up a bit later than we wanted.  We made breakfast and got out of the campground without being asked about fees.  Packing up took much longer than I expected.  It was cold and I was very glad I brought the cold weather gear I did.  We rode along along 285 with barely any bike/breakdown lane to the top of Kenosha Pass.
We stopped at the trail head at the top of the pass and ran in to a fellow ITT rider named Jim.  He went to the campground there to get water and we decided we should wait and fill up after a few more miles of riding as we had just filled up at the campground and figured Jim would catch back up to us then.  We rode the down from the top of the pass which was a blast, a lot of people told me this was the best descent they had ridden on the trail and it was definitely a good one.  At the bottom of the hill there was some meadows with a ridiculous amount of campers, there was so much Bronco's gear out it seemed like they were tail gating.
We filled up on water and Jim caught up with us and we rode the next section together.  Kyle and Jim had heard that the climb up Georgia pass was rough.  We started up it and I was surprised that I was able to ride up most of it, in fact it was the first (and only) time I was in front of Kyle.  The top of the pass was hot and I ended up pushing the last mile or so.  Kyle and I threw on our rain jackets as it was windy and chilly at the top and we saw some rain clouds coming together.  It started to drizzle and we saw Jim was still a few minutes from the top so we decided to get down into the trees for cover and wait for Jim further down the trail, exactly at this moment it started to hail. We rode down half way and waited for the hail to slow down under the trees then kept going to the bottom.  This descent was rad, the top was fast and flowy and the bottom was rocky and rowdy, especially with all the rain.  We lost the trail for a minute and then found where it crossed the road. We kept going for a bit and stopped to fill up again.
Jim caught us and we started riding again knowing we had another big hill to climb.  I didn't realize it until we started going up but I was very hungry so me and Jim stopped to eat while Kyle started up the climb.  While we were eating we started talking to some day hikers who told us they were looking for the trail towards the back of Keystone where their friend lost his life this past Winter in an avalanche.  After another brutal climb we were at the top.
 We started down the hill, another biblicaly fun descent.  Kyle and I caught and passed a lady who was on a race build Cannondale.  While waiting for Jim at the next fork she stopped to ask us what was with all the luggage on our bikes and asked how much they weighed with the suggestion their around 30 lbs, which Kyle and I laughed at as our bikes are probably just about that with no luggage.  She tried to pick up Kyle's bike and we laughed to ourselves a bit when she couldn't get the front wheel off the ground.  We hiked over the final hill and made our way down towards civilization.  We discussed if we should stay in town, keep going, or just stop real quick to resupply at the closest store.
We decided to ride towards Frisco towards this gas station and Jim decided to head that way to get a hotel.  We spent some time at the gas station and filled up and filled up our bags.  I spent $40 on food here, which is the most I've ever spent on gas station food.  Kyle and I found on the map where we wanted to camp and parted ways with Jim hoping to meet up with him the next day.  We eventually got to a good spot to camp near a creek and tried to make a fire but it had just rained so everything was soaked.

Mileage: 47.3 mi
Climbing:7,618 ft
Moving Time: 7:41
Camping Elevation: 10,555 ft

Stage 1

We left the parking lot of Waterton Canyon at 6:45 A.M. on Saturday 8/9/14.  My self and Kyle Quinn were planning to ride the 2012 Colorado Trail Race course and our goal was to make it in 10 days although realistically we knew it could take 11.  Kyle's wife Jenna was going to pick us up down there.  We had some set goals for where to camp every night in order to get to known good water sources and not be too exposed.

The first 10 miles were very easy up the road and gave me a chance to get my legs warmed up and used to the heaviest xc bike I'd ever ridden (alright maybe my old Big Hit or Balfa I used to freeride with may have been heavier).  The top of the first segment was a great view.

I slammed the rest of my water and filled up at  the bottom of the descent since Kyle mentioned we were going to be crossing through a burn area.  The burn area was hot, in some spots I found myself walking even though the grade wasn't too steep.  At one point I looked at my watch and it said 98 F.  I was glad when we got back into the woods.  One of my favorite descents on the whole trip was on segment 2 just after the burn area.  The buffalo creek section was fun.  We filled up again and saw we were in big cat country.
We ran into a fat biker who was going for an ITT solo.  It started hailing soon after we got the road near Wellington Lake but we waited it out under a tree.  The climb to town was rough as we were both getting hungry.
We stopped at the Rustic Station in Bailey for dinner and a beer.  We stopped by a gas station and filled our bags with some more food to get us through the next day.  Also we stopped at Coney Island and I got a shake and some Chili Cheese Fries as I was still hungry.  We tried to decide where to camp and had found a hiking trail we could camp near the bottom of but I saw we were only 30 minutes from Grant and the road was quite so I suggested we get some of our road riding going while it was getting dark and the road was quite so we could try and be off it before it got busy in the morning.  We found a rv campground and after realizing there was no other options in the immediate area we rode in and found a good spot next to a creek in the back of the campground. We expected someone to come by to collect our fees but no one showed so we figured we would find them in the morning.
I ended up drinking ~10 L of water this day.

Mileage: 60.9 mi
Climbing:8,781 ft
Moving Time: 8:20
Camping Elevation: 8,640 ft

Gear Setup

Before I start sharing the details of my trip I want to share my gear setup as it is nothing like what I saw all the CTR racers running.  First off I was on a Specialized Stump Jumper Comp FSR 29er.  While most everyone I saw was on a hard tail or fully rigid, I know there are some other people who do the full trail on full suspensions.  Most people reading this are probably most interested in the luggage setup. 
I decided since I was riding a full suspension that I shouldn't run a seat mounted bag as it would not only put added weight on my rear shock in the form of a 3 foot long lever and make my bike ride not as I want, but it would also more than likely hit my tire at the end of my rear travel.  Initially I was going to get a traditional rack and mount it to the swing arm using a mess of brackets and modifications.  I ended up finding this rack by Thule which you can even add these pannier mounts to if you wanted more space.  This rack mounts right on the swing arm using web straps, but during my test ride the tire kept hitting the rack, bag, and straps causing mixed issues.  I believe the webbing had stretched as the straps were loose and the rack kept sliding back (also causing it to be closer to the tire).  Since you cant fit a multi tool in there to tighten it I tied it to my frame with some rope and it didn't have issues, I then tightened it with a wrench in town but ended up keeping the rope on as it was working so good with it.  On this rack I ran simply ran a dry bag that I picked up from REI, strapped down with web straps I got from Home Depot with a net hooked over all of this that I picked up from Amazon.  The net was crucial in that I used it to dry out my clothes after I washed them in the creeks/lakes along the way.  In the rear bag I had put my spare parts, 20 degree synthetic bag, and extra clothes consisting of: a spare chamois, a microfiber clothe, a mini towel, 2 pairs of socks, underwear, a pair of wool socks (the best piece of clothing I brought on the trip), and a tech shirt.  My friend helped me cut the front of the rack so it would let me get full travel.  My sleeping bag was a bit too tall and caused me to only get 3/4 of my travel and then my seat hit it.
On the front of my bike I ran another custom setup instead of getting the typical Revelate bag.  I found this $2 basket mount online and looped some more straps from Home Depot through the eyelets on this to strategically wrap around another dry bag from REI.  In the front dry bag I rolled an REI bivvy sack, micro down jacket, & jet boil in an old ~20" long Thermarest Explorer mattress.  I also shoved my breakfast food, rain jacket, cell phone, and whatever else couldnt fit elsewhere up here.  I had 0 issues with this setup, I was actually expecting it to move around more or have some kind of issue but it was bullet proof.  Depending on where you run your brakes this setup may not work for you.  I also ran a 32oz water bottle I got from Dicks with my knee brace tucked in behind it, a Revelate Gas Tank bag for my camera/day food, and wedged a seat bag in the frame with any liquids I didn't want to leak on my other stuff.  On my back I ran a Camelbak Blowfish in its expanded mode with a 2L bladder.
I mounted some fresh tires before I left using Stans and Gorilla tape and had no tire issues (although I would run a Larsen in the back rather than the Crossmark I did for added braking power with the extra weight).  I also replaced my cable and housing with some fresh Jagwire stuff which worked great as I didn't break a cable the whole trip (I broke 3 in a month before I left).  I applied neverwet to my shoes, Camelbak, and sleeping bag compression sack.  I ran some Odyssey plastic platform pedals and prototype Timberland shoes.  I ran foam grips and some small rubber bar ends which were both nice additions.  I also ran a WTB Deva saddle which was my favorite bike part I picked up before I left as my butt only got a bit sore after the La Garita detour day.

About me

In my first post I will give some info about myself as I am not your typical bike packer.  I am a System Administrator at a hard drive manufacture.  I am a cat 1 downhill racer, an avid BMX and MX rider, and a occasional trail rider.  I tore my ACL riding motocross at a local track in November and was told I needed surgery to repair it.  The doctor told me to get it as strong as possible and get the surgery.  I asked about not getting it and he said that wouldn't be far fetched.  I called around town and found a place to get a pair of custom fit CTI braces and got some.  Since then I have put over 60 hours on my dirt bike, gone on a week long Whistler trip, and now completed the CT.  The CT was going to be my last hurrah to get my knee strong for surgery.  It went so well I am going to opt out of getting my knee fixed for now.