The Colorado Trail Race is both brutal and beautiful. The beauty of the trail, the mountains, and the vistas allows one to keep pushing (literally) over pass after pass after pass.

Unfortunately, this rider was not able to keep pushing to the finish. I had to stop my race on the third day in Lake City. But not before I saw some of the most amazing scenery while riding alongside some great people.

The picture above is my favorite from the trip and one of my all time favorite pictures. Wildflowers, thin ribbon of trail, snow, mountains, and sunshine. All of the things that make me happy on a bike.

Going into the race, I planned for patience on day 1 to ensure I didn’t create Achilles issues like I did at the beginning of the Tour Divide. With a 4 AM start, I stopped as day faded into night, with the rushing waters of Cataract Creek to sing me to sleep. Sixty-five grueling miles, most of them uphill.

Unfortunately, the writing was already on the wall regarding my future in the race. During the day, I was not able to eat much food while on the move. This problem came up on my final few long training rides before the race. I tried to ignore it during training, thinking it was just something I ate or me not feeling very well.

After waking up at 4:45 AM and making my way to Silverton, I felt better. Coffee and a big burrito has that effect. Things felt fine going up Stony Pass with Joe Tonsager and Josh Uhl. As the day continued, my eating problems returned. My bike and my gear performed perfectly. The rider with no calories began to crumble physically and mentally.

The views, like this one above Taylor Lake, continued to inspire awe and reward the effort.

After forcing and barely finishing a freeze dried meal for dinner on day 2, I went to sleep hoping for a better day 3. Wishful thinking does not overcome a broken body. Even more frustrating is a broken body that’s broken on the inside where you can’t determine the real issue.

Waking up on the morning of day 3, I discovered my GPS unit still on and draining batteries for the second straight night. At that point, I knew day 3 would be my final day of the race. Running out of batteries is not that big of an issue by itself. For me, it was an indication of my mind not working well combined with the knowledge of my physical self also not being well.

But I still had to ride and reach the road that would take me to Lake City.

This picture of Brett Stepanik on day 2 sums up my race. Tired and worn out while being surrounded by high alpine beauty. Brett and I crossed paths after both of us ended up dropping out. That is a great story for another post.

In the end, I covered 130 miles of the course and enjoyed the short time I had on the trail. After returning home and visiting my doctor, she diagnosed my problem as adrenal fatigue and the eating issues as a symptom of the fatigue. Too much stress and exertion in the months leading up to the race submarined my chances at finishing.

A month later, and I still struggle with energy. Some days I feel better and some days are much worse with barely the energy to get off the couch. The recovery path is slow, much like pushing a loaded bike up a pass at 12,500 feet on the trail.

A quick post to document my CTR gear least.

JPaks bags all around. Light on the front.

Gas tank bag, two feed bags. Enough to carry lots of food and my glasses to read the GPS.

Final decisions

1. Switched to a down bag and a Klymit X Frame sleeping pad
2. No bear spray
3. Packing a stove for coffee and freeze dried meals. This choice forces me to take a break during the day. If I carry the meals, I’ll be inclined to stop and eat them, and also spend less time in towns because I can cook feed when I want to.
4. Bringing partial food for days 2 and 3. This allows me to bring food options that I know work for me. I’m also less dependent on Silverton resupply options because I only need to get a few items for the push from Silverton to Buena Vista.

Gear that stayed the same since the 2014 Tour Divide

1. Bivy and cuben fiber tarp
2. Aero bars. I use them to push my bike and there are a few detour areas where I can take pressure off of my hands
3. ETrex 20 GPS unit
4. Short sleeve down jacket for extra layer
5. Full length rain pants. I debated going to capri length but decided to go with full length given my history with bad weather.

 Gear List

Click the icon below to open the spreadsheet. I included the weight of water (3L in backpack and 1L in soft bottle) to show the worst case scenario. My plan is to fill up the soft bottle only when I want to make a meal or stop for the night and have water at my campsite. Throughout most of the day, I can remove that 33 oz of weight from my frame bag.

While preparing for the Colorado Trail Race, I re-organized my gear placement to account for more singletrack riding. For the Tour Divide, I aimed to place all gear on my bike with the bulk of the weight on the handlebar. The setup worked well for the limited technical riding on the Tour Divide.

For the Colorado trail, most of my gear is packed in a different place. What was in the front is now in the back. What was in the frame bag is now in a backpack. Yes, a backpack has been added to my gear for the CTR, mainly to carry and access water. I wanted my hydration reservoir easily accessible while riding technical trails. Carrying water and other items in a backpack also keeps the bike weight down to hopefully help with long hike-a-bike sections.

What’s been added

Backpack

Ultralight stove setup (must have coffee, must always have coffee)

Under downtube water bottle cage and bottle

What’s been removed

Bear spray

Maps

What’s the same but in a different location

Hydration reservoir (moved from frame bag to backpack)

Clothing (moved from seat bag to handlebar bag)

Down short sleeve jacket (moved from handlebar bag to seat bag)

Sleep system – ZPacks tarp, Borah bivy, Big Agnes sleeping pad, down quilt (moved from handlebar bag to seat bag)

Food (still in gas tank and frame bag)

Rain gear (moved from seat bag to handlebar bag)

Full Spreadsheet

Click the picture to the left to access the full spreadsheet. Some weights are not completely accurate, and some gear is bound to change locations again. As I get closer to the race start, I’ll post a final spreadsheet.

Once major change under consideration is switching from a quilt back to a sleeping bag. Another is forgoing my inflatable pillow for a stuff sack filled with extra clothing.

The bikepacking gear puzzle is strewn all over my garage, waiting for the edge pieces to slide into place followed by the inner pieces soon after. At least I have identified which pieces are edges. That’s an important first step.

How do you train for 500+ miles of technical mountain terrain? I’m using my 2014 Tour Divide training log as a guide, and using a very similar mantra.

“When there is time, get outside.”

I personally don’t prescribe to a training plan because too many other things in my daily life are scheduled. I want to have some flexibility and mostly enjoy my riding rather than suffering through a training day.

Of course, when three angry turkeys decide to chase, training involves a set of unexpected intervals.

For the Colorado Trail Race (CTR), I am focusing on hours, not miles. The goal is more time riding and running. I definitely plan to keep doing long-ish runs up to race day so I’m better prepared for all of the hike-a-bike sections.

Not a great start. My weekly hours need to get above that 10 hour threshold soon. Luckily, the CTR is not until late July vs. an early June start for the Tour Divide.

On the positive side, this year, Colorado has provided plenty of chances to test my snow biking and biking pushing skills. Both of the are potentially valuable CTR skills.

When Saturdays provide my best chance for a long ride and it snows, I manage to ride and push my bike through several hours of trails. I try to follow that up with more biking or a snow run on Sunday.

In all my years of mountain biking, I have been chased by dogs, crossed paths with a mountain lion, and been blocked by a cow on the trail. But never have I been chased by a turkey.

That all changed last weekend.

While pedaling up a dirt road, I noticed a sound. Not a squeak like my chainring made during the ride. Not a hum like a car or truck. This sounded different. At first I thought my bike had developed a new sound. Then I thought it might be an electric golf cart coming up behind me.

So I turned to look. No golf cart in sight.

Instead, I saw three turkeys sprinting towards me, gaining ground with each odd step.

I did what any startled cyclist does in that situation. I shifted up two gears and pedaled harder.

With a gap opened up, I relaxed slightly until I reached the end of the road. The turkeys continued to follow me around the dead-end, and kept on chasing as I coasted down the hill.

I managed to snap a picture after several attempts on the downhill. Turkeys can catch you much faster than you think.

After turning onto another road with a downhill, I escaped the turkeys. But this road also dead-ended. So I turned around and headed towards home. The turkeys, still in hot pursuit, were happy to see me again. They turned around and tried to chase one more time.

This time I outran them for good and stayed away from dead-end roads.

Have you ever had an encounter with an aggressive turkey? What other unusual animals have you crossed paths with on a ride?

In the beginning, I packed my sleep system on the handlebars because it did not fit anywhere else.

From that first day, I always packed my gear this way. Sleep system on the handlebar, clothes in the seat bag, food and water in the frame bag.

Until now….

Swapping the sleep system to the seat bag and clothes to the handlebar bag makes more sense.

Why?

1. The primary reason is ease of packing. I use the sleeping gear once a day, and the seat bag is the least accessible bag on the bike. So it makes sense to put the least used gear in the least accessible bag. My sleeping pad may get moved into the frame bag as part of this change. I’m still trying to figure out that one piece.

2. On a bikepacking trip, I change clothing items several times per day. My jacket gets stowed after the morning sun makes an appearance. My arm warmers and long gloves get packed away when the sun rises higher in the sky. During an afternoon thunderstorm, I pull out my rain jacket before storing it when the rain stops. And finally, my down jacket gets unpacked in the evening while setting up and sitting around camp.

With this many transitions, using the rolls-down closures on a handlebar bag without dismounting the bike is much easier and more efficient. With my clothing in the seat bag, I am forced to get off the bike and adjust multiple straps.

3. Storing gear differently also affects weight distribution. The seat bag remains the same weight during the day because I never access it while on the go. The front-end weight changes throughout the day. However, it is lightest at the beginning and end of long days in the saddle. A lighter front-end helps with technical riding and lifting the front tire over rocks on hike-a-bike sections. (Participating in the Colorado Trail Race keeps percolating in my mind, and I know there will be a lot of hike-a-bike)

None of these changes make me a faster rider. Hopefully, they make me a more efficient bikepacker. Worst case, it’s a failed experiment.

Join me and fourteen other authors Sunday August 19th at 2:00 p.m. to hear about their books.

Douglas County Libraries in Castle Rock, Philip S. Miller branch

100 S. Wilcox, Castle Rock, 80104

Jon Wolfe – The Domestic Dominion. An isolated southwestern Colorado town denies a development company the opportunity to buy all surrounding land to build thousands of houses. The company president doesn’t take no for an answer. A group of teens notices unwanted changes taking place. When one of their own is kidnapped, they employ their lifetime knowledge of recreational sports to save the town. (video) JonWolfeAdventureNovels.com

Dow Phumiruk – Mela and the Elephant. Mela sets out to explore the river near her village but quickly ends up in trouble when her little boat is swept downstream into the jungle. She encounters a crocodile, a leopard, and some monkeys but they can’t help her get back to her village. When an elephant arrives, Mela learns a lesson about kindness. This new fable is told with authentic Thai customs and includes a note with more Thai traditions and language. (video) ArtbyDow.com

Katie Sanders – The Making of a Medicine Woman: Memoir of Bird Woman. Katie’s memoir follows her life as a medical intuitive and herbalist. As growth and challenges take place, she is guided by Native American elders, Celtic Shamans and is finally able to accept her destiny. WhiteWolfHerbs.com

Diane P. Ferraro – The Soulful Experience: Take Your Company form So-So to Soulful and Exceed the Expectations of Your Customers and Employees. Delivering a soulful experience involves a conscientious effort to provide an unforgettable memory to customers. It describes anything from a visit to your website, shopping in your store, using your salon service to attending a branded event. A cohesive team that genuinely cares about the customer can only accomplish this. This book provides suggestions to business owners, executives, and managers who are ready to take steps to stand apart from the competition. TheSoulfulExperience.com

Dave Watts – The Powerful Little Real Estate Book. Becoming a landlord might seem impossible. This book offers tips and how you can follow Dave’s plan to work toward this goal. It includes questions to determine if this path is right for you, how to obtain money for down payments and strategies to cover the cost of real estate ownership and how to purchase and invest in real estate. ForRentByOwner.com

Lisa Reinicke – Bart’s Escape Out the Gate. A child forgets to close the gate and his pet dino gets out causing a big mess. The child has to get creative to capture the dino and get him back in the gate. Then the cleanup begins to take care of what was broken because of the mistake the child made. LisaReinicke.com

Felix Cipher – Heaven’s Demons. In the strange and magical world of the Middle Realms, there are diverse races of people that inhabit the lands. Humans, elves, dwarves, and many more civil creatures thrive on this planet. However, the different races are viewed on a spectrum, and at the very ends of it, there are seraphs and demons. One exalted, and one feared. It is often taught that a person can only be either good or bad, and that anything in between isn’t really relevant or real. It isn’t easy for Dacitrynn, who grew up in a very uncomfortable spot his whole life. Being a crossbreed of an angel and a demon isn’t something that is welcomed in the world, especially since it is forbidden. After a lonely childhood of growing up strange and outcast with the seraphs, it is finally time for Daci’s life to change. HeroesOfMidaria.blog

Sunny Weber – The Dog at the Gate: How a Throw Away Dog Becomes Special. This middle-grade children’s story is about Max who is rejected because he is different. Finally he finds his human who teaches him to harness his energy and intelligence and he heads to the national obedience competition. Told through Max’s voice, readers will meet several unforgettable dogs and humans. Sunny will also talk about Beyond Flight of Fight: A Compassionate Guide for Working with Fearful Dogs that was endorsed by Dr. Temple Grandin.  SunnyWeber.com.

Izna Manzoor – Valley & The Faded Souls. In this book, the storyteller narrates an extraordinary family folktale. The story takes place in the foothills of the Himalayas, in the valley of Kashmir, marred by violence. The war walks uninvited into the house when one of the family members goes missing. A tale of a struggle in finding the disappeared. A tale of new-face of war.

Jeannine Bernardi – A Friendship Forever. This heartwarming story of friendship and the life of chimpanzees helps children understand and cope with loss, change and emotions. Beautiful illustrations and a Seek and Find will both assist in communication about loss. Ayo and Neo are best friends growing up in the African rainforest. They spend their days playing, finding food and grooming one another. But the forest is changing and one day Neo doesn’t come home. Ayo grieves for his friend and is helped by a wise old chimp. He learns that Neo can be found all around him in the rainbows, the wind and the ground. He learns to honor Neo by doing things he loved to do. FivePathsPublishing.com.

Andy Amick – A Dream Worth Living. On Friday the 13^th under a full moon and falling rain, Andy Amick completed the first day of the 2014 Tour Divide Race. Even with a year of training and preparation, the physical and mental challenges pushed him further than he thought possible. During the 2,700 mile race from Canada to Mexico he climbed mountain after mountain, witnessed stunning sunsets, encountered hospitality of countless people, and crossed paths with a mountain lion. This is his story to race in the Tour Divide and reach the finish. PaleSpruce.com.

Teri Karjala – Be the Magic of You: Tools to Transform Your Life. Foreword by Jack Canfield. Teri shares her most dynamic, outside-the-box, practical tools that have completely transformed her clients’ lives by eliminating past trauma, hurt, fear and failure which has limited them. It offers the How-To tools to make the changes rather than just talking about change. Through these practices, readers discover the power within to create the life they want. TalkingWithTeri.com

Shannon H. Andrus – Teaching Girls: How Teachers and Parents can Reach Their Brains and Hearts. This book reveals the type of teaching that engages girls intellectually, fosters creativity and bolsters their confidence. Drawing on descriptions of great lessons written by nearly 2,000 students and teachers, it offers a practical guide to anyone seeking ways to help girls succeed in school and beyond. TeachingGirlsWell.com

Diane Sawatzki – Manyhorses Traveling. Kate MacKenzie and Victor Manyhorses reunite for more adventures with Bear and Little Eagle in this time travel sequel to Once Upon Another Time. Kate and Victor’s relationship explodes under pressures of modern life. Will he return to 1863 to his tribe; will she try and follow him and rescue sixteen-year-old Doozie the saloon keeper? PalmerDivideProductions.com.

Tam John – A Fresh Wellness Mindset: Personalize Your Food Life & Find Your Truth about Gluten. This book empowers and educates people to make better choices, because in our choices we can find habits that can create great health and wellness. A Fresh Wellness is written for the layperson, although it is scientifically referenced. The book is loaded with tips, ideas, and recipes for everyone to navigate finding their personal wellness groove abundant with healthful food. It busts the myth that eating well means food void of enjoyment. Vital food life isn’t about a diet or deprivation. TamJohn.com.

Next week, my kids start a new school year. Way too early to start if you ask me, but they didn’t ask me. Not only do I have two boys going to school, but my dear little singlespeed will be turning 18 and “graduating” this year.

Dear Bianchi, oh the places you will go my little green singlespeed. I vividly remember the day you became part of the family. I saw you at Turin Bikes in Denver, and knew you were the one for me. With a name like C.U.S.S (Celeste Ugly Single Speed), you were perfect.

From the first ride, you always responded “yes” to anything asked of you. Commuting – check. Uphill – check. Even when I began riding longer distances, all you ever asked for was a chain lube and some air in your tires. A great companion on the trail.

Even in your teenage years, your rebellion led to more fun.

Remember the first Jones H-Bar? And the switch from flat pedals to EggBeaters? You even dabbled in paracord handlebar wraps.

You blazed your own trail, never following the trends. When everyone else experimented with fat bikes, disc brakes, carbon this, carbon that, electronic shifting, and dropper seat posts, you stayed true to your self. Simple, old-school, rigid mountain biking.

You even joined me on the adventures of bikepacking! Do you remember that first night when I woke up to a herd of deer at 3AM? No you don’t because you kept laying on your side during the whole thing. I can’t complain. You never objected to carrying a frame bag or a homemade seat bag.

After all of the rebellion, bikepacking, and a few races, you decided to go back to your original look (complete with a few clumps of mud and many more scratches). It’s almost like it’s 2001 again. Except we are both “wiser”, you have 2 little human brothers, and Facebook sold all of our data.

One day, you’ll be considered vintage. All of the hipsters living at Union Station will be clamoring for you.

Until then, where will you go? Will it be commuting, back to racing, or maybe a stint on the Colorado Trail?

The adventures ahead are yours for the taking. Have fun along the way.

Love,

Dad

PS – If you are in the Denver area, join me and 14 other authors on August 19th at 2PM for the Douglas County Libraries local author showcase. We will discuss our books which range from fiction, children’s, nonfiction, business, parenting, and more.

A year ago, I clicked the “Publish” button, sending my Tour Divide book into the world. Two years of writing, and learning to accept my wife’s edits (I still hate that purple pen) came down to a single mouse click.

Thank you to everyone who bought the book, or thought about reading the book, or even looked at the book on Amazon and skipped over it for another book. Thank you for making time to read the story. Thank you for sharing the book with your friends and family.

Huge projects like a book or a 2000+ mile bike ride come with plenty of unknowns. You don’t know if you’ll finish or how it will be received. I have enjoyed hearing stories from friends of friends that read the book. And hearing how my dad has passed out books to almost everyone he knows. And hearing from others who said reading the book reinforced their classification of me as crazy.

Whatever your reason for reading the book. Whatever your reaction to the story in the book. Thank you. I hope you found some inspiration or discovered a place you’d like to visit.

A year ago, I put the finishing touches on my first book about the adventure of riding the 2014 Tour Divide.

During the race, my friend Brion texted me quotes. I received them when reaching a town that had cell service. Some quotes were funny like “Each year, hundreds of trees grow because squirrels forget where they buried their food.” Others were serious or excerpts from a poem.

Since it’s almost the one year book anniversary, let’s bring back some of my favorite quotes paired with some of my favorite pictures from the race.

Why are they my favorites? They show that effort is the main reason we accomplish goals. It’s not skill or genetics or luck. Instead, it’s all about continued effort day after day.