2014 Colorado Trail Classic

6:08 start

On Saturday July 19th, I raced the 7th Annual Colorado Trail Classic (formerly the CT Jamboree) This race, coordinated by my friend Ian, was started in 2008 as a fundraiser for MS. Begining in 2013, the two day CTJ morphed into the one day CTC. Part of the Colorado Endurance Series, the Colorado Trail Classic was scheduled to be the second of two races I would use as "shakeouts" for this year's Colorado Trail Race. I want to thank Ian for sponsoring and leading such a great event.   Also, Lars and Laura who endured the aptly dubbed "Lord of the Flies" Hotel Draw Aid Station- their support for the racers was amazing!

All smiles. 2014 Colorado Trail Classic

I raced a heavy kit as this was another chance for me to simulate CTR conditions. I had a sour stomach for the first two hours of the day that definitely slowed me down as well. I need to not eat so much/so late for dinner the night before these races.  I will definitely enjoy coming back to tackle the Classic without the need to use it as a CTR shake down. In future years, carrying only clothes and day chow, I can move faster and maybe enjoy this race? But that's not what 2014 was about....

I logged 13 hrs. 17 minutes of moving time and 87 minutes stopped to come in at 14:44 for the day. I'm good with that but in retrospect, my FAT (fucking around time) should be down around 1 hr. I'm confident I could/can find the 20 minutes of FAT to trim....Biggest time suck mistake on the day was probably because I pushed my final water resupply coming off Indian Trail Ridge until it was too late. Skipping a sure source up high to try and pass other racers lead to an unplanned recovery stop to address dehydration and cramping. It was so stupid too! I was foolishly trying to close the distance on all the young bucks that were in front of me all day. And I did close and pass when they stopped at Taylor Lake to fill up after the push from Hotel. However, I  charged down Sliderock>Champion Ventures> intent on pushing to the upper Jct. Creek bridge before filling up. But I couldn't make it. Cottonmouth and cramps forced me to take a break only ten minutes after dropping off the Champion Ventures road. Luckily I had a Coke to sate my thirst as I hastily tried to stretch out my tired calves and hammys. Eventually, I made it to the creek for more water- only to be passed by the three gentleman as I treated my bottles. I followed these guys all the way to the finish but couldn't stay with them on the final downhills/final switch backs. All in all, I'm happy that I was able to press with a full kit but I got sucked into some "late- in- the race standings, ego driven mindset" that proved detrimental to personal needs and self care. Race my race! Keep the ego in check buddy....but I know this all, right? 

As I spent the day shadowing the young bucks, Bonecrusher shadowed me on course. Tom took a nasty fall descending the scree off of ITR and ended up finishing about an hour later with a bashed shoulder and broken bike.  Here are the Results for the 2014 Colorado Trail Classic 

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I hope more people come out to race this monster next year. I had always thought the CTC was a far easier ride than the Durango Dirty Century. Reflecting upon the Dirty vs. Classic comparison,  I'll never, ever dismiss the CTC as easier than the DDC. Both of these races are beasts with their own, unique challenges. Yes, there's less elevation gain on the CTC. But the DDC has nothing on the 75 miles of single track and an average course elevation over 10k on the Classic. Conclusion: CTC is definitely as hard as the DDC...but in different ways-(no pavement, up high longer etc!) Overall, I'm happy to report that everything  (bike and gear related) worked flawlessly and my system is all set to go for August 10th...however, we did have a small ankle problem. 

TBT (throw back trauma)-
 Looking good Sept 2012

Everything had felt good on the trail except for the afore mentioned sour stomach and a lingering ankle tweak that happened during a hike with my dogs the week prior to the race. I also had been contemplating purchasing insoles for my new 5 10 Impacts because they felt a little loose. We'll the shoes' poor fit and the previous injury, compounded by 75 miles of charging hard, really pissed my chronicly unstable ankle off. So much so that my body decided to shut me down the following evening. By Monday night, I was on crutches with the ankle back in a walking cast. The ligaments had been abused and now that the race was 24hrs. over, my body was protesting big time. I got the order to spend the next 10 days weight off, doing PT/accupuncture and slowly working the kinks out. Surgery was again recommended. FYI- The first time surgery on this ankle was recommended to me was in the summer of1990, when I suffered the first of many, debilitating soccer injuries. For 24 years, I've intentionally chosen to use PT and strentgh conditioning regimines to avoid going under the knife. I experienced a gnarly injury too the SAME ANKLE on Labor Day Weekend, 2012.

It would appear that my ankle warrantee has expired and I'm running out of options. There's no time before the CTR to do anything but heal it up, protect it for the long haul and go on it. Lots of ice and medicating for the lingering pain.

We'll see how it goes.....I should be back on the bike for real this Saturday (8/2-8/3). I've been single speeding around town since last Sunday but nothing more than 10 miles of river trail. I plan to do a 20 miler/40 miler on Sat/Sun and we'll see how it responds.....the timing is for sure poor but I wasn't looking to add much more to my conditioning. I'm confident that I've got pretty much all the strength and endurance I'm gonna established by the CTR.  Hopefully the weekend rides can give me the confidence I need in my lower leg. Then it'll be time to rest, taper and make sure I can proceed forward while not re-aggrevating this chronic injury. I'll reflect more on this in my final entry before the race. For now, I've got about 10 days to solidify everything. Not sleeping much as you can probably imagine. It's been a big summer and my final exam is right around the corner. I hope I'm ready....

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