White Flag Fiasco

Day 2 (Aug 16)

I woke to the sound of rain on my tent and a searing pain in my upper left chest wall.

“Crap! I guess the bike did some damage after all.” I spent the next half hour trying to ascertain if I'd broken, cracked, bruised, or separated a rib. It loosened up slightly in that time, so I figured it wasn't broken. I decided not to take any pain medication until I could test how it felt on the bike.

In the meantime, the rain had stopped. I got up and underway by 6:30am. It was overcast. Everything was wet but nothing like the night before.

I rolled down to the Camp Hale bunkers and found a few people had slept there. Cameron was at the creek. We briefly chatted about the previous night’s expedition. I was glad to see him warmer and drier. He rode on ahead while I filtered water.

My rib issue was biting here and there but seemed to improve as I went. It would nag me on and off for the next couple of days before fading into the background noise of my overall collection of CTR ailments. 

My trusty steed at Camp Hale.

My trusty steed at Camp Hale.

Camp Hale bunkers.

Camp Hale bunkers.

I wasn’t sure how far I needed to get that day.

It was 60 some miles to Buena Vista but the day’s wilderness detours contained a lot of downhill and road. I figured I’d be there by mid-afternoon at the latest. I was also hoping to keep my effort easy to recharge from yesterday’s late-day push.

Tennessee Pass was beautiful and rideable. The paved road sections that followed were chilly but fast. I didn’t need anything in Leadville, so took the detour and quickly found myself riding up Half Moon Pass Rd.

Antelope on the Leadville detour.

Alexandera caught me there.

She was one of the people whose stories had inspired me to be here. I was grateful for the moment to say hello. Then she was off on her incredible run to the front of the race. I could tell right away that I wasn’t going to see her again. I wondered what it felt like to be her, in this moment, having had so much past success in this race. How did CTR journey number(?) compare to her first? Did she feel pressure? Was it still fun? (Alexandera has since written about all this in the most inspiring way!)

I met Karin from Blue River on the next section. She was aiming to place high in the race and her positive attitude was infectious. She knew this section of the trail well and it was so fun to get the tour and chat with her. We rode together to Twin Lakes where I stopped to take a food break and do a little bike maintenance.

A splendid view over the Clear Creek (of the Arkansas River) drainage.

I noticed the hours were starting to click by…

I still had some short trail climbs to do before the final road section into town. I’d forgotten to install a couple of washers on my rack prior to the race. It was beginning to rattle so I resolved to hit the hardware store before they closed at 5pm. That plan was beginning to come into question.

I finally hit the pavement a little after 3:30pm with ~18 mostly downhill miles to go in the next 90 minutes. No problem, right? Wrong! A big storm was building down valley and its gusty outflow was blasting a wicked headwind right in my face. 

Thus began my super-shitty time-trial into town. I ran out of water. “I’ll deal with it in BV,” I said. I stopped eating. “I’ll deal with it in BV,” I said. When the wind driven rain came 5 miles outside of town, I didn’t stop to put on raingear. “I’ll deal with it in BV,” I said.

Melting down on the “easy day” into Buena Vista.

I spun up on Alpine Lumber at 5:01pm drenched head-to-toe.

They had already cashed out, but the fella let me in. He asked what I needed. I said, “two washers.” He gave me three and wouldn’t take any money for them. Thank you, Alpine Lumber!

One problem solved in the nick of time, but at the expense of a much bigger one that needed immediate attention. I was now hypothermic.

I sloshed my way to the main drag and quickly found the awning of a closed coffee shop that was angled out of the wind and rain. There was a patio table and an outlet. I bag-exploded, puffied-up, and started recharging my devices.

I looked at the weather forecast. It was supposed to continue raining into the night. Then I went through the list of everything I needed to do before leaving town. This included:

• Charging. My battery bank needed a 2.5 hour quick charge to power my navigation and InReach tracking devices through to Silverton

• Laundry. One of my shammies was not agreeing with me, and the other was already filthy from multiple days of riding. I really needed to clean and dry that pair if I was going to wear them the next 3-4 days.

• Food. I needed the calorie dump of a warm dinner plus a 3-day resupply from the grocery store.

• Feet. My shoes, socks and feet had been soaked since the evening before and were screaming for dry time.

I needed a home base. I hadn’t anticipated the laundry task and didn’t have a place where I could simultaneously charge my battery while taking care of the other things.

So, in a moment of weakness, (or race-saving brilliance?) I Googled Buena Vista motels, found the cheapest one, and called. Mike at the Lakeside Motel answered the phone. They were a block or three away from everything I needed. He was super nice - even said he was following the race. At least four racers stayed there that night, including one who rolled into town a little later, and much colder, than me.

The room was perfect. There was a ceiling fan that dried all my tent and sleeping gear within 30 minutes. I got my battery charging in the room while I did a load of wash & dry at the laundromat and picked up cheeseburger dinner at Pancho’s (next door). Then I hit the grocery store, tuned up my bike, repacked, and took a shower. All this took several hours.

When I finally got into bed it was 11:30pm, I could feel my legs thinking they were done with whatever we were up to. I’d also blown my whole pre-race strategy of getting through Buena Vista in 3 hours or less. I was now going to be here 11 hours or more; a huge hit to my seven-day goal, and the late week weather was not looking good.

“I may be dry and warm,” I thought, “but this candy-assing around town could cause a much bigger issue for my race.”

I set my alarm for 4am.

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Route & Elevation Profile

(Camp Hale to Buena Vista | 6:29am-5:02pm)

Distance: 66.64mi | Elevation gain: 5,259ft | Moving time: 7:54 | Elapsed time: 10:33

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2022 Colorado Trail Race

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