Epic Colorado Trail Race
Steve Heading / 19.12.2011
470 miles, 65,000 feet (20,000m) of climbing. Mostly singletrack across the Rockies. Not a challenge to undertake lightly. Three of us decided to give it a go. I blame my brother Andy for talking me into it ...I’ve never ridden a multi-day non-stop event before so this was new territory for me. In the months leading up to the race it was all I was focussed on. Planning and preparation took up all my spare time. Equipment had to be right. Some choices were obvious – my tried and tested Whyte E120 would not let me down. I used Maxxis Crossmark tubeless tyres to handle the rocky conditions.
To keep me on track there’s nothing better than a Satmap Active 10 GPS. Again well tried and tested, I was confident enough not to bother carrying paper maps. On the lighting front I knew Exposure would do the job – it was just a case of which model. In the end I took both Diablo and Joystick. On advice from other bikepackers, to carry all the kit we ordered bags from Revelate Designs in Alaska. They took a long time coming but were worth the wait.
They proved to be superb, and by far the commonest carrying system on the race. Loads of other bits of kit also needed testing – much of it came from <a href="#" onClick="javascript:newsitewindow('http://www.racekit.co.uk')" class="main">www.racekit.co.uk</a>.
Plenty of long rides, overnighters and some multi-day trips meant that by August I had everything sorted and was confident about legs and equipment.
I had a week in Colorado to acclimatise to the altitude. By day five the headaches were gone and I was feeling better both on and off the bike. All set
<b>Day 1</b>
We managed to arrive late, just three minutes before the 6:30 start! Needless to say we set off ten minutes after the 70 other competitors. Not a good sign.
However, it was not long before we started catching up the slower riders and soon we settled into the race flow. Towards the end of the day I found myself riding with fellow Brits John Fettis and John Ross. John F and I got some food eaten, but other John could not – he was sick. My stomach wasn’t great either; I put it down to riding a bit too fast all day. We decided on a bivvy spot for the night and got our heads down at 10:30pm.
<b>Day 2</b>
3:30am alarm. We were keen, but John’s stomach wasn’t – he stayed in bed for longer. John F and I set off up ‘10 mile’. It was. Four hours it took. My stomach wasn’t good so I didn’t eat anything. A big storm approached, but we managed to drop off the ridge before it struck. I had an ‘over the bars’ incident which left me with a bruised left hand.
The descent went through beautiful meadows that were packed with a multitude of different flowers. I was beginning to struggle, lacking energy. Eventually I persuaded John to push on ahead. Slowly into Leadville (the next refuelling town) I knew I needed to eat. However, I managed only a small slice of cake, a coffee and an orange juice. The mountains were shrouded in storm clouds; I was tempted to stay in Leadville!
