THE EXCELLENT ADVENTURES OF J&K

545 miles

K RACES THE COLORADO TRAIL

Colorado Trail Race 2019

Durango —> Denver

Day 1:

Sunday July 28th and it’s 4am. I’ve been up for almost 2 hours now trying in vain to put food and water in my stomach, but with a combination of my nerves along with the fact it was 2ish in the morning, I was failing to eat much.

For the last 364 days I’d been thinking about this moment. Ever since Kristen rolled into Junction Creek in 2018 after 8 days on the CTR, I knew it was my turn in 2019.

We got into Durango Friday afternoon, a full day and some ahead of the grand depart. Waking up in Durango Saturday morning was a huge stress relief, we we’re already here! Some delicious breakfast, water, coffee and a nice stroll around town along with a a shakedown ride to Velorution started the day off right. Running into Bailey and Lewis downtown was a nice surprise. Some lunch and a beer at Animas River brewery was keeping my stress to a minimum. Eric recognized our bikes outside and stopped in for a snack. The three of us hungout at the river for a bit chatting about everything. Some mexican food for dinner and I was in bed (wish I’d have been sleeping) at 9pm.

I had done the work, put in my time and there wasn’t anything left to do but ride my bike back home starting the next day at 4am.

And just like that I was standing with about 75 other racers in front of Velorution cycles in Durango, Colorado. Espresso shots, pastries and hugs are being handed out left and right. Friends were everywhere, that’s the coolest thing about doing something like the ‘grand depart.’ Sure it’s a race, but I’ve gotten to know these people over the years and to be able to share this experience together is what makes the ‘race’ so special.

Before I know it Stephan is giving his usual pre-race speech. The rules are simple. Don’t be a dick, don’t break the law and if there’s a question as to if something is ‘right’ or ‘wrong,’ think about the impact of that action being carried out by 1000 other people.

As we worked our way through the Junction creek singletrack in a congo line towards the climb I was asked to let ‘9’ riders pass. I laughed out loud, pulled over and said “I’ll see you boys later.” We were barely 4 miles into the singletrack with 540 miles in front of us and I knew the long game. I’d been here before and I knew what lay ahead of us. As I passed them all back throughout the day, one by one as they burned out, it put a little spark into my fire and helped me push further.

My biggest training for the CTR was P.M.A. Positive Mental Attitude. Do my own thing and ride my own race. Don’t get caught up in someone else’s pace or their race. It was literally all about me this time.

That first day I found myself riding with Andy, Brett, Josh and a few others. This was a fun leapfrog as I know Andy, Brett and Josh pretty well, but we’ve never pedealed together let alone raced together. Brett and Josh were both on singlespeeds so that kept the pace pretty chill. My goal for day one was to make it to Little Molas Lake and camp before dropping into Silverton the next morning for breakfast.

We made it to Blackhawk pass before dark and the group started breaking up. First Josh’s stomach, then Andy’s. They both opted to stop at different places for the evening and see if they could sleep it off. I was feeling GREAT! We were almost to the final big saddle; Rolling Pass and I wasn’t done yet. The sky was clear, no wind to speak of and the push was on.

After Brett’s traverse of the river log above the raging creek, he decided to stop for a bit.

Brett’s knee was giving him trouble so I moved on to Rolling pass after dark without him. He wanted to weigh his options after a late meal and I needed to keep moving.

I did pass Maricio on the summit and he was shouting at me about something that I couldn’t understand. He then grabbed my shirt and gestured to the ground. I managed to make out that he had lost a similar black long sleeved top and was wondering if I had seen it on the trail. I hadn’t so I continued onward.

Made Rolling pass after 10pm with meteor showers, crystal clear skies and no one around! It was truly stunning. I turned off my lights and just stood there for a minute to take it all in. I had ‘almost’ made my goal and it was all downhill from here!

Ha, it’s never, ever ‘all downhill.’

Made it down the pass to water, filtered and proceeded to take a wrong turn down Engineer Mtn trial, instead of the CT, unknown to me at the time. Jammin’ along, feeling good about day one’s progress I kept dropping, and dropping. I remember thinking “hmm, I don’t remember this but I’ve never ridden this section in the dark and it had been a year since me last ride off Rolling Pass.

About 2 miles and 2k+ of descending before realizing my mistake after launching off a concrete reinforced section of trial. Wait a minute… A drop, concrete. I surely don’t remember this. A quick glance at my Garmin revealed my lapse in judgement. Stunned. Defeated. Laughing hysterically at the sky. I cannot believe I just made that mistake! I was crushed by the waste of time and more importantly, calories. I would push my bike right back up for the next hour. Damn.

It was now almost midnight on day 1 with over 20hrs of riding and 12k of climbing with my mistake.

Finally returned to where I left the trail and made camp at 1am. After setting the bike down and removing my hip pack, I came to the realization that I had left the zipper open after filtering water and subsequently lost my prescription sunglasses on the descent down Engineer Mtn trail. Shit, that was an expensive mistake but one that I wasn’t about to descend again just to hope to find. I can buy new glasses in Silverton and most importantly I still had my clear prescription sunglasses that would play a vital role in my finish.

I sat there in my bivy with small glaciers of snow and a crystal clear high country lake in front of me. The sky put on a show as I waited for my water to boil to make a chicken noodle soup packet before laying my head down for day 1. I laughed outloud and said ‘alright Joe, let’s get all the stupid shit outta the way on day one!’

Totals: 74 miles, 14k+ of climbing.

Day 2:

I had set an alarm for 4am but I repeatedly pushed snooze and finally awoke around 5:30 to a beautiful sunrise. I was elated to be on the ‘other’ side of Rolling pass come sunrise, but I also came the realization that it was getting later and I had a huge day, again, ahead of me and I needed some motivation. Enter instant coffee! Boiled water as I packed up everything, drank hot coffee while trying to eat a pro bar.

Got rolling in the cool morning air and had a nice rolling descent to the Little Molas lake trailhead. My memory of this being ‘all downhill’ off Rolling Pass was far from true. The rolling undulations of the trial keep things interesting for miles upon miles.

Finally popped out at the parking lot and stopped to say hi to Craig Fowler and let him snap a picture of me. Chatted for a bit and rolled out to Silverton for breakfast around 9am.