What Really Happened:

I rolled out of the starting gate, Individual Time Trail Style (ITT), at Waterton Canyon. No problems for the 1st 15 miles. Then I hit the barren, dusty and hot hills of Segment 2. Geez. this was my 3rd time on this route in 1 year. I was not happy. I rolled into Bailey in a very foul mood. What the HELL was I doing? I just survived 45 miles of BORING trails and the 1st half of the Bailey bypass. I had to jump onto Hwy 285 and get my A$$ up to Kenosha Pass. Well, I didn’t. I hung around Bailey and thought about it, for the night.

In the morning I pulled my gigantic head out of my A$$ and rearranged my attitude. I was back in it. I could make up the time and still achieve my goal to finish between the 7 and 8 day mark. All that was required was 3 or 4 long nights on the trail. I could do that. THEN…. my GPS failed. I have no idea how. I lost all tracks and waypoints. The GPS was still working, but no data existed – the data I needed for late night navigation. It’s like my 4GB Micro SDHC memory card failed. But it didn’t. My maps were still there. Just no data. Weird. But this happened before. It happened during my phatpacking trip in the Grand Canyon.

So that threw me for a spin. If you’ve been on the Colorado Trail you know that it is very well marked. But if you’ve spent any nights traveling on the Colorado Trail you also know that confusion happens. Especially when you’re brain is all twisted like mine. AND my brain is really twisted once the sun sets. Sure I could make it to Durango on the CT in 10 days…. in daylight. Did it before, basically. But I didn’t want to see the same stuff the same way and labor through it at a 10 day pace. I needed that GPS data for late night navigation. So I was screwed.

I almost threw in the towel. I decided to call The Padre. I planned to get my phatpacking gear and spend the next week on a solo trip through the wilderness sections of the CT. BUT I called that off. I decided to make the failed race into Judd’s Trail Across Colorado. And that’s what I did. The definition of Judd’s Trail changed on a daily basis, a function of my attitude. All I knew was that I’d be in Durango one way or the other. And I made it to Durango via the ‘other’ way.

The Route:

The route is pretty basic. Start near Denver and end near Durango. My track is Blue. The Colorado Trail – the bike friendly / legal route – is red. The Train ride from Silverton to Durango is Yellow.

I traveled a marginal 407 miles with 44,940 ft of vertical. That’s cool. I was hoping for 500 miles, like in 2011. But every year is different, every trip is different.

Below is my favorite section of Colorado, the area where I grew up. Once I transitioned to tour mode I decided to hit a few key trails / roads – a successful trip would be claimed if I made it to: Segment 22 and the high point of the Colorado Trail AND Engineer Pass. The other trails, roads, sights were just a bonus.

the simple profile, if you care. I’d call it a high altitude tour of Colorado as I crossed 12,000 ft many times.

Lessons Learned:

• When you are caught trapped between massive thunder storms on Kokomo Pass you start to think about the Speed of Light versus Speed of Sound. Well I do.
• The Speed of Light, in a vacuum, is 186,282 miles per second. AND the speed of light is not a constant, seriously, unless you are in a vacuum. Ain’t that cool?
• The Speed of Sound is 768 miles per hour in dry air and 68 deg F.
• If you see lightning and count until you hear the thunder, then you can gauge how close you are to danger. So, do the math….in standard conditions sound travels 1 mile in 4.688 seconds. And there is no delta T, because in these short distances the delay of the light from lighting is irrelevant. Right.
• If you are standing near Kokomo Pass and lightning is all around you and hear thunder less than 5 seconds after you see each flash, you know that a) you better get moving cuz the lightning is less than 1 mile away, b) you better hope the storm is rapidly moving away, c) if you’re all out of hope and the storm is moving towards you – then you better figure something out.
• If you stay at the Snowshoe Motel in Frisco Colorado don’t be surprised if a pack of Marlboros fly out of the sheets. Seriously.
• The price of a hotel room is inversely proportional to a probability of 2AM drunken rampages. I’m just glad my room wasn’t the room that ‘bubba‘ was trying to break into.
• Road bikers in Colorado are pretty cool for the most part. They all wave and say hi. Only a few snarled at me – but I bet those ‘roadies‘ were from New Mexico.
• Riding downhill into a 15 mph head wind is not a whole lot of fun. And keeping a 10mph speed is a bit of work – especially when I was hoping to coast for a few hours from Taylor Reservoir to Almont. 
• Ghost towns are called Ghost Towns for a reason. Trust me. When camping above Animas Forks, I heard footsteps and conversation around my tent. AND I wasn’t dreaming or hallucinating, I think.
• Who ever knew that there are Free Range Sheep in the San Juan Mountains. AND a huge flock of Free Range Sheep kinda of sounds like ghosts and demons when camping above a GHOST TOWN. Seriously.
• To get to Engineer Pass, at 12,800 ft, you must 1st climb through 12,945 ft. Yes, the pass is not at the high point of the road. Funny stuff, really funny. Yeah, I was laughing. Not really.
• If you need a beer AND a tattoo, go to THAT BAR on East Main in Buena Vista. Awesome…. beer and tattoos. 

The Gear:

Below is the ‘weigh out’. I didn’t do the ‘weigh in’ prior to the trip. 32.26 pounds? That’s gross. And a backpack that’s 14.32 pounds. Damn. Oh well, this is a full set of gear with water and 2.5 days of food. This is a full set of gear that will get me through nearly every disaster that I could possibly encounter and have a chance of living through.

And for standard bike packing routes the total weight is much less. I normally don’t ride with much food, I keep it simple when I hit towns on a daily basis. If you wanna know what I carry and the weight of each item, I can send you an updated list. Maybe

I wonder how I’m gonna make this happen. Gotta get rid of this death mortgage – wanna buy my Palatial Palace? That’s the only thing holding me back.

What’s Next:

Well, the Lt Col and I are headed to 24 Hours in the Sage. I may actually race it – meaning I may actually ride through the night and log serious miles. Then again, who really knows. It’s 2012 and nothing goes according to the plan.

Then, in the fall, Mad Rhino and I may bikepack the Arizona Trial. I’m hoping. That’ll be a blast.

After that, a fat bike race down in Tucson. The Sandbox Showdown. Just because.

And then… I have no idea. And everything will change between now and then. Seriously, it will.

The Movies:

just some pics with some tunes.

a face that only a mother could love. and I threw in some of my favorite pics – just to deal with the timing issues associated with the music selection. get it? get it!

and if you know me, like only a few do, you’ll catch my perfect execution of the chin extension / neck extension / head tilt. a few know what I’m talking about. only a few.

if you are really really bored, you might watch this. i wouldn’t, if I were you. but if you must, just listen to Johnny Cash tell it the way it is.

A Few Pics: