One Dude, Two Wheels, Three days on the CoTrail

[Christophe Noel]

I just returned from a nice solo run from Silverton to Durango on my singlespeed. I had a total blast. Everything went smoothly as I knocked down the miles better than expected. Weather was primo, but I completely fried above tree line. Not a cloud in the sky for 3 days. Seriously sunburned.



Did I say sunburn?

 

[Christophe Noel]

I want to thank Trailsurfer for the shuttle offer, but my plans at the last minute were in constant flux.

By the way, I spent a couple nights chilling with marmots, picas, chipmunks and what I think was a small black bear only to arrive in Durango just as a thousand Harley riders rolled into town. I planned to stay in Durango and cool my sunburn with some cold beers, but decided to hit the road and head home. I woke up Saturday 30 singletrack miles from Durango and went to bed that night in my own bed in Prescott, 7 hours away. Looooong day.

 

[efuentes]

Great photos, Thanks.

I cant wait for the weather to cool down so I can go camping down here.

Saludos

 

[Christophe Noel]

Just realized I posted most of the fun and fast sections. Believe me, there were many sections that would make a billy goat skeered.

 

[3konas]

I would sure like to hear more about this trip. Looks beautiful. I've ridden small parts of the Colorado Trail, Durango and Monarch pass many moons ago. Just last week, over a campfire, a friend and I decided that next summer we would take a week and ride as much of the trail as we could cover in that amount of time. We haven't hashed out any other details yet, leaving the mulling over maps for possible start and ending points, for this winter at the local brewery and pints of Bifrost.

How about your pack system? Would love to hear your impression of them. I've only seen them in pictures and I've been curious just how much they hold. It appears you went lite, what did you take for your three day trip and do your pictures show your bike fully laden. Thanks

Brent

 

[RHINO]

awesome trip man,, those last pics are total hike-a-bike for me.

 

[Christophe Noel]

awesome trip man,, those last pics are total hike-a-bike for me.

Here's some serious hike-a-bike turf. Look close and you can see the switchbacks weave skyward up the climb. This is Indian Ridge, the final insult. It climbs up to just a whisker under 13,000 feet. It's a solid two hours of ride 200 yards, push 20 minutes, then repeat. It's some seriously craggy, rocky "Hans Rey" trail.


In fact, there's lots of hike-a-bike on trips like these. If you don't accept pushing now and then, you'll never survive bikepacking. I actually don't mind the pushing. Since I don't use panniers (and never would) it's not bad to push.

 

[Christophe Noel]

How about your pack system? Would love to hear your impression of them. I've only seen them in pictures and I've been curious just how much they hold. It appears you went lite, what did you take for your three day trip and do your pictures show your bike fully laden. Thanks

Brent

I went a tad heavier on this trip than I normally would since I was solo and weather up there is not so predictable. The frame bag pictured is a Carousel Design Works bag. I'm a huge fan. For longer trips I can fold in a big seat bag and a 20 liter bar bag. For this trip I used just the frame bag. This frame bag is part of the very system I featured in this year's Overland Journal Gear Guide if you want to see the full set up. Great system. Inside that bag I had all of my food, repair kit, pot, NeoAir sleeping pad, stove, 1-liter Nalgene bottle, and a few odds and ends.

On my bars I had my Nemo GoGo LE Bivy/tent. That thing rules. I definitely never felt it was there.

On my back I had an Arc'Teryx Axios 25 pack (super light). My pack was only about 60% full. In there I had a Mt Hardwear Phantom 32 sleeping bag, RAB rain coat, base layers, SteriPen water treatment light, 3 liter reservoir, hat, pump, and a few odds and ends. Aside from the water, my pack load was mostly fluffy stuff. Pretty light. I like balancing the weight between the bike and the rider. Too much on the bike and it becomes a bear to push, lift or even ride. Same for too much on the rider. The key to a good pack is a comfy belt. Not to carry the load, but to make sure the pack doesn't ********** you in the back of the head every time you launch a water bar.....and you should be able to launch water bars.

Even with my cell phone, book, iPod and doo-dads, the total weight without water was only 13 pounds. I was very able to carve, shred, jump, wheelie, whatever. Going light comes with simple pleasures like ease of lifting your bike over fallen trees, etc. I started the ride off Molas with a group of 5 guys doing the same trip. They all had panniers and 45 pounds each. They mocked me...seriously mocked me....for not only having just 13 pounds of kit, but riding a singlespeed. They had a 45 minute head start and within two hours I was easily 4 miles ahead of them. Some dudes just don't get it.

 

[RHINO]

They mocked me...seriously mocked me....for not only having just 13 pounds of kit, but riding a singlespeed. They had a 45 minute head start and within two hours I was easily 4 miles ahead of them. Some dudes just don't get it.

but you have secret super powers, they most likely did not know this.

 

[1speed]

Very cool! I'm looking forward to doing something similiar soon. How far is that from Prescott?

 

[Christophe Noel]

Very cool! I'm looking forward to doing something similiar soon. How far is that from Prescott?

Durango is only seven to seven and a half hours away. Not far at all. Not even a bad drive through Four Corners. We're in Durango three or four times a year.

 

[3konas]

Inside that bag I had all of my food, repair kit, pot, NeoAir sleeping pad, stove, 1-liter Nalgene bottle, and a few odds and ends.

On my bars I had my Nemo GoGo LE Bivy/tent. That thing rules. I definitely never felt it was there.

On my back I had and Arc'Teryx Axios 35 (super light). My pack was only about 60% full. In there I had a Mt Hardwear Phantom 32 sleeping bag, RAB rain coat, base layers, SteriPen water treatment light, 3 liter reservoir, hat, pump, and a few odds and ends.

Even with my cell phone, book, iPod and doo-dads, the total weight without water was only 13 pounds. Some dudes just don't get it.

I have some kit to look into. Thanks for the response.

Brent

 

[Cabrito]

Inspirational.

Thanks for the trip.

When i first saw the pic with you and the pack I was thinking that it looked pretty heavy.

Edit:
What sprocket combo are you running?

 

[Christophe Noel]

Inspirational.

Thanks for the trip.

When i first saw the pic with you and the pack I was thinking that it looked pretty heavy.

Edit:
What sprocket combo are you running?

I'm running a White Industry crank 32t with a 25t cog. That was only for this trip and with something like 10,000 feet of climbing in 2 of the 3 days, it was perfect. I usually run anything from a 16t cog for racing the flats to a 20t cog for rolling climbs.

By the way, I think my pack was at 8 pounds max with full water. Pretty light. Can't say I really noticed any of my gear on this ride.

 

[Mr. D]

great pics and information