I know this is old, but from the end of TNGA it makes sense to dirt road down to the Cheaha are where there are loads of trails and then probably dirt roads down to Tallahassee, then east following the FL Trail to Ocala NF then follow the Huracan counter clockwise through Santos and Croom and back to the center of the state, then south along the Kissimmee River corridor to the Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades. There are even levies around Miami to get to the southern tip of the mainland. The intrepid could continue onward to Key West.

One note to the Pisgah Traverse. It goes backward to get to DuPont, but it might make more sense to continue west and then south. I perused some maps a couple years ago and it looks like there's some good connections.

is everyone really down with the southern ending of this to be using the tnga to the AL border? just because it's routed? albeit a lot more green on the topo up across there, but the 'divide' actually extends to southern FL....if that is what the route is to be?? or not?
i believe a (short) portion goes near the withlacoochee watershed which is probably some of what karlos has already marked up in his Huracan 300/cross FL ITT rides?? just wondering....
i'm not crazy about including crocs in the mix, but the riding there is really way cooler and not as easy as you would think.

I think going further west from the Pisgah Traverse it would be possible to connect to the beginning of the Trans GA route.  I've done a bit of looking on the National Geographic maps and it seems possible to connect the two by going west of 215 (where there appears to be a bit more bicycle single track) and then heading south, mostly using dirt roads with a bit of pavement.  Heading north from the ORAMM area trails I wonder if it would be possible to connect to the Cherokee NF and then up to Damascus at the southern end of the VA Mtb route.  That would make a continuous route from the AL/GA line in the south almost to MD.  From there, someone is trying to figure out a route through PA.  We could be getting closer to an Eastern divide type route, with way more singletrack.

Fair enough, and I suppose it's worth it's weight in font. It falls in line with the other un-enforceables.

For the record, my take on Rx for TD is, if it's over the counter or you are carrying a medically justified scrip for it, it's fair game. Weed would be the only OTC exception that I could care less about. Though perhaps not true of a 3-500mi event, for TD it's simply not possible to excel by it (for very long).

Sweet.  If I do the TD someday I'll stock up on Sudafed (the real stuff, pseudo ephedrine, that they keep behind the counter).  Just kidding, but if you're going to put a statement, you might say that (as with all other rules of honesty) use it only if it is really medically necessary.

Ethan is just 4 miles or so behind Jefe and Kurt who are less than 10 miles from meeting up with Paul as of about 15 minutes ago.  This is going to be a fun morning.

Late to the party, but I had a question.  From the end of the Womble, how do you get back to Mena?  I've done all of the Womble and the Oachita from above Oden all the way to the Womble above the fishing village.  Would you do it as a lollipop, getting back on the Oachita?

Great adventure.  Jimbo

Long ago (1995) I did a loop around Ben Nevis by bike from Ft. William.  It took the better part of a day to do and there was some hike a bike through boggy turf.  It was a really cool loop.  I don't know if that could be included, but there is so much of Scotland that is just open land and could be crossed by bike.  An end to end tour of Scotland, or even better, a giant loop would be awesome.  The route I did was done with the help of a topo.  I was on a paved tour of Scotland, but had my mtb, and was carrying mtb tires with me.

Early am and it looks like the top three all napped in Dalton and rode off at the crack of dawn, probably a wise choice as the Snake Creek Gap section in the dark after one short night of sleep (or perhaps none during the dark in Eddie's case) would be a truly epic effort.  What Eddie did riding through that first night is awesome.  He rode over Stanley Gap, a nasty singletrack climb and screaming descent, in the wee hours of the morning after riding for roughly 18 hours.  He then kept going, riding from the valley all the way up into the Cohutta's (which is easily 2-3000 feet of some really steep climbing) and to Jack's River before resting for any extended period.  Brad and Matt's experience have caught them up to him and it could be an exciting finish at the Alabama border.

Having riden 2/3 of this route and taking 3 days to do it, the fact that 8 folks are or will be further along than we made in the same time frame is truly impressive.  The fact that 3 guys will finish it in the same time period that it took us to ride 2/3 of the route is mind blowing.  I thought it would take 60ish hours for the fastest guys to finish and it looks like that isn't going to be far off, but I knew that was going to be an amazing effort.  The three who are likely to do it deserve mad props for sure.

I thought the bushwacking hike-a-bike climb up over Flat Top Mt had been replaced with dirt roads.  A quick check of the route shows that it doesn't go up and over Flat Top, but maybe the replacement is just as bad or worse.   Also just when you get to the C100 route you have to take a side track to Pinhoti 1, which is tough.

John Hightower looks to have headed off-route and in to the town of Blue Ridge, which is a pretty long backtracking detour.  Either he's bailed or encountered a pretty serious problem on the steep, bushwhack-intensive climbs up from Cherry Log.  That section includes a couple "are you kidding me?" sections where you will be thinking about snakes and cursing your GPS.  Eventually the course reaches one of the jeep roads of the Cohutta 100-- so TNGA riders will get to enjoy Potatopatch Mtn, the major climb of the C100, with far more than 40 miles in their legs  

Don't taunt us Southerners like that, if'n you're gonna call it the Dixie, it better be in the South, and I mean the southeast, east of the Mississip and South of the KY/VA state lines.

Looks like a great ride nonetheless.  Rock on.

You might want to try county DOT maps.  Many are online but Virginia's are not.  They are cheap to order.  Pick your counties and they will mail it to you for $0.35 each.  Here's the link: http://www.virginiadot.org/travel/resources/Virginia-maps-order-form.pdf.  Most of the state county dot maps indicate paved vs dirt roads.  Florida, Georgia and NC do a great job of this.  The only issue is that occasionally dirt roads get paved.

Singlespeed since 1999.  40 years old and no knee problems yet, knock on wood.  I've done several single speed tours including Boston-DC (all road), New Hampshire and Vermont (mostly road with a little dirt sprinkled in), and 200 miles of the Trans Georgia route, mostly off-road.  Got a kid on the way, so not much this year, but I'm hoping to hit the TG again next year.

Who makes the f/f?

Likely solo, not in groups: Trans Georgia, Eye of the Huracan, CFITT, and a couple of local rides in the FLA panhandle.  I've got ideas for developing a ride from Bent Creek Trails outside Asheville, NC to the beginning of Trans Georgia, and then on across to Alabama.

Nooooooooooo

130-135mm qr's are for rear wheels.

It's a bummer that it won't work with front wheels.  I've got bolt on rear wheel on my singlespeed, so that device is a non-starter.

My Tubus rack rocks the house, and has no funny connections.  It's rated for 70 lbs, so the 8 or so that I carry is nothing.

I've never had luck with a bag lashed to the bars.  With the brake cables looping around, I just can't figure out a clean way to get it to clear the cables.  I tried, but ended up lashing the bag to the top of the rack, and that's where I ended up keeping it.  The bike immediately felt lighter.  It was much easier to wheelie over logs and such and I never felt that the back wheel was too weighted.  So I ended up running a rack with sleeping bag, pad and tarp lashed on top (plus flip flops), a normal seat bag, and a Jandd frame bag that left room for two water bottles (barely).  That plus a reasonable sized pack were fine.  How folks (read pivvay) ride without have quick access to water (no visible bottle, no pack) is beyond me. 

I know the rack is extra weight, but stuff sacks are lighter than frame bags so I make up a bit there.  My rack is a Tubus which seems bomber.  I rode this setup for 3 days and 270 miles through North Georgia, and the only issue was stuff bouncing off down one hill.  I solved it with a tighter bungee.

It's terrible to hear about Robb.  I attempted the Trans Georgia route with him last month and he was psyched about this one.  I wish him the best.  Good luck and stay safe to the rest of those out there.

To change the topic back to the race itself, Jay and Tracey have finally caught Kurt and Chris.  They are all in Steamboat.  The race for second is getting exciting.  I'm having too much fun following this event.